Why We Fly

Veteran continues to teach

Once the flame of aviation is lit, not much can extinguish it. Wilson V. "Bill" Edwards is a fine example. At 89, the flight instructor is still teaching, sharing his nearly lifelong avocation with new generations of pilots.

Edwards' route to a career in flying started with a dream ride in a Curtiss Jenny when he was 11. He credits it with kindling his desire to fly. Five years later he started hanging around Hart's Flying Service in Wichita, Kansas, and soloed in 1934. He went home to Winslow, Arizona; got a job with the Weather Service; and built time flying with local pilots. He then enrolled in the Civilian Pilot Training Program and was one of its first graduates.

Now with the flame roaring, Edwards attempted to enlist in the Army Air Corps, but was told he didn't qualify because he was missing two molars. Next pursuing an opportunity to fly for England's Royal Air Force, Edwards was taken to an airport near Los Angeles, which required an aggressive forward slip to land because it was surrounded by telegraph wires. He not only landed, he made it look easy. This qualified him for a trip to Oklahoma for 50 hours of RAF refresher training in several trainers, including the PT-19. He finished and found himself on a slow boat to England with a short en-route stop in Canada.

In England, Edwards moved up to the Hawker Hurricane and learned about British weather, fighter techniques, formation flying, cockpit systems, aerial charts, and other details important to survival in a wartime environment. While flying with the British, he logged almost 700 hours flying 22 different foreign aircraft.

In September 1942, 1st Lt. Edwards was transferred to the Army Air Force. Because of his background and skill as an instructor, he was assigned to the 8th Air Force, where he acquainted arriving U.S. fighter units to flying in England. In June 1944, he requested a transfer to the Fourth Fighter Group at Debden. Here he was back with many of his Eagle Squadron buddies flying the P-51. On an escort mission in July 1944, Edwards was shot down by a German anti-aircraft gun. He was subsequently captured and imprisoned for the rest of the war.

At the age of 26, Edwards returned to the United States and was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In Arizona, he trained the entire pilot-qualified West Point class of 1946, along with several hundred Chinese nationals, in basic aerial gunnery. Future orders took him around the world from Peru to Yugoslavia, Malta, Germany, France, and finally back to Germany as air liaison officer with the 7th U.S. Army. He was scheduled to go to Viet Nam when it was discovered that he had glaucoma. He retired in 1968 with almost 7,000 hours in 31 U.S. military aircraft.

As a civilian at the age of 50, Edwards worked several defense contractor jobs, but felt the need to get back into the training side of aviation. He got involved with Blue Sky Aviation at Meadow Lake Airport, which had an Air Force contract to run aptitude screening and provide 50 hours of flight training for second lieutenants newly graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy. This program was transitional, but Edwards gave these prospective pilots everything they needed to succeed.

Today he is still active as an instructor. Edwards has the uncanny ability to diagnose what a student needs at each phase of training and the patience to get it across. He is a smooth flyer, an intuitive instructor, and a legend to all who know him.

Conrad Lapp is an instrument-rated commercial pilot who currently flies taildraggers for fun.