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Career Moves |
All in the Family |
Best Practices |
Answer File |
VDOTer in Profile
Bulletin
March - April
2007, Vol. 73, No. 2
In this issue:
Home | Work Zone Awareness | Commissioner's Column | Tech-Bytes | Humor | News Briefs
Career Moves |
All in the Family | Best Practices | Answer File | VDOTer in Profile
Answer File
David Brown in front of his Stearman biplane.
Q. Which VDOT employee flew his plane through restricted airspace over Washington, D.C. — over the Pentagon and Reagan National Airport and near the White House and downtown area — and was not shot down?
A. Flying his 1941 Stearman PT-17 biplane over D.C. was David Brown, manager of Northern Virginia District’s maintenance program in Prince William County.
His flight was part of the dedication ceremonies on Oct. 14, 2006, for the new Air Force Memorial. Brown’s plane, the oldest and the first to fly over the memorial, was followed by World War II aircraft and more modern aircraft, including a B-2 Stealth Bomber and the Air Force Thunderbirds precision aerial team.
Why was Brown’s plane chosen? The Air Force Memorial Foundation was looking for a plane just like Brown’s, one painted with the original Army Air Corps blue and yellow and with a radio and transponder. Brown, who has flown his plane for many years in the Flying Circus Air Show in Bealeton, called the flight “a once in a lifetime experience.”
He added, “All I ever wanted to do when I joined the Air Force back in the early ‘80s was to fly. But not having perfect eyesight needed at that time by aviators, I spent my time in a missile silo under Arkansas. Some 25 years later I finally had my first Air Force mission as a pilot. I just had to purchase my own Air Force plane to make it happen.”
