Thu, Jan 11, 2007
Training Legend, 'Spin Doctor' Was 77
A legend in pilot training
has left us. Aviation great Bill Kershner passed away Monday at the
age of 77, after a prolonged fight against cancer.
If you learned to fly in the past 50 years, chances are you
studied from a book authored by Kershner, who flew his first solo
in an Aeronca Defender in 1945.
He wrote and illustrated five highly regarded flight manuals,
including his Student Pilot's Flight manual... which alone has sold
over one million copies.
Kershner was also a firm believer in spin recovery training, an
area private pilot training has shied away from in recent years. He
logged more than 8,000 spins... all the more impressive when you
consider he'd only log spins of at least three turns, and didn't
record spins at all during his first 24 years of flying.
Right up until the end, Kershner taught ground school at his Ace
Aerobatic School in Sewanee, TN. Flight instructor Catherine
Cavagnaro, whom Kershner mentored into aerobatic instruction, will
continue to operate his school... using a Cessna 152 Aerobat almost
identical to the bird Kershner flew, which is now heading to the
National Air and Space Museum.
"Bill will be remembered as an enthusiastic pilot, great
educator and friend," said Bruce Landsberg, AOPA Air Safety
Foundation executive director. "He served as a sounding board on
many occasions to the foundation. I called on him periodically to
discuss airmanship or procedural issues. From traffic patterns to
aerodynamics of stalls to IFR techniques, I could always count on
Bill for good advice."
It is with sadness we report William Kershner has Gone West...
where the skies are clear, and pilots always have plenty of
altitude.
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