Two Pilots Racked Up A Combined 17,000 Hours Flying At
Langley
Two retired research pilots, who combined logged more than
17,000 hours of flight time at NASA's Langley Research Center in
Hampton, are set to enter the Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame at the
Virginia Aviation Museum.
Kenneth R. (Dick) Yenni and Lee Person are being honored in part
for their extensive contributions to improving aviation safety and
advancing aeronautics research. They will be celebrated, along with
a retired airport director, at the Virginia Aeronautical Historical
Society's Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame Induction Dinner at the
Virginia Aviation Museum on Saturday, Nov. 12.
Yenni, who now lives in Williamsburg, worked at NASA Langley
from 1963 to 1995. His early research and test pilot work centered
on improving the handling and stability qualities of rigid rotor
and heavy lift helicopters. He also worked to advance airline
flight systems and general aviation cockpit displays. Yenni was one
of three pilots who practiced Moon landing simulations at the Lunar
Landing Research Facility and demonstrated that stand up landings
could allow steeper descent profiles and save fuel. He was also the
primary research subject in experiments on weightlessness, proving
that humans could work in space.
A research pilot/engineer, Yenni has flown 105 types of aircraft
during more than 7,000 flight hours. He is a graduate of the U.S.
Navy Test Pilot School and has qualified in all classes of aircraft
including rotorcraft, jet fighters and multi-engine transports.
During his career, Yenni contributed to aeronautics, atmospheric
science and space flight research and received a number of
awards.
NASA Langley pilot/engineer Lee Person, now of Yorktown, often
flew with Yenni. Person's NASA career spanned 33 years from 1962 to
1995. During that time his work included both aeronautics and space
research. He did pioneering work in the use of in-flight thrust
vectoring in close air combat for military fighters.
Person was also a part of moon landing research. He tested a
number of one-man lunar flying devices and worked on orbital
missions and space station rendezvous simulations. Chief among his
space research tasks was Gemini – LEM docking simulations,
flying lunar landing simulations and participation in the
development of the Rendezvous and Docking Simulator at Langley.
Person has flown more than 100 different types of aircraft and
rotorcraft during more than 10,000 flight hours.
In the 1980s and '90s, with Yenni as safety and research pilot
and Person as chief test pilot, NASA Langley spent six years
developing radar to combat potentially deadly wind shear. The two
flew a specially equipped jet into hazardous weather to test the
technology. Their work led directly to the hardware and procedures
used by today's transport and general aviation pilots to avoid
dangerous and potentially fatal encounters with wind shear.
Yenni and Person will be joined in the Virginia Aviation Hall of
Fame by retired Norfolk International Airport director Kenneth R.
Scott. Scott's career with the Norfolk Airport Authority began in
1970 as a project engineer and continued for 39 years, 37 of which
he served as the executive director of the Authority.
During his tenure Scott oversaw major improvements that included
the opening of the departure terminal in 1971 and dedication of the
new arrivals terminal in 2002. Other improvements to the Norfolk
airport including new general aviation, air cargo, airfield
maintenance and airport rescue and fire fighting facilities plus
the current FAA air traffic control tower were completed under
Scott's watch.
The Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame, located at the Virginia
Aviation Museum at the Richmond International Airport, is run by
the Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society.
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