A collection of mostly published, some unpublished, articles written by famed
aviatior Bill Kershner during his more than fifty years of flying. In these
stories, Kershner details some of the more humorous, humiliating and helpful
things he has seen and readers are sure to find them amusing and
entertaining. Those who are pilots themselves may find some
incidents all too familiar.
Mostly chronological, these stories begin with Kershner's first flying
experiences, through his career as a Navy fight pilot and then on to the later
years as a corporate pilot and instructor. From the time of his childhood,
Kershner has enjoyed drawing airplanes and the illustrations in this book
reflect his sense of humor.
Softcover, illustrated, 6" x 9", 250 pages.
Bill Kershner was FAA/General Aviation Flight Instructor of the Year in 1992
and named Elder Statesman of Aviation in 1997. He was inducted into the Flight
Instructor Hall of Fame in 1998. His son, William C. Kershner, was soloed by his
father and holds Flight Instructor and Airline Transport Pilot certificates. He
has flown 22 types of airplanes in his over 10,000 hours of flight time, ranging
from Cessna 150s to Boeing 777s.
Bill Kershner left us to go West in 2007 but his legacy remains with
continued publishing of his books. Bill founded Ace Aerobatic School in
Sewanee, Tennessee in 1969. He was known as the "Spin Doctor" for his interest in
spins, having logged more than 8,000 spins totaling some 35,000 turns; Kershner
only counted spins of at least three turns and didn't record spins at all during
his first 24 years of flying.
He was the national General Aviation Flight Instructor of the Year in
1992. At his Ace Aerobatic School, Kershner provided spin recovery and aerobatic
training to hundreds of pilots, and he continued to teach ground school into
late December 2006.
"He had a soft spot in his heart for student pilots and CFIs," as
said by Bruce Landsberg of AOPA's Air Safety Foundation.
"Being an engineer at heart, he would step up to the blackboard and start doing
equations to explain some aerodynamic truth. When pressed to put it in English
so that a dumb pilot (me) could understand it, he always could."
Flight instructor Catherine Cavagnaro, whom Kershner
mentored
into aerobatic instruction, continues to operate
Ace
Aerobatic School. Cavagnaro purchased a Cessna 152 Aerobat nearly identical to Kershner's
which she named Wilbur. Kersher's
veteran Aerobat, Orville, is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum.
Click here to see
an AOPA multimedia presentation and hear Kershner reflect on his more than 60 years of
flying.