Here are some of the incredible black aviators we've met on this podcast:
RFT 015 Brenda Robinson - Brenda was the first female African-American to earn gold wings as a navy aviator.
RFT 017 Donnie Cochran - Captain Cochran was not only the first black member of the Blue Angels naval aerial demonstration team, he later returned as the team's commander.
RFT 045 Dick Toliver - Colonel Toliver was the first African-American to graduate from the Air Force Fighter Weapons School.
RFT 068.5 Karl Minter - Airline Captain Minter is the Advisor Chair to the Organization of Black Aviation Professionals (OBAP).
RFT 073 Brian Settles - After serving in the Air Force, Brian flew for Eastern Airlines, then had an on-again/off-again relationship with several airlines, in addition to being an author.
RFT 099 Lawrence Chambers - Admiral Chambers was the new skipper of the USS Midway when South Vietnam fell and evacuating pilots were flying helicopters to every American ship they could find. A solitary two-place O-1 flew over the Midway and dropped a note, saying that the pilot's wife and five children were aboard, and he needed to land on the carrier deck. Admiral Chambers made the potentially career-ending decision to push all the helicopters that were cluttering the deck overboard to allow the O-1 to land.
RFT 109 Todd Curtis - Dr. Todd Curtis operates a top aviation safety website.
RFT 139 Otis Hooper - Ltc. Hooper - "Hoop" - was a VIP airlift pilot in the Air Force, and is a fitness professional with numerous awards, a movie actor, and a motivational speaker.
RFT 190 George Hardy - Ltc. Hardy was an original Tuskegee Airman who flew combat missions during World War II.
RFT 240 Willie Daniels - In addition to being a Captain for a legacy airline, Captain Daniels is the CEO of Shades of Blue.
RFT 241 Frank Macon - In addition to being an author and public speaker, Frank is an original member of the Tuskegee Airmen.
RFT 266 Jason Harris - You will meet former Air Force pilot, current airline pilot and motivational speaker Jason Harris on an upcoming episode on February 18th. He has an excellent article here.