Aviation Hall of Fame inducts Jackson resident
George V. Strickland served in Air Force and worked for FAA
BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer

George Strickland

JACKSON - A lifetime in aviation led to the thrill of a lifetime when George V. Strickland was recently inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame of New Jersey, Teterboro.

Strickland, 73, who has lived in Jackson for 25 years, said his interest in aviation was sparked by his brother's military service.

"I had a brother who was a flight engineer on B-24s in England during World War II," said Strickland, who lived in Whiteville, N.C., at the time. "He was shot down and captured by the Germans and became a prisoner during the last year of the war."

Strickland said that when his brother came back from Europe, he became very interested in what his brother had done during the war.

"He flew," said Strickland. "To me, being a kid, flying was like going to the moon. So I went into the Air Force."

After completing basic training, Strickland considered his options. One job possibility was in a control tower.

"I asked what controllers did, and I was told, 'You sit in the tower and talk to the (airplane pilots) and tell them when to come in. You give them instructions so they can be kept apart.' I found that to sound interesting," he said.

Strickland applied for a controller's position and got it, and that was the beginning of his 45-year career in aviation.

"I started in 1951 as an air traffic controller in the Air Force at the age of 17," he recalled. "At that time, the air traffic system had only been running for 14 years. It started as a structured service in 1937."

Strickland said that in order to work as a controller, he had to obtain a Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) certificate (the predecessor of the Federal Aviation Administration). He recalled that the certificate was stamped "Valid Only in Military Towers" because controllers had to be 21 and he was only 17.

He did well in the job and said he eventually became the youngest person to ever receive certification as a supervisor in a control tower that had instrument-approach control responsibility.

During the 1950s Strickland served with the Air Force in Korea and during the 1960s he served in Vietnam, where he received a Bronze Star. After 21 years of service to his country, Strickland

retired from the Air Force in 1972 at the age of 38.

"I did pull one tour between my retirement from the Air Force and getting on with the FAA and air traffic," he said. "During that one year, I worked for the Division of Aeronautics."

Then Strickland went to work for the FAA as an air traffic control specialist in New York and Philadelphia. During that time, he took flying lessons and eventually earned his pilot's license.

"Getting my pilot's license was a thrill," he said. "I had wanted to become a pilot for years. I never had a chance [before] and then I had the chance to take the lessons."

Before long, Strickland was teaching other people how to fly a plane.

"It was a bigger thrill when I got my instructor's license and I soloed my first student," he said. "I took somebody who didn't know the front of an airplane from the back of an airplane and actually trained him to the point where he could get in that airplane, start it up, go up and bring it back. That was a tremendous feeling. Eventually I built up enough time to transfer to aviation safety. I had all those years of experience."

He then became an aviation inspector working in Pittsburgh, where he also managed an accident prevention program, finding deficiencies in the flight training program. New programs were created to raise the standards for flight instructors.

Strickland came to Teterboro Airport in 1986 and stayed for five years. During his time at the northern New Jersey airport, he worked to improve the level of instruction and flying safety.

An Aviation Hall of Fame newsletter from this past winter says of Strickland, "Thanks to his innovative training techniques and supervisory skills, flying safety was greatly enhanced. From 1987 through 1990 the Teterboro District was found to be the safest in the United States."

He was eventually promoted to the FAA's regional headquarters and became the regional aviation safety prevention coordinator.

"When I was at Teterboro, then at the regional headquarters and at Kennedy Airport in New York, I was in charge of the safety program. I put together quite a few safety seminars to educate pilots. I did a lot of work on the weather and on landings, and areas where there were problems, like judgment.

"The big thing is knowing when to use instruments and knowing when to just look out the window," he said. "You have to know how to use the instruments, but you also have to judge what you see out the window," he said.

Strickland retired from the FAA in 1996.

"Every day was a highlight," he said. "Take people who have never been in an airplane up for a ride to show them how an airplane flies and then come back. Then you find out they want to learn how to fly and [you're the teacher.] Those are highlights."

On May 23, Strickland was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame of New Jersey.

Strickland and his wife, Joyce, have three grown children, three grandsons and two step-granddaughters. After 45 years in aviation and at this time in his life, his plans call only for enjoying life to its fullest extent.