Walter J. Boyne
Encyclopedia
Walter J. Boyne is a retired United States Air Force
officer, combat veteran, aviation historian, and author of more than 50 books and over 1,000 magazine articles. He is a former director of the National Air and Space Museum
of the Smithsonian Institution
and is currently Chairman of the National Aeronautic Association.
. He attended Holy Angels grade school where he first discovered an interest in writing. His love of flying was encouraged by dime novels of the day such as Robert J. Hogan's G-8 and His Battle Aces
that depicted "America's World War I Flying Spy" engaged in air-to-air combat. He decided at this young age that he would become a pilot for the Air Force and focused his efforts to achieve that goal. Boyne earned a number of scholarships that enabled him to attend Washington University in St. Louis
.
program where he learned a profound respect for the enlisted grades
of the military. Boyne started flight school in November 1951 and became the first of his class to solo. On December 19, 1952 he was awarded his wings as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force
.
While stationed at Castle Air Force Base
in central California, Boyne flew the B-50 Superfortress
as a member of the 330th Bomb Squadron of the 93rd Bomb Wing. Although Boyne had relatively few hours in bombers, he received orders in May 1954 to McConnell Air Force Base
in Wichita, Kansas
for training in the B-47 Stratojet
which he flew for several years. In 1957, he returned to college and graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley
with a degree in business administration
. Boyne continued his education and earned a master's degree in business administration
from the University of Pittsburgh
.
Boyne returned to active flying as a nuclear test pilot with the 4925th Nuclear Test Group at Kirtland Air Force Base
near Albuquerque, New Mexico
. While at Kirtland, he became an aircraft commander in the B-47 and B-52 Stratofortress
. Boyne served during the Vietnam War
as commander of the 635th Services Squadron at U-Tapao Royal Thai Air Base
where he flew 120 combat hours as a C-47 Skytrain
instructor pilot. Colonel Boyne retired from the Air Force on June 1, 1974 with more than 5,000 hours in various aircraft.
near Dayton, Ohio
. A very prolific writer, Boyne is the author of over fifty books and over one thousand magazine articles.
Fiction
facility into the world's premier restoration facility. He also organized the effort to rename the facility in honor of Paul E. Garber
, a curator of the National Air Museum—the predecessor to the National Air and Space Museum.
Boyne was named acting director of the museum in 1982, and director on February 10, 1983. Boyne performed a number of notable actions during his tenure as museum director including:
He resigned as director of the museum in 1986.
a year later. Boyne lives in Ashburn, Virginia
. His first wife, the former Jeanne Quigley died in 2007. They have four children, Molly, Katie, Bill and Peggy, five grandchildren, J.D., Grace, Walter, Charlotte and Charles. Boyne remarried on January 10, 2008 to Terezia Takacs.
Boyne is Chairman of the Board of the National Aeronautic Association, the oldest aviation organization in the United States.
(NAA) awarded him the Cliff Henderson Trophy for lifetime achievement in aviation. In 1998, the NAA named him an Elder Statesman of Aviation that honors outstanding Americans, age 60 and above, that have made contributions of significant value to aeronautics. Also in 1998, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
honored Boyne with the Paul Tissandier Diploma awarded to those who have served the cause of Aviation in general and Sporting Aviation in particular. In 2005, the Aircraft Industries Association presented Boyne with the Lauren D. Lyman Award for outstanding achievement in aviation public relations. In 2007, he was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame
.
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
officer, combat veteran, aviation historian, and author of more than 50 books and over 1,000 magazine articles. He is a former director of the National Air and Space Museum
National Air and Space Museum
The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution holds the largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft in the world. It was established in 1976. Located in Washington, D.C., United States, it is a center for research into the history and science of aviation and...
of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
and is currently Chairman of the National Aeronautic Association.
Early life
Walter Boyne grew up the son of a poor family in East Saint Louis, Illinois during the time of the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. He attended Holy Angels grade school where he first discovered an interest in writing. His love of flying was encouraged by dime novels of the day such as Robert J. Hogan's G-8 and His Battle Aces
G-8 (character)
G-8 was a heroic aviator and spy during World War I in pulp fiction. He starred in his own title G-8 and His Battle Aces, published by Popular Publications. All stories were written by Robert J. Hogan, under his own name. The title lasted 110 issues, from October 1933 to June 1944...
that depicted "America's World War I Flying Spy" engaged in air-to-air combat. He decided at this young age that he would become a pilot for the Air Force and focused his efforts to achieve that goal. Boyne earned a number of scholarships that enabled him to attend Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
.
Military career
In May 1951, after two years at the university, Boyne entered the Aviation CadetFlight Cadet
A flight cadet is a military or civilian occupational title that is held by someone who is in training to operate an airplane. The trainee does not need to become a pilot, as flight cadets may also learn to serve as a co-pilot, navigator, or flight engineer....
program where he learned a profound respect for the enlisted grades
Enlisted rank
An enlisted rank is, in most Militaries, any rank below a commissioned officer or warrant officer. The term can also be inclusive of non-commissioned officers...
of the military. Boyne started flight school in November 1951 and became the first of his class to solo. On December 19, 1952 he was awarded his wings as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
.
While stationed at Castle Air Force Base
Castle Air Force Base
Castle Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force Strategic Air Command base located northeast of Atwater, northwest of Merced and about east southeast of San Francisco, California....
in central California, Boyne flew the B-50 Superfortress
B-50 Superfortress
The Boeing B-50 Superfortress strategic bomber was a post-World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger structure, a taller fin, and other improvements. It was the last piston-engined bomber designed by Boeing for...
as a member of the 330th Bomb Squadron of the 93rd Bomb Wing. Although Boyne had relatively few hours in bombers, he received orders in May 1954 to McConnell Air Force Base
McConnell Air Force Base
McConnell Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located four miles southeast of the central business district of Wichita, a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States. The base was named in honor of Wichita brothers Fred and Thomas McConnell, both Air Force pilots and World War II...
in Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
for training in the B-47 Stratojet
B-47 Stratojet
The Boeing Model 450 B-47 Stratojet was a long-range, six-engined, jet-powered medium bomber built to fly at high subsonic speeds and at high altitudes. It was primarily designed to drop nuclear bombs on the Soviet Union...
which he flew for several years. In 1957, he returned to college and graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
with a degree in business administration
Bachelor of Business Administration
The Bachelor of Business Administration is a bachelor's degree in Commerce and business administration. In most universities, the degree is conferred upon a student after four years of full-time study in one or more areas of business concentrations; see below...
. Boyne continued his education and earned a master's degree in business administration
Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
from the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
.
Boyne returned to active flying as a nuclear test pilot with the 4925th Nuclear Test Group at Kirtland Air Force Base
Kirtland Air Force Base
Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named for the early Army aviator Col. Roy C. Kirtland...
near Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
. While at Kirtland, he became an aircraft commander in the B-47 and B-52 Stratofortress
B-52 Stratofortress
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber operated by the United States Air Force since the 1950s. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, who have continued to provide maintainence and upgrades to the aircraft in service...
. Boyne served during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
as commander of the 635th Services Squadron at U-Tapao Royal Thai Air Base
U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield
U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield is a military airfield of the Royal Thai Navy located approximately southeast of Bangkok, near Sattahip on the Gulf of Siam...
where he flew 120 combat hours as a C-47 Skytrain
C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
instructor pilot. Colonel Boyne retired from the Air Force on June 1, 1974 with more than 5,000 hours in various aircraft.
Author and historian
Boyne began his writing career in 1962 while still in the Air Force. Tired of the repetitive aviation articles of the time, he chose to write about lesser-known people and airplanes starting with an article on the Curtiss P-36. Boyne's article was accepted by a magazine in Britain which paid him $29 — a moment of special pride for the new author. The P-36 aircraft now resides in the National Museum of the United States Air ForceNational Museum of the United States Air Force
The National Museum of the United States Air Force is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the world's largest and oldest military aviation museum with more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display...
near Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
. A very prolific writer, Boyne is the author of over fifty books and over one thousand magazine articles.
Works
Non-fiction- (1979) The Jet Age: Forty Years of Jet Aviation
- (1980) Messerschmitt Me 262: Arrow to the Future
- (1980) Flying, an introduction to flight, airplanes, and aviation careers
- (1981) Boeing B-52: A Documentary History
- (1982) The Aircraft Treasures of Silver Hill
- (1983) Vertical Flight: The Age of the Helicopter
- (1984) De Havilland DH-4: From Flaming Coffin to Living Legend
- (1985) Phantom in Combat
- (1986) The Leading Edge
- (1987) The Smithsonian Illustrated History of Flight
- (1988) The Smithsonian Book of Flight for Young People
- (1988) The Power Behind The Wheel
- (1990) Flight
- (1991) Weapons of Desert Storm (New York Time's Best Seller List)
- (1991) Gulf War
- (1992) Classic Aircraft
- (1992) Art in Flight: The Sculpture of John Safer
- (1993) Silver Wings
- (1994) Clash of Wings: World War II in the Air
- (1995) Clash of Titans
- (1995) Fly Past, Fly Present
- (1997) Beyond the Wild Blue, A History of the USAF, 1947–1997
- (1998) Beyond the Horizons:The Story of Lockheed
- (1999) Brassey's Air Combat Reader (editor)
- (2001) Aces in Command: Fighter Pilots as Combat Leaders
- (2001) German Military Aircraft
- (2001) The Best of Wings
- (2001) Aviation 100, Volume I
- (2001) Classic Aircraft, 2001
- (2002) Aviation 100, Volume II
- (2002) The Two O'Clock War
- (2003) Aviation 100, Volume III
- (2003) Encyclopedia of Air Warfare
- (2003) The Influence of Air Power on History
- (2003) Chronicle of Flight: A Year-By-Year History of Aviation
- (2003) Rising Tide
- (2003) Operation Iraqi Freedom, What Went Right, What Went Wrong and Why
- (2003) The Alpha Bravo Delta Guide to the U.S. Air Force
- (2003) The Alpha Bravo Delta Guide to the U.S. Navy
- (2003) The Alpha Bravo Delta Guide to the U.S. Army
- (2003) The Alpha Bravo Delta Guide to the U.S. Marines
- (2004) Today's Best Military Writing
- (2007) Soaring to Glory: the Story of the Air Force Memorial
- (2011) How the Helicopter Changed Modern Warfare
Fiction
- (1986) The Wild Blue: The Novel of the U.S. Air ForceThe Wild Blue: The Novel of the U.S. Air ForceThe Wild Blue - The Novel of the U.S. Air Force, by historian Walter J. Boyne and Steven L. Thompson, was published in 1986.This book follows the fictitious careers and lives of members of the United States Air Force. We get to follow them from their inception at Basic Training until they leave...
- (1989) Trophy for Eagles
- (1991) Eagles at War
- (1992) Air Force Eagles
- (1993) Eagles at War
- (2003) Dawn Over Kitty Hawk: The Novel of the Wright Brothers
- (2006) Roaring Thunder: A Novel of the Jet Age
- (2006) Supersonic Thunder: A Novel of the Jet Age
- (2009) Hypersonic Thunder: A Novel of the Jet Age
National Air and Space Museum career
In 1974, after retiring from the Air Force, Boyne joined the National Air and Space Museum as curator of air transport. Prior to the opening of the museum in 1976, he was assigned responsibility for introducing all aircraft into their exhibits. Boyne was responsible for transforming the museum's dilapidated Silver HillPaul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility
The Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility is located in Suitland, Maryland, USA. The facility, also nicknamed "Silver Hill", is where the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum restores aircraft, spacecraft, and other artifacts.It is named in honor of...
facility into the world's premier restoration facility. He also organized the effort to rename the facility in honor of Paul E. Garber
Paul E. Garber
Paul Edward Garber was the first head of the National Air Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. With his work and effort, the most complete collection of historical aircraft in the world was gathered and preserved...
, a curator of the National Air Museum—the predecessor to the National Air and Space Museum.
Boyne was named acting director of the museum in 1982, and director on February 10, 1983. Boyne performed a number of notable actions during his tenure as museum director including:
- Founded the best-selling aviation magazine Air & Space
- Orchestrated flights of an IMAXIMAXIMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
camera on the Space ShuttleSpace ShuttleThe Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons... - Supervised the production of the IMAX movies The Dream is AliveThe Dream Is AliveThe Dream is Alive is an IMAX movie, released in June 1985, about NASA's Space Shuttle program. The film was narrated by Walter Cronkite, and directed by Graeme Ferguson.-Synopsis:...
and On the Wing - Worked with FAA Administrator Donald Engen to provide the land upon which the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy CenterSteven F. Udvar-Hazy CenterThe Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum 's annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County, Virginia, United States....
was built - Arranged for the to be flown and stored at the museum in 1985
- Pioneered the museum's video disc program and patented the "Digitizer" automated storage and retrieval system
He resigned as director of the museum in 1986.
Later years
In 1998, Boyne co-founded the cable television channel, Wingspan—the Air and Space Channel, that was purchased by the Discovery ChannelDiscovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
a year later. Boyne lives in Ashburn, Virginia
Ashburn, Virginia
Ashburn, Virginia is a census-designated place located in Loudoun County, Virginia, northwest of Washington, D.C., and is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area...
. His first wife, the former Jeanne Quigley died in 2007. They have four children, Molly, Katie, Bill and Peggy, five grandchildren, J.D., Grace, Walter, Charlotte and Charles. Boyne remarried on January 10, 2008 to Terezia Takacs.
Boyne is Chairman of the Board of the National Aeronautic Association, the oldest aviation organization in the United States.
Honors
In 1984, Boyne was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Aerospace Sciences from Salem College, West Virginia. In 1987, the National Aeronautic AssociationNational Aeronautic Association
The National Aeronautic Association of the United States is a non-profit 501 organization and a member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale , the international standard setting and record-keeping body for aeronautics and astronautics. NAA is the official record-keeper for United States...
(NAA) awarded him the Cliff Henderson Trophy for lifetime achievement in aviation. In 1998, the NAA named him an Elder Statesman of Aviation that honors outstanding Americans, age 60 and above, that have made contributions of significant value to aeronautics. Also in 1998, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale is the world governing body for air sports and aeronautics and astronautics world records. Its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. This includes man-carrying aerospace vehicles from balloons to spacecraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles...
honored Boyne with the Paul Tissandier Diploma awarded to those who have served the cause of Aviation in general and Sporting Aviation in particular. In 2005, the Aircraft Industries Association presented Boyne with the Lauren D. Lyman Award for outstanding achievement in aviation public relations. In 2007, he was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame
National Aviation Hall of Fame
The American National Aviation Hall of Fame is located at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, east Dayton, Ohio...
.