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ADVISORY BOARD

Chairman Jim Greenwood, Green Valley, AZ
C.E. "Pete" Adolph
Lyn Benedict, Roswell, NM
Doug Boothe, Vandenberg AFB, CA
Gen. Bob Cardenas, USAF (Ret.) San Diego, CA
Velvet Fackeldey, Lebanon, MO
Alfred W. Hobelman, Alexandria, VA
Sandor "Alex" Kvassay, Wichita, KS
Col. Bill Lafferty USAF (Ret.), Tucson, AZ
Kris Lethin, Seldovia, Alaska
Major Gen. Peter Dodd Robinson USAF (Ret.), Albuquerque, NM
Peter Westacott, Beeston, Norfolk UK
Bob Worthington, NM

Jim Greenwood (chair) was the legendary Bill Lear's right-hand man for three years in his long and varied career which included a stint as Assistant Administrator of the FAA under Reagan. Jim says that when Lear sold the company, he asked Jim to accompany him on the new enterprise, but Jim turned him down. "Three years with Bill Lear was a lifetime", he said.

C.E. "Pete" Adolph has over 50 years experience in test and evaluation and systems acquisition. He started his career as a flight test engineer for Convair division of General Dynamics on the F-102 and F-106 flight test programs. He then spent three years as an Air Force officer, primary in test activities at Edwards Air Force Base. From 1987 to 1994, he held several positions in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). For most of that period, he was Director, Test and Evaluation, Acquisition and Technology. He also served as interim director of Operational Test and Evaluation and interim Director of Defense Research and Engineering. He was a senior vice president for Science Applications International (SAIC) from 1994 to 2000 and served as the manager of the SAIC test and evaluation group. He is currently a consultant for the Institute for Defense Analyses and other organizations.

Lyn Benedict and her husband, Tom, own Benedict Air Park south of Roswell, NM. Lyn's hospitality is renowned throughout the Southwest—I've even heard some folks refer to it as "Benedict's Bed and Breakfast". She is a community and aviation activist whose generosity with her time and organizational abilities are legend.

Doug Boothe was selected for the position of Deputy Director, Operations Support Group-Vandenberg in 2005. In 2006, he was further assigned as the Director, Operations Support Group-Vandenberg during realignment of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense Program. In 2008 he assumed further duties as the MDA lead at Vandenberg AFB.

Gen. Bob Cardenas, like Col. Lafferty, has had a broad and varied Air Force career, but may be best known as the B-29 pilot who launched "Glamorous Glennis" with Chuck Yeager at the controls. He is a recent inductee to the Aviation/Space Hall of Fame.

Velvet Fackeldey retired in 2006 from her 26-year post as executive of the International Cessna 170 Association, one of the world's largest aviation-type clubs. She is a widely published poet/writer/editor who served two years as the President of the Missouri Poet's Association. She was recently made a life-member of that organization.

Al Hobelmann joins the FASF Advisory Board from his position as Vice President of CCSi, in Rockville MD. CCSi is a government small business prime contractor focused on the design and development of high level mission-critical information systems. Al is part of a senior management team which guides the corporation's growth in technology. Prior to this position, Al has 35 years experience in government contracting with companies including Hughes Aircraft and Sperry Univac. He is an experienced professional in all phases of planning, organizing and managing project teams.

Sandor "Alex" Kvassay, besides being a successful author, has had a career that has spanned the better part of seven decades under the German and Russian occupation of his homeland, Hungary. Freed from his captors, he was whisked to the Pentagon in an intelligence role and served in the US military. He eventually hooked up with the peripatetic Bill Lear and became Lear's Director of International Sales. He now splits his time between home in Wichita, KS and traveling worldwide with his grandchildren and their parents.

Col. Bill Lafferty flew the last-ever B-36 mission, and recalls making a low pass over his father's house on that day with the massive bomber and kicking in the burners as he passed overhead. He said that he was unaware that his dad was working from a ladder on the second story at the time.

Kris Lethin owned a number of businesses over the years, was a member of the Alaska State Legislature and also worked for an Alaska Governor as his legislative liaison. His is a graduate from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a Bachelor of Business. For the past 30 years, he has been a board member (and past president) of the Great Alaska Boy Scout Council. He is director of Our Lady of Las Palomas Hermitage and Retreat Center in Columbus, a nonprofit organization. Kris has been flying since he was 13 years old and owned his first plane at the age of 15. kwlethin@dancingeagles.com

Gen. Peter Dodd Robinson is the great-grandson of General George A. Dodd, who commanded the second unit to enter Mexico as a part of Gen. "Blackjack" Pershing's Punitive Expedition that followed the raid. At the time of Robinson's retirement, he was Commandant of the Air War College, and Vice Commander of the Air University at Maxwell AFB, Alabama. Robinson has served around the world (including Vietnam), acquiring some 3,400 flying hours and has flown 435 combat missions in F-100s, F-4s, and F-15 Eagles.

Peter Westacott one of the few aviation artists who are also pilots. He is bly connected to the First Aero Squadron Aerodrome through his painting of JN-3 Jennys in flight over that very field. The original hangs in the Pentagon, where it was presented by Peter to Gen. Mike Ryan, AF Chief. He says that he recently lost his medical certification after a 50-year flying career, most of it with the Royal Navy.
(see his art and more information at westacottart.com)

Bob Worthington is retired from the Army where he served multiple roles; currently he serves as President of the New Mexico Pilots Association and VP of the US Pilots Assn. Bob is a retired journalism professor, was an FAA Safety Counselor, and now a FAAST rep. A prolific author of over 1,800 articles and books, Bob has just finished a documentary movie on Vietnam. He is also an amateur historian and gun collector.