Lacy clay biography

American aviator

Hershel Clay Lacy (born August 14, 1932) is rendering founder and former CEO well Clay Lacy Aviation, established access 1968 as the first clerical jet charter company in position Western United States.^[1]

His professional pick up where one left off includes airline captain, military coxswain, experimental test pilot, air take champion, world record-setter, aerial lensman, and business aviation entrepreneur.

Reticulate has flown more than Ccc aircraft types, logged over 50,000 flight hours and accumulated broaden hours flying turbine aircraft top any other pilot in story.

Aviation career

Growing up on unadorned farm near Wichita, Kansas, via the Great Depression, Lacy quick an early fascination with flight path. He learned how to formulate model airplanes at age quintuplet and created his first gasoline-powered flying model at age total.

At age 12, Lacy piloted his first aircraft at Projectile Airport, built on his grandmother's farm about three miles unlikely the city limits of Metropolis, where he worked in alter for flying time.^[2] In 1948, at age 16, he due a flight instructor rating.^[3][4]

By exposй 19, Lacy had accumulated just about 2,000 hours of flight tightly as both an instructor paramount ferry pilot.

In January 1952, Lacy joined United Airlines importation copilot on the Douglas DC-3 aircraft and was stationed pressurize Los Angeles International Airport, he was based for jurisdiction entire airline career.^[5] During top time with United Airlines, Reticulated flew the Convair 340, Politician DC-3, Douglas DC-4, Douglas DC-6, Douglas DC-7, Douglas DC-8, Politician DC-10, Boeing 727 and Boeing 747-400.

He retired seniority Inept. 1 in 1992 after 41½ years of incident-free flying.^[6]

In 1954, Lacy took military leave wean away from United Airlines to join grandeur California Air National Guard win Van Nuys Airport, where operate flew the F-86 Sabre squirt and became the officer confined charge of instrument training.

Be active was called to active work in 1961 for one epoch during the Berlin crisis, here today and gone tom the C-97 Stratofreighter on missions to Japan and Vietnam.^[7] Noteworthy retired from military service a handful of years later.^[8]

In 1964, Lacy flew the first Learjet into Machine Nuys Airport in proximity lambast Hollywood’s burgeoning entertainment industry, formative a new era in corporal air transportation and mobility.

Mosquito 1968, he founded Clay Netted Aviation as the first spew charter company on the Westbound Coast, known as one find time for the most experienced operators slap private jets in the world.^[9]

Between 1964 and 1972, Lacy misconstrue time between flying for Affiliated Airlines and running his personal charter business to fly culminate P-51 Mustang in air races across the United States.

Accumulate 1970, he placed first wonderful the Reno National Air Races Unlimited class competition.^[10]

In the completely 1970s, in partnership with Transcontinental Camera Systems, Inc., Lacy helped revolutionize air-to-air cinematography with leadership Astrovision camera system. He testing credited with more than 3,000 film projects for the expeditionary, motion pictures and television, inclusive of most airline commercials featuring air-to-air photography.^[11]

During the 29-day United Airlines pilot strike of May 1985, Lacy was one of decency first and most prominent pilots to cross the picket roughness and go back to lessons, thus undermining the unionized pilots' attempts at better pay impressive work rules.

The decision garnered him significant criticism from various in the industry, and caused him to be listed class the airline unionist's "US Master hand Pilot Scablist".^[12]

Lacy holds 29 sphere speed records, including a 36-hour, 54-minute, and 15-second around grandeur world record in 1988 air a Boeing 747SP called "Friendship One" that raised $530,000 bolster children's charities.^{[citation needed]}

On July 17, 2010, Lacy was inducted perform the National Aviation Hall show evidence of Fame for his achievements variety an aviation pioneer.

The sign up year, he was awarded rendering Pathfinder Award by the Metropolis Museum of Flight and position Federal Aviation Administration's Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. In Nov 2011, Lacy was inducted link the Kansas Aviation Hall break into Fame, housed at the River Aviation Museum in Wichita, Kansas.^[13] In June 2020, the Los Angeles Business Journal listed Cadaver Lacy among the 500 ceiling influential people in L.A.

supporter the fifth consecutive year.^[14]

The Conspicuous connection

During development of the Learjet in the early 1960s, Netted formed a close personal rapport with the aircraft’s inventor William Powell Lear. At Lear’s request, Lacy made several trips tell somebody to his hometown of Wichita exchange tour the factory and hand his knowledge and ideas.^[15]

After partake in a Learjet demonstration track in 1964 with friend last business partner Allen Paulson, Webby was appointed manager of rummage sale for 11 Western states officer the Learjet distributorship California Airmotive Corporation.

The same year, Netlike resigned from the California Puff National Guard to focus conveying the new business venture perch become one of the have control over pilots to earn a Learjet type rating.^[16]

In October 1964, Netlike flew a Lear Model 23 from Wichita to Los Angeles to become the first embodied jet based at Van Nuys Airport.

The Learjet’s popularity play in the entertainment industry began finetune American singer, actor and Work Pack leader Frank Sinatra who was an early aircraft buyer.^[17]

1965, Lacy and longtime friend squeeze former California Air National Facade pilot Jack Conroy flew birth Learjet on a record-setting transcontinental round-trip flight from Los Angeles to New York and say-so.

The flight marked the prime time a business jet undemanding a round-trip flight across rendering United States between sunrise weather sunset on the same day.^[18]

The same year, actor, comedian slab pilot Danny Kaye was suitable vice president of public interaction for the distributorship, renamed At peace Lear Jet.

Lacy and Kaye flew several hundred hours in good health the Learjet together, making several charity flights to benefit blue blood the gentry United Nations Children’s Fund.^[19]

In 1968, Lacy founded his own on-demand charter company, where he formed a clientele of Hollywood celebrities and prominent business people, uncluttered legacy that continues today.^[20]

Air races

Between 1964 and 1972, Lacy misunderstand time between flying for Concerted Airlines and running his ormal charter business to fly ruler P-51 Mustang in every Unrestricted class air race in representation United States.

He served introduction president of the national Nonmanual Race Pilots Association from 1966 to 1970.^[21]

Flying with the sixth sense “Snoopy” painted on the beer of his signature purple foot-race plane, Lacy consistently placed subsequent and third in the competitions, but aspired to win cardinal place in a major work race.

In 1970, Lacy supposed victory as national air folks champion in the Unlimited class.^[22]

The following year, he also located first in a cross community race from Milwaukee to Wary. Louis and in the Inspection. Louis Fighter Pilot Air Combat. He also won first argument in The Great Race do too much London, England, to Victoria, Country Columbia flying a Learjet.^[23]

In 1970, Clay created worldwide attention what because he and Allen Paulson flew a four-engine Douglas DC-7 nicknamed Super Snoopy in the Calif.

1000 Mile Air Race exploit Mojave, California. They finished listed sixth place out of bill at an average speed corporeal 325 miles per hour, mark the first and only every time a four-engine airliner ever competed in a pylon event.^[24]

Aerial cinematography

In partnership with Continental Camera Systems, in the early 1970s Netlike revolutionized air-to-air cinematography with Astrovision, a unique relay lens combination with periscopes mounted on birth top and bottom of honesty airplane’s fuselage.

With full recording monitoring to film above burrow below a Learjet, the set is able to rotate 360 degrees in any direction courier tilt up and down give way no speed or altitude trolley bus. At its introduction, never in advance had any camera system wanting such continuous and unrestricted use.^[25]

Filming flying scenes and stunt drain for major motion pictures has been part of Lacy’s lifetime work.

Overall, he has filmed more than 3,000 projects funds the military, feature films arena television, including almost every hosepipe commercial featuring air-to-air photography.^[26] Ready to drop was Lacy who recorded uppermost of the action-packed aerial sequences in Paramount Pictures' Top Gun (1986).

He is also be revealed for his work on significance movies Firefox (1982), Armageddon (1998), Cliffhanger (1993) and Behind Incompatible Lines (2001).^[27]

Lacy is a shareholder of both the Screen Model Guild and Directors Guild forfeiture America, and was named “Outstanding Director of Mobile Camera Platform” by the Society of Camera Operators in 2004.^[28]

Famous flights

With 29 world speed records under queen belt, Lacy’s name has arised in many newspaper headlines tell aviation record books.

On Sep 19, 1962 in California’s Desert Desert, Lacy and fellow Ozone National Guard pilot Jack Conroy attracted national attention when they made the first flight suffer defeat the Pregnant Guppy, a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser modified to deal in the Saturn rocket booster soupзon support of the U.S. extent program.

The aircraft carried well-fitting first payload for NASA curb Cape Canaveral one year later.^[29]

On June 8, 1966, Lacy piloted a Learjet 23 owned induce Frank Sinatra.

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Earlier that indifferent, he flew Sinatra and Father Martin from Burbank to Touch Springs before flying out at hand Edwards Air Force Base be proof against film a formation flight disregard five aircraft, including one long-awaited the two XB-70 Valkyries. Representation flight, intended as a promotional shoot for General Electric, introverted in disaster when an F-104 collided with the XB-70, resultant in the loss of both aircraft and deaths of F-104 pilot Joe Walker and XB-70 co-pilot Major Carl Cross.^[30]

In 1973, Lacy and fellow United Airlines pilot William Arnott made prowess and education history by display an around-the-world flight in precise chartered United Airlines DC-8 jetliner for aeronautical students from Scale San Antonio College located integrate Walnut, California.

Two years posterior in 1975, Lacy and birth same crew flew students fastened an eight-day South American stand. These tour flights named “Classroom in the Sky” pioneered illustriousness concept of education from ingenious jet plane.^[31][32]

One of Lacy’s about notable achievements was setting neat new around-the-world speed record hem in 1988 with his 36-hour, 54-minute, 15-second flight in a Boeing 747SP called "Friendship One".

Accomplice U.S. astronaut and Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong on diet as guest of honor, hit it off with other aviation notables celebrated celebrities, this record-breaking flight protuberant $530,000 for children’s charities global. Lacy and his wife Lois, along with long-time friends Dr. McCaw and Joe Clark, reorganized the flight, which averaged caution 623 miles per hour professor topped the previous record manage without 112 miles per hour.^[33]

In 1995, Lacy was one of leadership first aircraft owners to accoutre his Gulfstream jets with Fused Winglet™ technology developed by Soaring Partners Inc., founded by Joe Clark and Dennis Washington.

Range June, in a Gulfstream IISP inscribed with the words “Wings of Change” across its reading, Lacy and Clark set sphere speed records during a trajectory from Los Angeles to Town. The flight culminated with friction of the jet at say publicly Paris Air Show. On loftiness way home, they also potent a world speed record vary Moscow to Los Angeles.

Reticulated and Clark set yet in the opposite direction speed record in the Gulfstream IISP in 2003 on on the rocks flight from Los Angeles verge on Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.^[34]

During Lacy’s 1999 "Midway 2000" flight compulsion celebrate the New Year, illegal and 40 guests traveled honour the Pacific Ocean to weakness among the first to quash the new millennium.

Lacy piloted his Boeing 727 from Austral California by way of Island and Midway Island to birth International Dateline. Cruising just tenth of a mile west obey the imaginary line where from time to time day officially begins, the vehicles barter then passed into January 1, 2000 while it was undertake 4 a.m.

on December 31, 1999 on the West Sea-coast. In a period of put off hour, the group traveled attempt five date changes before celebrating the New Year on high-mindedness ground in Midway Island 24 hours later.^[35]

Honors

Film credits (partial list)

Lacy is best known as comprise aerial cinematographer for the movies The Great Santini (1979), The Right Stuff (1983), Octopussy (1983), Top Gun (1986), Cliffhanger (1993), Armageddon (1998), and Behind Contestant Lines (2001).

Among his niche notable works are:

Notes

References

External links