Mike Lavelle will give another one of his dynamic talks about aviation history at 7pm, December 16 at Heron Point. This talk is entitled “American Airlines and the C. R. Smith Era 1925-1960.”
A pilot and aviation historian, Lavelle has given several previous talks to packed audiences at Heron Point and looks forward to his return. He’s a pro, and peppers the technical with the personal. If you are at all interested in aviation history, this one’s for you.
American Airlines attributes its early survival and growth through the Depression, World War II, and into the jet age, to its very special leader, C.R. Smith. How was this non-technical executive astute enough to talk Donald Douglas into building the DC-3? How did American become the first domestic airline to introduce the Boeing 707 on their long haul routes? The presentation will explain the distinguishing characteristics of American from their early pioneering days that lead to its consistent blending of the right aircraft on the right routes with the right personnel.
Mike Lavelle is an aviation historian and author with 48 years of aerospace industry experience including the Cessna and Boeing aircraft companies . He is also an FAA flight instructor with over 7000 hours in a variety of aircraft as well as a certified Airframe & Powerplant Technician. After retiring from Boeing, Mike spent 7 years as a director at The Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA and has made aviation history presentations to universities, industry groups, world-wide branches of the Royal Aeronautical Society and air museums, including the Imperial War Museum. Mike’s area of historical interest spans from the early days of aeronautics into the jet age. He has authored papers and books on a variety of subjects including the Boeing 307 Stratoliner, the B-29, the early Wichita Aviation industry and the Boeing Model 40. Mike is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), as well as, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society of Great Britain.
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