10 June 1969: The U.S. Air Force donated the first North American Aviation X-15, serial number 56-6670, to the Smithsonian Institution for display at the National Air and Space Museum. The first of three X-15A hypersonic research rocketplanes built by North American for the Air Force and the National Advisory Committee (NACA, the predecessor of NASA), 56-6670 made the first glide flight and
Jim Frederick flew the F-100 from 1976-1978 with the 162nd Tactical Fighter Squadron/178th Tactical Fighter Group, OHANG, Springfield, OH.
He is a CFII, Tailwheel Instructor Pilot.
Jim says he “first started flying in the summer of 1966 and was inspired by two uncles who were World War II pilots and the fact that his family farm was adjacent to a small, rural airport. Since then, he has served 24 years in the U.S. Air Force, 20 years as a corporate pilot, has been an instructor since 1971, and continues to fly and teach regularly.”(1)
In 2018, Jim was awarded the Federal Aviation Administration’s Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award during a special meeting of the Champaign County Pilots Association at the Champaign Aviation Museum. (2)
Source: (1) Urbanacitizen.com; (2) Springfield News/Sun