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This Day in History – June 10, 1969 – The X-15 gets a place in history

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

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Potts, Peter T.

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  • Potts, Peter T.

Peter T. Potts

Preferred Name: Peter
Date of Birth: July 20, 1935
Highest Military Grade: Select
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Biography
Pilot Information
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Peter Potts “was born on July 20, 1935 in Chicago, Illinois and shortly thereafter the family moved to a suburb, Winnetka, where he grew up with two brothers and two sisters, attended Saints Faith, Hope and Charity School through sixth grade and North Shore Country Day School through eighth grade. He graduated from Culver Military Academy in 1953, Stanford University in 1957 and was commissioned second lieutenant in the United States Air Force. He completed Primary Flight Training (T34,T28), Bainbridge AB, Georgia, Basic Flight Training (T33), Craig AFB, Alabama, Combat Crew Fighter Training (F-100 Top Gun), Luke AFB, Arizona/Nellis AFB, Nevada – and Peter was supersonic.

In Phoenix, he met and married his wife, Olta, and in 1960 they were stationed at Wethersfield AB, England. In 1963, he was reassigned to Nellis AFB, where he flew as Instructor Pilot in the Fighter Weapons School (F-100). His last USAF assignment was as Forward Air Controller, Bien Hoa AB, Vietnam, Where he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Silver Star for bravery by the Air Force Chief of Staff.

In 1967, he resigned from the Air Force to become a United Airlines Pilot. In 1995, he retired as International Captain (B767-300), flying to London and Buenos Aires from Kennedy completing thirty-eight years of flight, accident free.”(1)

Source: (1) https://www.cremationadvocates.net/obituary/captain-peter-t-potts/

Units Assigned

  • 1957 commissioned 2Lt USAF
  • Primary Flight Training, Bainbridge AB, GA (T34, T28)
  • Basic Flight Training, Craig AFB, AL (T33)
  • Combat Crew Fighter Training (F-100 Top Gun), Luke AFB, AZ/Nellis AFB, NV
  • 1960 55th Tactical Fighter Squadron/20th Tactical Fighter Wing, Wethersfield RAFB, England
  • 1963 IP, Fighter Weapons School, Nellis AFB, NV
  • FAC, Bien Hoa AB, Vietnam

Awards & Decorations

Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross
Silver Star
Silver Star

Flight Info

T34
T28
T33
F-100 (Top Gun)

Military & Civilian Education

Civilian Education:

  • 1953 Culver Military Academy
  • 1957 Stanford University

Peter T. Potts, 84, of Horseshoe Bay, took his final flight on October 15, 2019. He was born on July 20, 1935 in Chicago, Illinois and shortly thereafter the family moved to a suburb, Winnetka, where he grew up with two brothers and two sisters, attended Saints Faith, Hope and Charity School through sixth grade and North Shore Country Day School through eighth grade. He graduated from Culver Military Academy in 1953, Stanford University in 1957 and was commissioned second lieutenant in the United States Air Force. He completed Primary Flight Training (T34,T28), Bainbridge AB, Georgia, Basic Flight Training (T33), Craig AFB, Alabama, Combat Crew Fighter Training (F-100 Top Gun), Luke AFB, Arizona/Nellis AFB, Nevada – and Peter was supersonic.

In Phoenix, he met and married his wife, Olta, and in 1960 they were stationed at Wethersfield AB, England. In 1963, he was reassigned to Nellis AFB, where he flew as Instructor Pilot in the Fighter Weapons School (F-100). His last USAF assignment was as Forward Air Controller, Bien Hoa AB, Vietnam, Where he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Silver Star for bravery by the Air Force Chief of Staff.

In 1967, he resigned from the Air Force to become a United Airlines Pilot. In 1995, he retired as International Captain (B767-300), flying to London and Buenos Aires from Kennedy completing thirty-eight years of flight, accident free.(1)

Source: (1) https://www.cremationadvocates.net/obituary/captain-peter-t-potts/

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