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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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Wisnousky, Thomas L,

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  • Wisnousky, Thomas L,

Thomas Louis Wisnousky

Preferred Name: Thomas
Nickname/Call Sign: Wizzer
Date of Birth: January 3, 1941
Highest Military Grade: 0-3 – Captain
Hometown: Cedar Rapids, IA
Headed West Date: May 16, 2011
Thomas Louis Wisnousky - before
Biography
Pilot Information
Headed West

“I directed the F-100D/F maintenance activities of the 481st Tactical Fighter Squadron during conversion from the centralized maintenance concept of Air Force Manual 66-1 to a reconstituted Tactical Fighter Squadron. My duties and responsibilities expanded from those of a Flight-line Maintenance Officer to a Material Staff Officer.

I was assigned five officers and 242 enlisted personnel to provide complete organizational support for 18 F-100 fighter aircraft. The support included squadron: Supply, Quality Control, Maintenance Control, Avionics, Munitions, Aero Repair, Aerospace Ground Equipment, Flight-line, Motor Vehicle, and Propulsion Maintenance.

I contributed to the 27th Wing plan for Facilities utilization and organized the hangars and buildings assigned to my squadron into the necessary shops. The conversion was accomplished while supporting the Replacement Training Unit mission (RTU) of the 481st Tactical Fighter Squadron.

During the period 31 October, 1966 to 12 August, 1968 we increased the aircraft utilization rate from 16 to 22 hours per month, and graduated every class of RTU pilots ahead of schedule.”

Units Assigned

  • 7/1964-9/1965 474th Fighter, Cannon AFB, NM F-100D/F
  • Oct 1966 – Oct 1967 481st Tactical Fighter Squadron, Cannon AFB, NM (F-100 D/F)
  • 10/1967-8/1968 481st Tactical Fighter Squadron, Cannon AFB, NM (F-100D/F)
  • 8/1968-6/1969 357th Tactical Fighter Squadron, (PACAF) Takhli RTAB, Thailand (F-105 D/F)
  • 6/1969-7/1970 6549th OMS, HQ AF Eastern Test Range, AFSC, Patrick AFB, FL  (NKC-135N, KC-135, C-135, C-118, T-39 Transient A/C of all types, NASA T-38)
  • 7/1970-1/1971 Aircraft Maintenance Control Branch, HQ AFETR, AFSC, Patrick AFB, FL (NKC-135N, KC-135, C-135, C-118, T-39 Transient A/C of all types, NASA T-38)
  • 1/1971-7/1975 Maintenance Control, 6549th CAMS, AFETR, AFSC, Patrick AFB, FL (NKC-135N, KC-135, C-135, C-118, T-39 Transient A/C of all types, NASA T-38 Field Maintenance Support of Air Rescue H-53s.)

Awards & Decorations

Flight Info

F-100D/F
F-105 D/F
NKC-135N
KC-135
|C-135
C-118
T-39
T-38
H-53

Military & Civilian Education

Military Education:

  • 1961 Basic AFROTC, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA
  • 1963 OTS, Lackland AFB, TX
  • 1964 Aircraft Maint. Officer’s Course OBR 4341, Chanute AFB, IL
  • 1964 Aircraft Maint. Technical Course, F-100, Cannon AFB, NM
  • 1968 Staff Officer’s OJT Orientation Course, Patrick AFB, FL
  • 1971 Effective Executive Course, Patrick AFB, FL
  • 1971 Squadron Officer’s School, Maxwell AFB, AL
  • 1972 Aircraft Maint. Management Course, Patrick AFB, FL
  • 1974 Labor Management Relations Course, Patrick AFB, FL

Civilian Education:

  • 1963 BA Business Administration, Coe College, Cedar Rapids IA
  • 1972 MA Business Administration, Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL

Thomas Louis Wisnousky, Capt. USAF, Ret., “Headed West” on May 16, 2011.

Tom Wisnousky, 70, passed away unexpectedly on Monday, May 16, 2011.

Tom was born on January 3, 1941, in Cedar Rapids, IA, and graduated from Jefferson High School there. He obtained his BA at Coe College in Cedar Rapids and his MBA from Florida State.

On Thanksgiving Day in 1961, he married the love of his life, Carol. They would have been married 50 years in November. Tom served in the USAF from 1963-1975. He retired from the Housing and Urban Development in 2004. He was a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather who enjoyed playing soccer, sail boat racing, biking, corvettes, and his grandkids’ activities. Tom belonged to the Tall Dog Bike Club, and Corvette Club of Iowa, and enjoyed the many friends he met through those activities.

Survivors include his wife and soul mate, Carol Wisnousky; son, Ted and wife Lisa; grandchildren, Ryan, Tyler, Kayla and Jake; and brothers, Edwin, Joe (Donna) and Jerry (Jan). Tom was preceded in death by his parents, Edwin and Leona Wisnousky, and son Daniel.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to the family, to be used for a memorial bench on one of Tom’s favorite bike trails.

Online condolences may be made at: www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com

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