Leo Loudenslager

Infobox Aviator
name= Leo Loudenslager
lived= January 1944 - July 28, 1997


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nationality= flagicon|US American
place of death= Nashville, Tennessee
cause of death= Motorcycle accident
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known for= seven United States Aerobatic Championships; 1980 World Aerobatics Championship
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Leo Loudenslager (January 1944 - July 28 1997) was an American aviator. He is the only person to have won seven national aerobatic titles [cite news |first=Frank |last=Emblen |title=The Guide: Thrills, Chills in the Air |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE4D81331F930A1575BC0A961948260 |work=New York Times |date=1987-08-23 |quote=Mr. Loudenslager, who in 1980 won the World Aerobatic Championship, is the only person to have won the United States Aerobatic Championship seven times. ] and is one of only two Americans to win the World Aerobatics Championship title.

Biography

Loudenslager served in the Air Force as a B-52 mechanic. [cite news |first=John |last=Burnes |title=Leo Loudenslager: End of the Line for Pilot's Bud Light |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=1995-06-30 |page=14D |quote=Loudenslager, who was once a military mechanic on B-52s, can't seem to resist the urge to take his aircraft apart. ] He was stationed at Travis Air Force Base in 1964 when he took leave to attend the first Reno Air Races, where he was inspired to become a pilot. In 1966, he joined American Airlines as a first officer. He worked for them for the rest of his life.

He acquired a Stephens Akro aerobatic plane in 1970 and competed in his first competition the next year. A series of modifications to the plane, tail number N10LL, culminated in the rechristening of the plane as the Laser 200 in 1975. [cite news |first=Katherine |last=Ullmer |title=Aerobat Does Flips in Homebuilt Plane |work=Dayton Daily News |date=1991-07-18 |page=12 ] With the Laser 200, he won seven United States Aerobatic Championships [cite web |title=U.S. National Category Winners |url=http://www.iac.org/trophies/category_winners_us_nationals.html ] and the 1980 World Aerobatics Championship.

Loudenslager also flew in air shows, notably the Sussex Airshow at his home airport in Sussex County, New Jersey. [cite news |first=Patricia |last=Squires |title=Air Shows Gaining, Despite Criticism |work=New York Times |date=1983-09-11 |page=17 |quote=Leo Loudenslager and Jim Roberts, pilots on the United States Olympic aerobatic team, spun their red and blue Lasers into daring loops, dives and rolls over Sussex County Airport. ] In addition to his Laser 200, he also flew a Bede BD-5J [cite news |first=Timothy R. |last=Gaffney |title=Homebuilt Jet Gives Pilot Change of Pace |work=Dayton Daily News |date=1992-06-18 |page=18 |quote=Loudenslager of Thompson Station, Tenn., won a world aerobatic championship in the propeller-driven Laser 200. This year, for a change of pace, he'll be flying a BD-5J, a tiny homebuilt jet with stubby wings and little else. ] ; both aircraft were sponsored by Bud Light.

In later years, Loudenslager's base of operation was at Thompson's Station, Tennessee, approximately convert|25|mi|km from Nashville.

Marriage and children

Loudenslager had two children, Kelly and Carolyn, from his marriage to former airhostess Susan, from whom he was divorced.

Death and afterward

On June 28, 1997, a car crossed the center line and collided head-on with his motorcycle on U.S. Route 31 near his home in Tennessee. He passed away a month later in hospital at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. [cite news |title=Leo Loudenslager, 53; Pilot Appeared at Fair Saint Louis |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=1997-08-01 |page=5B ]

Loudenslager's plane, the Laser 200, was donated to the Smithsonian in 1999. [ [http://collections.nasm.si.edu/code/emuseum.asp?profile=objects&quicksearch=A19990171000&newstyle=single Loudenslager Laser 200] entry in the National Air and Space Museum Collections Database.] It was on display at the National Air and Space Museum from October 2001 through April 2003 as part of the Aerobatic Champions temporary exhibit [cite web |title=NASM Temporary Exhibition - Aerobatic Champions |url=http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal104/aerochamps/index.htm ] and has been on permanent display in the museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center since December 2003. Twenty members of the US House of Representatives signed a letter objecting to the plane's Bud Light emblems remaining on the plane [cite news |first=Jacqueline |last=Trescott |title=Legislators Protest Beer Logos on Museum Exhibit |work=Washington Post |date=2003-11-19 ] , but the museum stood by its position of not altering artifacts except for repair [cite news |first=Jacqueline |last=Trescott |title=Museum Won't Remove Beer Logos From Plane |work=Washington Post |date=2003-11-21 ] .

The International Council of Air Shows Foundation maintains a scholarship in his name, which is given in rotation to an enlisted member of the US Navy Blue Angels, the US Air Force Thunderbirds or the Canadian Forces Snowbirds to be used toward the cost of flight training.

Awards

*1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982: United States Aerobatic Champion
*1980: World Aerobatics Champion
*1982: New Jersey Aviation Hall of Fame
*1990: Bill Barber Award for Showmanship, "World Airshow News" magazine
*1990: Clifford W. Henderson Achievement Award, Cleveland National Air Show [cite news |title=Clifford W. Henderson Achievement Award :: Cleveland National Air Show |url=http://www.clevelandairshow.com/press_room/hendersonawd.htm ]
*1991: ICAS Art Scholl Showmanship Award
*1991: International Aerobatics Hall of Fame [cite web |title=International Aerobatics Hall of Fame Honorees |url=http://www.iac.org/programs/hof_members.html ]
*1994: ICAS Sword of Excellence
*1998: ICAS Air Show Hall of Fame [cite web |title=Leo Loudenslager, Air Show Hall of Fame |url=http://www.icasfoundation.org/hall_fame/1998/hf_loudenslager.htm ]
*Victor Award, National Academy of Sports Editors

References

External links

*imdb|0521687
* [http://www.landings.com/_landings/reviews-opinions/loudenslager.html Landings: Opinions: Leo Loudenslager Memorial]
* [http://www.airventuremuseum.org/collection/aircraft/Loudenslager_Zivko%20Shark.asp Loudenslager/Zivko Shark] aircraft
* [http://www.airbum.com/pireps/PirepStephensAkro.html Flying Leo's Stephens Akro]
* [http://artscholl.org/StephensAkro.htm Stephens Akro] (details some of the modifications made by Loudenslager)