John Loomis Pinney |
| Posted 2009-08-07 by Sharon |
| The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, AZ January 24, 2007, p. A5 John Loomis Pinney left on his last flight in the early morning hours of Dec. 23, just weeks away from the 90th birthday he had hoped to reach. He died of natural causes in the Hospice of Arizona, Sun City West. Born Feb. 1, 1917 in Chicago, Ill., he spent the majority of his years in California and the past 25 in Arizona. His lifelong career as a commercial aviation pilot began at age 12 in 1929 under the tutelage of his pilot father, and ended at 60, the mandated retirement age. He had more than 30,000 hours logged in his pilot's log book. His number of FFA licensures was extraordinary: he was licensed to operate aircraft from Sikorsky and Grumman passenger seaplanes all the way to the Aero Spacelines' original Super Guppy and Pregnant Guppy for the Saturn and Apollo space missions for NASA. The breadth of his experiences and travels was also extraordinary. Besides ferrying passengers and cargo all over the world, he made charitable contributions with aerial food drops during the Congolese wars; with planning and execution of the aerial measures to control moth deforestation in Canada; and with aid and machinery flown to Indonesian countries. He was an ardent collector and restorer of Ford Model Ts for over 40 years. He won many show awards, and many collectors around the country own one of his restored Model T automobiles. He served proudly and honorably during World War II, flying bomber and reconnaissance aircraft for both Great Britain (RAF) and the United States (AAF). He was extremely proud of is war medals and citations - from both countries. He will be remembered for his highly adventurous and enormously colorful life, and the fact that he never met a motorcycle or a woman he didn't like. His two surviving daughters will miss him and wish him a heavenly final flight. Arrangements under the direction of Wickenburg Funeral Home. |
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