Rhon Williams

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to fly an airplane that you built yourself? Well, Rhon Williams didn't just wonder; he actually did it, and is still doing it. He will tell us about his experiences on April 27, 2019, at the Northrop Grumman S-Café. 10:00 AM: Social; 10:30 AM: Start of Lecture.

Don't miss this interesting and enlightening presentation by a very accomplished (and brave) LMAG member, Rhon Williams.

An inside look at building and flight testing an experimental amateur-built aircraft called the Early Bird Jenny.  Using modern construction materials and techniques, it is built from plans to look like a 2/3 scale Curtiss Jenny, a common WWI trainer.

Biography:

Rhon grew up in Dayton, Ohio near WPAFB, and got to see all kinds of military planes flying over his house.  His Dad took him to air shows, so he gained an interest in aviation at a young age. While earning a PhD in electrical engineering at the University of Illinois, Rhon took flight training as some of his courses, ultimately earning a commercial pilot license, rated to fly single and multiengine airplanes, gliders, and helicopters; and a flight instructor rating for airplanes, instruments, and gliders.

After moving to California, Rhon taught flying part time while working as an engineer, and now co-owns a Cirrus SR22, in which he and his wife enjoy many flying trips. Past trips included flying northwest to Banff, northeast to New Jersey, southeast to Bahamas, and southwest to Cabo San Lucas.  

After retiring in 2011 as a Program Manager at Northrop Grumman, he now gets to spend more time at the airport playing with airplanes. Rhon is active in the Experimental Aircraft Association, Civil Air Patrol, and gives presentations to pilots as a FAA Safety Team representative. He is also a member of IEEE, AIAA, and AAAS.