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The History of the International Fighter Pilots Fellowship |
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Documents
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| The IFPF was conceived and founded in July of 1971 by Dudley Henriques, a United States civilian pilot with a specialty in aerobatic flying and in the instruction and demonstration flying of fighter aircraft. | ||
| An honor society comprised mainly of people and pilots in and around the airshow demonstration community, the IFPF was made up of both military and civilian pilots. All active members were professional pilots who flew fighter aircraft either actively or at some point in their lives. | ||
| The IFPF also offered, on rare occasions, honorary membership to individuals whose contribution to fighter aviation was of a non-flying nature. | ||
| Membership in the IFPF was by invitation only. There were no dues solicited or paid at any time during the life of the fellowship, and prospective members had to be voted into the fellowship by the existing membership. | ||
| The stated purpose of the fellowship was: | ||
| "It is the purpose of the International Fighter Pilots Fellowship to identify with pride the pilots who fly the world's highest performance aircraft, and through the establishment of a world-wide non-political fraternity of these pilots, to help promote and achieve a better understanding as the direct result of improved professional and personal communication." | ||
| The Fellowship was actively involved from July 1971 until June 1985 in numerous activities split between the military and civilian aviation communities. Much of the work done was behind the scenes and involved flight safety issues unique to the flight demonstration venue. IFPF was also involved in outsourced public relations work both for and within the military fighter communities of the U.S. Air Force and Navy. The Fellowship was ultimately comprised of over 90 members. | ||
 The organization was last publicly active in 2003, with assistance provided to Gen. Des Barker of the South African Air Force in the creation of the outstanding book on airshow demonstration flying and flight Safety "Zero Error Margin," published in 2004.
McDonnell Douglas Corporation supplied the custom-designed identity pins for the Fellowship, which was a small F-4 Phantom II lapel pin. |
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| The charter membership of the IFPF consisted of the following organizations and individuals: | ||
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| Organizations in IFPF | Representative | |
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The United States Navy Demonstration Team Blue Angels
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Lt. Cmdr Skip Umstead
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The United States Air Force Demonstration Team Thunderbirds
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Col. Tom Swalm
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The Canadian Forces Jet Demonstration Team Snowbirds |
Col. O.B. Philip
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The Royal Air Force Red Arrows Demonstration Team
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Sqd Ldr P.T. Squire
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The United States Navy Test Pilot School
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Cmdr. R.A. Johnson
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The Combat Pilots Association of the United States
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Steve Ritchie
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| Charter Individual Members in the IFPF: | Organization | |
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Founder & President | |
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V.P. Flying Tiger Airlines | |
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USAF | |
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Volkmerluft | |
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RAF | |
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U.S. Air Racing Assoc. | |
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President, Combat Pilots Assoc. of U.S. | |
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USN | |
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Professional Race Pilots Assoc. | |
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New York Port Authority | |
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President, Ransome Airlines | |
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USAF & Warner Robbins Museum of Aviation | |
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Demonstration Pilot | |
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Rockwell Corp. | |
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RAF | |
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Commander, 108th TFW, NJANG | |
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American Volunteer Group "Flying Tigers" | |
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Blue Angels | |
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| Honorary Members | Representing | |
| Dick Schram | "Flying Professor" Air Show | |
| J.W. "Bill" Fornof | Bearcat Team | |
| Jim Ford | ||
| Katie Ford | ||
| Ed Snyder | ||
| Jere Snyder | ||
| Dick Minges | ||
| Toni Minges | ||
| Capt. James R. Shotwell | Delaware ANG | |
| Historians interested in the Fellowship will find it referenced in various publications and articles written during the 1970s, including articles published in the old Combat Pilots Association magazine, "Join Up." | ||
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Documents
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