Astronaut, former AMA member, and retired U.S. Air Force Col. Frank Borman has died.
Born in Gary, Indiana, and raised in Tuscon, Arizona, he was an AMA member in the 1940s and attributed model aviation as the basis for his career and achievements in aerospace activities. He noted the following in a 1993 interview with AMA:
“…I wish that everybody could have gotten as much out of model aviation and had as much enjoyment from it as I have. Not only do I think that it helped to further my career and stimulate an interest in aviation but, in my case, it provided many long hours of very fine companionship with my father … he helped me build and we worked together as a team and it was really a fine activity. In fact, I probably got to know my father better building model airplanes than any other thing we did.”
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, in an online November 13, 2023, article noted,
He was also a lifelong aircraft modeler and was later recognized for it by the Academy of Model Aeronautics.
Borman is survived by two sons and their families.
His career clearly demonstrated how model aviation has inspired generations of young men and women to reach for the stars.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/09/us/frank-borman-apollo-astronaut-obit-scn/index.html
https://apnews.com/article/astronaut-frank-borman-died-at-95-ed5eb4edf26a4076a2fef6cc31881aff