In Memoriam

Lieutenant Colonel William W. Bateman

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Lieutenant Colonel William W. Bateman

16 March 2006

Lifetime EAA member and SportAir Workshops instructor William W. "Bill" Bateman died Thursday, March 16 at his home in Mequon, Wisconsin, after succumbing to pneumonia. Bill instructed EAA's Flight Test Flying Your Project class at many locations around the country. "Bill was an outstanding instructor for EAA," said Charlie Becker, Director of EAA's SportAir Workshops. "He wanted to see his students complete their project and safely get them in the air. Bill will truly be missed by the EAA family."

Bill was a U.S. Air Force pilot from the mid-1970s until retiring as Lt. Colonel in 1996, flying 17 of those years in the F-16. He was a Chapter president in Florida, and also served as vice president of Chapter 18 in Milwaukee. Bill was an EAA Flight Advisor and regularly presented forums on flight-testing at both AirVenture and Sun 'n Fun.

Over the years, Bill served at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh as co-chairman of air show operations and in the air operations staff of the Ultralight area. Bill was also a strong supporter of the EAA Young Eagles program.

"Bill was a person of tireless enthusiasm for recreational aviation, and homebuilding in particular," said Doug Kelly, Chairman of Homebuilt Aircraft Council. "He had that always-ready-to-help type of personality."

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Visitor Comments

Lt Col Bill Bateman

roland sturbelle, Aug 07, 2022 - 11:56 PM

As I have a picture of him while he was in Europe in 1979, I would like to have a pcture of him later on,

Thanking you

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