Richard Hoener was born on April 18, 1918, in Brooklyn, New York. Hoener attended the University of Alabama and received a BS in Aeronautical Engineering in 1939. According to Capstone Engineer Magazine, a publication of the University of Alabama, "During World War II, he served as a captain in the U.S. Army as a test pilot flying B-17s and other aircraft as they came off the assembly line to certify their airworthiness. Following the war, he served in civilian capacity as the head of the static testing laboratory at Wright-Patterson Field until 1974. He then moved to Long Island, N. Y., and worked with Fairchild Republic as the chief design engineer for the A-10 Attack Jet. He retired from Fairchild Republic, and returned to Kettering, Ohio." Mr. Hoener was a member of the Huffman Prairie Aviation History Society and volunteered in the Special Collections and Archives Department at Wright State University. He died on May 19, 2007.
From the guide to the Richard Hoener Collection, 1920-1990, 1940-1960, (Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives)
