Major Frank Liethen, Jr., USAF '53 was lost 54 years ago today, on October 12, 1966, when the F-100 Super Sabre jet he was piloting collided with another over Nevada. He was the executive officer of the Thunderbirds demonstration team.
He was an airman for a year prior to the Naval Academy, and then was commissioned in the Air Force following his graduation. The Lucky Bag says of him: "When "Elmer" was asked why he didn't stand first in the class . . . '"Somebody scotch-taped my skinny book shut." This handicap didn't prevent him from considering academics just a minor hazard in his path to graduation. When he was not out on the field squashing some poor unfortunate individual under his monstrous frame, he could be found comfortably curled up over a pool table in Smoke Hall, wishing he had a good bottle of beer to keep him company. The frap for skylarking was without doubt made up expressly for Frank, but it didn't faze him at all; he's headed for the Air Force after graduation."
He held a Master's degree in electronics in 1959 from the Air University at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and graduated the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards AFB, Calif., where he was chosen outstanding pilot and overall student in his class. After a year as a project officer in the research and development section of the Fighter Weapons School at Nellis AFB, he returned to the pilot school as an instructor. While there he flew an F-104 Starfighter modified with a rocket engine to an altitude of 108,000 feet.
He was survived by his wife, Charlotte, and four children, Robin, Laura, Gretta and Tony.
