William K. Kershner (1930 - 2007) began flying in 1945 at the age of fifteen, washing and propping airplanes to earn flying time. By this method he obtained the private, then the commercial and flight instructor certificates, becoming a flight instructor at nineteen. He spent four years as a naval aviator, most of the time as a pilot in a night fighter squadron, both shore and carrier based. He flew nearly three years as a corporation pilot and for four years worked for Piper Aircraft Corporation, demonstrating airplanes to the military, doing experimental flight-testing, and acting as special assistant to William T. Piper, Sr., president of the company. Bill Kershner held a degree in technical journalism from Iowa State University. While at the university he took courses in aerodynamics, performance, and stability and control. He held the airline transport pilot, commercial, and flight and ground instructor certificates and flew airplanes ranging from 40-hp Cubs to jet fighters. He is the author (and illustrator) of The Student Pilot’s Flight Manual, The Instrument Flight Manual, The Advanced Pilot’s Flight Manual, The Flight Instructor’s Manual, The Basic Aerobatic Manual, and Logging Flight Time.The Kershner Flight Manual Series has influenced hundreds of thousands of pilots, with over 1.3 million copies printed in at least 3 languages. After doing his first spin at the age of 16 in an Aeronca TAC, Kershner flew and taught aerobatics for 60 years and operated a one-airplane, one-instructor aerobatics school in Sewanee, Tennessee using a Cessna 152 Aerobat. He received the General Aviation Flight Instructor of the Year Award, 1992, at the state, regional and national levels. The Ninety-Nines awarded him the 1994 Award of Merit. In 1998 he was inducted into the Flight Instructor Hall of Fame and in 2002 was among the first to be inducted into the Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame. In 2007 he was inducted into the International Aerobatic Club Hall of Fame; to date he is only person inducted into both the International Aerobatic Club Hall of Fame and the Flight Instructor’s Hall of Fame.
Editor William C. Kershner received his early flight training from his father, William K. Kershner. He holds Commercial, Flight Instructor and Airline Transport Pilot certificates and has flown 22 types of airplanes, ranging in size from Cessna 150s to Boeing 777s, in his 15,000 flight hours. He works as an airline pilot and lives in Sewanee, Tennessee
