In the summer of 1954 Ed joined the U.S. Air Force as an enlisted man, shipped to Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas, for basic training knowing that he had a slot in Aviation Cadets coming up later that year.
After six weeks of basic training he was called across the field to the Aviation Cadet area and proudly put on the starched tans of an Aviation Cadet and became a member of the pilot training class of
56-H. He trained in the PA-18 (Super Piper Cub) and T-6  Texan at Mariana AB in Florida, the T-28 and T-33 at Bryan AFB, Texas and graduated as a shiny, gold bar second lieutenant, with new, silver pilot's wings in February 1956. 
His first assignment was to Pease AFB, New Hampshire that was still under construction when he arrived. The base hadn’t yet received any of the B-47s that he was going to fly as a co-pilot in his first assignment in the Strategic Air Command (SAC). He was initially checked out in the C-45 (Beech 18) and later that year sent to B-47 training at McConnell AFB, Kansas.
     Ed flew as co-pilot in the B-47 until 1960 and then spent one year as a maintenance officer supervising 124 men who maintained the fifteen aircraft of the 349^th Bomb Squadron in the 100^th Bomb Wing. Later in 1960 Ed, then a 1st Lieutenant, was upgraded to aircraft commander and with 2nd Lt. George Thompson as co-pilot and 2nd Lt. Ron Farrell as his navigator, became the youngest combat-ready crew in Strategic Air Command.
     In 1957, Ed married Jan Edwards of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. They have four children, Sharon, Jennifer (JJ), Edward and Christopher. Their children travel to many assignments in the continental United States - Arkansas, Texas, California, Oklahoma - and to Turkey in 1972 and again to Iran in 1976 when Ed was reassigned there. Sharon, their oldest, graduated for the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis in the first class of women midshipmen in 1980. She went on to become a civil engineer with the Navy and married one of her academy mates, Tim Disher. Sharon served for seven years and then decided to become a “mom” and raise their children; two boys and one girl. She and Tim have been stationed many places in the last twenty-or so years but , now, with their three children, have been assigned back to the Navel Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Jennifer (JJ) graduated from Dartmouth College and worked as a bond trader for one of the major banks in New York City. She lives in Wilmette, IL, with her two sons, Christopher and Timothy. JJ has produced an award winning documentary film for PBS called "Refrigerator Mothers". Her film won the Best in Show at the Sedona Film Festival in 2002. Ed IV graduated from Boston College, worked in NYC just long enough to meet and marry the lady of his life and move back to Rainey's home state of California. They now live in Rancho Santa Fe, CA. Ed IV worked with the Home Depot during the company's early days and rapidly made his way up the managerial ladder. Since leaving Home Depot he has been involved in several start-up ventures and enjoys the day-to-day adventures of raising their three beautiful, California daughters. Christopher, the youngest, graduated from Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts. He is married to Kerri Trimble of West Virginia, and they have two little ones - one of each, and a great pair to finish off Grandpa's dreams.

Chris' web page is featured on the home page. He has a very successful real estate business in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
     From 1957 to 1965 Ed and his crew participated in the SAC “Relex Action” duty which required regular overseas flights to Brize Norton AB and Upper Heyford AB in England and Torrejon AB and Seville AB in Spain and Sidi Slimane Air Base, Morocco, North Africa. He made over 70 crossings of the Atlantic Ocean during this period for nuclear stand-by alert and training. 
    In 1965 Ed was stationed to Amarillo AFB, Texas via a six month training tour at Castle AFB (Merced), California, training to become an aircraft commander in the B-52. In 1967 he was assigned to Clinton Sherman AFB, Oklahoma, became an instructor pilot and spent three six month tours in the Far East flying 64 combat missions over Viet Nam and Cambodia from bases in Guam, Okinawa and Utapo, Thailand. Ed was awarded the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster for the 564 hours of combat flying he and his crew completed during the three combat tours.

  
     Ed was reassigned fourteen times in his twenty-six years of service. Although three of the assignments brought him and his family back to Pease AFB, NH, where he had started his military flying career, Ed did travel to, and live in (sometimes with the family and sometimes without) Little Rock, Arkansas, Wichita, Kansas, England, Spain, Morocco, Merced, California, Amarillo, Texas, Andersen, Guam, Kadena, Okinawa, Japan, Utapo, Thailand, Clinton-Sherman, Oklahoma, back to Pease AFB, Portsmouth, New Hampshire and soon after to Incirlik AB (Adana) Turkey. After a two year tour in Turkey, Ed and family returned to Pease for the third time and it really was a homecoming. But two years later they all packed up and took off to Tehran, Iran.

     In 1976 Ed was sent, with the family, to Iran as the Chief of Plans and Programs for the Military Advisory and Assistance Group (MAAG) attachment and worked on the Iranian Supreme Commander’s Staff. As you may remember Iran became a not so nice place to be in about 1977. And later that year Ed was place under house arrest following the take over by Ayatollah Khomeini. His family had been sent home earlier as it became more obvious that the Shah was losing the support of his people and Washington. Ed “escaped”, with the help of two of his Iranian body guards, to Athens in early 1978 just days before the take-over of the American Embassy, by getting smuggled on a C-141 that had been flown in to supply the U.S. Embassy.     
     His experience is a fascinating story and he is planning a book to memorialize it for his grandchildren and any one else who wants to know a little more about Iran, the history of the over throw of the Shah of Iran and the reemergence of Islamic Fundamentalism and its easily predictable, attendant terrorism.
                                             **********************

The airline operated the Grumman Goose (G-21), Mallard & Turbo Mallard (G-73 & G-73T) and for a short time had one of the last operational (Short) Sandringham flying boats. Ed flew for Antilles Airboats for ten years from 1978 to 1989, full and part time. He logged over 10,000 water landings in the Goose and Mallard flying between the islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas, Tortola, British Virgin Islands, St. John and San Juan, Puerto Rico and Culebra.

Hurricane Hugo put an end to the "era of airboat flying" in the Islands. It destroyed all of the Mallards that had not been moved to hangers in Puerto Rico. It was one of the saddest sights Ed had seen in his flying career.

In 1991 Ed and Adrienne, moved to Sedona, Arizona and one of the first places Ed checked out was the local airport. He quickly acquired a beautiful 1984 Cessna 182RG (Red, White and Blue - his favorite colors). After about three years he decided he wanted a little more excitement and purchased a 1941 WACO UPF-7 that had been restored to perfect condition. One of Ed's sons, Chris met him in Kenosha Wisconsin to help fly the 1941 WACO UPF-7 back to Sedona. It took them 11 days to make the trip.

This picture was taken in Wichita, Kansas, where Ed and his son were 'weathered in' for four days during the trip back to Sedona. They were fortunate to get the beautiful antique, World War II trainer in a hanger to protect it from the hail coming down outside.
Chris is a real estate broker in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Visit his web site at www.chrishanley.com to learn of the best deals in real estate from the best broker in the islands.
The WACO is a wonderful and fun airplane to fly. Ed owned and flew it for about three years and sold it to buy a 1977 Cessna 337, Skymaster, the aircraft he considers the best and safest twin engine, general aviation aircraft flying today. Of course, now-a-days he sometimes wishes he had the beautiful, original antique WACO sitting up at the hanger waiting for a loop or roll with the old master.

CURRENT ACTIVITIES
Ed is in the process of building a (Experimental) Light Sport Aircraft, (E-LSA). The aircraft, a "Challenger II", comes in a "kit " that the pilot builds. In Ed's case he has had the dealer who sold the aircraft to him, help and participate in a major potion of the the building of the airplane.
 
This airplane is a wonderful, safe, easy to fly, "keep you foot in the door", stay current and interested, aviation project. Ed is now touring around the Sedona skies, smashing bugs at a blazing 65 MPH (and a fuel burn of 3 gallons per hour!). 

LOVE OF THE SEA
While growing up in Maine Ed began sailing in his teens. He has owned, sailed and raced his own sailboats and crewed for others, sail and power boats from 12 to 150 feet. He was a member of the Portsmouth Yacht Club (NH) for fifteen years and raced and sailed his 24' full keel sloop, “Tha’ Egos”, an Ensign, and crewed many other racing sailboats with many members and friends.

While living in the U.S. Virgin Islands (1978-1991) Ed owned and cruised his Gulfstar 37 center cockpit cutter, “Shireen”. Unfortunately “Shireen” was destroyed when Hurricane Hugo hit the islands in 1989. In 1981 he was the full time captain of the sixty five foot power yacht, “AliKai”, an Italian built Bagliato, owned by Alice Kaiser, the widow of Henry Kaiser. With a crew of four he toured and entertained invited guests while visiting many of the Virgin Islands. In 1985 Ed sailed as second navigator on the delivery voyage of the schooner “Clipper City” from St. Thomas to Baltimore with Captain Don Nickelson. Ed and his wife, Adrienne now charter sailboats in the San Juan Islands and trailer and sail their 19' Menger Cat catboat around the lakes in Arizona.

Ed and Adrienne are avid fishermen, skiers and hikers...along with Agatha, their faithful English Springer Spaniel, who carries her own water!..and "Tessa", a Beagle-Pit Bull mix that Ed picked up on the road one night coming home from a real estate appointment. She had evidently been abandoned and Ed and Adrienne have been the very happy benefactors. She is a wonderful addition to the Hanley household.

Ed truly believes that life is a gift to be treasured....and lived to the fullest!

Edward E. Hanley III
Coldwell Banker 1st Affiliate
195 W. Hwy 89A Sedona, AZ 86336
Business: (928) 340-5001
Fax: (928) 282-3716  Cell: (928)  300-7000
info@edwardehanley.com

| © 2009 Edward E. Hanley lll, PLLC.  All rights reserved.  |