5ft 9in, blonde hair Next of kin (father): Robert Uriah Wimmer. (mother: Emma Melissa [Snyder]) Ed. Los Angeles High School "As a youth of 10 years, he would escape his chores on the family farm in Idaho to visit the airport. He washed planes for two months before a pilot took him up for his first flight." - Van Nuys News prev. Commercial Pilot; Instructor, Western Air College, CA prev. exp. 1400 hrs Address in 1940: 42 Ben Camp St, San Gabriel, CA, then 9123 Compton Ave, Los Angeles, CA m. 3 Oct 1940 in Arizona, Reta Fern [Baltzell] (b. Kansas 31 Aug 1920, resident in San Gabriel, CA)(divorced, remarried 1943) Sailed to Liverpool on the SS 'Duchess of Atholl' to join the ATA, arriving 11 Nov 1940, with fellow American pilots Howard Alsop, Donald Annibal, Francis Bender, Charles Smith, Dan Jacques, Malcolm Stewart and Robert Olyn Gragg. Postings: 2FPP, 14FPP Class 5 (4-engine) pilot He took 7 days leave and sailed to Montreal in October 1941 with fellow US airmen Donald Annibal, Robert Olyn Gragg., George Wood, Robert Vinson, Claude Cole (all ATA) and Louis Brosmer While there, he registered for the US Draft in Los Angeles on 17 Nov 1941:
4 accidents, 1 his fault: - 6 Jan 1941, the tail unit of his Hurricane failed when taxying on frozen ground - 26 Jun 1941, a pipe line fractured in his Whirlwind - 23 Jun 1941, forced landing in a Whitley after hydraulic failure - 11 Jun 1942, a wheels-up landing in an Oxford. Although the warning horn did not sound, he was held responsible due to 'bad cockpit drill'
"A first class pilot. His discipline is excellent" ... "his quiet efficient manner sets a good example to other pilots"
m. Apr 1942 in Bristol, England, Joan Nanette [Wightman, b. 14 Apr 1922 in Bristol] [divorced, d. 1973 in Orange County, CA] Travelled back to the US on SS 'Empress Scotland' then Canadian Colonial Airlines, ariving on 5 Feb 1943 with Joan. 2 children; Michael Lee b. 1 Jun 1943, d. 2008; Diane b. 8 Apr 1945. Joan's mother Edith arrived in March 1946, to live with them in Burbank. m. 20 May 1967 in Los Angeles, Mildred Toots [Johnson, b. 1930]. 2 children David and Karen Joined Lockheed in 1943 as a test pilot. "His flying experiences included piloting all models and variations of the P38 Lightning, P80 Shooting Star, FX90, F94 Starfire, P2V Neptune, and R6V Constitution, in addition to 1st flights of several Constellation prototypes, the C-130 Hercules, L188 Electra, and P3 Orion. He retired from Lockheed in 1973, and moved to Orem, Utah. In 1990, he was inducted as an Honorary Fellow, into the Society of Experimental Test Pilots." - thetartanterror.blogspot.com
d. 12 Mar 2007 - Provo, Utah Buried Rexburg Cemetery, Madison County, Idaho "Wanting to pilot airplanes at age 6, he sacrificed all necessary to learn to fly. He flew for ATA in England before the United States entered World War II. In Bristol, England, he married Joan Wightman. Divorced, they had two children. He married Mildred Johnson in the Los Angeles LDS Temple and they had two children. Two grandsons, his parents and seven siblings predeceased Roy." - findagrave.com
Mildred d. 21 Oct 2022. Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file): |
findagrave.com
