Leonard Harold Eisner

Len was born on February 6, 1923 to Sadie & Morris Eisner in the then small town of Southampton, N.Y., the last of three children, the two much older than he was. He knew from childhood that his future would be in aviation and he was an avid model airplane builder. He graduated from high school in 1940 and enrolled that fall in the New York University Guggenheim School of Aeronautics so that after graduation he would be eligible to enter the Navy's flight training program, at the time a prerequisite. During the summer of 1940, Len was employed in a nearby aviation parts machine shop and used his 35 cent hourly wage to learn how to fly in a nearby pasture in a J-4 Cub Coupe. He soloed in 4 hours but his instructor left for parts unknown. A pilot friend gave him additional training in fundamentals including stalls and spins. Len continued local flying and occasionally flew to the Cape Cod area. He went back to school that fall as a sophomore. Eager to get in the service he enlisted in the Navy's V-5 aviation cadet program in November of 1942 and was called up for duty in the fall of 1943. The training program was extensive and complete. He flew various types of trainers before getting his Naval Aviator designation in the late spring of 1945. Assigned to VF-3, a fighter squadron flying F6F Hellcats, he was too late to participate in the Pacific theater and left the Navy in 1946 to complete his engineering studies. During his last two years of NYU, Len joined the newly formed reserve program at NAS Floyd Bennett field on the west end of Long Island where he was able to fly various types of Navy airplanes on weekends. Serveral times he ferried a tired fighter from there to a Navy overhaul facility in Alameda near San Francisco and returned with a newly overhauled one. After graduation in June of 1948 with a BSAE he married his first wife Joan with whom he had four children.

Those were rough times to get employment but Len did briefly work for Grumman Aircraft and then was recalled to active duty in 1949 during the Berlin crisis. Len was assigned to four carrier squadrons during the following years as well as shore durty assignments at the Navy Special Devices Center, the Bureau of Aeronautics, the Bureau of Naval Weapons, NAS Agana, Guam where he was in charge of a large aviation maintenance department which supported Naval aviation activites in the southwest Pacific area, and the Naval Air Systems Command.

In 1960, while stationed in Washington, D.C., Len met and married his current and loving wife Betty in the Fort Myer Chapel on the edge of Arlington National Cemetery. They had two children; Gary, born in Guam and Douglas, born in Washington. Len's last duty assignment was in the Naval Air Systems Command where he was selected to be the program manager for technical development of a new Navy fighter, the VFX. It eventually joined the fleet as the F-14.

Len flew over 40 types of airplanes including the Grumman Albatross, loved them all, and was carrier qualified in six different ones, three prop and three jet-including the then controversial and unique F7U Cutlass.

Len retired from the Navy in 1968 with a rank of Commander and left Washington to join Vought Aircraft in Grand Prairie as a project engineer. After eight years there he left and spent many hours at home as an amateur radio operator, talking and sending pictures by radio to contacts in over 100 countries. Betty suggested that since he was so fond of electronics, perhaps he should start a shop. He did and it was successful as Arlington Electronics Service Center for over 14 years until he sold it in 1993.

Then the airplane bug hit him again. He rented planes on the sly- Betty really didn't like him flying- until she finally relented and Len partnered with a friend to modernize a 1946 Stinson 108 airplane. In time Len bought out his partner and flew it several times a week. A double heart valve replacement in 2006 didn't bother him too much but the FAA felt otherwise and he lost his medical-effectively grounding him from solo flight. He continued flying occasionally with various friends, but he never felt that it was the same.

Len was a life member of the Tailhook Association, the Caterpillar Club, the United Flying Octogenarians, and the Quiet Birdmen- an organization of pilots that was started after the First World War He was recognized by the FAA for over 50 years of safe flying by the Wright Brothers Master Pilot award.

He was technically curious and enjoyed solving problems in almost any mechanical device from electronics to air conditioning in homes or cars. Len made friends easily and enjoyed nothing more than a good laugh, particularly with a QB buddies.

Len was preceded in death by his parents, his brother and sister, his first wife, and his sons Leonard Jr. (Kim) and Douglas.

SURVIVORS; Loving wife of 55 years Betty; son Gary and his wife Donna; daughter Pam Hof and her husband Phil; Shelley Eisner, Darcy Eisner, daughter-in-law Janet Eisner; many grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren.

Goodbye my love and dear friend.

MEMORIAL SERVICE; 3PM Saturday, January 30, 2016, Moore Funeral Home, followed by interment at Moore Memorial Gardens.

MEMORIALS; Should you wish to make a donation, please consider Quiet Birdman Educational Fund c/o K.L. Zilm, 621 Evergreen Dr. Hurst, TX 76054, Mission Arlington 210 West South St. Arlington, TX 76010.