Commander Leo F. Murphy, U.S. Navy (Retired) will present a talk on the History of Naval Aviation in Pensacola at the Orange Beach Adult Activity Center on Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. 

“In January 1914 an antiquated battleship and sea-worn collier arrived at the abandoned Pensacola Navy Yard with the entire fledgling Naval Flying Corps and its flying machines embarked aboard. Tasked with establishing the U.S. Navy’s first aeronautical station and flying school, Pensacolians soon enjoyed an exclusive front-row seat to the most thrilling flying shows in the world.

In honor of the U.S. Navy’s celebration of the Centennial of Naval Aviation in 2011, this presentation will trace the 97-year history of Naval aviation in Pensacola with all of its adventures, tragedies, and mysteries.”

Murphy is a retired Naval officer whose final assignment after a 30-year career was Director of the Aviation Training School at Naval Air Station Pensacola where he supervised the initial flight training of nearly 2,000 aviators a year. He is currently employed by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University as an Associate Professor of Aeronautical Science. In 2008 he was selected as the 23rd recipient of the prestigious Christa McAuliffe Award as the National Aerospace Teacher of the Year.

Leo is the author of two books on Pensacola’s aviation history: “Flying Machines over Pensacola,” which traces the development of military and civilian aviation in Pensacola from 1909 to 1929; and the recently released “Hagler Field: a History of Pensacola’s Airport,” which researched the history of Pensacola’s Gulf Coast Regional Airport in honor of the airport’s 75th anniversary.