Mission Complete

Col. Walter J. Boyne, distinguished bomber pilot and prolific aviation author, died on January 9, 2020 at the age of 90. “Today I regretfully and sadly announce that Col. Walter James Boyne has flown his last mission,” his son Bill said in a post on Boyne’s official Facebook page. Boyne died in Silver Spring, Maryland, and will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery. After joining the Air Force in 1951, Boyne flew as a B-50 and B-47 combat crew member, and later became a nuclear test pilot, flying both the B-47 and B-52. After serving in Vietnam, Colonel Boyne retired and joined the National Air and Space Museum as an assistant curator, and was eventually appointed as its director. In 1962, he began a prolific research and writing career, authoring more than 500 feature articles—many were published in Flight Journal—as well as dozens of books, some of which were on the New York Times Best Sellers list. The Flight Journal crew considered working with Colonel Boyne to be a true honor and privilege, and our thoughts are with his family and friends.