You probably did not know his face, but you certainly know his pictures. As patient as passionate, David W. Menard was in love with military jets, especially the F-100 Super Sabre, and was a aviation slide hobbyist and collector for years.
After twenty-two years spent haunting USAF's hangars in aircraft technical units, after having served his country in Europe, Pacific and even in Greenland, Dave had gotten a huge contact list of pilots and techs within the USAF that he built on very well to improve his photo collection. Some photo labs in Dayton, Ohio were very glad seeing him enter their shop : each time he came, they new he had some hundred of slides to duplicate.
Rich of such a USAF aircrafts pictures collection, Dave authored and published several books and took part in several aviation magazine articles. In the fall of 2011, Dave provided me with some amazing pictures for my Stair Step 50th anniversary article in Air Fan. Very solicited, he was always enthusiast if the project dealt with aviation.
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| Authored by Dave Menard, Before centuries shows color pictures of the birds who flew among the main USAFE's units during the 1950's, just before the F-100's arrival. A must-have! |
This great man made a lot for USAF history, even working for the Wright-Patterson USAF museum on his spare time. Dave just died at the Dayton hospital after a short illness. He was 76 and had spent his lifetime busy with USAF and fighters. He was very sad learning about the photelectric plant built in Toul-Rosières, discovering the base where he served would never host aircrafts again. Let's hope the aviation magazines will pay him the tribute he deserves!
R.I.P Dave, fly high, with afterburner at full power!
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