solo in a helicopter; and Rodman Wanamaker, Eastern department store tycoon. Last flight His career came to an abrupt halt on a spring day in 1950, when he took an admiral aloft at the Navy's Lakehurst, New Jersey, base. Suddenly, a shaft snapped, and the tail rotor came apart. Thompson skillfully kept the craft from spinning around, the usual result of such an accident. The helicopter landed hard, crushed the landing gear and tilted, while the spinning overhead rotor chewed up the ground and disintegrated. Tommy crawled out with nothing worse than a cut cheek. The admiral was shaken, but game: "All in a day's work, eh, boy?" Thompson however had walked away from more than 20 forced landings and now his fifth helicopter crash. Figuring he had stretched the law of averages too far, he replied, "Maybe for you, sir, but not for me". That night, when he got home he talked to his wife and refrained from flying again in a helicopter until 1979. Later life After his flying career came to a halt, he moved back to Hobart, Indiana, and began working with his father, delivering fuel oil for the Standard Oil Company. In 1979, Thompson visited the Tucson Convention Center where a large helicopter convention was taking place. He immediately was recognized for his feats during the convention and given the opportunity to pilot one of Sikorsky's S-58s. Currently he is honored at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. outside the entrance to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. Thompson can be found on Panel #37, Tablet #1, Column #1. Thompson died on October 29, 2003 in Hobart, Indiana. He was survived by his wife Carolyn, their two sons and two of his grandsons. References 1921 births 2003 deaths American aviators American test pilots Aviation pioneers Helicopter pilots Flight speed record holders Aerobatic record holders Rotorcraft flight record holders American aviation record holders American flight instructors United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II