About
The Kiddie Hawk Air Trainer was first displayed in 1996 and received great interest from children at the Denver Air Fair. In 1999 the Kiddie Hawk Air Academy received it’s 501 (c) (3) status. Founded by William “Bill” Marcy, the goal of the Air Academy is to introduce children to aviation by incorporating the Trainer and a curriculum that includes aviation mechanics, history and career opportunities. The goal of our program is to develop a sense of appreciation and interest in aviation that will carry on into their adult years. With this, we also strive to inspire kids to achieve academic excellence in order to enter into aviation related careers.
In 2008 the Kiddie Hawk Air Academy assumed the production of the “Living Legends of Aviation” Awards Gala. The Air Academy produces this gala as their annual fundraiser every year in January at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel.
As a result of our incorporation of the “Living Legends of Aviation” with the Kiddie Hawk Air Academy, we now have the added benefit of the aviation Legends of today working with and sharing their stories of inspiration to the aviation Legends of tomorrow.
In 2009 the Kiddie Hawk Air Academy introduced their new envelop for the Trainer. Bill Marcy’s original design was built around the design of a Gee Bee racer. Our new Trainer was updated to meet the current vision of aviation in kids today. Our new jet Trainer is a sleeker version of it’s Gee Bee counterpart, though both are used today.
About our Founder
Bill Marcy, born in 1928, is an accomplished and highly experienced aeronautical engineer and private pilot. Growing up in small towns and on farms in Wyoming, western Nebraska, and South Dakota during the Great Depression, he decided at age 9 to become a pilot, and at age sixteen and six weeks he flew his first solo off a native prairie field in a 55 HP Taylorcraft monoplane. A year before his solo flight, he determined that engineering was a more desirable field than piloting as a profession, and he adopted a way of life that has not changed since: vocation – engineering; avocation – flying.
In 1946 Bill enlisted in the Army (AAF) to qualify for the World War II GI Bill, which enabled him to attend UCLA, graduating with a BS in Engineering, in 1953, and Cal Tech, graduating MS in Aeronautics, in 1956. He also earned a MS in Mechanical Engineering, from University of Southern California through evening study courses taken at Edwards Air Force Base between 1954 and 1958.
Bill has worked for NACA (which later became NASA), Lockheed Aircraft, Douglas Aircraft, the Martin Marietta Corporation, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, and as an independent consultant in theoretical aerodynamics, structural analysis, flight research, wind tunnel testing, and experimental development. He is a co-originator of the Martin Marietta design for the Space Shuttle and has led design and build projects on airships, hypersonic research aircraft, orbital systems, large rocket launch vehicles, and light aircraft concepts. As an adjunct lecturer for New Mexico Tech, he has taught basic engineering statics and fundamentals of aerodynamics for six years. Bill took an early retirement in 1985 to become general aviation consultant, specializing in light aircraft but also working on hypersonic concepts such as Aerospaceplane.
He has owned and restored a 1946 Aeronca Champ, a 1961 Piper Colt (version of a Tri Pacer), a 1962 Cherokee 180, and currently owns and flies a modified North American Navion which he has owned since 1978. He has accumulated 1963 pilot hours, and on January 14, 2009 made his first flight since his 80th birthday, which qualifies him as a Flying Octogenarian.
In 1996, Bill conceived, designed, and built the Kiddie Hawk kinetic motion flight simulator for kids aged four to nine years, and has given approximately 8000 kids demonstrations of the motion and control of aircraft without exposing them to the hazards of actual flight in an airplane. His Kiddie Hawk Air Academy is a Colorado not for profit corporation, approved by the IRS as a tax-exempt publicly supported charitable organization under Section 501(c)3. His current mission is to inspire young kids to appreciate aviation and math, science, and engineering by introducing them to the feel and thrill of controlling and maneuvering an airplane by demonstrating the Kiddie Hawk.