Honoree – Pic Walker

Col. W. Dillard “Pic” Walker

Honored 2023

Walker was born and raised in Weld County, Colorado. Working on the family farm he acquired the nickname “Pic” which was used by all. After his first flying experience, he resolved to buy his own airplane, and by saving his farm work earnings he was eventually able to purchase an Eaglerock biplane. Through the late 1920’s and early 1930’s he barnstormed in Colorado and Wyoming. In the late 1930’s he established Plains Airways, a fixed-base Operation (FBO) in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

In 1941, Walker’s FBO in Cheyenne became one of the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) centers, incorporating both pilot training and aircraft maintenance. Pic later established a pilot training program in conjunction with the University of Wyoming in Laramie. He also started another CPTP in Ft. Morgan, Colorado, that provided primary military glider training. These programs trained more than 10,000 pilots and mechanics that went on to serve the military during World War II.

Walker was invited to Washington, D.C. by Fiorello La Guardia and Gil Robb Wilson to help establish the Civil Air Patrol in 1941. Pic was appointed as the first Wing Commander of the CAP in Wyoming. Walker became a staunch advocate of the CAP for its value to the aviation community.

In 1992, he was designated an “Elder Statesman of Aviation” by the National Aeronautic Association. Walker received the Congressional Gold Medal (posthumously in 2014) for this role in the founding of the CAP.