E.M. “Woody” Beck is a 2,000+ hour pilot with an instrument rating. He retired from full-time teaching and research at the University of Georgia in 2009 but continues part-time at UGA. He’s a member of AOPA, the EAA, and Cardinal Flyers Organization. Woody was born in southern West Virginia and has lived in many states including North Carolina, Alabama, California, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Colorado, Michigan, and Georgia, and for shorter periods in France and Italy. Yet Southern Appalachia is definitely his home.
He read about SouthWings in the AOPA magazine and decided that volunteering for SouthWings was a socially responsible way of spending his sons’ inheritances. He also flies animal rescues with Pilots ‘n Paws and Animal Rescue Flights.
Although not a professional historian, he has a passion for history, particularly WWII. He has dragged his bride of 30+ years, Ginger, over WWII battle sites in France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, and Italy. He often takes groups of friends on tours of WWII sites in Normandy and Belgium/Luxembourg. His 1978 Cessna Cardinal is his fourth airplane; previous planes were a 1973 Cardinal, a 1952 Cessna 170, and a 1946 Piper J-3 Cub.
