Celebrating the Life of Fred Kacena

Delaware pioneer in aviation Fred B. Kacena passed away on Friday, March 23, 2007, at Harbor Health and Rehabilitation Center in Lewes, DE. He was 89 years old.

Fred, formerly of Newark, DE, was born in Cedar Rapids, IA, on August 1, 1917, the eldest son of the late Fred and Bertha Kacena. After completing high school, he joined the U.S. Army, serving in the field artillery. He later enrolled in the Luscombe School of Aeronautics in Trenton, NJ. While living in Trenton, Fred met Josephine A. Pierozak and the couple married in August 1941. Fred began working at Kellett Autogyro Company as a welder and also taught night school A&P courses in Philadelphia. He then moved on to the Iowa Airplane Company. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor caused the shut down of civilian aircraft businesses so Fred contacted the Air Corps Flight School in Uvalde, TX, and was hired as a PT-19 expert. After 3 years in TX, Fred’s next move was to Davenport, IA, where he worked on Aeroncas and Navy N3N-3s at a Navy V-12 program. Later, at Fleetwings in Bristol, PA, he participated in engine buildup for an experimental Navy dive bomber and then moved into experimental welding. When this project shut down, Fred “civilianized” military surplus aircraft at the Old Star Airport in Langhorne, PA.

Fred and his family moved to Newark in 1948 when he began working as a control surface specialist for TWA. When the airline moved to Kansas City, Fred remained in DE where he worked for 2 years on an atomic power program at the University of Delaware, while also being employed reconditioning Navy blimps at the General Development Corporation in Elkton, MD. Fred’s next endeavor was an airplane shop at Lovett Airport in Elkton that his friends called “Fat Freddie’s Fly Factory.” He passed the Authorized Inspector examination for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and when Lovett Airport was sold, he set up shop as a foreman at Chester County Aviation. When the next opportunity to join the FAA arose, Fred jumped at it and then spent the next 15 years commuting from Newark to Baltimore Airport. After retiring from the FAA, Fred was given the responsibility of a Designated Area Representative (DAR) authorized to certify amateur-built and restricted aircraft and to re-issue standard certificates for the FAA.

He became interested in the Experimental Aircraft Association in the 1950s and became a lifetime member. Twice he served as president of Chapter 240 (Wilmington and Toughkenamon); he was chief fund raiser for the chapter house/hangar. For many years, Fred taught courses at the EAA Academy at Oshkosh, WI. He was also a member of the OX-5 group and the QBs. Fred received awards and honors from the aviation community that are too numerous to list here. He was probably most pleased by the EAA Major Achievement Award for Outstanding Service to the EAA and Recreational Aviation presented to him in 2004. This was a fitting end to more than 60 years dedicated to his love of flight. He retired because of ill health in 2004.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years, Josephine, and a brother, Charles Kacena. He is survived by a brother, Leo Kacena of Hawthorne, CA; 2 daughters, Janina K. Darling of Cornelius, OR; and Marianna K. Dyal of Lewes; 3 grandchildren, Mark W. Preston of East Norriton, PA; Deborah A. Dignan of Middletown; and David A. Darling of Palo Alto, CA; and 4 great grandchildren, Erin Dignan, Laura Dignan and Kelly Dignan, all of Middletown; and Sean Preston of East Norriton, PA.

• Comments