Ernest Schwab
Marine Corps Pilot, Pilot and Flight Instructor- DANG, Commercial Airline Pilot, Instructor Pilot
Ernest Schwab Colonial (Ret) Ernest A. Schwab began his aviation career in 1955 accumulating over 18,000 hours of flight time. Colonial Schwab joined the United States Marine Corps in 1954. In 1965 he joined the Delaware National Guard as a traditional guardsman. His assignments included Chief of Standardization and Evaluation and the Director of Operations for the 166th Airlift Group for Delaware Air National Guard.
While in the United States Marine Corps, Colonial Schwab was qualified to fly the Advanced Trainer 6-SNJ Texan, North American T-28B Trojan, T-34 Mentor, TV-2 Shooting Star, F9F-5 Panther and FJ-3 Fury jet fighter. The TV-2 was the United States Air Force first operational jet fighter.
As a pilot in the Delaware National Guard, Colonial Schwab flew the C-97 Stratofighter, C-130A Hercules and C-130H Hercules. He went on to become a flight instructor and eventually a flight examiner in the C-130H Hercules. While Chief of Standards and Evaluation, Colonial Schwab developed a checklist for operation evaluations, which resulted in a more efficient system for pilots completing onboard tasks. Colonial Schwab retired from the Delaware National Guard in 1986 with over 32 years of honorable service to his country and our great state of Delaware. He also worked directly for Delaware National Guard Headquarters and the Adjutant General of Delaware during the conversion from the older C-130A Hercules aircraft to the C-130H Hercules aircraft.
Colonial Schwab was employed by Pan American World Airways in 1967. During his employment he served in a number of positions and finally Captain on the Boeing 707. While working for Pan American World Airways he also served as Captain on the L-1011 TriStar, Airbus A300, Boeing 747 and the Boeing 727 aircraft.
In 1991, Colonial Schwab worked for Flight Safety International as a simulator instructor, ground school instructor and Federal Aviation Administration flight examiner on the HS-125, Foraker 100 and the Challenger 604. Colonial Schwab received an accommodation from China Eastern Airlines for the training of their pilots and improved the safety record of the FK-100 pilots.
Colonel Schwab has exemplified outstanding contributions to the advancement of Delaware Air National Guard aviation, shown gallantry in his efforts to improve total force operations, and has displayed service before self, bringing recognition to himself and the state of Delaware.
