Brawley Union High senior Donald Wharton, 17, will join the football team at Air Force Academy in Colorado. (JOSELITO VILLERO) |
If Donald Lee Wharton IV ever becomes an Air Force aviator, it’s likely the result of planes and military service being in his blood.
On his father’s side, his grandfather Donald Lee Wharton Jr. was a captain for American Airlines (no military service).
His father, Donald Lee Wharton III, joined the Air Force Reserves before going to college. While never flying in the Air Force, he was assigned to an aircraft crew.
Post-military, Donald is a commercial helicopter pilot, having earned almost every civil aviation license issued by the FAA. He has flown for 26 years and amassed more than 9,000 flight hours.
His mother, Suzy (Hausmann) Wharton, had a grandfather, Carl Hausmann, who was a private pilot who died in a plane crash. Her father, Lou Hausmann, flew jets in the Air Force, attaining the rank of captain.
Donald also has an uncle that retired a full USAF colonel and is an accomplished test pilot as well as a cousin who was a USAF F-16 fighter and test pilot.
On his father’s side, his grandfather Donald Lee Wharton Jr. was a captain for American Airlines (no military service).
His father, Donald Lee Wharton III, joined the Air Force Reserves before going to college. While never flying in the Air Force, he was assigned to an aircraft crew.
Post-military, Donald is a commercial helicopter pilot, having earned almost every civil aviation license issued by the FAA. He has flown for 26 years and amassed more than 9,000 flight hours.
His mother, Suzy (Hausmann) Wharton, had a grandfather, Carl Hausmann, who was a private pilot who died in a plane crash. Her father, Lou Hausmann, flew jets in the Air Force, attaining the rank of captain.
Donald also has an uncle that retired a full USAF colonel and is an accomplished test pilot as well as a cousin who was a USAF F-16 fighter and test pilot.
