Colonel KP Rice (USMC, retired)
Since my late teens I have spent:
- 30 years as a Marine Corps fighter/bomber pilot, retired with rank of colonel
- 30 years, among other things, building flying cars
Elaborating a bit on the above and supporting the flying car development, my background includes inventing and in most cases building prototypes:
- The multiple carriage bomb rack used on every U.S. military aircraft from A4s to B52s, as well as the equivalent types in foreign (including Russian) air forces
- A thermal shield that kept a nuclear weapon delivery pilot from being blinded and burned by his own weapon
- The OV10 Bronco light armed reconnaissance aircraft that was used by the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, as well as foreign services
I have a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from MIT, and a bachelor’s degree in electronics from Cornell University. Between operational assignments in the Marine Corps, I had numerous research and development or management assignments as follows:
- Two years as senior engineering officer at the aircraft overhaul and repair facility at Cherry Point, North Carolina
- Two years at Navy Experimental Squadron 5 at China Lake, California, developing new equipment and tactics for the fleet
- Another three years at China Lake attached to the laboratory, testing the new generation of “smart” weapons and designing a 20 mm gun pod for the OV10
- The previously mentioned five years at Defense Department Research and Engineering as DOD program manager for the tri-service OV10
- Designed, built, and am currently test flying my second flying car
- Squadron commander and deputy group commander in combat
All in all, I have the background and experience to build and introduce the Volante flying car into general aviation usage.