Over the past thirty years, there has scarcely been a person who has attended the EAA Fly-In (now known as AirVenture) who has not heard the voice of Roscoe Morton, also known as the “Voice of Oshkosh”, over the public address system. Over the years, he announced hundreds of airshow performances and interviewed countless aviation personalities during the course of his service to EAA – both at Oshkosh and the Sun ‘N Fun Fly-in in Lakeland, Florida and many other aviation events. We are sad to announce that Roscoe passed away on Saturday, June 15th, at his home in Frostproof, Florida at the age of 81.
What many IAC members do not know is that Roscoe was IAC #11 and was instrumental in the revival of aerobatic competition in the 1960’s and IAC’s foundation and development in the early 1970’s. This author first met him in 1965 at a small aerobatic contest in Ottumwa, Iowa that was held in conjunction with the Antique Airplane Association Fly-In. He had always had a deep love of aerobatics and this was the same time America was becoming more involved in international competition. This piqued Roscoe’s interest and his support of USA participation at the World Aerobatic Championships culminated in his becoming US Team Captain at the WAC in 1968, 1970, and 1972. His knowledge of judging and the new Aresti System became his specialties and many of us consulted with him and sought his help in understanding it all.
In 1970, after IAC was formed, he was one of the first that IAC President Bob Heuer met with when the rules for our first contest season were written. Because of his help, he was presented IAC membership number 11. His input was enormously helpful and he remained a friend to aerobatics throughout the years.
In 1972, he and Team Manager Frank Christensen worked with the Team in turning out one of its best performances in aerobatic history. The US Team swept the 7th FAI World Aerobatic Championships in Salon de Provence, France. Charlie Hillard won the World Aerobatic Champion title, Mary Gaffaney became Women’s World Aerobatic Champion, and the US Team captured the Nesterov Trophy. It was a record of which Roscoe was very proud.
After leaving the Team, Roscoe turned his attention to airshow announcing and later the “interview circle” at Oshkosh. Though a quiet man in private, he had a deep love of people and aviation which made an interview conducted by Roscoe both interesting and comfortable for those who shared the microphones. These talks provided hundreds of hours of education and entertainment for aviation enthusiasts.
U.S. Aerobatic Team - 1970. Roscoe is standing, center.
A U.S. Team photo from 1972, with Roscoe in the center.
