Barry Schiff

Barry when he up-graded to captain in 1968.

With 28,000 hours logged in more than 335 types of aircraft, Barry Schiff has received worldwide recognition for his wide-ranging aeronautical accomplishments. He was a rated Airline Transport Pilot at 21, and has earned every FAA category and class rating (except airship) and every possible instructor’s rating. Capt. Schiff retired from Trans World Airlines in 1998 after a 34-year career during which he flew everything from the Lockheed Constellation to the Boeing 747 and was a check captain on the Boeing 767.

Barry dreaming about flying the Lockheed SR-71 (1990).

He holds five world speed records (one captured from the Soviet Union) and has received numerous honors for his many contributions to aviation safety. These include a Congressional Commendation, the Louis Bleriot Air Medal (France), Switzerland’s Gold Proficiency Medal, an honorary doctorate from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and AOPA’s L. P. Sharples Perpetual Award. Capt. Schiff also has been inducted into the New Jersey Aviation Hall of Fame and the EAA/NAFI National Flight Instructor's Hall of Fame, and was recently elected as an Elder Statesman of Aviation by the National Aeronautic Association. In January, 2012 he was inducted as a Living Legend of Aviation.

Barry with close friend and co-author of their two aviation novels, Hal Fishman. (1978) Together they authored The Vatican Target and Flight 902 is Down.

An award-winning journalist and author, he is well known to flying audiences for his numerous books and more than 1,600 articles published in 100 aviation magazines, notably AOPA Pilot of which he currently is a contributing editor. Many of his articles discuss personally developed concepts, procedures, and techniques that have received international acclaim.

Barry in the space shuttle simulator (1998).

Schiff also developed and worked to have adopted the concept of providing general aviation pilots with safe VFR routes through high-density airspace. In 1995 and with the direct approval of Jordanian King Hussein and Israeli Prime Minister, Itzhak Rabin, Schiff contributed to the Middle East peace process by leading a formation of 35 airplanes carrying 135 Americans, Israelis, and Jordanians from Jerusalem to Amman. As a result, he became the first pilot ever allowed to fly between those countries.

Barry (right) in 1956 after landing on the beach following an engine failure with student Griff Hoerner.

These credentials have not diminished his passion for flying lightplanes, which he has used to span oceans and continents. He continues to investigate and report to the aviation community various aspects of proficiency and safety, and remains a vigorous and outspoken advocate for general aviation.