Golden Gate Wing Guest Speaker Archive

Presentation Date: September 27, 2012

Larry Rinek


Larry Rinek has spoken previously at various C.A.F. - Golden Gate Wing dinner events in Alameda, reviewing famous USAF aircraft from the Cold War era. He is a published aviation historian, a guest lecturer in aero engineering for five universities, a former USAF officer, and a Senior Technology Consultant at Frost & Sullivan in Mountain View, CA.

Holding a BS in engineering plus an MBA in marketing, Larry is a veteran of the aerospace industry and an active member of various aero/technical organizations including the:
-- Air Force Association—AFA
-- American Aviation Historical Society—AAHS
-- American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics—AIAA
-- Society for Aviation History—SAH
-- Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International)

Larry is also a charter member of the Aircraft Engine Historical Society--AEHS). Besides obtaining flight training including multiple solos in fixed-wing aircraft (Piper J-3C Cub), he is an avid pilot of radio-controlled (RC) model helicopters.

He earned a BS (with honors) in Industrial Engineering and an MBA in Marketing, both from UCLA, and has over 35 years of consulting experience. Many of his projects were sponsored by leading aerospace companies around the world, particularly when he worked for SRI International (the former Stanford Research Institute) in Menlo Park for 24 years.

His topic for the 27 September dinner meeting is the History of Rotorcraft. The military heli story starts in Nazi Germany with late 1930s (machines from Focke and Flettner), and in the US with the Sikorsky Army R-4 of the early 1940s.

Larry’s talk will focus on technical developments over time and military applications (from the late 1930s and WW II to rotorcraft of the future). He will supplement his presentation with PowerPoint slides, videos, and flying models.