David F. Bland

David F. Bland, age 75, passed away unexpectedly July 10th at high noon. He leaves behind the love of his life, Ellen, his wife of 54 years.

David was born and raised in Leitchfield KY, attended Battle Ground Academy in Franklin TN, and went on to Tulane University where he met Ellen on the first day of school. He graduated with a B.S. in Economics in 1970. He was commissioned as an Air Force officer and married Ellen in Nashville that same year. For a honeymoon, they drove to Sacramento CA where he began flight training.

Call sign “Blazo”, he accrued 439 combat hours on 175 missions as a Weapons Systems Officer (WSO: pronounced wizzo) in F-4 Phantom jets with more than 100 missions over North Vietnam, from April 1972 to 1973. He was entrusted to fly with the most aggressive pilots in the arena and was awarded five Distinguished Flying Crosses and 16 Air Medals for his contributions. David’s capabilities did not go unnoticed by his superiors. He moved to the front seat and went on to pilot F-4 Phantoms jets in Spain, Italy, Turkey and several bases in the US. David was chosen to fly F-5’s with the 65TH Aggressors Squadron at Nellis AFB near Las Vegas NV. He was then hand-picked to join the elite, highly classified 4477th Red Eagles squadron, as a special project test pilot for the Russian MIG- 21 and MIG -23, ultimately promoted to Operations Officer. The mission was to develop dissimiliar air combat training tactics and also acted as cover for the development of the Stealth Bomber. He finished his 20-year career flying the F-16 stateside and in Egypt, where he was Commander of Peace Vector II. He retired from his military career as Lieutenant Colonel in 1990. He then flew domestic and international routes in the 727, 747, 757, 767 and MD-11 aircraft for UPS until mandatory retirement at age 65 in 2014.

Over the years he and Ellen enjoyed golf, long distance running and cycling, snow skiing in the states and Europe, and ocean cruises. Since 1992, he competed in amateur sprint and endurance sports car racing at road tracks like Sebring and Watkins Glen, beginning with a Porsche 911 and most recently in the LMP3 Ligier, keeping up with much younger drivers who admired his attention to detail and dedication to the craft. He was a member of the Putnam Park Road Course where he tested his cars and improved his racing skills in his race cars and his street legal Stingray.

Though he traveled the world, there’s no place he’d rather be than home in the modern house he and Ellen built, designed by Michael Koch, walking the 5 acres of trails they have cultivated with native plants and trees, with their dog Tex.

David is preceded in death by his parents Dr. Charles and Ruby Bland. He is survived by Kay Bland and his brothers, Jeff and Charlie. He will long be remembered and admired by all his in-laws and had a tremendous impact on his nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be at Pearson's, 149 Breckinridge Lane, Louisville KY, Wednesday, July 17, from 4pm to 7pm, with full military honors provided by the United States Air Force at 6:00pm.

Donations may be made to Home of the Innocents, 1100 East Market St. Louisville, KY 40206 or the Kentucky Humane Society, 1000 Lyndon Lane, Suite B, Louisville Ky, 40222.

God bless his adventurous soul!