RED TAIL LEGACY · MISSION AVIATION ACADEMY · TAMPA NORTH AERO PARK (X39)

The Line That Runs
From Tuskegee to Tampa

In 1941, thirteen men entered Tuskegee Army Air Field and proved the world wrong. That act of courage set off a chain of mentorship that runs — unbroken — from the 332nd Fighter Group to the students we put in cockpits today.

1941First Tuskegee class
332ndFighter Group
Lt. Col.George Hardy · Class 44-H-SE
2020iACT / MAA founded
730+FAA credentials issued
The Unbroken Chain

Every mentorship chain has a beginning. This one started in Alabama in 1941. It runs through South Jamaica, Queens, through the decks of naval carriers, and lands at Tampa North Aero Park — where it continues every Saturday.

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1941 — TUSKEGEE, ALABAMA
The 332nd Fighter Group
99th Fighter Squadron · The Red Tails
Thirteen men entered Tuskegee Army Air Field when the U.S. War Department called it an "experiment" designed to fail. They were set up to prove a racist assumption. Instead, they flew 15,000+ combat sorties, destroyed 112 enemy aircraft, and earned 96 Distinguished Flying Crosses. Their red-painted tails became the most recognized aircraft markings of World War II — and the symbol of what happens when a closed door is forced open from the outside.
"These men had to prove their basic humanity before they could prove their combat excellence." — Daniel Haulman, PhD, Air Force Historical Research Agency
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CLASS 44-H-SE · TUSKEGEE
Lt. Col. George Spencer Hardy
332nd Fighter Group · Mentor to Ricardo Foster
Lt. Col. George Hardy earned his wings at Tuskegee Army Air Field, Class 44-H-SE — one of nearly 1,000 African American pilots trained under a program the military expected to wash out at every turn. He soloed when the system said he couldn't. He served in the 332nd Fighter Group alongside the men who carried red tails into combat over North Africa and Germany. Years later, he reached back. He found a naval intelligence officer from Jamaica who'd arrived in Brooklyn at eleven years old with a dream bigger than his block — and he became the reason that dream had a lineage.
"He reached back for me. Just as he reached back and helped me find my purpose, I now reach back to help you discover yours." — LCDR Ricardo Foster
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SOUTH JAMAICA, QUEENS, NEW YORK
August Martin High School
Named for the first Black commercial airline pilot in American history
Ricardo Foster was an eleven-year-old kid from Kingston, Jamaica when a 747 carried him over the Caribbean and didn't bring it back. Six years later, in Brooklyn, he tested into one of the only aviation programs in New York City — August Martin High School in South Jamaica, Queens, named for the first Black commercial airline pilot in American history. Getting in was the easy part. Getting there was two trains and two buses, one way, every single morning. He made that commute because that school, and that name on the door, told him the sky was a place he was allowed to enter.
"I was an inner-city kid in Brooklyn, and I had tested into one of the only aviation programs in New York City... named for the first Black commercial airline pilot in American history, a school most kids who wanted in never got the chance to attend." — Your Aviation Blueprint
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ISLIP AIRPORT, LONG ISLAND
The F-18 Moment
Training flight, age 17 · The moment everything got a name
At seventeen, on a training flight out of Islip Airport in an aircraft that felt like a kite with an engine, an F-18 came up from below. It went straight up — a wall of sound and speed that Ricardo felt in his chest before his eyes caught up. The trainer shuddered in its wake. In that half-second, something that started on a 747 over the Caribbean and hardened on a two-train, two-bus commute through Brooklyn finally had a name: he wanted to fly jets. For the Navy.
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1990 – 2018 · USN
LCDR Ricardo "Tattoo" Foster, USN (Ret.)
Naval Intelligence Officer · 28 yrs USN + 7 yrs civilian & nonprofit = 35 yrs total · 100% Disabled Veteran
Ricardo went to Naval flight school. And failed out. He was offered a slot as a Naval Flight Officer — the backseat, radar and weapons. He turned it down fast. "Live your destination — don't ride in the rear seat." He became a Naval Intelligence Officer instead, attached to an F/A-18 Super Hornet squadron, planning the missions that kept aviators alive. Deployed across carriers, commands, and continents over 28 years — USS Enterprise, USS Ronald Reagan (plank owner), U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. Central Command. He flew anyway. Just not from the seat they'd offered. Years later he bought his own airplane to finish the license the Navy didn't finish for him. Purchased a home on an airpark. And then he started a club. Not for himself.
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THE PROGRAM THAT DIDN'T SURVIVE
August Martin's Aviation Program Shut Down
Busing inner-city kids to fly was expensive — and expensive things that serve poor kids go first
August Martin's aviation program closed. Busing inner-city youth two hours each way to fly was expensive. And expensive things that serve poor kids are always the first to go. Ricardo never got to keep his promise where he made it. So he kept it somewhere else.
"This book exists because a program that gave one Brooklyn kid his start didn't survive — and because that kid grew up and refused to let the promise die with it." — Your Aviation Blueprint
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2020 — TAMPA NORTH AERO PARK (X39) · LUTZ, FLORIDA
Infinity Aero Club Tampa Bay / Mission Aviation Academy
The promise, kept in print — and in the air
iACT was founded as a nonprofit flying club. MAA followed as the academic division. The Red Tail Roost — N7480X, a 1960 Cessna 172B painted in the tribute scheme of the Tuskegee Airmen's P-51 Mustang — became the symbol: the same lineage, still flying, in a new generation's hands. 730+ FAA credentials. 1,380+ students flown. 300,000+ individuals reached. Lt. Col. George Hardy's mentorship, running through Ricardo Foster, running through every student who sits in that cockpit at X39.
"So let one Brooklyn kid who rode two trains and two buses on faith alone tell you what he knows for certain: the only thing standing between you and this industry is the belief that it was built for someone else. It wasn't. It was built by people who looked just like you — and then had it taken away. We built this one for you." — Your Aviation Blueprint
1941TUSKEGEE FOUNDED
992PILOTS TRAINED
15,000+COMBAT SORTIES
332ndFIGHTER GROUP
730+MAA FAA CREDENTIALS
20301 MILLION LIVES GOAL

The Tuskegee Airmen: A Condensed History

Authored by Daniel Haulman, PhD · Air Force Historical Research Agency · April 27, 2016 · 25 slides. This is the deck MAA uses to teach the Tuskegee legacy to every student who passes through X39.

Tuskegee Airmen: A Condensed History · Dr. Daniel Haulman, PhD · AFHRA
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Use the Prev / Next controls above to move through all 25 slides. The final slide connects the Tuskegee legacy directly to iACT and Mission Aviation Academy.
Source: Daniel Haulman, PhD · Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA) · April 27, 2016 · Shared with permission for educational use.
⤢ Open full screen PDF →

The legacy continues every Saturday.

The Red Tail Roost — N7480X — is on the field at Tampa North Aero Park (X39) every Saturday. Bring your student. Put them in the seat where the lineage lives.

RSVP for Saturday Open House → Book a Discovery Flight