Hartley Folstad

Beloved husband and father, Hartley Folstad, was born in a drafty farm house in Montana. He was always interested in aviation. He joined the army and went to Korea. Using the GI bill he attended the Missouri School of Mines, in Rolla, Missouri. He was accepted into the NAVCAD program in the Navy where he carrier quailed, (landed on carriers) and flew the F9F-8 cougar. He was on C130 in Vietnam. A graduate of the Navy’s post graduate safety curriculum in Monterey, California, Folstad taught aerodynamics at the Navy’s school of command in Pensacola, Florida. After his Naval retirement from the military, he signed on with United Airlines and flew with the company 34 years. Since his first solo in a Piper Cub on a grass strip, he accumulated over 20,000 hours. In the early 1980s, Folstad founded the Stearman Flight Center in Chino, CA, restoring Stearman bi-planes, providing aerobatic instruction and rides, offering aviation expertise and planes to the movie and T.V. industry and creating an airshows team featuring formation aerobatics and wingwalking called the Silver Wings Wingwalking Team.

Folstad enjoyed restoring cars and hiking in the mountains with his family.

He is predeceased by his first wife Joyce Folstad. He is survived by his sister, Irene Borchardt, second wife, Margaret Stivers, son, Michael Folstad, daughter, Mona Polson, (John Polson) and granddaughter Ashley Polson.