L.D. Alford is the professional writing name used by Dr. Lionel D. Alford, Jr. He is the author of 3 historical fiction novels, Centurion (OakTara, 2008) www.CenturionNovel.com, Aegypt (OakTara, 2008) www.AegyptNovel.com, and The Second Mission 2003 www.TheSecondMission.com, and 3 science fiction novels (all OakTara, 2008), The End of Honor www.TheEndofHonor.com, The Fox’s Honor www.TheFoxsHonor.com, and A Season of Honor www.ASeasonofHonor.com, published as a series in 2008. He has 2 new Aegypt novels on contract with OakTara Fiction, Sister of Light and Sister of Darkness (read about them at www.ldalford.com) that should be published in 2011. He writes articles and an aviation blog for www.WingsOverKansas.com. He publishes three daily blogs: www.pilotlion.blogspot.com, www.ldalford.wordpress.com, and www.novelscene.wordpress.com. L.D. Alford is a prolific writer and a dynamic speaker who has published and presented over 40 papers and articles in international forums and journals. He teaches adult classes in ancient literature (mostly classical Greek), science, and history. He also has a dark side, but for that keep reading…it’s not as interesting as the writer.
Dr. Alford is an independent design engineer, program manager, and experimental test pilot currently working with and consulting for Hawker-Beechcraft Corporation, Defense Research Associates, Flint Hills Solutions, EG&G, AirLaunch Systems, the University of Dayton Technical Institute and the University of Dayton. Dr. Alford completed his Ph.D. with a DAGSI (Dayton Area Graduate Studies Institute) scholarship at the University of Dayton with his dissertation Aerodynamic Analysis of Natural Flapping Flight Using a Lift Model Based on Spanwise Flow. His expertise is in low speed and spanwise flows on aerodynamic structures, and he holds a patent for the Capped Helix Winglet (CHeW), a blended winglet design. Alford is a retired United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, and an experimental test pilot with over 6000 hours in more than 60 different kinds of aircraft. He is an active member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Daedalians, the Airlift/Tanker Association, and the Air Force Association. During his Air Force career, Alford served in four operational Air Force combat squadrons and led missions in North America, South America, Asia, Europe and Central America. He lived in Germany as a Forward Air Controller flying the OV-10A Bronco and supported the 1/16, 1st Infantry Division US Army. As a C-21A (Lear 35) Instructor Pilot, he was the pilot for the CINCSAC (Commander in Chief Strategic Air Command). He led the Training Division of the 317th Tactical Airlift Wing during Desert Storm/Shield and trained tactical airlift pilots to fly the C-130 in critical airlift and special operations missions in Europe, Central America, and South West Asia. Based on his flight experience and his Engineering degree, Alford was selected to attend the USAF Test Pilot School. After graduation, he was the chief test pilot for many critical aircraft programs. He made the first flight and was the program manager for an extensively modified Air Force Sabreliner. While stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, he managed and was the senior evaluator for the Air Force T-39 fleet and ran the Air Force Testing Commercial Aircraft for Military Applications (TCAMA) office. He was a test pilot for the newest Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) aircraft and the Chief of the T&E Division overseeing test for all nine AFSOC aircraft types and all AF rotary-wing and tilt-wing aircraft. Lieutenant Colonel Alford worked in Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command as the Chief Test and Evaluation Policy Manager for Air Force developmental test. He was the Chief of System Safety Engineering for the Mobility Systems System Program Office at the Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Alford was selected three times by the AF to compete at NASA for the position of pilot astronaut.
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