Connie Rex Younger
Connie Rex Younger was born July 18, 1939, near Elmo, Missouri to Rex and Margaret Younger. After attending schools in Elmo and Maryville, Connie joined the United States Navy as a Naval Musician. Following four years of service, Connie earned a degree in Music Education from Northwest Missouri State College in Maryville and became a high school music director.
He began his aviation career in 1966, taking lessons at the Maryville Airport. After earning an MS in Aerospace Education in 1971 from Miami University in Ohio, Connie was employed as a flight and ground instructor in glider and fixed-wing aircraft at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 1976, Connie was hired by Iowa State University as Chief Flight Instructor and Flight Service staff transportation pilot. For 21 years, Connie instructed hundreds of flight students and flew sports teams, coaches, professors and state officials across Iowa and the nation until retiring in 1997.
In 1990, Connie launched CY Aviation Inc. and for 26 years proudly served the Boone, Iowa Municipal Airport as fixed-base operator, flight instructor, pilot examiner and airframe mechanic. He also provided glider and seaplane instruction. For nine summers, Connie flew aerial tours in Alaska for Kantishna Air Taxi and Denali Air. While in Iowa, he also enjoyed flying his 1946 Aeronca Champ on snow skis and performing aerobatics in his Bellanca Citabria.
Connie logged over 20,000 accident-free pilot hours and held the following licenses and ratings: Airline Transport Pilot – Airplane MEL, commercial privileges; Airplane SEL and Sea, Glider; Gold Seal Certified Flight Instructor – Airplane SE/ME, instrument airplane, glider; Certified Ground Instructor – Advanced and Instrument; and Aviation Mechanic – airframe.
The aviation recognitions Connie has received from the FAA include Designated Pilot Examiner, Safety Counselor, Gold Seal Flight Instructor and the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. With assistance from a fellow Naval musician, Connie also composed “Sea Wise March†for concert band, which was published posthumously in 2018. Connie passed away on August 1, 2016 at the age of 77.