Featured Speaker: Brian Shul



Brian Shul was born in Quantico, Virginia in 1948, son of a career Marine. He graduated from East Carolina University with a degree in History and Anthropology in 1970.

As an Air Force fighter pilot, he flew 212 missions in Viet Nam before his aircraft was shot down. Unable to eject he was forced to ride the plane into the jungle, sustaining severe burn injuries in the crash. He spent one year in hospitals and endured 15 reconstructive surgeries. Told he would never fly again, Brian miraculously returned to active flying duty, flying the A-7, serving as airshow demonstration pilot in the A-10, and teaching at the TOPGUN School in the F-5B.

He culminated his Air Force career by flying our nations premier spy plane, the SR-71. This was a remarkable accomplishment considering that it required an astronaut physical to qualify for the plane that routinely flew above 95% of the earth's atmosphere. Only 93 Air Force pilots in history ever flew the SR-71, still the fastest plane ever built. Brian flew the Blackbird for 4 years and was the pilot who provided key photos of Kiddahffi's terrorist camps during the Libyan Crisis in 1986.

Brian retired from the Air Force in 1990, and pursued his writing and photography interests. He was the first Blackbird pilot to write a book about flying that plane, illustrated with his own photographs. Entitled Sled Driver, this limited edition represents the definitive photo essay on the SR-71 and was hailed as Aviation Book of the Year by Smithsonian Magazine. Only 980 books remain of the 3500 printed.

After 20 years as an Air Force fighter pilot, Brian Shul today is an accomplished author, speaker, and photographer. Brian's remarkable comeback story is popular with audiences nationwide as his humorous delivery and unique slides make his presentations uplifting as well as very entertaining.

Brian is a Spirit of Freedom award winner and his “9/11 Chico Rally Address” is still the most read anti-terrorist speech on the internet today. He is President of Gallery One and as an accomplished nature photographer can often be found hiking in the high Sierras.

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