The High-Flying Life of Scott MacLeod

It would be tough to write a novel as packed with adventure as the real life story of Scott MacLeod, who took his final flight west on April 12, 2021.  Scott was a classic example of the Greatest Generation:  WWII Navy fighter pilot, aeronautical engineer, Korean war veteran, test pilot, astronaut, government agent in the Middle East, airshow pilot, airline executive.

 Still a teenager in WWII, Scott survived being shot down in a Hellcat fighter.  Back in action in Korea, he survived more shoot-downs, then went on to be a notable test pilot.  Selected as the test astronaut for the Apollo lunar module, he was in the queue for one of the upcoming moon missions.  MacLeod’s dream of landing on the moon ended in 1970 when NASA abruptly canceled the last three missions — Apollo 18, 19, and 20.

MacLeod’s adventures continued elsewhere.  After NASA he worked in the Middle East for a government “agency” (he would never call it by name).  On one occasion he survived an assassination attempt in Teheran.  On an undercover mission in Baghdad, he was arrested, escaped, and made a harrowing dash across the desert to the border. 

Eventually Scott and his wife, Joyce (notable in her own right as a record-holding submariner and SCUBA diver) made their home here at the Spruce Creek Fly-In near Daytona Beach.  Last month we celebrated Scott MacLeod’s remarkable 95-year life with a rousing all-hands hangar bash.  It was the kind of party Scott would have approved.