Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 339

We lost Mr Ken Freeman to a thankfully short illness August 25, 2025.

Ken lived his good life until the end and was a social creature and great advocate of the EAA community and of encouraging the next generation of pilots.

Attached is one of my favorite photos of Ken in his RV-7 when he flew from his KSFQ Suffolk VA home base to my KJGG Williamsburg VA home base to install a threaded insert into the floor of my hangar so I can ratchet the tail down to raise the nosewheel of my aircraft. This photo makes me think of Ken as Maverick.

Ken owned a Piper Apache and purchased an RV-7A project which he turned into a flying RV-7 in 2023. It has a modern dual large-screen EFIS intrument panel with autopilot and Ken was successfully climbing that learning curve.

Ken was an A&P and helped with the condition inspection on my purchased RV-14A June 2025.

I don’t know Ken’s entire history but he served in Vietnam where Agent Orange caused detrimental effects to his health which he was not one to complain about. Ken worked as an auto mechanic at a car dealership and later ran his own business in the form of a Snap-On tool truck and somewhere along the line became an A&P. Ken believed in hard work and taking responsibility for one’s own destiny.

Ken will be missed in many ways including his love for his family, his skilled and willing assistance to other aircraft builders, his attendance at EAA 339 Chesapeake VA and EAA 156 Williamsburg VA events, and his support of the Williamsburg Aviation Scholarship Program pancake breakfast, cooking pancakes and arriving early to get the coffee going… that’s him in the yellow EAA 156 shirt cooking pancakes at KJGG Williamsburg VA.

Ken is survived by his wife Kathi and others whom I will list here when I learn of them. Kathi flew with Ken and was often seen at EAA events.

God’s Speed, Ken. And our thoughts are with you, Kathi.

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John Bright on behalf of Ken’s EAA community.

That's the way to waterski.

Here's a fun flashback to when I flew over to Cypress Gardens in the Grumman Duck to watch a hydroplane race. After talking to some of the water skiers, we got a little creative for the ski show, and this shot was taken when I had just begun towing two of them. It was a bit tricky with the Duck as it was too slow for me off the step and too fast for them on the step. By the second pass, one had fallen off, but the second one was barefooting!