Dad "barnstorming" with his J-2 Cub near his boyhood home of Manassas, Virginia 1936.	Official portrait by Eastern Air Lines just after his landing the job in 1939.  He was promoted to Captain in 1940.	EAL Captain Fritz B. Compton flew the DC-2, DC-3, DC-4, DC-6, DC-7, Constellation, Electra, DC-8 and L-1011.
Fritz Compton at Brown's Airport (South Miami) with his unmodified Laister-Kauffman LK-10A sailplane.  1946	Fritz and "Baby" Compton received much media attention on Harris Hill at Elmira, NY.  1946 article from LOOK magazine.	Davidina ("Baby") Compton, and Francis ("Fritz") Burton Compton, Sr.   1953 on Harris Hill, Elmira, New York.
Dad's airport south of Miami.  Burt with our LK-10A sailplane, modified to single seat.  Looking southeast down the grass runway.  A wonderful place.	My job was to ride in Dad's sailplane and release the car tow rope when we got to the end of the runway. I was a lucky boy!	Fritz Compton made the longest flight east from Elmira, NY, to Plymouth, MA:  320 miles in his LK in 1957.
Clipping from the Miami News about Dad's accomplishments. This is a rare photo of his highly modified LK-10A sailplane.  Spring 1963.	Fritz was the only soaring pilot to win all three Bendix Distance trophies at US National Contests.	Our Miami  home on our Flying C Ranch". This is Dad's modified J-3 Cub towplane, with Valerie & Burt Compton.  1956
Fritz, Burt, and Davidina Compton.  I was 8 years old and loved sailplanes.  Dad's LK in background at Harris Hill, NY.  1959.	Fritz Compton was a pilot on the US Team at the 1958 World Soaring Contest at Lezno, Poland.   Polish Mucha sailplane.	Last takeoff of our family sailplane - the modified LK at Elmira, NY.  Sadly, it blew away in a storm later that day.  1963.
Dad's other sailplane, a Schempp-Hirth Open Cirrus.  Flown here by Burt west of Miami, it now resides in my hangar at Marfa, Texas.

Captain F.B. “Fritz” Compton died peacefully on April 9, 2006 in Plano, Texas.  He was 90 years old.

He was born in Manassas, Virginia on April 15, 1915, the son of Charles Burton and Mary Boyer Compton. 

His job and hobby was aviation.  He soloed in 1935 in an Aeronca C-3 airplane, and flew Piper Cub floatplanes from the Potomac River giving airplane rides until he was hired by Eastern Air Lines in 1939.  He started on the DC-2, predecessor to the famous DC-3, and completed his professional aviation career flying the Lockheed L-1011, when he retired in 1975 at age 60.   

His hobby was flying sailplanes, and he flew them well.   Fritz Compton was recognized by the Soaring Society of America in 1948 when he was awarded the Warren Eaton trophy, the highest honor the Society bestows upon its members.  The award was not for his exceptional flying skills, but for his contribution to safety by compiling the SSA Standard Signals, which are still used today.  

Fritz was a mentor to many sailplane pilots, encouraging them by sharing his knowledge of “reading the sky” and efficiently using thermals.  In sailplane competitions, he always flew “for the fun of it”, and would readily offer a helping hand to other enthusiasts.

In many US National Soaring Contests, Compton placed in the top ten several times in the late 1940’s through the 1950’s, and earned a pilot slot on the 1958 US Soaring Team at the World Soaring Competition, held in Lezno, Poland. 

One notable soaring flight was made in 1957, when he flew his highly modified Laister-Kauffman LK-10A sailplane 320 miles from Elmira, New York to Plymouth, Massachusetts, still the longest flight eastbound from Elmira.  Fritz had flown off his map and could have continued across the ocean to Cape Cod, but did not know the exact distance ahead to Provincetown airport.  He decided that landing at Plymouth was prudent, so he descended from 7,000’ to end this remarkable flight.   (Perhaps someday I will complete this flight for him - take Dad's Cirrus sailplane to Plymouth, get an aerotow to 7,000', then glide across to Cape Cod.)

Fritz Compton established the first gliderport in South Florida when he purchased 60 acres south of Miami in 1945, in order to have a grass runway for gliders and airplanes, and build a home in which he would raise his family.  

His wife, Davidina "Baby" Compton, passed in 2001 after 56 years of marriage.  Fritz is survived by his son Burt Compton of Marfa, Texas, daughters Valerie of Texas, Brenda of Florida.

Photo Gallery below.  Scroll to the right to see the second and third columns of photos.