Stan Collins was born on January 30, 1937 in Alexandria, Virginia. He graduated from the University of Maryland and received a Master’s degree from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He entered flight training as a NAV/CAD in November of 1956 at Naval Air Station in Pensacola and received his wings and commission as 2nd Lieutenant, USMCR, in June 1958. From May of 1959 to July of 1960 he served with HMR-362 and VMO-2 in Japan and Okinawa.

  On release from active duty Stan served in several Marine Corps Reserve fighter and helicopter squadrons, including VMF-351 and HMA-773, at NAS Atlanta. From 1974-1977 he commanded HMA-773. He retired from the Marine Corps Reserve in July of 1988 with the rank of Colonel. He had flown a number of military aircraft including the F-8, A-4, FJ-4, AD-5, L-19, H-34, UH-1E, AH-1G.

    He went to work with Delta Air Lines as a pilot in March of 1965. He advanced to Captain in 1972 and later served as a line check airman on the DC-9 and B-727. He retired in February of 1997 as an international L-1011 Captain.

   From 1969 to 1975, Stan served three terms in the Georgia Legislature representing DeKalb County, serving on the House Appropriations, Education Industry, and Defense and Veterans Affairs Committees.

   On retirement from Delta Air Lines in 1997 Stan became active in the Georgia Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. He rapidly became qualified as a Mission Pilot and Incident Commander. As a CAP Incident Commander he directed and trained other members in many real and training exercises in Search and rescue in the Georgia area. As a Cap instructor pilot he has soloed many cadets that started them on their Georgia aviation careers. He has served as the Commander of the Peachtree DeKalb Airport Senior Squadron and Director of Operations for the Georgia Wing.

   He has served as Chief Instructor with the PDK Flight Academy. He has occasional work with Angel Flight by offering his pilot and airplane services free to patients that need to fly to and from locations for medical treatment. He has been a Georgia FAA Aviation Safety Counselor since 1996. He is currently an independent flight instructor at PDK. He has been selected as one of the first five Eclipse-500 (VLJ) mentor pilots. He is under contract with the Eclipse-500 Company to serve as a mentor for owners that purchase this aircraft.

   Stan has logged over 25,000 flight hours and holds type ratings in the CV-440, DC-9, B-727, B-757, B-767, and the L-1011. He is a CFI, CFII, MEI, Flight Engineer, and A&P Mechanic. He currently owns, operates, and maintains a PA-32-260.

In recognition of his 50 years of flying, mentoring, and proven leadership in military, commercial, and general aviation in Georgia, Col. Stanley N. Collins, Jr. was enshrined into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame on April 21, 2012.