PRESS RELEASE
On Dec. 7 at The Museum of Flight, retired space shuttle astronaut Jan Davis connects her father’s service as a B-17 bomber pilot in World War II with her own service as an astronaut during a lecture about her book, Air Born: Two Generations in Flight. The inspiring story highlights the intersection of two completely different yet uniquely connected worlds brought together by a common link of flight and family.
Davis will also introduce her new book, Air Born: Artistic Musings of a WWII Pilot and POW, a companion piece to Two Generations that brings her father’s wartime writings and artwork to light. The 2 pm program includes audience Q and A and is followed by a book signing. The event is free with Museum Membership and included with general admission.
Air Born Backstory
Jan Davis’ father, Ben Smotherman, was a World War II B-17 pilot who was shot down in 1943 and spent 22 months as a POW. While interred, he kept a journal, painted and sketched. In 2020 Davis thought of writing a book about him to bring his stories and art into the world. As she read through her father’s wartime logs she discovered connections between their lives—his as a pilot and hers as an astronaut, and the book became about them both. The inspiring story highlights the intersection of two completely different yet uniquely connected worlds brought together by a common link of flight and family. Her new book, Air Born: Artistic Musings of a WWII Pilot and POW, is a companion piece to Two Generations that brings her father’s wartime writings and artwork to light.
As a space shuttle astronaut, Davis went through extensive training, flew NASA jets and completed three spaceflights from 1992-1997, spending over 673 hours in orbit. She continued working for NASA at its Headquarters and Marshal Space Flight Center before retiring from the Agency in 2005.
Founded in 1965, the independent, nonprofit Museum of Flight is one of the largest air and space museums in the world, annually serving over 600,000 visitors. The Museum’s collection includes more than 160 historically significant airplanes and spacecraft, from the first fighter plane (1914) to today’s 787 Dreamliner. Attractions at the 23-acre, 5-building Seattle campus include the original Boeing Company factory, the NASA Space Shuttle Trainer, Air Force One, Concorde, Lockheed Blackbird and Apollo Moon rockets. In addition to the Seattle campus adjacent to King County International Airport, the Museum also has its 3-acre Restoration Center and Reserve Collection at Paine Field in Everett (not currently open to the public).
With a foundation of aviation history, the Museum is also a hub of news and dialogue with leaders in the emerging field of private spaceflight ventures. The Museum’s aviation and space library and archives are the largest on the West Coast. More than 150,000 individuals are served annually by the Museum’s onsite and outreach educational programs. The Museum of Flight is accredited by the American Association of Museums, and is an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.
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Angela Decker, from McPherson, Kansas, discovered her passion for aviation after earning a Master’s in Military History from Norwich University in 2011. Since 2012, she has volunteered with vintage aviation groups, excelling as a social media content creator and coordinator. Angela has coordinated aviation and WWII events, appeared as Rosie the Riveter, and is restoring a Stearman aircraft. She is the Operations Logistics Coordinator at CAF Airbase Georgia and an accountant with a degree in Economics from the University of Georgia. Her son, Caden, shares her love for aviation and history and is studying Digital Media Arts.
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