Flight helmet worn by Thunderbird pilot Gen. Lloyd W. Newton

Shepard Airtronics, Inc., founded 1960 · ca. 1974

Lloyd W. “Fig” Newton graduated from Tennessee State University in 1966 and became an Air Force fighter pilot. He flew 269 combat missions, including 79 over North Vietnam. In 1974, Newton became the first African American pilot in the Air Force’s Thunderbirds. He retired from the Air Force in 2000 as a four-star general.