Memorial service Thursday, funeral Saturday for Army pilot

FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA - An Army pilot so skilled he could fly eight types of aircraft was remembered Thursday by fellow members of the Golden Knights parachute exhibition team. <br> <br> Forty-five-year-old Chief Warrant Officer Lowell Timmons died last week when the UV-20 single-engine turboprop he was flying near Tucson, Arizona, collided with a civilian skydiving plane. No one else was killed. His funeral will be held Saturday at Richmond Hill, just outside Savannah, Georgia. <br> <br> About 300 people attended the service today at the main chapel at Fort Bragg, home of the Golden Knights and the Army&#39;s 18th Airborne Corps. <br> <br> At the front of the gathering, Timmons&#39; dog tags and flight helmet hung on the butt of a M-16 rifle mounted vertically. On the floor beside the rifle was a pair of empty jump boots. The display was backed by crossed United States and Golden Knights flags. <br> <br> The demonstration team&#39;s commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel David Liwang, said while some Americans find it difficult to learn to drive a stick-shift automobile, Timmons was proficient flying everything from helicopters to cargo planes. Liwang said his six-thousand hours of flight experience was equivalent to flying nonstop for nearly nine months. <br> <br> Chief Warrant Officer Ken Breeden, a fellow pilot, knew Timmons when they served together in Korea before joining the Golden Knights. Breeden said Timmons had a knack for instantly earning the respect of fellow fliers and parachute troops. <br> <br> Timmons, a 16-year veteran born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, had served in Somalia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia, Germany and Korea. He is survived by his wife, Teresa, three daughters and three brothers.