Volunteer Examining Pioneer WX7P SK

The cover of September 1980 CQ featured
Wilse Morgan, then KL7CQ, using a hot-air
balloon to lower a 20-meter monband beam onto
his tower.

Wilse Morgan, WX7P (ex-KL7CQ), passed away on June 13 at age 82. Morgan was one of the pioneers of the volunteer examining system and presided over the first-ever VE session back in 1984. The ARRL Letter reported that Morgan had been suffering from cancer.

He was also a noted DXer, contester and antenna designer, who twice appeared on the cover of CQ, in 1980 when he used a hot air balloon to install a large antenna, and again in 1984 when he used a helicopter to install yet another big beam. Morgan was inducted into the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame in 2009.