Service for Walt Starling, Traffic Voice, Is Friday

A funeral is planned for Friday for Walt Starling, who died Tuesday.
Starling became known to Washington-area listeners doing airborne traffic reports — and flying the plane — for two decades. He had been treated at his home in Maryland through hospice care after being diagnosed with colon cancer last spring, according to a Web site set up to support him.
The service will be in Hyattsville, Md. A tribute is planned for Saturday to raise funds and honor his accomplishments.
According to a Washington Post obituary, Starling, 52, had flown an estimated 2.2 million air miles. In recent years, he had been working for WRC(TV) but made his mark at DC-area radio stations. His career reportedly began as a class project at the University of Maryland while he was working on a pilot’s license. He started reports from a fixed-wing plane for WAVA(FM) in 1974.
The Post also reported that Starling’s father, Walter M. Starling, died last month.
Info: www.friendsofwaltstarling.com.