He often rode his bike to Floyd Bennett Field where he occasionally got free flights from a family friend.

Lopez learned to fly in college, then volunteered for the Army Air Forces Aviation Cadet Program when the age limit was lowered to 18 in early 1942.

He served a brief tour of duty in the Korea War in August and September 1950 as an F-86 Sabre pilot with the 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing.

Following his retirement from the Air Force in 1964, he spent eight years as an engineer on the Apollo and Skylab programs with Bellcomm, Inc., a subsidiary of Bell Labs.

Lopez died from a heart attack on March 3, 2008, at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, near to where his daughter lived.