Legendary air show pilot Bob Hoover, celebrating his 85th birthday, received the Legends Freedom of Flight award, presented by good friend Gen. Chuck Yeager. Both are also National Aviation Hall of Fame enshrinees.
By Di Freeze
The fourth annual Living Legends of Aviation award ceremony, presented by Airport Journals, took place at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on Jan. 25. Four hundred people were on hand to honor this year’s recipients and to pay tribute to legendary aerobatic pilot Bob Hoover, celebrating his 85th birthday. The evening also celebrated the contributions of the many legends in attendance, including Dr. Buzz Aldrin, Maj. Gen. William Anders, Capt. Eugene Cernan, Joe Clark, Clay Lacy, Julie Clark, Steve Fossett, James Raisbeck, Frank Robinson, Dick Rutan, Ed Swearingen, Carroll Shelby, Patty Wagstaff, Kermit Weeks, Charlie Johnson, Hank Beaird, Milan Haven and Dr. Forrest Bird. Academy Award winning screen star Cliff Robertson and Michael Dorn (“Worf” from “Star Trek”) also attended, as well as directors Tony Bill (“Flyboys”) and Brian J. Terwilliger (“One Six Right”).
“Never have so many Legends of Aviation been gathered in one place—not in Oshkosh or anywhere, ever,” said Clay Lacy.
Cirrus founders Dale and Alan Klapmeier received the 2006 Michael A. Chowdry Aviation Entrepreneur of the Year award, presented by Vern Raburn, founder and CEO of Eclipse Aviation and last year’s award recipient. A.L. Ueltschi, FlightSafety International founder and chairman of ORBIS International, received the Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur award, presented by Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, founder and CEO of International Lease Finance Corp. and the 2005 recipient. In honor of his many achievements, Bob Hoover received the Legends Freedom of Flight award, presented by good friend Gen. Chuck Yeager.
Cirrus founders Dale (right) and Alan (center) Klapmeier received the 2006 Michael A. Chowdry Aviation Entrepreneur of the Year award, presented by Vern Raburn (left), founder and CEO of Eclipse Aviation and last year’s recipient.
Alan and Dale Klapmeier: 2006 Aviation Entrepreneurs of the Year
Alan and Dale Klapmeier began their company in 1984, the same year they began working on the VK-30, a composite pusher that had been on the drawing board for five years. The aircraft company began at their family’s vacation farmhouse in North Freedom, Wis.
In 1994, the brothers moved company headquarters to Duluth, Minn., and began work on the SR20, a four-passenger, single-engine, piston-powered, composite aircraft. The aircraft made its maiden flight in 1995. In 1997, Cirrus started assembly of its first production prototype aircraft. When Cirrus certified its SR20 in 1998, the company became the only GA manufacturer in the world to offer a rocket-deployed airframe parachute as a standard feature. In 1999, Cirrus made its first customer delivery of the FAA certified SR20 and announced its all-glass cockpit, which first became available in the SR22. In 2003, the all-glass cockpit became standard on all its airplanes.
Cirrus captured 11 percent of the market for single-engine piston planes in 2001, and holds a 33-percent share today. Presently the world’s second-largest manufacturer of aircraft in its class, Cirrus delivered about 700 aircraft in 2006. In November, it celebrated its 3,000th production aircraft.
The company’s latest project is The Jet by Cirrus, a single-engine, turbine-powered personal jet incorporating successful design technologies from the SR20 and SR22 series, including its newest model, a turbonormalized SR22-GTS Turbo. For their personal jet, the brothers are focused on “ease of operation, rather than on jet performance.” The aircraft, which will have more than four seats, will “be the lowest, slowest and shortest-range jet available,” and will “fly higher, faster and farther than the SR22.”
A.L. Ueltschi: 2006 Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, founder and CEO of International Lease Finance Corp. and the 2005 award recipient, presented the 2006 Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur award to A.L. Ueltschi.
While growing up on a dairy farm in Kentucky, A.L. Ueltschi fantasized about being a pilot. He opened a hamburger stand to earn money for flight lessons, soloed at the age of 16 and, at 18, borrowed the rest of the money he needed to buy a Waco 10.
Barnstorming led to a job flying for Cincinnati-based Queen City Flying Service and later, his position as personal pilot to Pan Am founder Juan Terry Trippe. While with Pan Am, Ueltschi determined that someone should train business pilots in the same diligent manner as Pan Am, so, in 1951, he formed FlightSafety International. Today, the company designs and manufactures full-motion flight simulators for civil and military aircraft programs and operates the world’s largest fleet of advanced, full flight simulators at more than 40 training locations. More than 75,000 pilots, technicians and other aviation professionals train at FlightSafety facilities each year.
Ueltschi is also the chairman of ORBIS International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating unnecessary blindness worldwide. Since 1982, when the Flying Eye Hospital took off on its first sight-saving mission, more than 124,000 healthcare workers have enhanced their skills through ORBIS training programs. Thanks to ORBIS and ORBIS-supported programs, more than 135,000 eye surgeries have been performed and more than three million individuals have been treated.
Robert Hoover: Freedom of Flight
A.L. Ueltschi, FlightSafety International founder and chairman of ORBIS International, received the Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur award.
Bob Hoover has flown more than 300 types of aircraft, performed worldwide at more than 2,000 air shows and set records for transcontinental and time-to-climb speed.
He began taking flying lessons when he was 15, and after enlisting in the Tennessee Air National Guard, trained in the Army Air Corps. As part of the 20th Fighter Group, he flew 58 successful missions in the European theater. After a German Focke-Wulf 190 shot him down in February 1944, Hoover was held for 16 months in Stalag Luft 1. He escaped April 1945, stole a Focke-Wulf 190 and flew to Holland. After WWII, he was assigned to Wright Field’s Flight Test Division, where he flew as backup pilot to Chuck Yeager on the Bell X-1, the first aircraft to exceed Mach 1.
In 1951, he began a 36-year career with North American Aviation, testing and demonstrating airplanes, and he was the official starter in his famous P-51 Mustang at Reno Air Races for more than three decades. The International Council of Air Shows inducted him as the first member of its Hall of Fame and he was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1988. His contributions to aviation include two terms as president of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.
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- On July 20, 1969, a lunar module landed on the moon’s Sea of Tranquility. Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, aboard that vehicle, took the second small step for mankind on the moon. Aldrin is an enshrinee in the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
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- Bill Anders was backup pilot for the Gemini XI and Apollo 11 flights, and was lunar module pilot for Apollo 8, the first lunar orbit mission. He attended the event with his wife, Valerie.
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- Steve Fossett, among the world’s greatest adventurers, attended the event with his wife Peggy. Fossett has set 115 new world records or world firsts and holds current official world records in five sports.
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- Watch for the story about legend Ed Swearingen, shown with wife Janice, in an upcoming issue of Airport Journals.
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- Bob Hoover and Dale Klapmeier look on as Alan Klapmeier accepts his award.
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- Patty Wagstaff and Bob Hoover share a secret.
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- Alan Klapmeier holds up his award.
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- Dale Klapmeier displays his award.
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- Vern Raburn, Gen. Jack Daily and Christine and Steve Hazy enjoyed sharing a table.
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- Jerry Lips and Barron Hilton—Hilton was a photographer’s mate in the Navy. He eventually became an “innkeeper,” but serves as an at-large photographer for Airport Journals.
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- Cliff Robertson congratulates Dale Klapmeier on his award.
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- Alan Klapmeier (right) shares an anecdote with Frank Robinson, founder of Robinson Helicopters.
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- Ron Kaplan (right), the executive director of the National Aviation Hall of Fame, and his wife Jennifer, with friend Kermit Weeks.
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- Brian Barents, Eclipse Aviation director and Aerion vice chairman, congratulates Al Ueltschi on his recent award. Ueltschi is also a National Aviation Hall of Fame enshrinee.
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- Gene Cernan and fellow legend Patty Wagstaff.
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- Clay Lacy greeted Chuck Yeager, the first man to break the sound barrier, at Clay Lacy Aviation. The FBO provided famous Clay Lacy services and fuel for aircraft bringing in the legends.
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- Air Force vets Chuck Yeager and Jerry Lips—Yeager trained at Perrin Field in 1942 and Lips was stationed at Perrin 20 years later.
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- Roger Humiston and Kate Woolstenhulme volunteered two beautiful Best Jets Lears to bring several legends to the event. L to R: Roslyn and Hank Beaird, Ed and Janice Swearingen, Woolstenhulme, Humiston and Tom Danaher.
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- Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, and wife Jan Nanna Cernan flew from Texas in a Bombardier Learjet 40XR.
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- R to L: Jerry Lips, Airport Journals manager, and Paul Lips, publisher, welcome Murray Smith, Pro Pilot publisher.
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- Joe Clark, founder and CEO of Aviation Partners, Inc., and chairman of Aviation Partners Boeing, with Chuck Yeager.
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- Airtel Plaza Hotel owner Jim Dunn hosted the Legends Luncheon.
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- Di Freeze and Laurie Lips arrived in Los Angeles early to help prepare for Airport Journals’ annual Living Legends of Aviation event.
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- Gene Cernan and Jan Nanna Cernan joined other legends at Landings Restaurant at Airtel Plaza after arriving at Clay Lacy Aviation at Van Nuys Airport.
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- A.L. Ueltschi, FlightSafety International founder and chairman of ORBIS International, received the Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur award.
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- Clay Lacy treated the legends to lunch, including Ed Swearingen, founder of the Swearingen Aircraft Company.
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- L to R: Tom Danaher, with pilot and mechanic mentor Milan Haven and Lear test pilot Hank Beaird.
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- Alan and Dale Klapmeier celebrated with their wives and parents. L to R: Dale and Patty, Larry and Carol, and Alan and Sara.
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- Tom Gribbin, vice chairman of the National Aeronautics Association Contest and Records Board, presented Bob Hoover with a 1964 Reno Air Race poster.
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- Shawn Wallace (left) and Charlie Johnson flank F. Lee Bailey (second from left) and Murray Smith.
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- Georgia aviation tycoon Pat Epps with National Aviation Hall of Fame enshrinee Patty Wagstaff.
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- National Aviation Hall of Fame enshrinee Gene Cernan congratulates Cliff Robertson on his recent enshrinement.
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- Steve Fossett, among the world’s greatest adventurers, attended the event with his wife Peggy. Fossett has set 115 new world records or world firsts and holds current official world records in five sports.
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- Barron Hilton (right) converses with noted aviation journalist and author Barry Schiff.
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- Al Ueltschi poses next to his portrait honoring him as the Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur with Andrea Parks. Parks has created all of the Living Legends award portraits.
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- Kermit Weeks presented a photograph of his daughter taking her first flying lesson to Linsey Lips, a good friend of Katie’s.
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- Wilma and Jack Bradley—Wilma, Jerry Lips’ mother, is manager of registration of the Business Aircraft and Jet Previews.
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- Vern Raburn, the 2005 Aviation Entrepreneur of the Year, poses next to his portrait.
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- Di Freeze, Airport Journals editor-in-chief, greets Steve Hazy (left) and Kermit Weeks.
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- Contributor Larry Bledsoe and his wife Jane talk with Cliff Robertson, who writes a monthly column for Airport Journals.
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- Bob Pond, with wife Jo, founded the Palm Springs Air Museum, home to his legendary collection of World War II aircraft, automobiles and aviation artifacts.
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- Hank Beaird and wife Roslyn in front of an elaborate ice sculpture.
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- Linden Blue, General Atomics vice chairman and Spectrum Aeronautical founder and CEO, attended the event with his son, Austin, president of Spectrum Aeronautical.
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- L to R: Clay Lacy talks with Dick Rutan, who piloted the Voyager on the first nonstop, unrefueled flight around the world in 1986, and Joe Clark.
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- Cliff Robertson with fellow Airport Journals columnist Bob Schultz and wife Sharon.
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- Roger Humiston, Tom Danaher and Ray Santa, sales director of Best Jets.
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- Tony Bill, the director of “Flyboys,” shares a laugh with Steve Fossett (right). National Aviation Hall of Fame enshrinee Dick Rutan is in the background.
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- Michael Dorn (left) is best known for his role as Worf in “Star Trek.” Brian J. Terwilliger directed and produced “One Six Right.”
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- Dick Rutan relaxes with Mike Melvill, who piloted SpaceShipOne on its first flight past the edge of space, on June 21, 2004, thus becoming the first commercial astronaut.
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- Victoria Yeager with soaring legend Barron Hilton.
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- Airport Journals contributor Karen Di Piazza with Tom Wathen, the retired CEO of Pinkerton’s Inc. Wathen devotes his time and resources to charitable activities through the Thomas Wathen Foundation.
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- Clay Lacy with Betty Howard, representing her husband Dee Howard, who was unable to attend.
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- Forbes Magazine Publisher Rich Karlgaard, shown with wife Marji, said, “It was a once in a lifetime experience, being in a room with so many of my heroes.”
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- Clay Lacy poses with his portrait honoring him as the 2004 Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur.
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- Raisbeck Engineering founder James Raisbeck and his wife Sherry have gifted more than $13 million through the James and Sherry Raisbeck Foundation and pledged several million more.
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- Linsey Lips, Airport Journals publisher, with Sean Carter, owner of Perfect Landing Restaurant, Centennial Airport.
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- While in the Army Air Corps during World War II, automobile legend Carroll Shelby was a flight instructor and test pilot.
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- Cynthia Harrison is executive producer of “Dogfights,” the History Channel’s exciting series about air-to-air combat. A recent segment featured Brig. Gen. Steve Ritchie.
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- Cessna representatives Bob Stangarone, VP of communications, and Steve Brown (right).
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- Tom Danaher (left) compares stories with Pam and Dr. Forrest Bird, inventor and aeromedical scientist best known for developing some of the first reliable mass-produced mechanical ventilators for acute and chronic cardiopulmonary care.
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- L to R: Cliff Robertson chats with Jet Fleet International cofounders Bob Hoover and Finn Moller.
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- L to R: Patty Turner, Fred Baldwin, Jan Nanna Cernan and Gene Cernan enjoy the evening.
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- Aviation legends were wall to wall throughout the room.
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- Cliff Robertson, Kermit Weeks and Barron Hilton share a love for vintage aircraft.
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- Roger Humiston and Kate Woolstenhulme pose with Milan Haven (center), who mentored Humiston in Lears and Gulfstreams.
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- Brian Terwilliger, Ron Kaplan and Lynn Krogh, cofounder of International Jet Aviation Services, unwind in the Century Plaza lounge after the event.
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- Visiting California with wife Roslyn, famous test pilot Hank Beaird flew the first Lear and many other aircraft for their first flight.
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- Bob Hoover poses with a portrait by Andrea Parks, honoring him with the Living Legends Freedom of Flight award.
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- Cable pioneer Carl Williams with Zoe Dell Nutter, past chairman and president of the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
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- Tammy Pridie, assistant to Justin Lips, national sales director for Airport Journals, with Cliff Robertson.
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- Steve Ritchie (right) is the only U.S. Air Force pilot ace of the Vietnam Conflict. Charlie Johnson, a man of many faces, is president and COO of Aviation Technology Group and the former president of Cessna; Johnson was also Arnold Palmer’s chief pilot.