Tonight the National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) will announce the names of the four individuals selected for enshrinement into the Class of 2010. Also being revealed will be the recipient of its 2010 Milton Caniff Spirit of Flight Award. Alan Hoeweler, NAHF president, will formally make the announcement at Aviation Trail's celebration of the 106th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first controlled powered flight. The event is being held at the National Museum of the United States Air Force and adjacent NAHF Learning Center.
The Class of 2010 includes: [b]Captain Alan Bean - astronaut and lunar module pilot on Apollo 12, man's second lunar landing.[/b] Warren G. Grimes - father of aircraft lighting and inventor of aircraft navigation instruments. Clay Lacy - a 50,000-hour pilot, business aviation icon and videographer for many Hollywood pictures including Top Gun and The Right Stuff. Noel Wien - Arctic flight expert who founded Wien Alaska Airlines, one of the oldest airlines in the U.S., and who has been listed as one of the ten greatest pilots of all time.
The 2010 Milton Caniff Spirit of Flight Award recipient will be the 8,000-member-company National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), the world's foremost organization in representing the interests of business aviation. The award is bestowed annually upon a group or organization in recognition of its achievement in advancing aviation.
The NAHF's formal enshrinement ceremony, often referred to as "America's Oscar Night of Aviation", where the four will join the 203 previous inductees, is scheduled to be held Saturday, July 17, 2010, at the Dayton Convention Center. The Spirit of Flight Award will be bestowed at the NAHF's President's Reception taking place at the National Museum of the United States Air Force the previous night - Friday, July 16, 2010.
Visit the
NAHF website or call 937-256-0944 ext. 10 to obtain advanced reservations for the 49th Annual Enshrinement Dinner & Ceremony and the President's Reception. The National Aviation Hall of Fame is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in Dayton in 1962 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1964. Its mission is to honor America's outstanding air and space pioneers, which it does through a 17,000 square-foot public Learning Center featuring interactive exhibits, a youth education program, its annual enshrinement ceremony, and other public outreach programs.
Aviation Trail, Inc. (ATI), the host for this evening's events, is a 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to honor the Birthplace of Aviation through identifying and promoting more than forty aviation heritage sites and/or partnering organizations. The ATI Parachute Museum is located at the Dayton Aviation National Historical Park's West Interpretative Center.