Four individuals will be enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio, on Oct. 1, 2016. The names were announced by Ron Kaplan before an audience of 1,000 attendees at the opening general session of the National Business Aviation Association convention Nov. 17 in Las Vegas.
The four are:
- Tom Poberezny, a two-time aerobatic champion and airshow performer who later served as president and CEO of the Experimental Aircraft Association, where he established the Young Eagles program to encourage youth to fly.
- Capt. Robert L. Crippen, United States Navy (retired), who as an astronaut piloted the first NASA space shuttle mission and three more before becoming a shuttle mission director.
- The late Col. George “Bud” Day, United States Air Force, a Marine Corps combat veteran of World War II who became an Air Force fighter pilot in Korea and Southeast Asia. He was shot down and spent 67 months as a prisoner of war, earning the Congressional Medal of Honor.
- Christopher “Chris” Kraft, Jr., who served as NASA’s first flight director and created and implemented the Mission Control Center for manned space programs.
The fifty-fourth Annual National Aviation Hall of Fame Enshrinement Dinner and Ceremony will take place at the National Aviation Hall of Fame Learning Center and the adjacent National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton.
Alton K. Marsh
Freelance journalist
Alton K. Marsh is a former senior editor of AOPA Pilot and is now a freelance journalist specializing in aviation topics.
