The National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio, has received a donation of $50,000 from the Reuben H. Fleet Foundation Fund of San Diego. The grant will be used for exhibits and a website upgrade.
Fleet was enshrined in the Aviation Hall of Fame in 1975. He organized the first airmail service in 1918 and formed Consolidated Aircraft Corp. known for the PBY Catalina and PB2Y Coronado series of flying boats. The company also built the B–24 Liberator bomber.
The announcement of the grant was made by 2002 Hall of Fame enshrinee Dick Rutan, who in 1986 piloted the first nonstop, unrefueled flight around the world.
The National Aviation Hall of Fame is a nonprofit organization founded in Dayton in 1962 and chartered by 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.