International Forest of Friendship honors Barry Schiff

Schiff, a 28,000-hour pilot who holds 13 airline type ratings, was inducted in a ceremony June 18, said a news release from the organization based in Atchison, Kansas, that serves as “a living, growing memorial to the world history of aviation and aerospace.”

Schiff was recognized for his lifetime contributions to aviation, flight safety, and world friendship through flight, said the IFF, noting that he holds “every FAA category and class rating (except ‘blimp’)” and has also served as “an FAA-designated check airman (Boeing 767), an FAA-designated examiner, and has been appointed as an FAA-designated accident prevention counselor for life.”

As a 2016 honoree, Schiff joins 1,300 past inductees including Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, the Wright brothers, Sally Ride, Eileen Collins, and Chuck Yeager. 

The International Forest of Friendship “was a gift to America on the Nation’s 200th birthday” in 1976 from the City of Atchison, birthplace of Amelia Earhart, and The Ninety-Nines, the International Organization of Women Pilots.” The Forest is “made up of trees from all 50 states and 35 countries, including a ‘moon tree’ grown from a seed taken to the moon on Apollo 14,” the announcement said. 

This year, the theme for the celebration of the organization’s fortieth year was “World Friendship Through Flight.”

Schiff's induction also honored him for holding five world aviation speed records and having received a Congressional Commendation, France’s Louis Bleriot Air Medal, Switzerland’s Gold Proficiency Medal, an honorary doctorate in aeronautical science, and AOPA’s L.P. Sharples Perpetual Award. He also has been inducted as a Living Legend of Aviation and into the National Flight Instructor Hall of Fame.

In 1995 Schiff conceived, organized, and led “Operation Peace Flight” with the personal approval of King Hussein of Jordan and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The flight of 31 light airplanes carrying 135 Israelis, Jordanians, and Americans between Jerusalem and Amman, Jordan, was the first flight of any kind ever allowed between these countries, the IFF noted.

Schiff, of Camarillo, California, has written 1,700 magazine articles on flight safety, operational procedures, and aeronautical theory.

He was nominated for induction by the Ventura County Chapter of the Ninety-Nines.