Aerobatic performer and competitor Patty Wagstaff was named the first winner of the Greater Miami Aviation Association’s Amelia Earhart Award recognizing outstanding achievement in aviation by women. Another new award, the Neil Armstrong Award for aerospace leaders, went to Peter Diamandis, the CEO of the X Prize Foundation, which sponsored the competition for privately funded space exploration won by SpaceShipOne in 2005. The awards were handed out as part of the association’s Wright Brothers Memorial Awards Gala Evening on Nov. 17. “We are the oldest aviation association in the U.S., and we are honoring women in aviation for their contribution through the years for the first time,” Association President Oscar Garcia told the Miami Herald. Garcia said the new Neil Armstrong award “is meant to inspire the young.” Other awards handed out included the Wright Brothers Memorial Award, which went to Capt. Vito La Forgia. Enrique Cueto, CEO of LAN Airlines, got the Corporate Achievement Award. Peter Dolara won the Juan Trippe Award for dedication to aviation in Latin America and the Caribbean, while Embraer chief Mauricio Botelho won the Glen Curtiss Award for contributions to the air transport business.
Wagstaff, Diamandis Honored
Key Takeaways:
- Aerobatic performer Patty Wagstaff was the first recipient of the Greater Miami Aviation Association's new Amelia Earhart Award, recognizing outstanding achievement in aviation by women.
- The association also launched the Neil Armstrong Award for aerospace leaders, with Peter Diamandis, CEO of the X Prize Foundation, as its inaugural winner.
- These new awards were presented at the Greater Miami Aviation Association's Wright Brothers Memorial Awards Gala, marking the first time the U.S.'s oldest aviation association formally honored women's contributions.
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