An astronaut, an icon of business aviation, an engineer and an Arctic flyer have been named to the National Aviation Hall of Fame‘s Class of 2010. Capt. Alan Bean, the pilot of the lunar module for Apollo 12, was part of the second crew to land on the moon.Clay Lacy, a 50,000-hour pilot, founded Clay Lacy Aviation at Van Nuys Airport. He holds 30 type ratings, has flown over 2,500 air-to-air photo flights, and shot film for many Hollywood pictures including Top Gun and The Right Stuff.Warren Grimes, the “father of aircraft lighting,” produced his first airplane lights in his garage in 1933, and created the familiar red, green and white nav lights still found on aircraft today. Noel Wien was an Arctic flight expert who founded Wien Alaska Airlines, one of the oldest airlines in the U.S., in the 1920s. Click here for a 2002 interview with his son Merrill Wien by AVweb‘s Joe Godfrey. The Hall of Fame also awarded its 2010 Milton Caniff Spirit of Flight Award to the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), in recognition of its achievement in advancing aviation.
The awardees were announced on Dec. 17 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. They will be honored in an NAHF ceremony on July 17 at the Dayton Convention Center. Tickets to the event are available at 937-256-0944 ext.10.
