Image courtesy of NAHF
The National Aviation Hall of Fame, based in Dayton, Ohio, this week announced the names of six aviators who will join its roster of air and space pioneers in 2014. The list includes Alan and Dale Klapmeier, founders of Cirrus Aircraft; Emily Warner, who flew for Frontier Airlines in the 1970s; the late Steve Wittman, of Oshkosh; Bert Acosta, an early 20th-century test pilot; and USAF Brig. Gen. James McDivitt, whose career spanned the Korean War and the Apollo program. The list was unveiled at a dinner held in Dayton on Tuesday to celebrate the 110th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ historic flight in Kitty Hawk.A black-tie dinner and ceremony to honor the aviators will be held in Dayton in October. The public is invited; tickets are available from NAHF.
Candidates for the Hall of Fame are nominated and voted on each year by a group of more than 120 aviation professionals. NAHF, a nonprofit group, was founded in 1962 and operates a 17,000-square-foot public Learning Center in Dayton, adjacent to the National Museum of the United States Air Force. The Learning Center features interactive exhibits, a youth education program, and public outreach programs, and the October enshrinement ceremony is held there. The NAHF has so far inducted 219 air and space pioneers.
