A blue-chip lineup of aviation icons were on hand at the National Business Aviation Association’s convention in Atlanta on Wednesday to be named Wright Brothers Master Pilots. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan, former Cessna CEO Russ Meyer, former airline pilot and aviation entrepreneur Clay Lacy and legendary golf pro and business aviation advocate Arnold Palmer received the honors from FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. Test pilot and airshow legend Bob Hoover was unable to attend. Palmer was also given NBAA’s Meritorious Service to Aviation Award, the association’s highest honor. Meanwhile, business aviation in general got a collective pat on the back for its huge contribution to the Haiti earthquake relief effort.
NBAA awarded the Al Ueltschi Award for Humanitarian Leadership to everyone who helped in the Haiti effort and dozens were on hand in the audience to watch a specially commissioned video commemorating business aviation’s contribution. Millions of pounds of food and supplies were delivered to Haiti’s outlying areas, sometimes using improvised landing strips on narrow country roads to accomplish the missions. Hundreds of sick and injured people were also evacuated by private aircraft.
