The Board Of Trustees Announce Future Sites Of The '“Oscar Night Of Aviation'

The Board of Trustees of the National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) is pleased to announce the site selections of Washington, DC in 2018, Denver, CO in 2019 and Dayton, OH in 2020. The nearly unanimous vote by the Board reaffirms the Board’s strategy of expanding the National Aviation Hall of Fame brand to a national audience.

The Class of 2018 will be inducted in late September in Washington, D.C. “The Washington D.C. area is very easy to travel to and has outstanding accommodations and venues," said Chairman Michael Quiello. "Our induction ceremony will certainly attract senior industry leaders in both the private and government sectors. As a national organization, it is an honor and privilege to be inducting the Class of 2018 in our nation’s capital.”

“We are also proud to announce that the Class of 2019 will be inducted at the Wings Over the Rockies Museum in Denver, CO,” said President David Brixey. “We have yet to take our brand to the western U.S. and feel that Denver’s aerospace-rich environment is ideal for us to share our mission in another exciting market.”

"Our goal is that by 2020 our Learning Center, which is visited by over a quarter of a million visitors a year and is co-located with the National Museum of the United States Air Force, will have been completely renovated and revitalized with updated content, improved state-of-the art interactives and sponsored galleries," said Executive Director Amy Spowart. "This would make Dayton the ideal location for a magnificent Homecoming Enshrinement event and a grand unveiling of our new Learning Center.”

The NAHF Class of 2018 is a highly distinguished group representing a broad range of enduring contributions to both the advancement of flight and the manned exploration of space:

• General Ronald R. Fogleman, USAF (Ret.) is a United States Air Force Academy graduate, decorated Vietnam veteran (logging 80 missions as a Misty Forward Air Controller), Command Pilot and Parachutist, 15th Chief of Staff of the Air Force and the author of the current Air Force Core Values.
• Colonel Walter Cunningham, USMC (Ret.) is a decorated Korean War veteran, fighter pilot, physicist, Apollo 7 Lunar Module Pilot, SKYLAB Chief, entrepreneur, author of The All-American Boys and radio-show host.
• General John R. (Jack) Dailey, USMC (Ret.) is a decorated Vietnam veteran, who served as the Former Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps and Chief of Staff from 1990 to 1992, Associate Deputy Administrator of NASA and is currently the Director of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
• (The late) William H. (Bill) Dana was a 40-year veteran of NASA, test pilot and aeronautical engineer. He was also the project pilot for the X-15 and pilot astronaut for the X-20, among several other aircraft.

The NAHF was founded in Dayton in 1962 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1964. Its mission is Honoring Aerospace Legends to Inspire Future Leaders, which it does through a 17,000 square-foot public Learning Center featuring interactive exhibits, a youth education program, other public outreach programs, its annual Enshrinement ceremony and collaboration with like-minded organizations.

(Source: NAHF news release)

FMI: www.nationalaviation.org