Wisconsin Aviation Hall Of Fame To Induct Five At October Banquet

The Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame announced today that five Wisconsin aviators would be inducted into the Hall of Fame at a banquet to be held this fall.

Jerry Mehlhaff, President and Founder of American Champion Aircraft, Rochester, Wisconsin will be inducted, along with Duane Esse, Waunakee, WI. Esse is a flight instructor, career educator and former Chief of Safety for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Aeronautics.

Anton Brotz, a Sheboygan County aviation pioneer; Wendell McEldowney, an early LaCrosse-area pilot and aviation promoter; and Carlyle Godske, a World War I pilot and barnstormer will be posthumously inducted in the Pioneer category, for those who made significant contributions to aviation before 1927.

The inductees will be enshrined at a ceremony to be held in the Eagle Hangar at the EAA Museum in Oshkosh on October 22. Plaques will be presented to the inductees and then permanently displayed in the Fergus Plaza at the museum. The public is invited and tickets will be available later this year by calling Keith Glasshof at 715-832-6379 or Michael Goc at 608-339-7191.

The Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame was organized in 1985 and has inducted over 75 men and women who have made significant achievements to aviation in Wisconsin. The organization’s mission statement is to collect and preserve the history of aviation in Wisconsin, recognize those who made that history, inform others of it, and promote aviation education to future generations.

FMI: www.aviationhalloffamewisconsin.com