Four Air And Space Pioneers Selected For July Enshrinement
The National Aviation
Hall of Fame (NAHF) is out with the names of the four air and space
pioneers selected to be enshrined at its 44th Annual Enshrinement
Ceremony that will take place in Dayton on Saturday, July 16,
2005.
The formal announcement was made at a dinner hosted by the
Dayton-based organization Aviation Trail, Inc. at the National
Museum of the United States Air Force, over the weekend. An
audience of over 200 aviation enthusiasts is expected for the event
being held in recognition of the 101st anniversary of the Wright
Brothers first powered flight – December 17, 1903.
On July 16th of next year the four incoming men and women
enshrinees will join the 182 legends of aviation currently honored
by the NAHF, including the very first two, Orville and Wilbur
Wright. Making the announcement will be NAHF President, Dr. Janet
Bednarek, PhD.
The enshrinee Class of 2005 consists of WWII tactician and
fighter ace, John R. Alison; record-setting aviatrix and aerobatic
champion, Betty Skelton Frankman; pioneering military aviatrix,
Nancy Harkness Love; and innovative engineer and aerospace industry
leader, Benjamin (Ben) R. Rich.
John R. Alison,
was born in Florida in 1912. He graduated from the University of
Florida in 1935, joined the Army Air Corps in 1936 and earned his
wings in 1937. In 1941-42 he helped British and then Russian pilots
transition into their US ‘Lend-Lease’ program aircraft.
Later, assigned to the China-based 23rd Fighter Group, he scored
six aerial victories. In 1943 he and Phil Cochran were selected by
General "Hap" Arnold to head the newly formed 1st Air Commando
Force, where Alison was instrumental in the development of numerous
innovative weapons and tactics, including rockets, gliders, and
helicopters. Alison is considered by many to be "the Father of Air
Force Special Operations." He retired from service in 1971 as a
Major General.
Betty Skelton
Frankman was born in Florida in 1926. She soloed
unofficially at age 12 and obtained her pilots license at 16. At
age 19 she became a flight instructor and air show pilot, becoming
the first woman to perform the ribbon cut, inverted, at 10-feet
above the ground. Frankman won many aerobatic contests in her Pitts
Special, "Little Stinker," only the second one built and is now on
display in the National Air & Space Museum. She competed in
numerous air races and held both altitude and land speed records.
Frequently referred to as the "First Woman of Firsts" for her many
aviation and automotive records, she was also the first woman to
undergo NASA’s physical and psychological tests for space
flight with the original seven astronauts.
Nancy Harkness
Love was born in 1914 and died in 1976. In 1942 she
organized the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) in
the Air Transport Command Ferrying Division. Love became the first
woman to fly high-performance combat aircraft such as P-51 and P-38
fighters and B-17 bombers, convincing skeptical leadership that
women could ferry such aircraft and thus free up male pilots for
critical combat theater duties. Thereafter Love played a pivotal
role in the Army Air Force’s successful accomplishment of the
ferrying component of its wartime mission, including the merging of
the WAFS with the Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP). Even after
the WASPs were disbanded, Love continued to serve with the Air
Transport Command until 1945, performing operational duties at home
and overseas.
Benjamin R. (Ben)
Rich was born in Manila, Philippines Islands, in 1925 and
died in 1995. Rich graduated from Berkeley with a mechanical
engineering degree and received a masters in aeronautical
engineering from UCLA in 1950. Finding employment with Lockheed, at
the age of 25 he was summoned by Kelly Johnson to join the
company’s Advanced Development Projects (ADP) division,
better known as the Skunk Works. There he participated in cutting
edge projects such as the XF-104 Starfighter, U-2 spy plane, SR-71
Blackbird and numerous other technologically sophisticated
programs. In 1975 he succeeded Johnson as the head of Skunk Works
and later became vice president of Lockheed in 1977. During this
time he focused on developing the revolutionary F-117 Stealth
fighter. Rich retired as "Chief Skunk" in 1990.