Major Awards Presented At AirVenture 2005

By ANN Correspondent Chris Armstrong

Several awards were handed out to deserving folks at AirVenture this week. The August Raspet Award, for outstanding contributions to the advancement of light aircraft design, was presented to Chuck Bilbe and Jim Younkin,designers and manufacturers of the TruTrak autopilot.  During the evening show at Theater in the Woods they were chosen in recognition of their support of EAA and their contributions to the homebuilding community and GlobalFlyer which used a custom Trutrak to fly solo non-stop around the world.

The Bill Barber award is presented by World Airshow News and friends and family of the late Bill Barber to the year's top air show performer. World Airshow News had a record 10 nominees for this year's Bill Barber Award for Showmanship, but Pietsch Airshows stood out for the family-oriented performances of Kent and Warren Pietsch.

The Spirit of Flight Award, sponsored by Scaled Composites and the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, presented to an EAA member who best exemplifies the spirit of research, development or flight-testing went to Leonard Fox. His flight test experience includes 17 military operational test programs and more than 120 civilian test projects on aircraft such as the Viper Jet, Javelin Jet, King Air 90, and the Mountain Goat Bush Plane.

Bax Seat trophy awarded to Richard "Dick" Koehler, a long time contributer to EAA Chapter 186 Newsletter. The Bax Seat Trophy, in honor of Flying Magazine columnist Gordon Baxter and given to the person who perpetuates the Gordon Baxter tradition of communicating the excitement and romance of flight. Flying Magazine Editor Mac Maclellen presented the award and noted that Flying Magazine will be publishing a special final Bax Seat Column in the next issue that Baxter wrote long ago but that they had saved for just after his death.

FMI: www.airventure.org