Mythical Hero Mixes With The Real Thing

Hollywood went to Dayton (OH) Saturday night, as actor Harrison Ford addressed a black-tie dinner for inductees into the National Aviation Hall of Fame. The real question at the sold-out event was, who asked for whose autograph?

Ford, star of the "Indiana Jones" series of movies, "Air Force One" and "Witness," is himself a pilot. Imagine the thrill, then, of sharing the stage with legends like Neil Armstrong, Scott Crossfield and John Glenn.

In Good Company

“Can you imagine how different our lives would be if no one had dreamt of soaring with the birds?” Harrison asked from the podium, as quoted by the Dayton Daily News.

“As we celebrate events and anniversaries and machinery, it’s good we pause and remember that none of this would have been possible without very special people.” Indeed, the weekend events at the NAHF were dedicated to people, not machines. It takes no nerve at all for a machine to break the Mach 2 barrier. It took a pilot like Crossfield. It was a piece of cake for the Mercury capsule to orbit the Earth. But the man in that capsule, John Glenn, had to have the "Right Stuff."

“It’s good to remember that it’s not the canvas or the wire or the wood or metal or rivets that make an airplane fly,” Ford said after lengthy applause for the living aviation pioneers in attendance. “It is and always was the inventive genius of the men and women we celebrate tonight. Through their vision, courage, innovation and sometimes just plain stubbornness, these dreamers and achievers have changed our world.”

Among nearly two dozen NAHF inductees at Saturday's hoo-ha were retired Sen. John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, James A. Lovell Jr. and Walter M. Schirra Jr., all former astronauts.

“All of the names here tonight, it’s history unfolding before our eyes,” said Steven Harper, chairman of the aviation technology department at Sinclair Community College.

That Ford Guy's All Right

“It’s one of the great aviation events in the country,” said Wayne Johnson of Beaver Bay (MN) about the dinner bash. Johnson, who flew with the Flying Tigers in China during World War II, liked the idea of Harrison Ford as emcee. “To have a guy like that as master of ceremonies is most impressive,” Johnson said. “Particularly because he’s an aviation enthusiast.”

The ceremony included a toast to Wilbur and Orville Wright by two members of the Wright family, Amanda Wright Lane and Stephen Wright. Stephen Wright got a bit teary-eyed while paying tribute to Orville. “I’m glad you don’t have to suffer through this,” Stephen told his late ancestor, who he said hated such events.

FMI: www.nationalaviation.org