Glacier Girl, a rare
Lockheed P-38F, was presented with the Rolls-Royce Aviation
Heritage Trophy and the National Aviation Hall of Fame's People's
Choice Award Trophy at the 2nd annual Eastern Region - National
Aviation Heritage Invitational Award Ceremony held on Sunday, July
20th, at the 2003 Vectren Dayton Air Show presented by Kroger in
Ohio.
The Lockheed P-38F was considered the
most-authentic and historically-accurate aircraft. (The aircraft
was named Glacier Girl after its recovery from inside 268
feet of glacier in Greenland in 1992. The recovery mission took
more than 14 weeks to complete.)
It took more than ten years to restore Glacier Girl,
which utilized nearly 80% of the original parts, to airworthy
condition. Glacier Girl is unique, as the only P-38
recovered out of six P-38s, along with two B-17 Flying Fortress
bombers, which still remain within the Greenland glacier. The
aircraft is part of "The Lost Squadron" of 1942, which was forced
to crash land on an ice cap during an Artic blizzard -- known as
the largest forced landing in history.
Former astronaut Neil Armstrong, representing
the National Aviation Hall of Fame, joined Rolls-Royce North
America Inc. President and CEO, James M. Guyette as the master of
ceremonies to present the Rolls-Royce Aviation Heritage Trophy to
J. Roy Shoffner of Middlesboro (KY), owner of Glacier
Girl. He was also the recipient of the 2003 National Aviation
Hall of Fame's People's Choice Award Trophy, which is awarded to
the owner of the aircraft receiving the largest number of votes
cast by event attendees.
Shoffner said: "I am very
delighted that Glacier Girl won the Rolls-Royce Aviation
Heritage Invitational Trophy. The National Aviation Heritage
Invitational is a wonderful opportunity to showcase our nation's
aviation treasures."
"Rolls-Royce is committed to the preservation of aviation
history. It was our privilege to honor the high-caliber workmanship
that went into the restoration of Glacier Girl," said
Guyette. "We were especially privileged to have Neil Armstrong join
us to make the trophy presentations on the day of the 34th
anniversary of the first moon landing and as we celebrate the 100th
anniversary of powered flight."
Other winners:
Announced earlier this year, separate trophies were also
presented to aircraft owners competing in three new award
categories -- antique (early aircraft - 1935), classic (post 1935)
and warbird (all military). The Orville and Wilbur Wright Trophy
for the antique category was awarded to Jack G. Tiffany, Vi Blowers
and Dr. Herbert Ware of Spring Valley (OH), for their KR- 21
Challenger. The Paul E. Garber Trophy was presented to Kent and
Sandy Blankenburg of Groveland (CA), by Don Lopez, Deputy Director
of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, for
winning the classic category with their Lockheed Electra 12A.
Robert Arnold, the grandson of Hap Arnold, presented the Henry
"Hap" Arnold Trophy for the warbird category to Mike VadeBonCoeur,
the pilot of Cripes A'Mighty, a North American P-51D
Mustang, on behalf of the owner - Ken Wagnon, Wichita (KS).
The 2002 recipient of both the Rolls-Royce Aviation Heritage
Trophy and the People's Choice Award, Chuck Greenhill of Kenosha
(WI), flew in his P-51D Mustang, affectionately named
Geraldine, to attend the event, along with Steve Cowell,
owner and pilot of a North American AT-6 Texan and 2001 People's
Choice Award Winner.