John Glenn: "We're Not Heroes"

They were all aviation pioneers with "The Right Stuff," gathered at the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton (OH) to celebrate the first 100 years of powered flight.  Even the likes of Neil Armstrong and John Glenn were humbled by the gathering.

"These are all people who did their duty, were proud of it, and they're being honored for it," said Glenn (right), the first American to orbit the Earth. He said many of those attending the banquet Friday night were simply aviators who were called upon to do extraordinary things.

Speed Demon

Speaking in the Wright brothers' hometown, Scott Crossfield, the first man ever to fly at more than twice the speed of sound, said, "The Wright brothers gave me the best vocation a man ever had."  In 1953, Crossfield broke the airspeed record by flying at Mach 2 over the desert at Edwards Air Force Base (CA).  "The airplane I did it in really had no right to be that fast," Crossfield said. Every hole in the aircraft was taped up to reduce drag and the fuel was cooled down to squeeze a few more gallons into the tank. Then there was the weather which, on that day 50 years ago, was unusually cooperative. "It was a good cold day, and the winds were right in the direction I was going," he said.

Crossfield (right), 82, said he felt nothing as his Skyhawk reached Mach 2, but was thrilled by the experience nonetheless.  "I never made any money in this business. I didn't get around to that," said Crossfield, 82. "But I'm one of the richest men — the kind of people, the experience that you have, the opportunity."

Crossfield was in Dayton with 21 other aviation trailblazers who are among the 178 inductees into the National Aviation Hall Of Fame.  Neil Armstrong will go on to Oshkosh later this month, where he'll be one of the featured speakers at the EAA's Airventure 2003.

FMI: www.nationalaviation.org