The NBAA said it began giving the annual award in 2018 to recognize young people “driving meaningful change and big results across all segments of business aviation.” 

• READ MORE: NBAA Presents Jared Isaacman with 2023 Meritorious Service to Aviation Award

The NBAA’s Young Professionals in Business Aviation (YoPro) program hosted this year’s honorees during the NBAA convention in Las Vegas in October. 

“We are pleased to announce the newest class of Top 40 Under 40 business aviation professionals,” the NBAA said in its announcement of the award winners. “This class represents a wide range of expertise in business aviation. It truly demonstrates that the next generation of leaders is here, and the industry is in good hands for a successful future.” 

John Dowd, King Schools’ vice president of marketing, nominated Golden. 

“Pilots for 50 years have used King Schools to pass their FAA exams and for pilot training,” Dowd said. “Samuel is a member of a new generation of technically proficient, digitally savvy young pilots who are ensuring the future of King Schools is in good hands. Samuel is part of the team that is using video and social media to share courses and researching AI’s virtual and augmented reality possibilities.”

• READ MORE: King Schools Launches Envision Flight Edu-Con

Golden is an experienced pilot with a commercial airplane single-engine land certificate and an instrument rating. He also holds advanced and instrument ground instructor, and remote pilot certificates. He manages the King Schools’ digital advertising and social media programs, which have helped drive increases in the company’s market share and social media engagement.

“Samuel has had a significant role in keeping King Schools relevant in a fast-changing, competitive market,” said John and Martha King, founders of King Schools, in a statement. “Our advertising and overall communication with our customers have greatly benefited from Samuel’s work. We are very pleased and proud to see Samuel receive this well-deserved award.”

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The awards—produced to benefit the Kiddie Hawk Air Academy—were established in 2003 to honor “people who have made significant contributions to aviation, including entrepreneurs, innovators, industry leaders, astronauts, record breakers, pilots who have become celebrities and celebrities who have become pilots,” according to a release.

Gulfstream’s Mark Burns

Industry leader Burns—a 40-plus-year veteran of Gulfstream—joined the company in 1983 as a CAD operator and worked in several areas, including engineering and customer support, prior to his promotion to president in July 2015. Gulfstream sits on the cusp of FAA type certification on the G700 and G800, pending the completion of the process by the agency. Burns, a Savannah, Georgia, native, also serves as a vice president for parent company General Dynamics.

Burns was honored with the Lifetime Aviation Industry Award.

FLYING’s Fred George

George began his connection with aviation in his earliest years, when his father—a naval officer and private pilot—sat him in the back of a BT-13 Vultee on his mother’s lap for a flight around the San Fernando Valley in California. That sparked a life with his eyes pointed toward the skies. After graduating from UCLA, George became a Naval aviator in 1971, flying the F-4 Phantom and making more than 300 carrier landings. He flew corporate after leaving the Navy and turned to aviation journalism in the 1980s—a path he continues to pursue with his contributions (again) to FLYING Magazine as its senior business aviation editor. Over the past 40 years, he’s flown and reported on more than 230 different aircraft.

George was honored as a 2024 inductee into Living Legends of Aviation.

• READ MORE: Living Legends of Aviation

Other Honorees

Noted for their contributions to the industry and greater good of aviation, the following people were also feted at the event:

• Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, 2024 inductee
• Steve Hinton, 2024 inductee
• Marc Parent, 2024 inductee
• Laurans Mendelson, Kenn Ricci Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur Award
• Kyle Clark, Eren Ozman Aviation Entrepreneur of the Year Award
• Linden Blue, Dr. Sam B. Williams Technology Award
• Lance Toland, Freedom of Flight Award
• Lauren Sánchez, Elling Halvorson Vertical Flight Hall of Fame Award

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The award, sponsored by Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, honors the person or persons who best demonstrate the value of rotorcraft to the communities in which they operate by providing aid to those in need.

The award will be presented on February 26 at HAI Heli-Expo 2024 in Anaheim, California.

The Fire, the Response

The week of August 7 much of Hawaii was under a red flag warning for fire risk because of dangerous high-wind conditions caused by Hurricane Dora, a Category 4 storm that was moving across the Pacific Ocean hundreds of miles south of the Hawaiian Islands. Power lines downed by strong winds were blamed for starting several fires, including the roaring inferno that moved so fast that people were trapped in their cars when flames overtook them on the road, and others ran from their homes with nothing. At least 100 people were killed. Some are still missing and presumed dead. The town was destroyed.

When the employees of Oahu, Hawaii-based Rainbow Helicopters learned of the situation, they stepped up to help the residents of Lahaina, particularly the mothers and babies who didn’t have formula or diapers.

Nicole Battjes, Rainbow Helicopters’ owner and director of operations, had a 6-week-old child at home and knew other mothers and babies needed help. She sent her father-in-law and a Rainbow team member on a Costco run to buy as much formula, diapers, baby wipes, and other supplies that could fit in an AS350.

The Rainbow team volunteered its time to create an airlift that took $4,000 of supplies to Kapalua Airport (PHJH), as close to Lahaina as the helicopter could safely land.

• READ MORE: Flying a Rainbow in Hawaii

Ground-tour company volunteers met the helicopter with vans to unload and transport the supplies to families in need.

In addition to delivering much-needed supplies, Rainbow Helicopters established a GoFundMe account with the intention of raising $1,000 to purchase supplies for the Lahaina-area residents. The account raised more than $76,000, which was used to purchase supplies that Rainbow transported to the fire-ravaged area. Many of Rainbow’s employees volunteered their time, coming in off shift to help with the relief mission.

“It took on a life of its own, and I was overwhelmed with pride in our team, our community, and those making donations,” Battjes said. “At one point, through our partnerships, we were receiving photographs of specific supplies individual families needed, and our team members were volunteering their time to run to stores to get them and put them on the next flight. It took extra effort to drive around Oahu to find everything. It was really incredible to see people making this effort, and it was a feeling of hope during such a tragic time.”

• WATCH: We Fly: Rainbow Helicopters Airbus AS350 AStar

Relief by the Numbers

Rainbow Helicopters flew 13 missions to Maui, carrying more than 5,500 pounds of supplies, including 275 containers of formula, 175 boxes of diapers and baby wipes, and more than 19 gallons of breast milk.

Castle & Cooke Aviation donated all the jet fuel, and Rainbow covered the avgas and aircraft for all the flights flown in both R44s and AS350s.

To help with distribution, Rainbow partnered with multiple organizations, including Northwest Mothers Milk Bank in Tigard, Oregon, and local nonprofits Keiki O Ka ‘Aina and Na ‘Aikane o Maui, which provided Rainbow with specific requests from families.

Rainbow continued its efforts into the holiday season, working with Keiki O Ka ‘Aina to provide food, gifts, and other necessities to families and arranging for an aircraft to fly Santa Claus to Maui to spread Christmas cheer and deliver food and gifts to children.

More information on HAI Heli-Expo 2024 can be found here.

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According to Helicopter Association International (HAI), this award, presented by Hill Air Corp. acknowledges “superlative contributions by a helicopter flight instructor or UAS flight instructor in upholding high standards of professionalism.”

The award will be presented on February 26 at HAI Heli-Expo 2024 in Anaheim, California.

About Catherine Press

Press is described as a “pioneer in the Canadian helicopter industry.” She began flying as a child in her father’s floatplane and soloed at the age of 16. In 1983 her father purchased a Bell 47 helicopter and started Chinook Helicopters.

Press learned to fly the helicopter, in addition to airplanes, and earned her pilot certificates in both. She was one of the first female helicopter pilots in Canada. After she earned her commercial certificates, she joined the family business, flying charters, news gathering, and performing search and rescue and forestry missions.

At the age of 21 she earned her airplane flight instructor rating. At 27 she became Canada’s first female flight instructor for helicopters.

She was surprised to learn she was the first, recalling that at the end of her check ride she asked the examiner, who had come from Ottawa for the test, how many female flight instructors there were for helicopters in Canada.

“He said, ‘One,’ and I asked who she was,” Press said. “He said, ‘It’s you! Congratulations!’”

Press worked hard, teaching up to 1,200 hours a year while adding to her own ratings from the United States, China, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). She most recently acquired the ability to teach in Canada for EASA certification.

She helped the business grow from a three aircraft school to a professional flight academy training learners in 16 helicopters and 14 airplanes. She also pulled together a team for the school to develop and receive Transport Canada approval to build four in-house flight training devices, a move she says saved the company tens of thousands of dollars over purchasing the equipment.

Press boasts more than 10,000 hours of flight instruction time and is the only person in Canada to hold Transport Canada pilot examiner status in both airplanes and helicopters.

Press was nominated for the award by Chinook Helicopters chief pilot Bill Snedden.

• READ MORE: HAI Celebrates 75 Years

“Cathy’s willingness to take chances and support individuals to reach their potential is quite admirable,” said Snedden. “She exudes positivity and maintains connectivity with the Canadian aviation industry and regulatory bodies. Cathy drives the aviation industry forward with her incredible leadership and continual involvement within the community. The impact she has had on the pilots she has trained, employed, and networked with has been life-changing for them.”

Press serves as vice chair of the Helicopter Association of Canada’s board of directors and chair of the association’s Flight Training Committee. She also is a board member for the British Columbia Aviation Council and serves on the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s Aviation Advisory Committee, where she excels in mentoring up-and-coming pilots.

“I always wanted to be a teacher, and I was surrounded by aviation, so becoming a flight instructor was the perfect combination of my two passions,” Press said. “That’s why I’ve not gone away and had a career longlining in large helicopters in other countries. I’ve stayed with the training because I really do enjoy people. I enjoy seeing …being a part of their successes.”

More information on HAI Heli-Expo 2024 can be found here.

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According to the NAA, as a founding board member of WAI, Bosco helped create multiple platforms to nurture, educate, and inspire future generations of aviators. She helped establish WAI’s Young Professional Advisory Group, Super Mentor Program, and  Jobs Connect platform. One of her largest and most impactful collaborations was with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for the online course “‘Leadership for Women in Aerospace and Aviation,” which has drawn more than 2,200 attendees. 

At the present time, Bosco serves as co-chair of the Aviation Accreditation Board International Industry/Educator forum. The group’s focus is to promote collaboration of industry and educators to cultivate the next generation of aviation and aerospace professionals.

“I am thrilled and honored to be the recipient of the Brewer Trophy,” Bosco said. “Throughout my career, I have loved sharing the excitement of opportunities afforded by aviation and aerospace with both career seekers and enhancers—in the hope that they will power our industry forward to even greater heights. So many past Brewer recipients have been lifelong friends and mentors and an inspiration for my own passion for aviation education. I am humbled to be included among this esteemed group of professionals.”

Said Amy Spowart, NAA President and CEO: “Few people in our industry have the drive and passion that Cassandra has. Her impact has created meaningful exposure and lifelong opportunities for all who desire a place in our industry, especially women and minorities. She is a staunch ally and friend of aviation around the world.”

H2: About the Brewer Trophy

The Frank G. Brewer Trophy. established in 1943,  is awarded annually to an individual, group of individuals, or organization for significant contributions of enduring value to aerospace education in the United States.

The Brewer Trophy is under the care of the National Aeronautic Association, a nonprofit membership organization devoted to fostering opportunities to participate fully in aviation activities and to promoting public understanding of the importance of aviation and space flight to the U.S..

Among the past recipients are the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s You Can Fly program, aviation educators and founders of King Schools John and Martha King, and Women in Aviation founder Dr. Peggy Chabrian.

The selection committee for the 2023 Frank G. Brewer Trophy includes Frank and Robert Brewer and Jana Denning, NAA board of directors; Jim Gregory, 2020 Brewer Trophy recipient’, Susan Mallett, 2022 Brewer Trophy recipient; and Shannon Weidekamp, Equus Flight Academy.

The Brewer Trophy will be presented on a future date and location to be determined. More information and a complete list of previous recipients can be found here.

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Hosted by the National Aeronautical Association (NAA), the 117th conference took place in Dayton, Ohio, marking the first time in 40 years for it to be in the U.S. Activities included committee meetings, awards banquet, special drone event, and visit to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

“From aviation’s earliest days, FAI has taken a leading role in supporting and promoting the art, sport, and science of aviation,” said former NAA president and CEO Greg Principato. “As a founding member of FAI, the National Aeronautic Association is proud to welcome FAI, for the first time, to the ‘Birthplace of Aviation’: Dayton, Ohio. The Wright brothers themselves played key roles in both organizations, so it is natural that the aviation world should reconvene in Dayton.”

Among the awards highlighted at the conference was the inaugural FAI Aeromodeling Commission (CIAM) Legends Medal, which recognizes “pilots who have won the title of FAI world champion in any aeromodeling or spacemodeling competition at least three times.” For its first year, 59 recipients were identified by FAI from its records of almost 800 world championships dating to 1951. Over a dozen medals were presented at the event.

Also awarded at the conference was the Louis Bleriot medal for “the highest records for speed, altitude, and distance in a straight line established in the previous year by light aircraft.” This year’s medal went to Germany’s Klaus Ohlmann who, on April 20, 2022, set a world record for fastest speed in a powered airplane over a closed circuit of 500 kilometers. Ohlmann, 71, averaged 207.65 kph (112.12 knots) on the course in the electric e-Genius, an aircraft developed by the University of Stuttgart’s Institute of Aircraft Design.

The FAI General Conference is open to the organization’s  delegates, designated representatives of international affiliate members, FAI-elected officers, presidents of honor, honorary patrons, designated representatives of corporate patrons, companions of honor, and delegates appointed by presidents of commissions. 

The next conference is set for November 20-21, 2024, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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In 2022, we introduced the Readers’ Choice Award to recognize a product or development in the GA space that resonates most with our audience—and we continue that honor this year. 

But there’s more. We also felt there was a gap—an emphasis on things—and a place we needed to make to salute a person who has contributed in a comprehensive way to the aviation community with years of commitment, expertise, and spirit. 

A New Award

That’s why for 2023 we’re inaugurating the Sean D. Tucker Award, to do just that. And for the initial award, we’re presenting it to the legend himself, Tucker.

Tucker’s resumé as an aerobatic star and air show performer is well known, and perhaps, too, his propensity to give back to the industry that has nurtured him from his modest beginnings and early struggles to the success he is today. But Tucker is a person who measures himself not by the scores on a championship run, but by the lives he’s touched through the Experimental Aviation Association’s Young Eagles program, and most recently, the Bob Hoover Academy in his hometown of Salinas, California. At BHA, he and his fellow volunteers not only introduce disadvantaged area youth to the magic of flight but also help them achieve a pilot certificate and follow-on goals.

For those contributions ongoing to improve the lives of those around him with his joy, FLYING is thrilled to launch this award in his honor.

Innovation Award: Swift Fuels UL94

While the spark of inspiration may transpire in a moment, transforming an innovative creation to a market-ready and delivered product takes time, money, and persistence. There are no shortcuts to enduring success. In the current environment where so much attention is focused on cleaner solutions for GA, the critical element of bringing a viable unleaded fuel to aviation consumers must be recognized—because it has taken more than a decade to accomplish and realize in full.

For accomplishing this with its UL94 aviation gasoline, we’re proud to bestow the 2023 FLYING Innovation Award upon the team at Swift Fuels. The company’s “mission every day for the last 10 years,” according to founder and CEO Chris D’Acosta, has been to develop “a solution to the 100LL problem” and drive that progress in a tiered approach. 

Swift debuted a lower octane unleaded fuel, UL94, in 2015. It serves as a drop-in solution for more than 130,000 aircraft on the FAA registry that can operate on a 94-octane or lower fuel. Swift accomplishes this through a supplemental type certificate that will be good for any unleaded avgas it produces in the future. 

And UL94 is not just avgas with the lead out—it’s a better fuel in many ways, according to D’Acosta. “There is a market draw to our fuel,” he says, because all Swift fuels burn cleaner, with lower toxicity overall. The need to clean lead from the engine every 50 hours no longer exists, for example.

But announcing the availability of a product, and getting it to the customer are two different things. Swift has done the legwork to ensure pilots can trust the fuel—that it meets the ASTM unleaded avgas specification—and that it reaches them in a geographically distributed way, direct to the airfield. With roughly 81 airports, universities, and private users on the U.S. map—and distribution at events like EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin—Swift continues to expand its reach.

And that’s important, because the company is far from finished. Its UL100 fuel is in the confirmation and approval process via ASTM and STC to serve the remainder of the piston market requiring a higher octane level. 

Readers’ Choice: Garmin’s Smart Glide

When we posed the question earlier this year to FLYING’s audience as to what innovation made the most impact on the community, the choice was clear among the contenders.

Garmin’s Smart Glide functionality was introduced in late 2021 and expanded through the STC process to dozens of additional single- and multiengine airplanes. Smart Glide builds upon other aftermarket GTN Xi navigator features, and the GFC 500 or 600 digital autopilot, in a wide range of airplanes. Smart Glide includes the GTN’s range ring optimized for an engine-out situation. It aviates, navigates, and communicates for the pilot—partially—and gives the option to squawk 7700, for example. If the autopilot is engaged, the sequence begins by pitching for best glide speed.

An airport glide indicator helps the pilot determine which airport to go to, setting up a direct-to course to the nearest, if one is in range, and putting the CTAF or tower frequency in the standby—or the emergency frequency of 121.5 if not within gliding distance of anything in the database. It will also tell pilots if the destination becomes unreachable according to the data. If the airplane is less than 2 nm from the airport, the autopilot will not couple, anticipating the pilot’s prompt action instead.

It’s all in the service of assisting pilots—not flying the airplane for them. With the host of “helping hands” that Smart Glide provides adding significantly to safety of flight, pilots who read FLYING confirmed Garmin’s latest tech made the best choice for innovation of the year.

Editors’ Choice Awards

Aircraft: Daher Kodiak 900

Merging two “aviation families” into one cohesive aircraft manufacturer—as Daher and Kodiak have accomplished over the past four years—deserves a round of applause. To bring forth as its first consolidated effort a backcountry beauty like the Daher Kodiak 900 within that time frame is impressive indeed—and we won’t even mention the pandemic. 

The 900 began as a Kodiak 2.0 vision years ago within the original Quest team. Daher’s horsepower in advanced aircraft design and manufacturing propelled the project into FAA type certification in July 2022. The new model took the high-performing, short-field wing of the 100 series, stretched the fuselage, incorporated the cargo pod cohesively into the belly, powered it with a new Pratt & Whitney PT6A-140A turboprop, and streamlined it all behind a cowl that performs wonders in reducing drag.

The answer to the question, “What’s next in town-and-country flying?” has been firmly answered with the Kodiak 900, which is why we gave it our Editors’ Choice Award this year. With the 900, Daher has opened up a new market segment—and kept the good habits of the series from which it has been born.

Avionics and Apps: ForeFlight Terrain Awareness

It’s common to chase “feature fever” in app development, adding gee-whiz elements to already robust programs that do little more than clog up the works. Not so with the folks at ForeFlight, who continue to evolve their flight planning and navigation app in ways that truly add safety and efficiency benefits.

In our estimation, one feature added last year to ForeFlight’s palette is the Hazard Advisor suite, which takes terrain and obstacle data it first launched 10 years ago and repackages it in a way that truly adds to the pilot’s situational awareness. For those using ForeFlight Pro Plus, Hazard Advisor altitude preview allows them to manually control Hazard Advisor’s altitude before flight, and Auto Hazard Advisor, which transitions HA into auto mode after takeoff, following the current altitude for a view of the surrounding terrain. 

Combined with per leg altitude planning—giving pilots the ability to select multiple attitudes within a flight plan—ForeFlight starts situational awareness early during the flight planning process. The upshot? We feel it makes a bold move toward combating a perennial cause of GA accidents, controlled flight into terrain (CFIT). 

Gear: Lightspeed Delta Zulu

Our editors do a lot of their own flying, both in aircraft they own as well as rent or use for instruction, and the investment in a headset is a real debate amongst the team. But for the last year one option has stood head and shoulders—intended—above the rest, and that’s the latest from Lightspeed Aviation, the Delta Zulu.

The active noise reduction (ANR) Bluetooth-enabled headset gives the pilot the ability to customize its auditory acuity with the help of an app, and it also has a built-in carbon monoxide detector that provides an auditory warning if there is CO present in the cockpit. The free Lightspeed app allows the pilot to check the CO sensor data visually during flight and review it later. The app also makes it possible for the user of the headset to fine-tune the device to meet the wearer’s hearing needs. 

And how does it wear? According to our testers, it’s one of the lightest-feeling ANR headsets out there, with ear seals comfortable enough that one tester noted she “forgot it was there.” That’s awesome praise for a vital pilot tool.

Training: Redbird Flight Simulations for Redbird Pro 

Known for its low-cost, full-motion flight training devices, Redbird Flight Simulations expanded its remit in the training arena last year with the launch of a pilot proficiency app called Redbird Pro. The app is designed to assess pilot knowledge and tailor training options through artificial intelligence to help them improve their weak points. The app utilizes articles, simulator scenarios, and quizzes as training tools. 

Many of the training scenarios are drawn from I.L.A.F.F.T. and Chart Wise content from FLYING, as well as content from the AOPA Air Safety Institute. Yes, Redbird Pro is aimed directly at those GA pilots who don’t typically spend the hours logged between flight reviews practicing toward proficiency. The gist? We’re really not as good at retaining that proficiency as we could be. Just as an app such as Duolingo encourages you to daily practice a language, Redbird Pro gamifies the proficiency quest and rewards you for frequent engagement. 

For giving shape and life to that practice—and making it fun—Redbird deserves a nod for making real strides toward improving pilot competence and confidence.

The post FLYING Reveals Innovation Award Series for 2023 appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

From the best young journalist to lifetime achievement awards in reporting and photography, the event feted those who have committed their careers to reporting on a wide-ranging remit that continues to expand.

Notable winners included:

• Best Aviation Image, Giovanni Colla
• Best Digital Submission, Aviation Week Check 6 Podcast
• Best Young Journalist, Lucy Powell
• Best Safety, Training & Simulation Submission, Elan Head’s “What’s missing from the debate over the 1,500-hour rule” in The Air Current
• Best Passenger & Crew Wellbeing Submission, James Wynbrandt’s “Mental wellness gets post-Covid safety focus” in Aviation International News
• Best In-Depth Feature, Judges Commendation, Jon Ostrower’s “A different way to think about the future of flying in China”; and winner Guy Norris’s “Mind the Gap” in Aviation Week & Space Technology
• Bill Gunston Technology Writer of the Year, Patrick Veillette
• Aerospace Reporter of the Year, Greg Waldron
• Outstanding Achievement in Aviation Photography, Katsuhiko Tokunaga
• Lifetime Achievement Award, Jacques Callies, Aviation et Pilote

Held for the first time at Paris Air Show since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic paused the venerable convention, the tenth-anniversary event also gave all in attendance—led by organizer Peter Branfield of Branfield & Associates—the chance to honor fellow journalist Jerry Siebenmark, of Aviation International News, posthumously, with a raise of their watches in his memory. FLYING contributor Fred George was recognized by a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.

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The event, which will be hosted by aviator and actor John Travolta, will be held on Friday January 20, 2023, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. 

Living Legends of Aviation are described as “remarkable people of extraordinary accomplishment in aviation and aerospace. Among their ranks are entrepreneurs, innovators, industry leaders, astronauts, record breakers, pilots who have become celebrities and celebrities who have become pilots.

Event Highlights

Among those to be recognized at the event is actor William Shatner, who will receive the Aviation Inspiration and Patriotism Award. Shatner, 91, is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk from the Star Trek franchise and for being the oldest person to go to space. 

• READ MORE: Beam Me Up, Scotty! William Shatner’s Heading to Space

In October 2021,  Shatner—then 90—was one of four crew members aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Rocket. The flight, which lasted 10 minutes 17 seconds, had a profound impact on Shatner, who, after landing, was very emotional as he struggled to put his feelings into words. In a subsequently released book, “Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder,” Shatner explained how the view of the earth from the edge of space made the actor realize how fragile the planet is.

Other Award Winners

Other Legends honorees include:

• Mike Silvestro, the CEO of Flexjet, who receives the “Lifetime Aviation Industry Leader Award” for his work in the fractional private jet industry.
• Tim Ellis, who received the “Eren Ozmen Entrepreneur of the Year Award” for the founding of Relativity Space, a company that invented a new approach to design, print and fly its own rockets, starting with the world’s first 3D printed rocket.
• Daniel Drohan, the owner of several aviation companies and the founder of Solairus, private jet and aircraft management, will receive the “Kenn Ricci Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur Award.’’
• Max Lyons, philanthropist and dual rated pilot in both helicopters and airplanes and the owner of Hillsboro Aviation will receive the “Elling Halvorson Vertical Flight Hall of Fame Award.” 
• Mack Rutherford, who holds the Guinness Book of World Record for being the youngest person to fly solo around the world in a small aircraft, will receive the “Barron Hilton Aviation Inspiration Award.” Rutherford completed the flight in August of 2022 at the age of 17. His sister, Zara, did her own global flight in January at age 19, and currently holds the record for the youngest female to fly solo around the world.

New Living Legends

The Living Legends will also welcome new inductees to their ranks:

• Greg Evans, an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and lifetime advocate for the business aviation industry. He is the Chairman of the Board of Universal Weather and Aviation, Inc., the first company providing complete mission management services for business aviation.
• Alan Eustace, a pilot and Google executive who performed the highest human free-fall, jumping from 135,890 feet up in the stratosphere.
• Tom Haines, former editor-in-chief with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. He has flown more than 100 models of general aviation airplanes.
• Jared Isaacman, American entrepreneur, pilot, philanthropist, and commercial astronaut who led the first all-private citizen crew into orbit. He is also the founder of Draken International, a private air force provider and Shift4 Payments, a payment processor.
• HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman is a former Royal Saudi Air Force pilot who flew aboard the American STS-51-G Space Shuttle as a payload specialist. He is the first member of a royal family to fly in space and the youngest person ever to fly on the Space Shuttle. In 2018, he was appointed as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Space Commission at the rank of minister.

Remembering Those No Longer With Us

As is tradition, the Legends will also pay tribute to seven Legends who have “flown west” since the Legends’ last gathering. These include:

• Sigi Angerer, the chief pilot of The Flying Bulls, a vintage aircraft fleet based in Europe.
• Joe Kittinger, who as a U.S. Air Force Captain set the record for the highest parachute jump and longest free fall when he ascended to 102,800 feet above earth in a helium-balloon-tethered gondola and jumped, free falling for 4 minutes and 36 seconds
• Dietrich Mateschitz, Global businessman and Red Bull co-owner who created the Formula One team.
• Major General Carl McNair, who served for 32 years with the U.S. Army. McNair was the first Branch Chief of Army Aviation. He also held many leadership roles in the aviation community, including the American Helicopter Society.
• Frank Robinson, aeronautical engineer and founder of Robinson Helicopter Company.
• Lou Turpen, who spent his life in aviation and is known for his development of San Francisco International Airport (KSFO), which became a blueprint for other airports across the world.
• Tom Poberezny, champion aerobatics pilot and long-time leader of the Experimental Aircraft Association.

The event is sponsored by Ducommun, a global provider of manufacturing solutions for the aerospace and defense industries, Sierra Nevada, focused on technology and engineering for the aerospace industry, and Williams International, a world leader in the development, manufacture, and support of gas turbine engines used by the aerospace industry.

Details

The “Living Legends of Aviation Awards” are produced by the Kiddie Hawk Air Academy, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with a mission to educate children about and spark their interest in aviation.

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