The inductees for 2023 include: the late Neal Loving, EAA Homebuilders Hall of Fame; Lew Shattuck of Yelm, Washington, International Aerobatic Club Hall of Fame; the late Charles “Chuck” Greenhill, Warbirds of America Hall of Fame; John Parish Sr. of Tullahoma, Tennessee, Vintage Aircraft Association Hall of Fame; and Paul Mather of St. Elmo, Alabama, EAA Ultralights Hall of Fame.

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Loving was born in Detroit in 1916 and took his first flight at age 14. He began learning to fly in 1938 despite difficulties finding flight schools that accepted Black students. He later designed the S-1 glider and lost both legs in an aircraft accident but continued to pursue aviation. He went on to design his most well-known aircraft, the WR-1, which won the Most Outstanding Design Award at the 1954 EAA Fly-In Convention. Loving died in December 1998.

Parish is known for his interest in the Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing. After years of flying, he was able to buy his own Staggerwing in 1970 and became increasingly involved with the International Staggerwing Club. In 1973 he and his wife, Charlotte, helped establish the Staggerwing Museum Foundation, known today as the Beechcraft Heritage Museum, in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Parish’s involvement with EAA has included serving on its board for more than 30 years, and working as director and vice president of the EAA Aviation Foundation.

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Shattuck enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1952, where he flew many different fighter aircraft. In 1966, Shattuck was captured after his F-105 was shot down in North Vietnam and was held as a prisoner for more than six years. He retired from the Air Force in 1976 as a colonel. He soon bought a Pitts Special and began practicing aerobatics. In 1978 he won the Pitts Cup trophy in the IAC National Championships. He continued flying in competition until 2018, when he was 85. Shattuck also spent many years mentoring aerobatic pilots and judges.

Greenhill became involved with restoring warbirds soon after he served in the U.S. Army. Greenhill used his skills as a tool and die maker to restore warbirds to their original condition working with his wife, Bev. One standout among his many projects is the only surviving Grumman J2F-4 Duck from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Greenhill’s restorations often appeared at EAA AirVenture and earned him the 2007 World War II Grand Champion, 2003 and 2005 Reserve Grand Champion, and 2014 Preservation awards. Greenhill died in April 2022.

Mather began flying in 1974 at age 18 and has flown a range of ultralights, including hang gliders and Quicksilver foot-launch models. In 1980 Mather began working at Quicksilver in sales and marketing. Among his notable feats was his 1984 nonstop flight in an MXL II ultralight from Annaba, Algeria, to Monaco over the Mediterranean Sea, setting numerous FAI records. Mather left Quicksilver in 1995 to start his own venture, M-Squared Aircraft, which produces a variety of aircraft, including the part 102 ultralight Breese-XL.

In addition to the inductions, Jim Casper received the Henry Kimberly Leadership Award, which recognizes Oshkosh-area residents for volunteer service to the EAA. Casper is a longtime EAA Aviation Museum docent volunteer.

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The five inductees represent different facets of aviation from aerobatics to vintage. Those set for induction are selected by their peers as recognition for the many contributions they have made to their respective areas of aviation in support of the EAA spirit and community.

The class of 2023 includes Lew Shattuck, the 1978 International Aerobatic Club national champion in the Unlimited category. Shattuck, who flew in regional and national competitions until the age of 85, represents the International Aerobatic Club Hall of Fame.

Neal Loving, a pioneer Black aviator, aerospace engineer, aircraft designer, and homebuilder known for the design of the WR-1 midget racer known as Loving’s Love gets the nod for the EAA Homebuilders Hall of Fame. Built in 1950, the “Love” is constructed of wood and features an inverted gull wing. Loving flew the homebuilt midget racer from Detroit to Kingston, Jamaica, a distance of 2,200 miles. Loving donated the aircraft to the EAA Aviation Museum, where it is now displayed. His induction is posthumous as he died in 1998 at 82.

EAA Ultralights Hall of Fame will be represented by Paul Mather, president of M-Squared Aircraft, creator of the Breese XL ultralight. Mather has more than 40 years of experience in the industry building aircraft now known as light sport and ultralight. In 1996, he founded M-Squared Aircraft with the intention of building an airplane that was both fun and safe.

The Vintage Aircraft Association Hall of Fame is represented by John Parish Sr., the co-founder of the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Today, he serves as the museum’s executive committee  chairman. The museum began to take shape in 1973 under the Beechcraft Staggerwing Club. It grew and evolved, and in 2007 the Beechcraft Heritage Museum was established to preserve and feature Beechcraft models from 1932 to the present.

The Warbirds of America Hall of Fame will recognize Charles “Chuck” Greenhill, the famed restorer of many warbird aircraft, including the only surviving Grumman J2F-4 Duck that was present at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attack drew the U.S. into World War II.

Among his other projects, Greenhill funded the recovery of a Grumman FM-2 Wildcat from the bottom of Lake Michigan in 2012. The aircraft had been lost in the lake since 1944 when a training exercise went bad. Greenhill moved the waterlogged aircraft to his hangar at Kenosha Regional Airport (KENW) while arrangements were made to transport it to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, for restoration. Greenhill, who died in April 2022 at 87, is being honored posthumously.

This year’s honorees will be officially inducted at a dinner ceremony on November 9 in the Eagle Hangar of the EAA Aviation Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

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