Aviation Pioneers
Aviation Pioneers features current and past aviation leaders and pioneers and also includes the Kansas Aviation Hall of Fame Awards, the Kansas Governors Aviation Honor Awards and the Kansas Aerospace Educator of the Year Awards.
Click here for the Kansas Wright Brothers Awards Inductees.
Click here for the Kansas Aviation Hall of Fame Awards.
Recent Aviation PioneersSome WWII Blurps and Bloops Getting my first airplane ride in a Ford Tri-motor passenger plane back in the 30's at Chanute, KS, was a hoot. James Jabara James "Jabby" Jabara (October 10, 1923 - November 17, 1966) was the second-highest-scoring U.S. ace of the Korean War. He was the first American jet ace in history. 2nd Lt. Erwin R. Bleckley Second Lt. Erwin R. Bleckley, a U.S. Army Air Service observer, and his pilot rose above the call of duty, flying close to the tree tops over enemy positions entrenched with rattling machine guns during two attempts to help save more than 500 American Soldiers who were completely surrounded. MAJOR GENERAL JOE HENRY ENGLE Maj. Gen. Joe Henry Engle (U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard) was born in Dickinson County, Kan., on Aug. 26, 1932. After attending grade school in Chapman, Kan., and graduating from Dickinson County High School, he went to the University of Kansas, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering in 1955. John Glenn John Herschel Glenn Jr. (born July 18, 1921, in Cambridge, Ohio) is a former astronaut who became the third person and first American to orbit the Earth, and later, United States Senator. Aviation Legend: Lee Atwood 1904 - 1999 Aviation legend Lee Atwood -- who was instrumental in designing the P-51 Mustang; the F-100, world's first operational supersonic jet fighter; the X-15 rocket plane; and the Apollo Command Module that took astronauts to the moon -- died on March 5, 1999, at the age of 94.
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