Honoring achievement in aviation all over the United States
January 27, 2012, 04:38 pm
The Tuskegee Airmen exhibit recently won the Museum Exhibit of the Year Award from the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries for the category of influential exhibits costing less than $100,000. The award was presented to the creators of the exhibit on the day before the premier of the movie Red Tails, which tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen.
The exhibit was opened just one month earlier in a new location in the World War II hangar sector of the Museum of Aviation. The exhibit now includes a replica of a Tuskegee Airman hangar. The exhibit was selected from more than 150 public and private museums across the state, the Macon Sun News reported.
Similarly, the Aero Club of Southern California recently announced it will be awarding the Howard Hughes Memorial Award to Clay Lacy, a veteran pilot and business aviation entrepreneur. Aerobatic pilot Bob Hoover will present the award to Lacy, who is considered one of the most versatile pilots in the history of powered flight in the local community.
Lacy first took to the air at the age of 8 while growing up in rural Witchita, Kansas, during the Great Depression. Since then, he has spent almost every day around airplanes. In 1964, Lacy introduced the first Learjet to Van Nuys Airport near Hollywood, and four years later he founded the first jet charter company on the West Coast.
Throughout his life, Lacy was an airline captain, experimental test pilot, air race champion, aviation record-setter, aerial cinematographer, philanthropist and entrepreneur - and he isn't done yet. Lacy has accumulated more flying hours than anyone else in the world, and many in the aviation industry attribute the revolution of business aviation and aerial photography to Lacy and his work.
Lacy worked on almost 3,000 film projects including "Top Gun", "Flight of the Intruder" and "The Great Santini." He has already been inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame and has received numerous other prestigious aviation awards throughout his 79 years.
In addition, Witham Field in Stuart, Florida, will be housing a piece of history for aviation buffs to enjoy. For a few days, the airfield will have vintage World War II aircrafts that guests can see up close and even fly, the TC Palm reported.
As part of the Wings of Freedom tour, a B-17 Flying Fortress, a B-24 Liberator and P-51 Mustang will be on display at various airfields all over the United States in 2012. The exhibit is funded by the Collings Foundation of Stowe, Massachusetts, a nonprofit foundation created to educate the public on history and aviation through a hands-on experience, the source reported.
Ken Miles, director of operations for the foundation, told the source the traveling exhibit will allow history buffs and aviation enthusiasts to see the iconic war planes up close and get a deeper understanding of how small and simple fighter planes were for soldiers.
"Like with the bomber, a lot of people don't realize it's just a thin sheet of aluminum protecting these guys from the elements at 20,000 feet and below-zero temperatures and the flak and bullets sent their way by the enemy," Miles said.
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