News-Info-Alerts

Re: Stockdale Inducted Into Aviation Hall of Fame

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: July 23, 2002

"Rutan, Stockdale enshrined in aviation hall

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - When Dick Rutan gets off the ground, he's not used to stopping. He piloted an experimental airplane to the first nonstop around-the-world flight without refueling.

But Rutan did make a brief stop at the National Aviation Hall of Fame on Saturday night.

He was among the latest inductees, joining James Stockdale, a retired Navy vice admiral and highest-ranking prisoner of war in Vietnam; the late World War II ace Hub Zemke; and helicopter designer Frank Piasecki.

"I've always said adventure is the essence of life - to go where no man has gone before," Rutan said Saturday.

Founded in Dayton in 1962 and later established by Congress, the hall has 174 inductees, including the Wright brothers, Charles Lindbergh and Neil Armstrong. More than 650 attended the black-tie induction ceremony Saturday night, including former astronauts Frank Borman and former Sen. John Glenn.

Rutan, of Loma Linda, Calif., was an Air Force fighter pilot who flew 325 combat missions in Vietnam.

After he retired from the Air Force, Rutan became a test pilot. In 1986, he and Jeana Yeager completed their round-the-world flight in nine days in the experimental airplane Voyager. Rutan made a second round-the-world flight in 1997 in a plane he built in 1981.

People have compared the flight to Christopher Columbus' 1492 trip to the New World and Charles Lindbergh's cross-Atlantic flight in 1927, said Rutan's award presenter, test pilot Robert Gilliland.

"Nobody is thinking about duplicating that feat," Gilliland said.

In November, Rutan test-flew a rocket-powered plane to 9,000 feet above the Mojave Desert as part of an effort by Xcor Aerospace to build an aircraft capable of flying regularly and commercially to altitudes of 60 miles.

Stockdale, of Coronado, Calif., was a Navy fighter pilot who served two combat tours in Vietnam. He was a prisoner of war for eight years, half of them in solitary confinement. Stockdale became the underground leader of the POWs and was later awarded the Medal of Honor for his leadership.

The native of Galesburg, Ill., also was Ross Perot's running mate when Perot ran for president in 1992.

Stockdale recalled Saturday how in the 1950's he struck up a friendship with Glenn at a test pilot school in Maryland.

"John fretted about math; my weakness was lack of jet time," Stockdale said. "I would help John with math; John would give me the scoop on supersonic flight. It worked."

Zemke, a native of Missoula, Mont., flew 154 combat missions in Europe during World War II. He had more than 19 confirmed victories, making him one of the top 25 World War II aces. A pilot must shoot down at least five enemy aircraft to earn the title of ace.

On his final mission, Zemke was forced to bail out of his damaged aircraft and was captured by the Germans. He was a POW for five months and became senior commanding officer of the Allied prisoners. Zemke died in 1994 in Oroville, Calif., where he lived.

Piasecki, of Philadelphia, became the second person to successfully fly a helicopter in the United States when he took flight in his PV-2 in 1943. The first was Igor Sikorsky.

Piasecki helped build the world's first tandem rotor helicopter, for the Navy. It became known as the "Flying Banana." By 1946, the Piasecki Helicopter Corp. was producing helicopters for the U.S. Navy, Army and Air Force and for the Canadian and French navies.

Copyright © 2002, The Bakersfield Californian "