{"id":14161,"date":"2019-11-06T13:29:20","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T13:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/?p=14161"},"modified":"2019-11-06T13:30:10","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T13:30:10","slug":"colorado-celebrates-50-years-of-aviation-heritage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/state-news\/colorado\/colorado-celebrates-50-years-of-aviation-heritage\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Celebrates 50 Years of Aviation Heritage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By Penny Rafferty Hamilton, Ph.D. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As an aviation writer, participating in the celebration of\nthe 50<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary of the founding of the Colorado Aviation Hall\nof Fame is an incredible opportunity to breath in so many stories about\naviation history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/P1090337edit.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14163\" width=\"269\" height=\"196\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/P1090337edit.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/P1090337edit-300x218.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 269px) 100vw, 269px\" \/><figcaption><em>Colorado Aviation Historical Society Laureate, Gary Tobey (left), was nominated by Colorado aviation legend and former Colorado Senator, Lew Entz (also a CO Aviation Hall of Fame Laureate). <\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Governor proclaimed October 12, 2019 as \u201cColorado\nAviation 50<sup>th<\/sup> Annual Hall of Fame Day.\u201d The inductions of new\nlaureates, Gregory Anderson, John Bond, Peter Paul Luce, and Gary Tobey, along\nwith a posthumous Special Recognition of Colorado native, Frederick Renshaw\nVance, who volunteered for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) prior to the US\nEntry into WWII. Vance flew in three different theaters of war for the RCAF.\nAll these luminaries provided a wide spectrum of Colorado aviation history over\nthe years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Combine that recognition with the large number of past\nLaureates attending, the Lakewood County Club was the setting for a stellar \u201cWho\u2019s\nWho\u201d in aviation history. Tuskegee Airman, Colonel Hames Harvey, along with the\nparticipation of other living WWII service members, added to the special\nhistoric significance of the celebration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/P1090372edit.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14162\" width=\"206\" height=\"231\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/P1090372edit.jpg 887w, https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/P1090372edit-267x300.jpg 267w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 206px) 100vw, 206px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A reprint of the history of the Colorado Aviation Historical\nSociety written by the late Jack Wilhite and Dody Engel, provides a small\nglimpse of the dedicated band of aviation heritage founders in 1966 to today. The\naviation world in 1966 saw the introduction of the USAF SR-71 Blackbird and the\nGemini space missions and lunar orbiters. Americans enjoyed the new television series,\nStar Trek, with the intrepid Captain Kirk and his USS Star Ship Enterprise\ncrew, especially Communications Officer, Lt Uhura. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the Colorado Aviation Historical Society built a strong\nfoundation for aviation history, by 1969 the Aviation Hall of Fame was founded\nwith an original Laureate class of ten: Ivy Baldwin, Allen F. Bonnalie, Albert\nE. Humphreys, Ira Boyd Humphreys, Will D. \u201cBilly\u201d Parker, Chriss J. Peterson,\nReginald Sinclaire, George W. Thompson, Frank A. Van Dersarl, and Jerry Cox Vasconcells.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fast forward 50 years and the tradition continues of\nhonoring Colorado Aviation game-changers. U.S. Air Force Academy graduate\n(1972), Gregory J. Anderson, has garnered many aviation accolades over the\nyears. He earned the Phillips 66 Aviation Leadership Award, Living Legends of\nAviation Harris Ford Aviation Legacy Award. He served as Wings over the Rockies\nAir and Space Museum CEO at Lowry and the new Exploration of Flight campus on\nCentennial Airport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another Laureate, WWII Army Air Corps John R. Bond, who also\ncontributed to preserving and promoting Lowry AFB history with the publication\nof <em>Colorado Aviation History: Lowry Air<\/em>\n<em>Force Base<\/em>, and <em>Legends of Flight: Lowry Heritage<\/em>. Bond also played a large role in\ncataloging and organizing a huge archive of Lowry AFB History. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The late Peter Paul Luce, private pilot and aviation history\nbenefactor, was involved in many facets of aviation. He personally flew medical\nmercy missions for AirLifeLine, ALIE Foundation, and Angel Flight. Peter Paul\nwas a very active board member and officer of the Colorado Aviation Historical\nSociety and Wings Over the Rockies Air &amp; Space Museum. He also was a Living\nLegends of Aviation Harrison Ford Aviation Legacy Award winner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"256\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/P1090334edit.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14164\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/P1090334edit.jpg 600w, https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/P1090334edit-300x128.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption><em> A silent auction helped to raise needed funds for the remodeled Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame which is located inside the Wings Over the Rockies Air &amp; Space Museum on the former Lowry Air Force Base in Denver.  <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vietnam-era fighter pilot, Gary H. Tobey, continued to\ncontribute his many talents after his military service. He is active in the\nCivil Air Patrol (CAP), serving as Colorado Wing Commander. As early as 1996,\nhe co-founded the Colorado CAP Foundation, to provide scholarships for cadets\naspiring to be pilots. As a volunteer, Tobey, was extremely effective in\nrepresenting General Aviation views before the Legislature. He also served on\nthe Arapahoe County Airport Authority. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another outstanding Coloradan honored was Durango native,\nFred Vance. Born on January 19<sup>th<\/sup>, 1918, at the age of 22 in November\n1940, Vance volunteered for flight training with the Royal Canadian Air Force,\nto fight the Nazi invaders. Fred Vance flew many missions. In the Mediterranean\nTheater, his last flight was July 13, 1943, over Sicily in support of the\nBritish 8<sup>th<\/sup> Army lead by General Montgomery. We was officially\nlisted as \u201cMissing and Presumed Dead,\u201d the very next day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">America owes a large debt to all of our aviation pioneers.\nSpecial annual events as the Colorado Aviation Historical Society Hall of Fame\nCelebration gives us an opportunity to do that. \u201cThank you to them and the\nother aviation pioneers.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Penny Rafferty Hamilton, Ph.D. As an aviation writer, participating in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame is an incredible opportunity to breath in so many stories about aviation history. The Governor proclaimed October 12, 2019 as \u201cColorado Aviation 50th Annual Hall of Fame Day.\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-colorado"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14161"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14167,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14161\/revisions\/14167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}