{"id":25488,"date":"2023-05-02T01:57:45","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T01:57:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=25488"},"modified":"2023-05-02T01:59:15","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T01:59:15","slug":"lone-star-flight-museum-inducts-four-air-and-space-leaders-to-texas-aviation-hall-of-fame-class-of-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/state-news\/texas\/lone-star-flight-museum-inducts-four-air-and-space-leaders-to-texas-aviation-hall-of-fame-class-of-2023\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Lone Star Flight Museum Inducts Four Air and Space Leaders to Texas Aviation Hall of Fame Class of 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Lone Star Flight Museum (LSFM) hosted the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame<\/a> (TAHOF) Induction Ceremony and Luncheon for the Class of 2023 on Friday, April 21. More than 300 supporters attended this event held at the museum in the Heritage Hangar among numerous historic aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This year\u2019s ceremony celebrated the accomplishments of\nDaniel Baker, Major General Joe H. Engle (ret), Rod Lewis and Edna Gardner\nWhyte (posthumously). TAHOF members are included in four categories: trailblazers\nand explorers, wartime aviators, leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators. The\n2023 Texas Aviation Hall of Fame inductees join an impressive list of members\nincluding Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and George W. Bush, the Doolittle\nRaiders, Tuskegee Airmen, Bessie Coleman, Eileen Collins, Gene Cernan, Gene\nKranz and many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Serving as master of ceremonies Doug Owens, LSFM president\nand chief executive officer, (USAF Lt. General, retired) said, \u201cIt is my great\nhonor and privilege to welcome our four newest inductees into the Texas\nAviation Hall of Fame. From a high-tech innovator and a NASA trailblazer to a\nWWII aircraft collector and an accomplished female pilot, we are thrilled to\ncelebrate these inductees into Texas Aviation Hall of Fame.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owens thanked the museum board of directors, the museum\nstaff, sponsors and supporters for their ongoing support of the museum and\nrecognizing the Class of 2023 and their contributions to aerospace and\naviation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scott Rozzell, chairman of the board of directors, presented\neach of the inductees with the official TAHOF medallion, award and letter of\ncommendation from Texas Governor Greg Abbott.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Class of 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel Baker<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Daniel Baker<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Founder of FlightAware, Baker combined his passion for\nflying, and his career in software development and e-commerce to create the\ndigital flight tracking service in 2005. Sold to Collins Aerospace in 2021,\nFlightAware is the world’s largest flight tracking data company and provides\ncritical flight data solutions to airlines and private aircraft operators, as\nwell as flight tracking to millions of travelers. FlightAware has offices in\nHouston, New York, London, and Singapore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major General Joe H. Engle (Retired) USAF, ANG<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Major Gen. Joe H. Engle<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Having flown 185 different types of aircraft including 38\ndifferent fighter and attack aircraft, General Engle logged more than 15,000\nflight hours \u2013 more than 9,000 in jets and over 224 hours in space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 29, 1965, he flew the X-15 to an altitude of 280,600\nfeet and became the youngest pilot ever to qualify as an astronaut. Long\nconsidered a pioneer in the space shuttle program, General Engle was the first\nto have flown into space on two different types of winged vehicles: the X-15\nand the Space Shuttle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rod Lewis<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rod Lewis<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The son of a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, Rod\u2019s passion for\nboth business and aviation drove his success that began with his first well in\n1982 and began Lewis Energy Group. His love of flying also grew and in 1981,\npurchased his first plane, a hand cranked Aeronca. Lewis came to own 80\naircraft, including thirty WWII warbirds that fly as the Lewis Air Legends and\nthe Air Legends Foundation. A member of the Living Legends of Aviation, Lewis\nshares his love of American history through the amazing WWII warbirds and other\naircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edna Gardner Whyte<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Edna Gardner Whyte<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

From the moment she became a pilot, Edna Gardner Whyte was\nbreaking down barriers as an accomplished female pilot, instructor, and air racer.\nIn her 64 years of flying, she raced and instructed three generations of new\npilots, mostly men. She founded the New Orleans Air College and later started a\nFt Worth flight school to provide instrument training for military pilots in\nWWI and beyond. She earned over 125 air race trophies and amassed more than\n35,000 flying hours and was a member of the Whirly-Girls, Ninety-Nines, and\nhonorary member of the Order of Daedalians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2023 Event Sponsors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n