December 2020 - First Flight Society

19 12, 2020

Sean D Tucker Wright Brothers Day Video

Wright Brothers Day video featuring 2020 Honorary Member Sean D Tucker.

Video produced by Tucker / Hess Productions
TuckerHessProductions.com

Wright Brothers National Memorial hosts virtual-only celebration event

On Thursday, December 17, 2020, Wright Brothers National Memorial, in partnership with First Flight Society, Outer Banks Forever, Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, and National Aviation Heritage Area, will honor the accomplishments of Wilbur and Orville Wright at an online, joint celebration of the first heavier-than-air, controlled, powered flight.

The 117^th anniversary of the Wright brother’s first flight celebration online event will be shown on Wright Brothers National Memorial’s Facebook page beginning at 8:30 a.m. As part of this year’s celebration, the First Flight Society will induct Frank Caldwell into the Paul E. Garber First Flight Shrine. Caldwell’s groundbreaking advances in propeller technology in the 1930s ushered in a new era of modern aviation.

To limit the potential spread of COVID-19, this year’s in-park celebration will not occur. The park is open daily, and visitors should continue to […]

First Flight Society Announces 2020 Class of Honorary Members

The First Flight Society announces 5 new Honorary Members: Colonel Gail Halvorsen, Brigadier General Charles McGee, Lieutenant Colonel Richard “Dick” Rutan, Sean D. Tucker, and Patty Wagstaff.

Colonel Halvorsen, General McGee and Colonel Dick Rutan have all been previously inducted into the
Paul E Garber Shrine. Halvorsen was nicknamed “the Candy Bomber” for air dropping candy to German
children during the Berlin Airlift. McGee was one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen who flew fighter
escort for Allied bombers. Rutan is a fighter pilot, test pilot, and record-breaking aviator who in
1986 piloted the Voyager aircraft on the first non-stop around-the-world flight with co-pilot Jeana
Yeager. Halvorsen turned 100 in October and McGee celebrated 101 on December 7th.

Sean Tucker and Patty Wagstaff are celebrated Aerobatic pilots, who still perform. Tucker has won
numerous air show championship competitions throughout his career and was inducted into the
National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2008. Wagstaff […]