Save the date! December 17th, 2021 is the 118th anniversary of powered flight. The First Flight Society will be honoring Sally Ride as the 2021 Paul E Garber Shrine inductee. The Shrine is located in the Museum and Visitors Center at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, USA.
This honor is selected annually by a high-level panel appointed by the First Flight Society, from among numerous nominations submitted from around the world as well as compiled lists of qualified candidates. The induction ceremony will be held on Wright Brothers Day, December 17, 2021, with a celebration luncheon also held that day in Kitty Hawk. A portrait of Sally Ride will be unveiled and presented at the ceremony on December 17th.
Dr Ride was a Mission Specialist on STS-7 in 1983 and STS-41-G in 1984. On June 18, 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space. Until her death on July 23, 2012, Ride continued to help students. A long-time advocate for improved science education, Dr. Ride has written five science books for children. She worked with science programs and festivals around the United States.
FFS will recognize our 2020 and 2021 Classes of Honorary Members. The Class of 2020 is Colonel Gail Halverson aka “Candy Bomber”, Brigadier General Charles McGee, Lt Colonel Dick Rutan, Sean Tucker, and Patty Wagstaff. Halvorsen, McGee and Rutan were Paul Garber honorees in the past. Col Halvorsen was inducted in 2019 and General McGee as a Tuskegee Airman in 2004. Tucker and Wagstaff are world renowned aerobatics pilots.
The 2021 Class of Honorary members will be announced on November 19th, 2021
The First Flight Society is proud and honored to have all of these luminaries as new Honorary Members.