Class of 2009 – Cliff Robertson

Actor and aviator Cliff Robertson (Uncle Ben to Spiderman folks) was unable, for health reasons, to join us for his induction into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame. Luckily he felt well enough (Must have been a spider bite! Sorry, I had to) to call us on the phone and tell us what aviation has meant to him and his life. Listen below:

The biographical information below was compiled by Alan Renga, Assistant Archivist, for the 2009 International Hall of Fame Gala. For more information on the Museum’s Library and Archives, click here.

Cliff Robertson Hall of Fame Portrait

He is a pilot, an Academy Award and Emmy-Award-winning actor as well as the founder of a very popular youth program within the EAA.  He is Cliff Robertson.

Robertson was born in La Jolla, California in 1925 and it was here that he developed a love for aviation. He would ride his bike several miles each day to work at Speer airport, where he would clean airplanes in return for flights in a piper cub. However, Cliff would leave the area to serve his country during World War Two and attend Antioch College in Ohio. After college he went to New York and started work acting on stage, film and eventually television, working in such varied shows as the Twilight Zone and Gidget.

His acting career then took off, and he was personally chosen by John F. Kennedy to portray the president in the motion picture P.T. 109 —the story of Kennedy’s heroic World War II exploits as a P.T. Boat skipper. Perhaps he is best known for starring in Charly, an adaptation of Flowers for Algernon for which he won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor. Other films included Picnic, Sunday in New York, Autumn Leaves, Too Late the Hero, Three Days of the Condor, Obsession, J. W. Coop, Star 80 and Malone. More recently, Robertson’s career has had a resurgence. He appeared as Uncle Ben Parker in the first movie adaptation of Spider-Man, as well as in the sequels Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3.

Yet with all his success and fame, Cliff’s love for aviation has never waned. While filming in England, Robertson decided to join the Fair oaks Flying Club and soloed in a De Havilland Tiger Moth…he enjoyed the airplane so much he bought one of his own, and eventually owned three of the type. This lead Cliff to purchase another British legend: a Supermarine Spitfire. Over the years he owned other aircraft, including a Messerschmitt Me-108 and a Beech Baron 58.  In addition to powered flight, Robertson enjoys gliding and owns a two place glider, a Grob Twin Astir.

However, aviation for Robertson is not strictly a leisurely affair. In 1969, Robertson helped organize an effort to fly food and medical supplies to war ravaged Biafra, Nigeria. For this effort he was presented with AOPA’s Sharples Award, given for “the year’s greatest, selfless commitment to general aviation by a private citizen.” When a famine hit Ethiopia in 1978, Robertson again organized relief flights of supplies to that country. In addition, he is dedicated to helping others experience the joy of flight. Robertson takes an active part in the Cliff Robertson Work Experience Program. Each summer, two youths, 16 or 17 years old, are invited to Oshkosh, through the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Air Academy, where they work for ground and flight instruction. The EAA’s Young Eagles program began in 1992 with Robertson as its first honorary chairman. In 1999, he helped kick off the EAA’s campaign, “Vision of Eagles”, a unique set of initiatives designed to educate, motivate and provide direction to young people through aviation-based activities. As if this wasn’t enough, he has received the EAA’s highest honor, the “Freedom of Flight Award,” for his role in the organization’s “In Pursuit of Dreams” presentation.

For his being one of America’s most influential ambassadors of flight, the San Diego Air & Space Museum take great pride in inducting Cliff Robertson into its International Aerospace Hall of Fame.

Happy Thanksgiving from SDASM

Class of 2009 – Frank Robinson

The biographical information below was compiled by Alan Renga, Assistant Archivist, for the 2009 International Hall of Fame Gala. For more information on the Museum’s Library and Archives, click here.

Frank Robinson Hall of Fame Portrait

He produces the best selling, non military helicopter in the world. He outsells all other North American manufacturers put together. He produces an aircraft which hold most world records in it weight class, including speed and altitude. He is Frank Robinson.

The youngest of four children, Frank Robinson was born in Washington State. Always interested in aviation, he worked his way through college and received his BSME degree from the University of Washington in 1957, with graduate work in aeronautical engineering at the University of Wichita.

Robinson began his aviation career in 1957 at Cessna Aircraft Company working on the CH-1 Skyhook. He then continued work with rotor aircraft at Umbaugh Aircraft Co., McCulloch Motor Company and Kaman Aircraft. During a brief stint at Bell Helicopter he earned a reputation as a “tail rotor expert.” In 1969, he moved to Hughes Helicopter Company, designing a new tail rotor for the Hughes 500 helicopter and working on the “quiet helicopter” program.

Robinson repeatedly tried to interest his employers in his own concept for a small, low-cost helicopter but to no avail, so Robinson resigned from Hughes in 1973 and founded Robinson Helicopter Company (RHC). RHC’s first business address was Robinson’s home where the two-seat R22 helicopter was designed. The first R22 prototype was built in a tin hangar at the Torrance Airport, and Robinson himself flew it on its first flight in August 1975 and the R22 received its FAA Type Certificate in 1979. The first production R22 was delivered in late 1979, and the R22 soon became the world’s top selling civil helicopter! The helicopter is so popular because it is relatively inexpensive and very reliable. In addition, the R22 holds most world records in its weight class including speed and altitude. The company also produces the very popular four seat R44. Close to 6,000 Robinson helos sit on flight lines around the world! In addition, Robinson oversaw development of the fuel injected R44 Raven II and the five place turbine driven R66.

Robinson is also very concerned about helicopter safety. He lobbied the FAA to quadruple the minimum number of hours of training needed to get an instructor’s license, as well as double the hours before a pilot could solo. In addition, he started a safety course that has become the gold standard of helicopter training, open to all pilots — today it has a five-month waiting list and is required by most helicopter insurers.

Robinson is an experienced helicopter pilot and flies the R22 and R44 helicopters regularly for personal and business purposes, including experimental test flying. He is a full member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and a Fellow of the American Helicopter Society. He has been presented numerous awards and honors, including the Howard Hughes Memorial Award, The Doolittle Award from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Washington. His philanthropic activities include donating large sums of money to the University of Washington and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

For his invaluable contributions to aviation technology and his dedication to making helicopter flight more safe, the San Diego Air & Space Museum takes great pleasure inducting Frank Robinson into its International Aerospace Hall of Fame.

Class of 2009 – Sean Tucker

The biographical information below was compiled by Alan Renga, Assistant Archivist, for the 2009 International Hall of Fame Gala. For more information on the Museum’s Library and Archives, click here.

Sean Tucker Hall of Fame Portrait

He is one of the most talented and famous aerobatic pilots the world has known Sean Tucker.  Born in Eagle Rock, California Sean earned his pilots certificate at the very young age of 17 even though he had a fear of flying.  He quickly realized the only way to conquer that fear was to attack it head on. So he took an aerobatics course…and soon was performing in air shows. Very quickly Tucker earned a reputation for being a highly gifted performer. Many of his maneuvers are original and have never been performed by another aerobatic pilot. Sean has flown in more than 425 air shows, in front of more than 80 million spectators!

Thirty years ago, Sean’s first aerobatic plane was a Pitt’s Special. Striving to push the edge more than the Pitts could deliver, Sean’s team designed the one of a kind Challenger II which produces more than 400 horsepower, weighs only 1,200 pounds, and is considered the most high-performance aerobatic aircraft in the world. Today, the Challenger II is one of the most recognizable small aircraft in the world. To endure the extreme physical demands of aerobatic display, Sean maintains a rigorous physical training schedule by working-out over 340 days per year in a routine of jogging and weight-lifting on alternating days.

Tucker has received numerous awards and recognitions celebrating his career in aviation. He has been named one of the Living Legends in Aviation, is the recipient of the Crystal Eagle Award, was an inductee at the 2001 USAF Gathering of Eagles, and was named one of the Living Legends of Flight. And in 2008 he was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame, joining such famous aviators as Jimmy Doolittle, Chuck Yeager and Bob Hoover.

Expanding on his love of flying, Tucker created the Tutima Academy of Aviation Safety, a world-class flight training institution dedicated to setting and spreading the standard for aviation safety in aerobatics and aviation at large. The Academy offers a variety of courses including stall/spin recognition and recovery training, aerobatic proficiency training, a low-level aerobatic mentorship program, and formation aerobatic flight training, which can be found no-where else in the world.

Tucker’s self-proclaimed goal is to “share the magic of flight with Team Oracle’s guests by inspiring and thrilling them. I want them to go away saying that the air show was one of the most engaging days of their lives.”

For his incredible enthusiasm for flying and his strong desire to pass this passion on to as many people as possible, the San Diego Air & Space Museum takes great pride in inducting Sean Tucker into its International Aerospace Hall of Fame.

Class of 2009 – Sally Ride

There is only one thing that would have stopped Sally Ride from joining us for our 2009 Hall Of Fame Gala – a call from the White House asking her to come to Washington DC. Sadly (for us) – that is what happened. But before she left town, Dr. Ride was kind enough to send us the following video message:

The biographical information below was compiled by Alan Renga, Assistant Archivist, for the 2009 International Hall of Fame Gala. For more information on the Museum’s Library and Archives, click here.

Sally Ride Hall of Fame Portrait

She is the first American Woman in space.  She is a world renowned physicist. She is dedicated to interesting young women in science, technology, engineering, and math. She is Sally Ride.

Born in 1951 in Los Angeles, California, Sally graduated High School in Westlake, where she was a Nationally Ranked Tennis player. She attended Swarthmore College and then transferred to Stanford University where she eventually received a doctorate degree in Physics in 1978.

While a doctorate candidate, Ride was one over 8000 people to answer an advertisement seeking applicants for the space program and was accepted! After joining NASA, Ride underwent an extensive training period that included parachute jumping, water survival, gravity and weightlessness training, radio communications and navigation. For the second and third Space Shuttle flights, Sally served as the ground-based Capsule Communicator between On June 18, 1983, she became the first American woman in space as a crew member on Space Shuttle Challenger for STS-7.

During the mission, the STS-7 crew deployed satellites for Canada and Indonesia and conducted the first formation flying of the orbiter with a free-flying satellite, along with many other important tasks. The mission lasted over 6 days before landing on a lakebed runway at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on June 24, 1983.

Dr. Ride took to space for a second time in 1984 on STS 41-G, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on October 5, 1984. After the tragic Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, Dr. Ride served as a member of the Presidential Commission investigating the accident. She later served on the accident investigation board for the space shuttle Columbia tragedy, the only person to serve on both boards. Upon completion of the Challenger investigation she was assigned to NASA Headquarters as Special Assistant to the Administrator for long range and strategic planning.

In 1989, Dr. Ride joined the faculty at UCSD as a Professor of Physics and Director of the University of California’s California Space Institute. Because of her passion for motivating girls and young women to pursue careers in science, math and technology in 2001 Sally, founded her own company, Sally Ride Science, which creates entertaining and informative science programs and publications for upper elementary and middle school children. In addition, she has written numerous science books for children.

Dr. Ride has been a member of many prestigious organizations including the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology and the National Research Council’s Space Studies Board, and has served on the Boards of the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and the NCAA Foundation.

Dr. Ride has received numerous honors and awards. She has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the Astronaut Hall and has twice been awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal.

For her incredible courage for being the first American Woman in space and her desire to instill in young women a love for the sciences, the San Diego Air & Space Museum takes great pleasure in inducting Doctor Sally Ride into its International Aerospace Hall of Fame.