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.

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.

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.

This post was written by Brent Bernasconi, Education Coordinator for the Museum. One part of his duties is to coordinate the various Museum competitions. For more information on the Museum’s competitions, click here.

Last year the Museum held the first annual Green Skills for Life competition, sponsored by Ford Motor Company Fund, asking students to create a piece of art that explained something they could do to help green the Earth. The competition received many great entries.

This year, we decided to hold a video competition with the same theme. San Diego County students, ages 6-18, were invited to create a 1-2 minute video explaining a green idea that they and their friends could do to help green the Earth. We received many great submissions (you can watch all of them here) and the judges had the arduous task of choosing five winners for the $500 scholarship prizes.

After some long discussions the judges chose the top five. Here they in order from youngest to oldest:

Little Miss Green Queen 2009:

Green Wrap:

Beach Cleanup:

Green Skills For Life: Water Conservation:

Going Vegetarian for One Day:

This post was written by Ross Davis, Education Resources and Volunteer Coordinator for the Museum.

To see some pictures of the aftermath, check out our Flickr Page.

What started out as a nice idea for wholesome family entertainment—“The Great Pumpkin Parachute Drop” at the San Diego Air & Space Museum—ended in a shockingly loud, liquid splat on the afternoon of Saturday, October 31st.

As part of a park-wide Family Day, inspired by our recent acquisition of the limited-run “Snoopy Soars with NASA” exhibit, we paired a “da Vinci style” parachute with a great big pumpkin and thought we’d drop it off the roof to test the whole assembly.

What could possibly go wrong?

But first, we conducted our normally scheduled and well-loved Family Day craft activities in the Education Center. The exhibition-combo theme worked well for this, too—we helped families construct small origami “Great Pumpkins” suspended from Leonardo-inspired paper parachutes. The result was stunningly beautiful—we even used green vine-like twine for the risers—and the visitors were thus stoked for the actual pumpkin drop.

Just before 2pm, Brent Bernasconi, fellow educator, and I climbed to the top of the Museum Rotunda, commanding a matchless view of the park and San Diego, and commenced the gourd-dropping festivities.

By way of experimental control and comparison (yeah, we’re really academically disciplined) we let one pumpkin accelerate to ground level sans parachute. The results were spectacular (remember the wet splat?), and got the crowd stoked for the main event.

When it came time to drop the largest pumpkin and the huge (four feet a side) wood-framed cloth parachute, the countdown was loud and enthusiastic. The actual drop started off perfectly, with the pumpkin going first, and the parachute above—exactly as planned.

A split second later, the pumpkin fell out of its burlap-and-rope cradle—and it, too, plummeted to a gruesome vegetarian doom before the horrified onlookers. The parachute, with no weight to stabilize it, landed on its side and snapped its framework.

The horror. Still, it was fun to see. Science is like that sometimes.

Stay tuned for more events like this during the upcoming year—especially during school breaks and as new exhibits arrive!

You never know what we’ll drop on the public next.

Over the weekend, while a lot of people went to the Miramar Airshow, many also came by the Museum to hear space journalist and author Andy Chaikin talk about the moon and its explorers.

During his first presentation, for educators, he explored the moon using the interactive computer program Google Moon. The talk had such good and interesting info that we (the Education Department) will probably “heavily borrow” some/most of it for a class or two.

Then after a lunch on the back patio, Andy gave his second talk to the public, which he recounted some of the amusing and interesting stories and quotes he collected from Apollo astronauts during his book research.

Afterwards, he spent some time wandering around the space gallery and checking out the Apollo 9 space craft and other space related items in our collection. Check out some pictures below:

Checking out the Gemini and Mercury Spacesuits

I want to buy it but they say not to wear white after Labor Day.

This Space Craft looks Dirty. Jesse (SDSpace), Andy (Speaker), Francis

Now, I could tell you how great the Night at the Museum sleepover was, but I think it might be better to let one the attendees tell you how much he and his daughter enjoyed the evening:

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you [our wonderful Stacy, Special Events Manager] and the Air & Space Museum staff for the wonderful experience that my daughter and I had during our “Night at the Museum.” From arrival to our departure the professionalism displayed by the staff was simply outstanding. I was very impressed by the knowledge of your staff. They answered any and all questions that were presented to them. One of the highlights for me was the tour of the restoration facility in the basement. Just seeing the efforts and love that your volunteers put into their work made the experience unforgettable for me.

The role players were a very nice touch, their knowledge in their respective ”roles” was very good. The only recommendation I would make is to have more of them, and perhaps a video of the era they represent. For my daughter the only disappointment was departing, she did not want to go.

If you chose to conduct this event again I would highly recommend it to anyone as an unforgettable experience. Once again thank you for a truly unique experience.

Here are some pictures from the evening’s tour with reenactors:

Staff Sergeant with a Big Toothy Mouth

The World War II Pilot explaining his P-51 Mustang

The Reenactors in front of the Apollo 9 spacecraft

The Museum is launching a new video competition and is looking for aspiring young filmmakers with ideas to help green the world. As an extension of the Green Skills for Life event, San Diego County kids are asked to create a 1-2 minute video that answers the following three questions:

• What idea do you have that you think you or others could do that would green the world?
• What needs to be done to make your idea a reality?
• Why should you and others do it?

Creators of the winning videos will win a $500 scholarship and will receive their award at the 2009 International Hall of Fame Gala in the presence of honored guests such as Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, and the Blue Angels.

For more info and how to enter, click here.

This post was written by Rich Martindell, a former F-15 pilot, long time Museum volunteer, and Advanced Ground Instructor (AGI) for both the Museum and King Schools.  Rich can be found though his website, Wild Blue Yonder. You can also see more pictures of his trip on his Flickr page.

When the San Diego Air & Space Museum put together a trip to Moscow for the MAKS Air Show I thought the price looked a little steep until I studied the itinerary and determined it was an offer I couldn’t refuse. For an Air Force pilot that stared across the Iron Curtain for a good part of my career I couldn’t miss seeing the displays at the air show and the former Soviet arsenal that we would have access to thanks to the museum’s contacts. In addition to the air show there would be stops at the Russian Air Force Museum at Monino Air Base, the Museum of the Soviet Forces, the Museum of the Great Patriotic War (World War II), the cosmonaut training center at Star City and the Russian Academy of Civil Aviation in St. Petersburg. Each stop would have a designated host to explain the exhibits and we would have an interpreter to translate what the host said.

For those who know as little Russian as I do, MAKS is the acronym you get from the first letters of the Russian words for International Air and Space Salon. I don’t know why they don’t call it the Moscow Air Show. Just filling out the application for the Russian visit visa told me it was going to be fun and that the four former military pilots in our group of nine would have a “friend” for the entire trip. The two most interesting questions on the visa application were, “Have you ever participated in an armed conflict,” and “Have you ever been trained in the use of nuclear weapons.” With 323 combat missions in North and South Vietnam and 2½ years of sitting nuke alert in Germany I was a winner!

The Russian idea of how to create a show line. Put a soldier ever 10 yards for 3 miles.

The first day at the air show saw half a million people show up at the same time so getting through the ticket and security lines even with advanced tickets took an hour and a half. The weather was doggy both Saturday and Sunday and the only opportunity to fly high shows occurred on Saturday afternoon but, they were impressive. Although the USAFE A-10, F-15 and F-16 demo teams had been preparing to attend, President Obama abruptly cancelled any U.S. military participation just two weeks prior to the show. The Russians did not disappoint however, showing off the MiG-29 Fulcrum, the Su-27 Flanker and the Su-34 Fullback. The Russian Knights suffered a mid-air collision the week prior during practice for the air show, killing the leader and cancelling their participation, the Russian Falcons and Swifts flew formation demonstrations in the MiG-29 and Su-27. Also present were the Italian Frecce Tricolori in their 10 Aermacchi MB-339s and the Patrouille de France in their nine Alpha Jets. While the other seven people in our group didn’t want to fight the crowds on Sunday, my son who is also a pilot, and I wanted to return presenting a dilemma for our guide. Miraculously, she was able to find a friend who wanted to attend the air show and would be happy to keep us company while she showed the rest of our group an art gallery in Moscow. Sunday was low shows all day but it was very amazing watching the Italians fly a 10-ship tight formation show under a 2,000 foot overcast. We spent a lot of Sunday looking at the static displays and the exhibit halls which were every bit as impressive as anything you will see at Oshkosh or the NBAA convention.  This was definitely an “I love Russia” air show and display but it was 100% enjoyable. It was very interesting to note that they are now all “Russian” and the word “Soviet” has dropped from the vocabulary even though much of the old mentality persists.

A beautiful airplane even when it’s loaded with iron and Rich Martindell former F-15 pilot

The trip to the Russian Air Force Museum at Monino was every bit as spectacular as all the web posts make it out to be.  A vast array of 185 different aircraft, from pre-World War I up to currently operational aircraft, is on display. It is the equivalent of our museum at Wright-Patterson but it is operated on a shoe-string budget and it’s very disappointing to see all these aircraft in open storage exposed to the environment that Moscow has to offer in the winter.

The visit to Star City gave us the opportunity to see the world’s largest centrifuge and experience their International Space Station mockup and trainer. Our cosmonaut host, Colonel Sergei Viktorovich Zalyotin, had been on two space flights and is preparing for his third.

A nice surprise was the visit to the museum at the Russian Academy of Civil Aviation in St. Petersburg. This is a state run school for people who want to be mechanics, airline pilots or air traffic controllers. The courses offered are similar to Embry-Riddle University in Florida or Prescott but it is a more certain pipeline to employment in the Russian civil aeronautics system. The museum is a small six room facility in the academy and the museum’s director was delighted to host us. She treated us like royalty and invited each of us back to make a presentation at their annual aviation symposium in May.

U-2 Gary Power’s was flying when he was shot down in 1960 on display at the Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow. The ejection seat is visible in front of the intake on the left.

Salon: MiG and Sukhoi reps hawking their wares

You can see more of Rich’s Russia picture on his Flickr Page.

After our successful Apollo 8 event (and by successful I mean, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin came!) back in December of 2008, the USS Midway Museum approached us on working together to hold an event this year to honor not just the Apollo 8 anniversary but also the forty year anniversary of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space missions. We (the Museum) of course said yes and as the plans developed the one night event split into two and the Race to the Moon weekend was born.

Trying to get all the Space Race astronauts in one location would be like trying to herd cats, but we were very successful in having eight join us along with a former NASA Flight Controller. Those who came to be honored were Jim McDivitt (Gemini 4, Apollo 9), Walt Cunningham (Apollo 7), Bill Anders (Apollo 8), Rusty Schweickart (Apollo 9), Alan Bean (Apollo 12, Skylab II), Fred Haise (Apollo 13), Al Worden (Apollo 15), Charlie Duke (Apollo 16), Glynn Lunney (Gemini & Apollo Flight Controller). Others in attendance were Charlie Bolden (STS 61-C, 31, 45, 60), who is also the new NASA Administrator, Bill Shepherd (first International Space Station commander), and Lee Scherer (Former NASA center director).

The first event took place on Friday night at the Museum. To prepare, we transformed our board room into a green room (more like a blue room) and gussied up the Pavilion. That night, the V.I.P.s chatted in the green room while the guest mingled below in the Pavilion enjoying hamburger sliders and other tasty appetizers (I did not get a chance to try them all, just the sliders) Friday evening gave the guests a chance to meet, talk to, and take a picture with the willing V.I.P.s. After mingling for awhile the guests took their seats and listened while the V.I.P.s took to the stage and talked about their involvement in the space race during a moderated forum. You can read the live tweets of the forum here. Buzz Aldrin even made a video appearance since he could not make it because of a conflicting engagement in Europe (too far away to make the drive if you ask me).

The Astronauts and Flight Controller as they take the Stage

The next event took place onboard the USS Midway Museum and they rolled out the red carpet. Once the guests arrived and had time to enjoy themselves on the flight deck, the V.I.P.s left the special V.I.P. sponson area and made a grand entrance riding up on the L3 (the elevator used to haul planes from the hangar bay to the flight deck) with a Marine marching band playing the theme to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Everyone then took their seats at the tables, enjoyed a fancy dinner (the dessert had cookies shaped like the moon and stars), and watched a flyover of the International Space Station and the docked Discovery Shuttle with San Diegan Rick Sturckow on board. The V.I.P.s then went on the stage and received their American Patriot Award presented by the USS Midway. To finish the night, fireworks shot off of the carrier’s tower. A spectacular way to end a great event.

Astronauts on the Stage. Left to right: Glynn Lunney, Rusty Schweickart, Fred Haise, Alan Bean, Bill Anders, Walt Cunningham, Charlie Duke, Jim McDivitt, Al Worden

Both events went really well and I know everyone in attendance enjoyed themselves while honoring the accomplishments of these men. Over 40 years later they still inspire us.

You can check out photos taken both nights on our Flickr page by clicking here.