The Lone Star Flight Museum Celebrates the Class of 2023
The Lone Star Flight Museum (LSFM) is set to host the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame (TAHOF) Induction Ceremony & Luncheon on Friday, April 21 at 11:30 a.m.
The TAHOF Class of 2023 includes Daniel Baker, Major General Joe H. Engle (ret), Rod Lewis and Edna Gardner Whyte (posthumously). This ceremony and luncheon will be held at the Lone Star Flight Museum located at 11551 Aerospace Avenue at Houston’s Ellington Airport.
Established through a resolution by the 74th Texas Legislature and signed by then Gov. George W. Bush to honor and recognize Texans and Texas companies or organizations that have made significant and lasting contributions to the advancement of aviation. In 1997, the first-class including Lloyd Bentsen, President George H.W. Bush, Beryl Erickson and Joe Kilgore were inducted. This year, the Hall of Fame will add to its current 89 members and with the announcement of the class of 2023.
Members are included in four categories: trailblazers and explorers, wartime aviators, leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators. The 2023 Texas Aviation Hall of Fame inductees join an impressive list of members including Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and George W. Bush, the Doolittle Raiders, Tuskegee Airmen, Bessie Coleman, Eileen Collins, Gene Cernan, Gene Kranz and many more.
Lieutenant General Douglas H. Owens (ret), and President & CEO of the museum, said, “We are excited about these four deserving individuals going into the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame. Our sponsors make today possible, but the entire museum staff and board always look forward to honoring those that have made an impact in Texas aviation. From a high-tech innovator and a NASA trailblazer to a WWII aircraft collector and an accomplished female pilot, we are thrilled to celebrate these inductees into Texas Aviation Hall of Fame.”
2023 INDUCTEES INCLUDE:
Daniel Baker
Founder of FlightAware, Baker combined his passion for flying, and his career in software development and e-commerce to create the digital flight tracking service in 2005. Sold to Collins Aerospace in 2021, FlightAware is the world’s largest flight tracking data company and provides critical flight data solutions to airlines and private aircraft operators, as well as flight tracking to millions of travelers. FlightAware has offices in Houston, New York, London, and Singapore.
Major General Joe H. Engle (Retired) USAF, ANG
Having flown 185 different types of aircraft including 38 different fighter and attack aircraft, General Engle logged more than 15,000 flight hours – more than 9,000 in jets and over 224 hours in space.
On June 29, 1965, he flew the X-15 to an altitude of 280,600 feet and became the youngest pilot ever to qualify as an astronaut. Long considered a pioneer in the space shuttle program, General Engle was the first to have flown into space on two different types of winged vehicles: the X-15 and the Space Shuttle.
Rod Lewis
The son of a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, Rod’s passion for both business and aviation drove his success that began with his first well in 1982 and began Lewis Energy Group. His love of flying also grew and in 1981, purchased his first plane, a hand cranked Aeronca. Lewis came to own 80 aircraft, including thirty WWII warbirds that fly as the Lewis Air Legends and the Air Legends Foundation. A member of the Living Legends of Aviation, Lewis shares his love of American history through the amazing WWII warbirds and other aircraft.
Edna Gardner Whyte
From the moment she became a pilot, Edna Gardner Whyte was breaking down barriers as an accomplished female pilot, instructor, and air racer. In her 64 years of flying, she raced and instructed three generations of new pilots, mostly men. She founded the New Orleans Air College and later started a Ft Worth flight school to provide instrument training for military pilots in WWI and beyond. She earned over 125 air race trophies and amassed more than 35,000 flying hours and was a member of the Whirly-Girls, Ninety-Nines, and honorary member of the Order of Daedalians.
Underwriters for the 2023 induction ceremony and luncheon include:
- Award Sponsor:Anonymous, Collins Aerospace, Patricia Jayne Keefer Foundation;
- Gold Sponsors:Michael Bertuccio, Robin & Marshall Cloyd, Bonnie J. Dunbar, Ph.D., Ed & Pat Noel, Sarah & Ross Perot Foundation, Karen & Scott Rozzell, Bette & Ralph B. Thomas;
- Silver Sponsors:Anonymous, Houston Event Planners, Order of Daedalians, Lisa & Jerry Simon, Jane & Charles Szalkowski, Texas Southern University – Aviation;
- VIP Sponsors: Anonymous, 360 AV Design, CC & Duke Ensell, FlightAware, Anthony W. Hall, Jr., Linda & Barry Hunsaker Jr., Lush Flowers, Nancy & Pete Olson and Jerry Roth.
