Hall of fame honors influential aviators

National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees include the Wright brothers.

DAYTON (AP) — Stunt pilot Sean Tucker, who has thrilled air show audiences with daredevil moves in more than 1,000 performances, remembers a time when he was terrified of what would happen if his plane went into a spin or a stall.

“I wasn’t a very good pilot,” Tucker recalled. “I was basically scared to death.”

So as a young pilot in the 1970s, Tucker decided to face his fears. He had an instructor get him into a beat-up, single-engine, fabric-skinned trainer, take him up over the skies of San Jose, Calif., and demonstrate a roll.

“I’ll never forget the dust and dirt that came off of the floorboards — and we recovered,” Tucker said. “I fell in love with aerobatics. That’s when my journey began.”

Tucker, 56, of Monterey, Calif., is among pilots and aviation pioneers being inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame on Saturday.

The other enshrinees include Herbert Kelleher, co-founder of Southwest Airlines Co.; naval aviation pioneer William Moffett, and Col. Clarence “Bud” Anderson, a military pilot who flew in both World War II and the Vietnam War.

Tucker said he is honored to be inducted into the hall, which includes the likes of the Wright brothers and astronaut Neil Armstrong.

“Those are some big footsteps and some big shoes, and I’m really humbled. I’ve never done anything great like these guys,” Tucker said. “I’m a journeyman 20th century barnstormer.”

Kelleher, born in Haddon Heights, N.J., is chairman emeritus of Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, which began service in 1971 with three airplanes. Today, Southwest operates more than 530 airplanes performing about 3,400 flights a day.

“It’s sort of stunning to me to be asked to join that group,” said Kelleher, who is not a pilot. “I’ve always been infatuated with airplanes.”

Anderson, born in Oakland, Calif., became a triple ace while flying the P-51 Mustang over Europe in World War II. He later flew the F-105 Thunderchief during bombing runs over North Vietnam. He also served as a test pilot and has logged over 7,500 flight hours in more than 130 types of aircraft.

Moffett, a native of Charleston, S.C., received the Medal of Honor for his action in support of the landing at Veracruz, Mexico, in 1914 while commanding the cruiser Chester. During World War I, he took command of the Great Lakes Naval Training Station and established an aviation training program.

Under Moffett’s tutelage, naval aircraft tactics were developed and the first aircraft carriers were introduced. Moffett died on April 4, 1933, when the airship Akron went down off the coast of New Jersey.