The National Aviation Hall of Fame announced it will move its 51st Annual Enshrinement Dinner & Ceremony due to the federal government shutdown. The event will no longer be held at the National Museum of the US Air Force, and now will move into a smaller venue at the Hope hotel at Wright-Patt.
Enshrinement Director, Ron Kaplan, says the last minute move has created additional expense for the Hall of Fame but believes there’s a greater loss for attendees.
“One of the reasons we hold the event on this weekend, is to coincide with the anniversary of first practical flight, which was made at Huffman Prairie on October 5th, 1905," say Kaplan. "They had events planned for Saturday, which many of our participants were looking forward to visiting, taking part in, and those are wiped out as well.”
Kaplan says the sold out event will host more than 600 guests. Among the four new enshrines that will be honored Friday are a Tuskegee Airmen mentor, a Medal of Honor Army pilot, a Navy “Top Gun” Shuttle astronaut, commercial aviation pioneer.
