The Reuben H. Fleet Foundation Fund of the San Diego Foundation has donated $50,000 to the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.
“This is a wonderful gift from a fund established by an aviation pioneer,” said NAHF board member Betty Darst. The grant will be used for exhibit development and revitalization, as well as technology and website upgrades.
Fleet — who was enshrined in the Aviation Hall of Fame in 1975 — organized the first air mail service in May 1918 from Washington, D.C. to New York City and formed Consolidated Aircraft Corporation in 1921, producing primarily trainers and observation planes, including the famous PBY Catalina series, the most successful flying boat, and the PB2Y Coronado series flying boats. San Diego-based Consolidated also designed and built the B-24 Liberator bomber, the most-produced American military aircraft in history.
The Reuben H. Fleet Foundation Fund is part of the San Diego Foundation which, since its inception in 1975, has awarded more than $700 million to worthy projects.
The National Aviation Hall of Fame is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in Dayton in 1962 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1964. Its mission is to honor America’s outstanding air and space pioneers, which it does through a 17,000 square-foot public Learning Center featuring interactive exhibits, a youth education program, its annual enshrinement ceremony, and other public outreach programs. For more information: NationalAviation.org
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