Following their recent passing, International Air & Space Hall of Fame inductees Bob Hoover and Bill Gibbs will be remembered during a special ceremony on Nov. 17 at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
Hoover, a 2007 inductee, passed away at age 94 on Oct. 25. Gibbs, a 2011 inductee, passed away at 106 on Oct. 29.
“The International Air & Space Hall of Fame is honored to pay special tribute to two of America’s aviation legends in Bob Hoover and Bill Gibbs,” said Jim Kidrick, President & CEO of the San Diego Air & Space Museum. “Bob walked in the same circles of so many of the world’s aviation Hall of Famers, including Orville Wright, Charles Lindbergh, Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Neil Armstrong, Yuri Gagarin, Chuck Yeager and Jaqueline Cochran — the list goes on and on. Bill and Gibbs Flying Service are true San Diego aviation institutions. The gala will be a remarkable and appropriate opportunity to celebrate both of their lives as eight new inductees join them in the International Air & Space Hall of Fame.”
The Class of 2016 of the International Air & Space Hall of Fame also will be honored on Nov. 17, including:
- The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), the world’s largest pilot community is dedicated to making flying safe, fun and affordable;
- Al Worden, Command Module Pilot to for Apollo 15 and the first man to conduct a spacewalk in deep space;
- The Boeing Company, which in 2016 is celebrating 100 years as one of the world’s elite aircraft and aerospace pioneers;
- Coast Guard Aviation, which for 100 years has been a vital element of everything the Coast Guard does;
- Dale Myers, whose remarkable career spanned developmental work at North American, through the successful landing of Apollo 11 to the Space Shuttle program;
- the “Non-Skeds” which developed successful airlines from surplus WWII airplanes;
- ORBIS International Flying Eye Hospital, a nonprofit development organization dedicated to saving eyesight worldwide; and
- America’s Aviation Family of Excellence: The Maloneys and Hintons, Warbird and Air Racing Legends.