Three individuals with outstanding careers in aviation and aerospace research, and a growing aviation services firm will enter the Kentucky Aviation Hall of Fame in Lexington. The official induction ceremony is scheduled for Saturday November16 at the Aviation Museum of Kentucky in Lexington.
Larry Gossett
from Harrison County took a youthful interest in flight to a career in the U.S. Air Force and senior pilot positions at FedEx. Gossett’s Air Force career included instructor pilot duties as well as early testing of laser bomb technology in the skies over Europe. After service to our country, Gossett became a pilot at a very young Federal Express Corporation. His tenure at FedEx extended over four decades; his total flying career was 46 years. Gossett also created an aviation fund through the Bluegrass Community Foundation, helping Kentucky youth participate in aviation educational opportunities.
Suzanne Weaver Smith
PhD from Lexington has a career that reaches from research affecting the Hubble Space Telescope to the instruction of our country’s future aerospace engineers. Smith has received the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award and leads the NASA Kentucky Space Grant Program at UK. Corporations such as Boeing and Harris Corporation have benefited from her expertise in the effects of vibration in space vehicle systems. Smith led a study considering the feasibility of inflatable wings for planetary exploration. Research under a $6 million National Science Foundation grant using unmanned aircraft for severe weather observation and sustainable agriculture is a more recent study that Smith directs.
Brigadier General Victor H. Strahm
from Bowling Green enjoyed a unique career in military aviation. Flying in the 91
st
Aero Observation Squadron during World War I, Strahm brought down five enemy aircraft, became an “Ace”, and received the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was an air racer and a test pilot between the wars. During World War II Strahm served in command roles in airlift operations in the China-Burma theater as well as the offensive air operations over France for the D-Day invasion in June 1944. Several Allied nations gave Strahm their highest military awards. His career extended into the era of jet aircraft operations at the USAF. Strahm died in 1957.
FEAM Aero
will be honored with the 2019 Aviation Achievement Award. Providing maintenance and engineering services to America’s cargo airlines, FEAM has stations around the USA. Its newest facility is a 103,000 square feet hangar at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron. FEAM will serve this growing hub for internet commerce distribution.
Plan to join us for this great event, reception at 5pm dinner at 6.
Tickets are $120 for AMK members and $130 for guests. Black Tie Optional
Tickets must be purchased by 11/8/2019
