The Living Legends of Aviation is an organization of remarkable people of extraordinary accomplishment in aviation and aerospace including: entrepreneurs, innovators, industry leaders, engineers, astronauts, record breakers, pilots who have become celebrities and celebrities who have become pilots. The Living Legends meet yearly in North America at The Beverly and in Europe every-other-year at the Scalaria Resort at a 15th century castle on the Wolfgangsee near Salzburg, Austria. Inductees and Awards are selected by the Living Legends of Aviation and by committees within the organization. These most prestigious awards are produced by and benefit the Kiddie Hawk Air Academy, a non-profit 501(c)(3).[1]
Founder | Jerry Lips |
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Type | 501(c)(3) nonprofit |
Purpose | Recognition of Aviation and Aerospace Achievements |
Membership | c. 128 |
Executive Director | Jerry Lips (2016) |
Parent organization | Kiddie Hawk Air Academy |
Website | livinglegendsofaviation |
The 21st Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards, honoring the best in aviation and aerospace for 2022–2023, were held on January 19, 2024, at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, where they have been held annually since 2007.
Jerry Lips, publisher of Airport Journals, came up with the idea of the Living Legends of Aviation at the time of the death of Michael Chowdry (founder of Atlas Air).[2] Airport Journals had been collecting and publishing biographies of various aviation personalities and Jerry regretted not having captured Chowdry's history. He began to compile a list of individuals that had made major contributions in the field of aviation, and had those people suggest more names until 70 were collected. These were the biographies that were to be recorded while the individuals were still "living". The list has grown over the years to its present number of 128. As Legends pass on, they are replaced by new inductees, selected by their fellow Legends.
Jerry Lips founded the Living Legends of Aviation in 2003 with the charter of celebrating the second century of aerospace. In 2008, Kiddie Hawk Air Academy acquired the rights to the organization and annual awards show from previous owner Airport Journals.
Beginning in 2003, an awards show has been organized each year to bring together the Living Legend members for a variety of events. The awards are presented at a prestigious live ceremony, most commonly in mid January following the relevant calendar year.
In 2003, the first Living Legends of Aviation Awards were presented at a banquet dinner hosted by Airport Journals at the Centennial Airport in Englewood, Colorado. To avoid any weather related issues, in 2006 the venue was moved to Southern California and held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel in Los Angeles. Since 2007 the Awards have been presented at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.[4]
In 2018 the inaugural Living Legends of Aviation - Europe event was held on July 26, 2018 at the Scalaria hotel & resort in Salzkammergut, Austria.[5]
In 2021 the awards show was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Year | Winner |
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2003 | Charles Gates |
2004 | Clay Lacy |
2005 | Steven Udvar-Hazy |
2006 | Al Ueltschi |
2007 | James D. Raisbeck |
2008 | Sir Richard Branson |
2009 | Joe Clark |
2010 | Delford Smith |
2011 | J Robert Duncan |
2012 | David Neeleman |
2013 | Frederick Smith |
2014 | Herb Kelleher |
2016 | Kenn Ricci |
2017 | Robert Bigelow |
2018 | Jeff Bezos |
2019 | Charles Gordon-Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond |
2019 | S. Harry Robertson |
2021 | Craig Sincock |
2021 | Alexandre Couvelaire |
2022 | Daniel Drohan |
2023 | Laurans Mendelson |
Year | Winner |
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2003 | George F (Rick) Adam |
2004 | Joe Clark |
2005 | Vern Raburn |
2006 | Dale & Alan Klapmeier |
2007 | Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum |
2008 | Linden Blue |
2009 | Elon Musk |
2010 | Lynn Tilton |
2011 | Eren & Fatih Ozmen |
2012 | John Uczekaj |
2015 | Thomas Flohr |
2017 | Tyson Weihs & Jason Miller |
2018 | Ivo Boscarol |
2019 | Kenny Dichter |
2021 | Jared Isaacman |
2021 | Daniel Wiegand |
2022 | Tim Ellis |
2023 | Kyle Clark |
Year | Winner |
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2006 | Bob Hoover |
2007 | Forrest Bird & George McGovern |
2008 | Emily Howell Warner & Zoe Dell Nutter |
2009 | Kermit Weeks |
2010 | Doolittle Raiders & Sam Johnson |
2011 | Burt Rutan |
2012 | Neil Armstrong & Eugene Cernan |
2013 | Patrick Brady |
2016 | Clay Lacy |
2018 | Walter Eichhorn |
2023 | Lance Toland |
Year | Winner |
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2007 | John Travolta |
Year | Winner |
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2007 | Pete Bunce |
2008 | Ed Bolen |
2009 | Preston Henne |
2010 | Mark Van Tine |
2014 | Michimasa Fujino |
2016 | Phebe Novakovic |
2018 | Brian Barents |
2021 | Marc Parent |
2021 | Bin Chen |
Year | Winner |
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2008 | Si Robin |
Year | Winner |
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2008 | Harrison Ford |
2009 | Jeffrey Puckett |
2010 | Pat Epps |
2011 | Richard Sugden |
2012 | Greg Anderson |
2013 | Marilyn Richwine & Rhonda Fullerton |
2014 | Mark Baker |
2015 | Scott Terry |
2016 | Peter Paul Luce |
2017 | Jim Inhofe |
2018 | Sean Tucker |
Year | Winner |
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2017 | Gen. Jack Dailey |
Year | Winner |
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2008 | William Anders |
Year | Winner |
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2008 | Paul "Max" Moga |
Year | Winner |
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2009 | Kurt Russell |
Year | Winner |
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2009 | Tom Cruise |
2010 | Sean Tucker |
2011 | Morgan Freeman |
2012 | David Ellison |
2014 | Angelina Jolie |
2015 | Miles O'Brien |
2016 | Mark & Scott Kelly |
2018 | Jim Payne |
2022 | William Shatner |
Year | Winner |
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2017 | Frank Franke |
Year | Winner |
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2009 | Buzz Aldrin |
Year | Winner |
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2010 | James Lovell |
Year | Winner |
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2010 | Frank D. Robinson |
Year | Winner |
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2011 | Boeing 787 Dreamteam |
Year | Winner |
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2012 | Roy Morgan |
2013 | Jack Erickson |
2014 | Elling Halvorson |
2015 | William "Bill" Chiles |
2016 | Steven Hickok |
2017 | Mike Silva |
2019 | Sergei Sikorsky |
2021 | Lon & Brenda Halvorson |
2022 | Max Lyons |
2023 | Lauren Sánchez |
Year | Winner |
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2012 | James Albaugh |
2013 | Bruce N. Whitman |
2015 | Ray Conner |
2017 | David Joyce |
2018 | Jean Rosanvallon |
2022 | Mike Silvestro |
2023 | Mark Burns |
Year | Winner |
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2018 | Jeff Bezos |
2019 | Capt. James Lovell |
Year | Winner |
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2015 | Dick Cole & David Thatcher[7] |
Year | Winner |
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2015 | Col. Gail Halvorsen |
Year | Winner |
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2018 | Eren & Fatih Ozmen |
Year | Winner |
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2018 | Leigh Clifford |
Year | Winner |
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2018 | Stefan Aust |
2019 | Claus & Gunnar Heinemann |
2019 | Thomas Schrade |
2021 | Bernd Breiter |
Year | Winner |
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2018 | Dick DeVos |
Year | Winner |
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2018 | Bertrand Piccard |
Year | Winner |
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2019 | Robert Machtlinger & Hu Huazhi |
Year | Winner |
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2019 | Alan Eustace |
Year | Winner |
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2021 | Oliver Daemen |
Year | Winner |
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2021 | Zara Rutherford |
2022 | Mack Rutherford |
Year | Winner |
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2023 | Linden Blue |