EAA Sport Aviation - August 2010

EAA’s 2010 Hall of Fame Inductees

EAA WILL WELCOME AND HONOR five new members to its Halls of Fame on October 29, 2010. All EAA members are invited to attend the induction ceremony and dinner that evening in the EAA AirVenture Museum. For tickets, please call 800-236-1025.

Representing Ultralights, International Aerobatic Club, Vintage Aircraft Association, Warbirds of America, and Homebuilders, these inductees capture the spirit of EAA and its community.

JOHN BALLANTYNE

EAA ULTRALIGHTS HALL OF FAME

John Ballantyne, United States ultralight instructor
registration No. 1, is a commercial pilot and
certificated flight instructor for gliders. He is
the only recipient of FAA commercial and flight
instructor certificates in trike aircraft, and is a
In 2000, John was recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique
Internationale CIMA Commission for 27 years as a pre-eminent
leader in America for the ultralight and microlight sport. In
1996, he received the Moody Award, the United States Ultralight
Association’s highest honor, for outstanding contributions to
American ultralight aviation.

JIMMY FRANKLIN

INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUB HALL OF FAME

Jimmy Franklin, who flew in air shows for more than 30 years, learned to fly as a toddler sitting on his father’s lap. He attended his first air show when he was 12 and at age 19, Jimmy bought a 1940

Waco UPF- 7 and started performing. He made a name for himself with aggressive aerobatic maneuvers such as the world’s lowest inverted ribbon pick-up.

Over the years, Jimmy introduced many unique acts to the air show industry and appeared in countless movies and television shows. In 1989, he received the Bill Barber Award for Showmanship, and in 1999, he received his second Art Scholl Memorial Showmanship Award.

In 2005, Jimmy and his performing partner, Bobby Younkin, perished in a mid-air collision while performing at the Saskatchewan Centennial Air Show at Moose Jaw, Canada.

MORTON LESTER

VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION HALL OF FAME
Morton Lester learned to fly from his father, the
owner of Martinsville, Virginia’s first airport. Over
the years, he owned many aircraft, ranging from
modern Bonanzas to vintage Wacos. Morton also
restored many prototypes and racing aircraft,
which he later donated to museums, including the Crosby CR- 4 and
the Keith Rider Jackrabbit.

Instrumental in the creation of the Virginia Aviation Museum, Morton was an early member of EAA/VAA Chapter 3 and has served as its president several times. He also served on the board of directors for what is now the Vintage Aircraft Association, as well as the board of directors of the EAA Aviation Foundation.

HAROLD D. “HAL” WEEKLEY

WARBIRDS OF AMERICA HALL OF FAME

Harold D. “Hal” Weekley began flight training in 1936. In fall 1942, he was assigned to the U.S.

Army Air Forces. A year later, Hal graduated
from flight school as an Army Air Forces pilot
and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. In
Hal also trained jet instructor pilots during both the Korean
and Vietnam wars. After retirement from the Air Force he worked
with the FAA for 14 years. He has amassed more than 20,000
hours in 97 different types and his ratings include airline transport
pilot and airplane multiengine land with type ratings in the DC- 9,
B-727, and CV-240/340/440.

DEAN WILSON

EAA HOMEBUILDERS HALL OF FAME

In 1953, Dean Wilson purchased his first aircraft, a 1937 40-hp Model A Taylorcraft.

The next year, he built and flew a hang glider
from plans in a 1913 Popular Mechanics article
called “How to Build a Glider for $10.” Dean’s
homebuilt airplane experiences started when he converted
1934 UMF Waco into a spray plane. He went on to design and
put into production a type-certificated biplane sprayer, the
Eagle ag plane.

In the 1970s, Dean bought and restored 43 different aircraft. In 1983, he designed and put into production the Avid Flyer kit airplane, and later built the twin-engine Explorer and the single-engine Private Explorer, which went into production in Canada.