Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame

Aug. 31, 2016

Last Saturday, August 27, I was the guest speaker at the Banquet and Induction Ceremony of the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame (AAHOF). It was also a reunion of old friends, and a good time was had by all.

The four inductees included three people that I knew, and one that I had at least met in my earlier life. Therein lies a tale...

Most of us knew the basics of each inductee. But, we had no idea just how much each had accomplished above and beyond our knowledge. We knew that each was an aviator, but we didn’t know about his career in the military, or with NASA or in other areas.

In each case, the inductee was far more accomplished than I had ever known. They were awesome.

I knew Sonny Morea as a CFI, but had no idea that he was also — among other titles — project manager of both the Lunar Rover and the world’s largest and most powerful rocket engine, the F-1.

We all knew Clyde Shelton as the grand old man of flight instruction in North Alabama, but had no idea of his impact on so many pilots—he gave more than 10,000 check rides and flew over 22,000 hours of flight instruction — nor did we know he was a charter member of NASA. Awesome.

Bill Woods — well, I gotta admit that I remember him because of our first meeting. He chewed me out for something my company had done when I was selling aviation insurance back in 1972 (we laughed about it later). I knew that he built Bill Woods Beechcraft, Birmingham, AL, into a large, successful operation, but didn’t know he served in the Army Air Corps during WW II.

I knew that George L. Washington was one of the greats of Alabama’s Tuskegee Airmen, but, I surely did not know that he graduated from MIT in 1925 and had a tremendous influence on the creation and training of the Tuskegee Airmen.

It was a night filled with awe and appreciation for the accomplishments of these four deserving men.

Editor's Note: Ralph Hood is himself a member of the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame.