Arkansas Aviation Historical Society is a non-profit organization promoting aviation. It created the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame in 1980, and recently created college scholarships in hopes of encouraging young people to pursue aviation careers. The Aviation Hall of Fame honors individuals who played a great role in aviation and aerospace history on the national or Arkansas scene. Records are hosted by

Butler Center for Arkansas Studies The mission of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies (est. 1997) is to promote "a greater understanding and appreciation of Arkansas history, literature, art, and culture." Named after Richard C. Butler Sr., a noted Little Rock lawyer and philan ...

, Arkansas Studies Institute, Central Arkansas Library System, in

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

History

New members to the Hall of Fame were inducted annually from 1980 to 2010, and again in 2015. Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame inductees for 2015 were Jim Gaston, John Knight and James R. Risner. The hall of fame was based at the new Aerospace Education Center, 3301 East Roosevelt Road, Little Rock, Arkansas, near Little Rock National Airport, in 1995. When the Aerospace Education Center closed its doors on January 1, 2011, records were moved to the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Arkansas Studies Institute, which still hosts the records. In 2015, the society awarded its first two scholarships, while expressing the need for aviators to support the dreams of potential young pilots. Two students at Arkansas' collegiate aviation school,

Henderson State University Henderson State University (HSU) is a public university in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, United States. Founded in 1890 as Arkadelphia Methodist College, Henderson has an undergraduate enrollment of around 2,500 students. The campus is located on . H ...

in Arkadelphia, received scholarships of $2,000 each.

Hall of Fame Inductees

1980 J. Caroll Cone, Nathan Gordon, Louise McPhetridge Thaden, James S. McDonnell Jr., Charles M. Taylor 1981 Leighton Collins, Case Hough, Robert Snowden Jr., Admiral John S. Thach 1982 Raymond J. Ellis, Captain Field Kindley, Claude Holbert 1983 Major General Earl T. Ricks Jr., Lynn Helms, Albert A. Vollmecke 1984 Brig. Gen. John D. Howe, Major General Winston P. Wilson, Eddie Holland 1985 Brigadier General William T. Seawell, General John Paul McConnell, Major Pierce W. McKennon 1986 Major General Frank A. Bailey, M.T. “Cy” Bond, Earl Rowland 1987 Major John H. White, Lucien M. Tallac 1988 Richard Collins, Lt. Wendel A. Robertson 1989 Captain E. Scott McCuskey, Sanford N. McDonnell 1990 Rear Admiral George M. "Skip" Furlong Jr.,

John Paul Hammerschmidt John Paul Hammerschmidt (May 4, 1922 – April 1, 2015) was an American politician from the state of Arkansas. A Republican, Hammerschmidt served thirteen terms in the United States House of Representatives for Arkansas's 3rd congressional ...

1991 Rear Admiral F. Taylor Brown, Frederick Smith 1992 Adm. William Newell Small, Lieutenant Colonel Woodrow W. Crockett 1993 Emma W. Hall, Seth Ward 1994 Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Mills, James Rodgers, Jack Stephens 1995 Colonel Richard O. Covey USAF, Floyd Fulkerson, Gov.

Winthrop Rockefeller Winthrop Rockefeller (May 1, 1912 – February 22, 1973) was an American politician and philanthropist. Rockefeller was the fourth son and fifth child of American financier John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. He was one of th ...

1996 Maj. Gen. Lewis E. Lyle, Lieutenant Roy Rushing, Issac T. Gilliam IV 1997 Houston J. Burford, Richard C. Butler, Harvey C. Couch Jr., Wheat Goss, Bart Gray, Dr. Lafayette Harris, Harry W. Pfeifer Jr., Arthur Phillips, Jack Pickens, John Potts, Raymond Rebsamen, J. V. Satterfield, Howard Stebbins III, Everett Tucker Jr., and Kenneth Pat Wilson 1998 Milton P. Crenchaw, J. Scott Hamilton, Colonel

Charles Peter O'Sullivan Charles Peter O'Sullivan (July 31, 1915 – September 20, 2013) was a World War II veteran fighter pilot and squadron commander of the 39th Fighter Squadron, Army Air Forces while in New Guinea. He flew the Lockheed P-38 Lightning and was shot do ...

1999 Frank G. Tinker Jr., Fred K. Darragh Jr., Gen. Horace M. Wade 2000 Jim Burnett, Anthony DeSalvo, Lieutenant General Charles R. Hamm 2001

Alice Walton Alice Louise Walton (born October 7, 1949) is an American heiress to the fortune of Walmart as daughter of founder Sam Walton. As of May 2025, Walton has a net worth of $117 billion, making her the richest woman in the world and 13th richest ...

, Jim Younkin 2002 Rodney Slater, H.A. Thomas 2003 Thomas N. Smith Jr., Brigadier General William H. Webster, Captain Wilbur West 2004 Lieutenant Colonel Robert Hite, James Stamps, Robert M. Wilson 2005 Marlon D. Green, Virginia "Mary" Proctor, Daryl Riddell 2006 Richard N. Holbert, Donald L. Holbert, Robert A. Younkin 2007 Adolphus H. "Pat" Bledsoe Jr., Zemery Melvern "Jack" Stell, Dennis R. Gardisser Ph.D., P.E. 2008 Paul Irving "Pappy" Gunn, Scott E. Parazynski M.D. 2009 Greg Arnold, Colonel Billy G. Edens 2010 Brigadier General Paul Page Douglas Jr., James C. "Bud" Mars, Mary F. Silitch 2015 Jim Gaston, John Knight and James R. Risner 2016 Lynn C Hooper, David Wallace, Jesse Vincent 2017 Zane Anderson, Harold Johnson, General William Smith 2018 Gwen Batie Blue, Cornelius Robinson Coffey, Ernest Ambort, Dr. Jerry Robinson 2019 Ronald L. Herron, Russ Amos, J.O. Dockery, Don Clark Ruggles, Dennis F. Cantrell,

References

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External links

The Arkansas Aviation Historical SocietyThe Arkansas Aviation Historical Society Hall of Fame Videos

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Arkansas Air & Military MuseumGallery: 2010 inductees
Aviation in Arkansas Aviators from Arkansas