John Travolta, the official Ambassador of Aviation, will host the 20th Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards on Jan. 20, 2023, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. This event honors those who have made significant contributions to aviation/aerospace. This year’s Presenting Sponsors are Ducommun, Sierra Nevada Corp. and Williams International.
William Shatner will receive the “Aviation Inspiration and Patriotism Award.”
Shatner is a private pilot and known for television and film roles like in the Star Trek series. Shatner made history on Oct. 13, 2021, as the oldest person to travel to space, when he flew on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space shuttle.
Other honorees include Mike Silvestro, the CEO of Flexjet. He will receive the “Lifetime Aviation Industry Leader Award” for his work in the fractional private jet industry.
Tim Ellis, the founder of Relativity Space, will receive the “Eren Ozmen Entrepreneur of the Year Award.” Relativity invented a new approach to design, print and fly its rockets, beginning with the world’s first 3D-printed rocket.
Daniel Drohan will receive the “Kenn Ricci Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur Award.” He founded Solairus in 2009 and under his leadership, Solairus has one of the largest fleets of managed business jets serving clients worldwide.
Aviator, business owner, philanthropist and adventurer Max Lyons will receive the “Elling Halvorson Vertical Flight Hall of Fame Award.” Lyons and his wife purchased Hillsboro Aviation in 1999. He is dual-rated in helicopters and airplanes, including commercial instrument helicopters, single and multi-engine airplanes, instrument airplanes, and multi-engine seaplanes.
Mack Rutherford will receive the “Barron Hilton Aviation Inspiration Award.” He holds the Guinness Book of World Record for being the youngest pilot to fly solo around the world in a small aircraft. He accomplished this in August 2022 at only 17 years old. His sister, Zara, who finished her global flight in January at age 19, currently holds the record for the youngest female to fly solo around the world.
Living legends also welcome new inductees.
Greg Evans is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and lifetime advocate for the business aviation industry. He is the Chairman of the Board of Universal Weather and Aviation, Inc., which was the first company to provide complete mission management services for business aviation.
Alan Eustace is a pilot and Google executive who performed the highest human free-fall when he jumped from 135,890 feet up in the stratosphere.
Tom Haines is a former Editor in Chief with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. He has flown over 100 models of general aviation airplanes.
Jared Isaacman is an American entrepreneur, pilot, philanthropist, and commercial astronaut who led the first all-private citizen crew into orbit. He is the founder of Draken International, a private air force provider and Shift4 Payments, a payment processor.
HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman is a former Royal Saudi Air Force pilot. He flew aboard the American STS-51-G Space Shuttle as a payload specialist. He is the first member of a royal family to fly in space and the youngest person ever to fly on the Space Shuttle. In 2018, he was appointed as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Space Commission at the rank of minister.
The new legends will pay tribute to seven legends who have “flown west” since the last legends gathering. These lost legends include Sigi Angerer, Joe Kittinger, Dietrich Mateschitz, Major General Carl McNair, Tom Poberzeny, Frank Robinson and Lou Turpen.
These awards are produced by Kiddie Hawk Air Academy, a 501-c-3 non-profit organization. The Living Legends of Aviation include over 100 men and women from across the world.
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