Thursday, December 10, 2009

ICAS: This Year's Award Winners Are....

Dick Schram Memorial Community Relations Award

Naval Air Station Oceana was recoginzed this evening with the Dick Schram Memorial Community Relations Award. Moving the date of the show from September to October was taken advantage of by the organizers. They chose to theme the show "A Celebration of Flight, A Celebration of Life" in honor of October's designation as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and there was a lot of pink at their air show. They linked up with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and despite the poor weather on show weekend, the team created an event that demonstrated everything this award encompasses.

Since 1988, the Dick Schram Memorial Community Relations Award is annually awarded to the one military air show, open house or flying event that best represents the spirit of community for which Dick Schram stood throughout his naval career. Schram personified all that was good about the military's involvement in air shows as a Blue Angel pilot and later as the Department of Defense Aviation Support Liaison Officer .

Art Scholl Memorial Showmanship Award

Chuck "Malibu" Aaron is the only FAA-certified helicopter stunt pilot and is the winner of this years Art Scholl Memorial Showmanship award. The most common thing you'll hear when Chuck flies the Red Bull helicopter is: "A helicopter isn't supposed to that!" Chuck Aaron is the master as making a helicopter do the things "it isn't supposed to do". The Red Bull helicopter is considered an experimental aircraft, and Aaron had to teach himself to fly the aerobatic routine he performs at air shows. Aaron's father was a military pilot who flew in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam. Now 90, Aaron's father has logged 23,000 hours of flight time since age 17. Chuck has 23 years and over 17,000 hours of experience .

In addition to performing at air shows, Chuck Aaron has a number of movie and TV credits. You can view that list at IMDb.

The Scholl Award is presented each year to the air show performer who best embodies legendary air show performer Art Scholl's commitment to air show entertainment and showmanship. This year's Scholl Award Selection Committee was chaired by ICAS Board member George Cline.

Perhaps the most talented air show pilot of his generation, Scholl was a renowned aerobatic pilot and consummate air show performer. He flew his Chipmunk aircraft before an estimated audience of 80 million people over 20 years and appeared in more than 200 motion picture films, documentaries and television commercials.

The Sword of Excellence

The 2009 ICAS Sword of Excellence recipient is Pete Bunce. Mr. Bunce is better known as the President of the General Aviation Manufacturing Association. Pete served the ICAS board of directors as military liason to the Air Force for a number of years. Mr. Bunce has worked behind the scenes for many years and has served the air show community faithfully without a lot of fanfare.

The ICAS Sword of Excellence is presented each year to recognize outstanding contributions to the air show industry. The list of past recipients reads like a virtual Who's Who of outstanding air show professionals over the last 20+ years. The 2009 ICAS Sword of Excellence Selection Committee was chaired by ICAS Board member Ed Shipley.

Since 1981, the award has been synonymous with air show excellence. The Sword of Excellence is widely considered to be the single highest honor an individual air show professional can receive.

ICAS Hall of Fame Inductees:
(Below via ICAS)
Air Show Hall of Fame 2009 Class of Inductees Announced. They say everybody is a hero to someone... Who is your hero? The ICAS Foundation will induct three new members into the Air Show Hall of Fame for 2009. Tom Poberezny (President/Chairman of EAA), Robert "Bobby" Younkin (long-time solo aerobatic pilot and innovator), and Charles A. Kulp (The Flying Farmer) will be inducted during ceremonies at the ICAS Convention in December.

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