In Memory of Neil Armstrong

August 5, 1930 - August 25, 2012

Recipient, Robert J. Collier Trophy, 1969

Recipient, Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, 2001  

Luncheon Series Kicks Off September 27

NAA is assembling an exceptional speaker list for the 2012-2013 Luncheon Series and it kicks off on September 27 with speaker Elon Musk of SpaceX. Click on a date below to register for the luncheon(s) you wish to attend.  Questions? Email [email protected]

Baumgartner Sets Another  

Vertical Speed Record 

   On July 25, 2012 Baumgartner claimed a new Maximum Vertical Speed Record for skydiving over Roswell, New Mexico. 

Baumgartner celebrates after a successful jump.

  This time he jumped from 97,221 feet and achieved a velocity of 536.80 miles per hour. The record attempt was again monitored and observed by Brian G. Utley, member of the NAA Contest and Records Board.

   Baumgartner has another attempt planned for the first two weeks of October will a goal of jumping from 120,000 feet.

Captain Laura B. Easton, USAF, to

Receive 2012 Katharine Wright Trophy

   Captain Laura B. Easton, USAF, will receive the prestigious Katharine Wright Trophy for her remarkable career as an Air Force officer, pilot, leader, and role model for women in aviation.

   This award is presented annually to a woman who has contributed to the success of others, or made a personal contribution to the advancement of the art, sport and science of aviation and space flight over an extended period of time.

    The award was named in honor of Orville and Wilbur Wright's sister, Katharine, who was a crucial supporter of her brothers' timeless work in the development of the first airplane. The Trophy is administered by NAA in partnership with The Ninety-Nines, the International Organization of Women Pilots.

   Capt. Easton currently serves as a MC-130P Combat Shadow Instructor Pilot at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, United Kingdom where she commands a crew of eight highly trained special operations personnel.  Throughout her Air Force career, Capt Easton has proven herself exhibiting excellence in flight skills, airmanship and crew coordination and has consistently been a positive role model for incoming USAF Academy Cadets and others. 

    "The Katharine Wright Trophy is a very important acknowledgement of the role that women have assumed in the aviation and aerospace industry in America as well as the security of our nation - and Captain Easton is a very deserving recipient of this great honor," said NAA President and CEO Jonathan Gaffney.

   "I am proud of the historic role that women have assumed in the aerospace and aviation history of our nation," noted Susan Larson, President of The Ninety-Nines. "Captain Easton is a wonderful example of that role."

   In addition to Gaffney and Larson, members of the Selection Committee included The Ninety- Nines Past President (and NAA Board Member) Pat Prentiss, President-Elect Martha Phillips, and Ninety Nines Member (and former NAA Board Member) Susan Sheets.

   The award will be presented at the NAA Fall Awards Banquet on Tuesday, November 13, 2012.  Click here for details and registration.  

Stop Sequestration:  

Let's Not Fall Off the Fiscal Cliff

By Marion C. Blakey, President and CEO

Aerospace Industries Association

   Until recently, only political wonks would recollect the unsuccessful use of sequestration in the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act to tame the nation's deficit in 1985. Today, more than 25 years later, Americans are googling the term in record numbers thanks to it's inclusion in the Budget Control Act of 2011. With National Aerospace Week right around the corner from September 16-22, stopping sequestration will be the big issue during dozens of Hill visits and events involving aerospace and defense workers around the country.

   And for good reason. Unless Congress and the administration come to a solution, $1 trillion in automatic budget cuts will be triggered January 2, 2013. The Defense Department will take the brunt of the cuts with a $500 billion cut. That is on top of $487 billion in cuts that the department is already absorbing. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has aptly defined sequestration as "shooting ourselves in the head."

   Sequestration's deadly impact will hit departments and agencies across the government including the FAA. If you're planning a getaway next winter, you might want to rethink it. Depending on how cuts are implemented, the closure of towers, furlough of air controllers, TSA screeners and other vital jobs that keep our air transportation system the safest and most efficient in the world will cause the system to start grinding to a crawl. The near gridlock conditions that practically paralyzed summer travel in 2007 will be year-round if sequestration goes forward.

   After shuttering the nation's shuttle program, NASA immediately dropped 3,200 contract workers. A second whammy with sequestration-orchestrated cuts to NASA's budget will strike a crater in our space program, which is still struggling.

    Study after study by AIA and other organizations including the National Association of Manufacturers, the Bipartisan Policy Center, and the Congressional Budget Office have reported that the sequestration's axe will fall squarely on the economy. More than 2 million jobs across the economy will be lost. In combination with the expiration of tax cuts, a recession could be triggered and the unemployment rate will climb an unwelcome 1.5 percent. Consumer confidence is already sagging, the housing market sputtering and gas prices edging up once again. Sequestration would be like throwing a match into a one of our drought-stricken forests.

   The good news is that constituents and politicians are both speaking up against sequestration. However, the next step - congressional action - needs a push.

   That's where National Aerospace Week comes in. Congress will have returned from summer recess, fresh from hearing from constituents and ready to roll up their sleeves to finish out business for this session. Sequestration needs to be at the top of the list.

   AIA is planning a march to the Hill to stop sequestration during National Aerospace Week on September 19 with our members all armed with the national and industry economic impact of sequestration. The information is available on www.SecondtoNone.org. I hope you'll join us. Visit your representative, write a letter, act now. If stopping sequestration slips beyond the election, it's just more useless delay in Congress agreeing to a balanced approach that addresses the real drivers of our debt and deficit problem.

   Sequestration must be stopped before it sends America over a fiscal cliff. Mark your calendar for National Aerospace Week and the march to the Hill to stop sequestration on September 19. 

    One of the everlasting and core responsibilities of the National Aeronautic Association is the support of air sports in the United States. NAA is proud to serve as the "National Air Sport Control" (NAC) in America and, to that end, we work with seven exceptional organizations - the Balloon Federation of America, the Soaring Society of America, the United States Parachute Association, the United States Ultralight Association, the International Aerobatic Club, the Academy of Model Aeronautics, and the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association.

    In August 2012, the United States was the proud host of two FAI Air Sport World Championships - the World Soaring Championships in Uvalde, Texas and the World Ballooning Championships in Battle Creek, Michigan. I was honored and thrilled to attend a few days at both events.

   While the United States teams acquitted themselves well at both events (the U.S. Team finished 13th at the Soaring Championships and the Gold and Silver Medals in Ballooning went to the United States), I was most  proud of the remarkable work the organizing committees of both championships did to pull off remarkablycomplex and successful events. To Ken Sorenson, Director of the Soaring Championships and David Levin, Event Director of the Ballooning Championships - congratulations!  You and your entire teams made the aviation and aerospace community, represented by the NAA, extremely proud of your work.

Jonathan Gaffney

  NAA President and CEO

FAI Officials visit IAC; Meet with AMA Leadership

   The Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) President Bob Brown and AMA Executive Director Dave Mathewson met with FAI (F�d�ration A�ronautique Internationale) officials in August at the International Aeromodeling Center (IAC), in Muncie, Indiana.

   Dr. John Grubbstr�m, FAI President, and Bob Henderson, FAI Executive Director, toured the AMA and IAC facilities, met AMA staff, and attended the 2012 International Radio-Controlled Helicopter (IRCHA) Jamboree, known as the largest RC helicopter event in the world. 

Dr. John Grubbstr�m, FAI President, AMA President Bob Brown and Bob Henderson, FAI Executive Director, at the IRCHA Jambo

   FAI officials are aware that their organization is European-oriented, but by taking on a more global view, they hope to build more participation from the United States. FAI also hopes to gradually modernize its operations with more marketing and the use of the Internet and social media, as well as technology such as onboard cameras and video. Grubbstr�m noted that there is still the serious side of work-the fight against regulations. This is also a burden to AMA, but the plan is to educate, preserve, and promote air sports for the future.

   Henderson has been appointed Chairman of the newly created shareholder company, FAI Air Sports Marketing and Events (FAME). Based in Switzerland, the goal of this company is to create new air/aviation sports and events and to promote aviation by making these sports and events more visible to the public. Using classical competition to attract the public has not worked as intended, but by creating exciting "niches" (such as the IRCHA Jamboree and the excitement of 3-D helicopter flying) and bringing on global and well-known sponsors such as Swiss watch company Breitling, FAME will have the capability to market and promote (both full-scale and aeromodeling) worldwide at events such as football games, auto races, or even sports television.

   Grubbstr�m and Henderson were extremely impressed with the IAC flying field and AMA facilities. "The facilities are amazing. I am impressed by the diversity, the facilities, the leadership, the office staff, and the museum," Grubbstr�m said. They were so impressed by the museum that they have decided to nominate the National Model Aviation Museum as an FAI recommended museum. This program recognizes museums around the world that educate the public about aeronautics and aviation, especially children.

   Both officials also were impressed by the way AMA has conducted government relations actions and dealt with red-tape issues, as well as how memberships are handled. After visiting the grounds of the IRCHA Jamboree event, and seeing how pilots-young and old-attended from around the world, Dr. Grubbstr�m stated, "It's an eye opener. We are here to serve and can see more clearly how we can help the AMA. It has been a very positive meeting with Bob Brown and Dave Mathewson."