U.S. Aviation Hall of Fame inducts first female shuttle pilot

Hundreds of people attended the ceremony, during which former Cessna Aircraft Co. head Russell Meyer Jr. also was inducted. The other enshrinees were to be Edward White, who made America's first spacewalk and later died in a spacecraft fire, and Jimmy Stewart, the late Hollywood actor and World War II bomber pilot.

Collins, the Air Force's first female flight instructor, was chosen to be an astronaut in 1991. In 1995, she became the first woman to pilot a space shuttle. She flew four shuttle missions, logging 872 hours before retiring in 2006. She said she discovered the space program in elementary school and wanted to be just like the Gemini astronauts.

Meyer was a fighter pilot in the Air Force and Marine Reserves from 1955-61. In 1974, he joined Cessna as executive vice president, and a year later he was named chairman and CEO. He led the development of a program that created more than 50,000 new licensed pilots.

He called the Hall of Fame induction the pinnacle of his career.

On Friday night, the hall presented its Spirit of Flight Award to the Apollo astronaut crews for their roles in the moon landing, moon walk and safe return to Earth.

White, who flew in the Air Force, was among the second group of astronauts selected. His first mission was as pilot for Gemini IV, the first long-duration flight for the Gemini program. White made America's first spacewalk on the mission in 1965, a 21-minute event in which he maneuvered on the end of a 25-foot (7.6-meter) tether using a handheld gas gun.

White died Jan. 27, 1967, when a flash fire swept through their Apollo I spacecraft during a pre-launch test at Cape Kennedy, Florida. Virgil “Gus” Grissom and Roger Chaffee also perished in the blaze.

Stewart, who starred in such classics as “It's a Wonderful Life” and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” was a private pilot who enlisted in the Army in 1941 at the age of 33. He sought posting to a flying unit and was assigned to the UK-based 445th Bomb Group, first as a squadron operations officer and then as its commander.

Stewart flew 20 combat missions in B-24s, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross twice, the Croix de Guerre and the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters. Continuing his post-war service with the U.S. Air Force Reserve, he achieved the rank of brigadier general in 1959, retiring from active duty in 1968. He remained an American airpower advocate until his death in 1997.

The Aviation Hall of Fame was founded in 1962 in Dayton, hometown of the Wright brothers, and later was chartered by Congress. Wilbur and Orville Wright were the first inductees.

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