Five More Dairy State Aviators Honored
The Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame
will induct five aviators at a ceremony to be held this fall. Paul
Collins, Ed Hedeen, Roy Reabe, Carl Rindlisbacher, and Tom Thomas
will be honored for their achievements and contributions to
aviation in Wisconsin.
Collins and Hedeen will be inducted in the Pioneer category, for
those who made aviation achievements before 1927. Collins was a
well-known airmail pilot, logging 3,587 flight hours and 361,689
miles for the US Mail Service. He was an early member of the
caterpillar club. Collins became a founder of Transcontinental Air
Transport, "The Lindbergh Line" which evolved into Trans World
Airlines.
Ed Hedeen served as the engineering officer for Commander
Richard Byrd in the 1920’s, and helped establish the Great
Lakes Naval Air Station. He also managed the Air City Airport near
Sturtevant, WI and was hired as the first corporate pilot for
Johnson Wax.
Roy Reabe is a leader in agricultural aviation in Wisconsin. He
has been a pilot and A&P for over fifty years. He developed
curriculum for and taught ground school at high schools, and
created a state aviation organization, Wisconsin Ag Aviation
Association. He resides in Central Wisconsin.
Carl Rindlisbacher’s devotion to the Rice Lake airport and
aviation meteorology characterizes his induction. Rindlisbacher was
known as a true ambassador of Wisconsin aviation.
Tom Thomas of Madison, WI was employed by the Wisconsin
Department of Transportation, Bureau of Aeronautics, for over
32-years. Before and during his years of service, he served in the
Air Force and Wisconsin Air National Guard. Thomas is a certified
flight instructor with both single and multi-engine ratings and is
a commercial rotorcraft/helicopter pilot. He is an enthusiastic
supporter of the EAA Young Eagles program, having flown over 200
flights.
The inductees will be enshrined at a ceremony to be held in the
Eagle Hangar at the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh on November
10. Plaques will be presented to the inductees and then permanently
displayed in the Fergus Plaza at the museum. The public is invited.
Tickets will be available later this year.
The Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame organized in 1985. Over 75
men and women who have made significant achievements in aviation in
Wisconsin have been inducted. The organization’s mission is
to collect and preserve the history of aviation in Wisconsin,
recognize those who made that history, inform others of it, and
promote aviation education to future generations.