VOICE ONE:
This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember. with the VOA Special English program,EXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about some men and women who are membersof the Aviation Hall of Fame. They have been honored for what theydid for flying.
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VOICE ONE:
The National Aviation Hall of Fame is in the middle-western cityof Dayton, Ohio. It opened in nineteen-sixty-two. Since that time,the Hall of Fame has honored one hundred-seventy-four men and womenfor their work in aviation. Four more will be honored this year.
The first two people chosen as members of the Aviation Hall ofFame were Orville and Wilbur Wright. They had lived and worked inDayton. The Wright Brothers were the first humans ever to fly in apowered aircraft. Their story is well known.
Another early member of the Hall of Fame is Charles Lindbergh.His record setting flight across the Atlantic Ocean began on MayTwentieth, seventy five years ago.
Neil Armstrong is another member of the Hall of Fame. He was thefirst human to walk on the Moon. Mister Armstrong’s story and thatof the Apollo Eleven landing on the moon also are well known.
Today we tell about other members of the Aviation Hall of Fame inDayton, Ohio who are not as famous.
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VOICE TWO:
Have you ever heard the name Edwin Link? Probably not. Yet manypilots know him. Mister Link was a pioneer in flight training. Heinvented a machine that helped teach new pilots to fly.
Edwin Link was born innineteen-oh-four and died in nineteen-eighty-one. He became a memberof the Aviation Hall of Fame in nineteen seventy-six.
The device he invented is called the Link Trainer. Link Trainersdid not really fly. But they were designed to copy flight. Newpilots could use flight controls and instruments as if they wereinside a real plane. A new pilot learned how to fly in the air byflying a Link Trainer that never left the ground.
The Link Company improved their trainers over time. Moreexperienced pilots used them to learn to fly using only flightinstruments to find their way. Edwin Link made it possible for manypilots to learn difficult skills in complete safety.
VOICE ONE:
Just south of the city of San Diego, California is a small hillthat looks toward the Pacific Ocean. A huge airplane wing rises outof the ground there. It is a monument to John Montgomery, anothermember of the Aviation Hall of Fame.
Not many people remember JohnMontgomery now. Yet many aviation experts believe he was the fatherof basic flying. He flew in gliders…aircraft that have no power.
John Montgomery built gliders for more than twenty years. He diedin a glider accident in nineteen-eleven. Mister Montgomery made mostof his flights before anyone understood how to control an aircraftin flight.
Montgomery’s study of flight and his attempts at flying led theway for the many others who followed. He became a member of theAviation Hall of Fame in nineteen-seventy-three.
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VOICE TWO:
Giuseppe Bellanca is another name you probably do not know. Hebecame a member of the Hall of Fame in nineteen-ninety-three. Hecame to the United States from Sicily before World War One. MisterBellanca designed and built airplanes for the Wright AircraftCompany in the eastern state of New Jersey.
Charles Lindbergh decided to flyacross the Atlantic Ocean in nineteen-twenty-seven. He wanted to usea Wright-Bellanca aircraft. Lindbergh met with Giuseppe Bellanca.Mister Bellanca said his airplane could make the flight. He was veryexcited about Lindbergh’s plan. The Wright company, however, did notapprove of him using one of the company’s planes. Company officialsthought Lindbergh might fail. Charles Lindbergh had to find adifferent airplane to make his famous flight.
Later, a Wright-Bellanca airplane was the first to fly theAtlantic Ocean in both directions. And, in nineteen-thirty-one,Giuseppe Bellanca designed and built an airplane that became thefirst to fly across the Pacific Ocean without stopping. It wascalled the Miss Veedol. It flew from Samishiro Beach, Japan, to thetown of Wenatchee in the western state of Washington. Clyde Pangbornwas the pilot of Miss Veedol. He is remembered more in Japan than heis in the United States. He became a member of the Aviation Hall ofFame in nineteen-ninety-five.
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VOICE ONE:
Only a few aviation experts can tell you about Charles E. Taylor.His friends called him “Charlie.” He became a member of the AviationHall of Fame in nineteen-sixty-five.
On December Seventeeth,nineteen-oh-three, Orville Wright became the first human to fly in apowered aircraft. Orville and his brother Wilber designed and builtthe aircraft. Charlie Taylor built the small gasoline engine theyused.
The three men designed the engine. They drew pictures on piecesof paper. Then Charlie Taylor built the needed part. He made thecomplete engine in only six weeks using almost no equipment. Today,you can see the Wright airplane when you visit the Smithsonian’s Airand Space Museum in Washington D-C. Just to the left of the controlsis Charlie Taylor’s very important engine!
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VOICE TWO:
In nineteen-ten, a newspaper publisher offered fifty-thousanddollars to the first pilot to fly an airplane across the UnitedStates. He said the trip must be made within thirty days. Manypilots tried. All failed.
No one was able to collect theprize. But one man did succeed in flying across the United States.His name was Calbraith Perry Rodgers. He became a member of theAviation Hall of Fame in nineteen-sixty-four.
Calbraith Rodgers started his famous flight on Sunday, SeptemberSeventeenth, nineteen eleven. He took off from Sheepshead Bay, NewYork, on the eastern coast of the United States. Bad luck followedhim all the way. He crashed several times. Each time the plane wasrebuilt. The weather was often terrible and kept him on the groundfor days. The thirty days he was supposed to fly to collect theprize passed, but Rodgers continued the flight.
His plane crashed nineteen kilometers short of the Pacific Ocean.He was badly hurt. Newspapers said he had successfully completed theflight. Rodgers did not agree. Four weeks later, he was helped intohis airplane and flew the remaining distance to the Pacific Ocean.He landed December Tenth on the beach, the tires of his airplane wetfrom the Pacific Ocean. The trip had taken eighty-four days tocomplete. Calbraith Rodgers had succeeded in becoming the firstpilot to fly across the United States.
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VOICE ONE:
Jacqueline Cochran was chosenas a member of the Aviation Hall of Fame for many reasons. She wasthe first woman to pilot a jet airplane faster than the speed ofsound. She won a top prize for flying racing planes.
She also won the highest award given to a pilot in America — notonce, but fourteen times. During World War Two, she helped organizea group of women pilots who flew military airplanes to help in theWar effort. For this work, she became the first civilian ever to begiven America’s Distinguished Service Medal.
In the early nineteen-sixties, Jackie Cochran was a test pilotfor the Lockheed Company. She flew a fighter planetwo-thousand-two-hundred-eighty-six kilometers an hour. That is morethan two times the speed of sound. It was at that time the fastestspeed ever reached by a female pilot.
Jackie Cochran died of a heart attack in nineteen-eighty. At thetime of her death, she held more flying records for speed, distanceand height than any other man or woman in aviation history.
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VOICE TWO:
Many of the men and women in the Aviation Hall of Fame designed,built and flew different kinds of airplanes. Some are honored fortheir service to the United States in time of war. Some are honoredfor the famous aircraft they designed. Others for the aviationcompanies they started.
Members of the Aviation Hall of Fame helped make flying safe forthe public. Some were killed in their efforts to improve aviation.And some of those honored have led the way to the exploration ofspace.
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VOICE ONE:
This Special English program was written and produced by PaulThompson. This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for anotherEXPLORATIONS program on the VOICE OF AMERICA.