In the last 100 years, our dreams of flight have taken us beyond the horizon and into space. And the dreams for tomorrow continue. The Museum of Flight Pathfinder Awards honor pioneering achievements in flying, engineering, education, operations, manufacturing, and an at-large category. Three individuals have been selected for recognition in 2013:
Michael Carriker, Pathfinder Award RecipientMichael Carriker
A legend among his peers, Mike Carriker is more than a test pilot. He has become the pilots’ voice behind Boeing innovation for more than two decades.
Joining The Boeing Company in 1990 as a Production Test Pilot, Carriker was the 737 senior project pilot during the initial development and testing of the Next Generation 737. He was Captain on the first flight of the 737-600, 737-900 and first officer on the Boeing BBJ. In 1998 he became the 737 Chief Pilot. In 2001, he was assigned to what became the 787 program as the Chief Pilot. In April of 2013, Mike became the Chief Pilot for Airplane Development, Boeing 777X, working on yet another great Boeing airplane.
Bruce McCaw, Pathfinder Award RecipientBruce McCaw
Airline founder, pilot, philanthropist, aviation historian, record-setter, leader, and visionary. Rare is the man who lives up to such adjectives. Rare is Bruce McCaw.
Fascinated with aviation since childhood, he has been the quiet and oftentimes anonymous driving force behind countless efforts that have shaped the Pacific Northwest aviation business culture since the 1960s. Additionally, he is directly responsible for steering The Museum of Flight on a course that began as a small repository of aerospace history and grew into one of the world’s truly great educational air and space institutions.
Frank Shrontz, Pathfinder Award RecipientFrank Shrontz
The sixth leader in The Boeing Company’s history, Frank Shrontz retired on Jan. 31, 1997, after a career that spanned 38 years and saw the company become a top exporter and manufacturer of commercial jets and become involved in significant space and defense projects such as the International Space Station and the Joint Advanced Strike Technology fighter.
During Shrontz’s tenure as Boeing CEO, Boeing launched development of the 777 jetliner and the Next-Generation 737 series, and won a share of important U.S. government contracts, such as the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor, F-22 fighter, and RAH-66 Comanche helicopter, as well as the role of prime contractor on the International Space Station.
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The Pathfinder awardees are selected by representatives of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics PNW Section, The Boeing Company, Civil Air Patrol, Federal Aviation Administration, The Museum of Flight, Ninety-Nines, Pratt & Whitney, Seattle Soaring Club, Sterling Aviation Technologies, Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Society of Experimental Test Engineers, University of Washington, Washington State Department of Transportation and Women in Aviation.
Source / Author: The Museum of Flight