The 15th Annual Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame Induction Dinner and Awards Ceremony will be held on Saturday, November 18, 2017 @ 5:30 PM at Scottish Rite Masonic Temple in Cranston, RI. During these centennial years of the US involvement in World War I, we will honor those who made significant contributions to aviation […]
Thomas MacLean (1932-2017) exceeded his wildest dreams by becoming a USAF F84 Thunderjet pilot right before the end of the Korean War. The Warwick native joined the RI Air National Guard, where he was active from the early 1960s to the mid 1970s.
In 2007, the RI Aviation Hall of Fame provided Special Recognition awards to the men and women of the 1st Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment of the Rhode Island Army National Guard, which was named the Outstanding Army National Guard Aviation Unit of the Year nationwide for 2005. Flying in the Iraqi theater for virtually the […]
Roland Stumpff was inducted into RIAHOF in the class of 2011 (held in early 2012). He is still fondly remembered within RIAHOF as giving one of the funniest and most entertaining awards speech we have ever heard. Our condolences go out to his family, we are thankful we got to know and honor him. Following […]
The Allen Family of Aeronauts: according to New York-based aeronautical researcher Chris Lynch, “If there was a founding family of RI aviation, they are it.”
Barrington natives James Allen (1824-1897) and his younger brother Ezra Allen (1840 – 1902) distinguished themselves through a lifelong commitment to aeronautics in the 19th century.
Each year, we highlight a China service candidate for recognition. The selection for 2019 is 1/LT Sidney R. Amylon, who served in the China-Burma-India Theater as a B-25 bomber pilot from the autumn of 1944 through mid-1945. Born and raised in Warwick’s Hillsgrove neighborhood, he graduated from Aldrich High School at the top of his […]
Retired Air Force Major General, Apollo 8 Astronaut and former Textron executive Bill Anders is one of the first three humans to view the dark side of the moon. Anders described his experiences and his famous photograph, “Earthrise,” which he took on Christmas Eve, 1968. Along with the first pictures taken of the earth from […]
George Armitage (1887-1948) Born in England, he came to Rhode Island as a youngster and attended Providence public schools. He may have been the first person to fly in Rhode Island; it is known that he began experimenting with “power driven gliders” as early as 1905. A 1934 article in Rhode Island Review stated: “To […]
William P. Armstrong (1924- 1945) was a Tuskegee Airman/Fighter Pilot, shot down in action on April 1, 1945.
Captain Karl W Augenstein USAF (1924-1954) was a German immigrant from Cranston who, as a teenager, made the decision to fight for his adopted country. He became a WWII B-24 bomber pilot, flying 11 combat missions before German capitulation in May 1945. As a civilian, he was the corporate pilot for Bulova Watch Company. He […]
Lieutenant Commander Stanley Auslander, US Naval Reserve, a long-time Warwick resident and patrol bomber pilot, sank one German U-boat and damaged another off the coast of Brazil. He later flew patrols from England before and after D-day, and is credited with homing a British destroyer in to sink another U-boat. He earned a Distinguished Flying […]
Raymond W. Barnes (1915-1992) was a radioman/gunner whose B-17 was shot down over Germany in November, 1943. Seven crew members perished and three survived as POWs, including Barnes, who lost an eye during the fight. He was liberated in June 1945. His son Ron Barnes is going to Germany in 2026 to dedicate a memorial […]
Col. John F . “Jack” Barrett, US Air Force, Retired (1912-1997) WWII recon, patrol and bomber pilot. Named CO of the 152nd Fighter Squadron, RI Air National Guard in 1949. Born in New Hampshire, he moved to RI in 1912 and graduated from St. Andrew’s Technical School in Barrington. After two years in the Merchant Marine, […]