VIRGINIA AVIATION HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES 2022: Van Crosby, Col. Dave Darrah, Lt. Col. Robert Hepp and Dr. Gladys West
Induction ceremonies will take place in Fredericksburg, VA on November 12, 2022 at Shannon Airport. You may contact the office for tickets (540-376-3265) or Email: vahsonline@gmail.com.
Van Crosby
Mr. Van Crosby devoted a lifetime of service to the Virginia aviation community as manager of a Fixed Based Operation, flight instructor, charter pilot, aircraft sales representative, airport manager, and insurance account executive serving Virginia airports and aircraft owners. He also served as VAHS President and Chairman and as President of the Virginia Aviation Business Association.
Col. Dave Darrah
Col. Dave Darrah was a 30-year US Marine Corps aviator who accumulated 6,000 flying hours in 10 different rotary and fixed wing aircraft. He commanded and led multiple large and complex military units and organizations in the United States and overseas. After retirement from military service, he served as Airport Enterprise Director of the Warrenton-Fauquier Airport, responsible for all airport operations and long-range planning. He was recognized in 2015 as the Virginia Department of Aviation Airport Manager of the Year, and he has served on the boards of the VAHS and the Virginia Aviation Business Association.
Lt. Col. Robert Hepp
Lt. Col. Robert Hepp was a 21-year US Army officer who served his country with distinction. After retirement from military service, he founded and today is the owner and operator of Aviation Adventures, a Northern Virginia-based flight training institution and the largest non-university Part 141 flight school in the Mid-Atlantic region. He has been recognized as a pioneer in the use of flight simulators and advanced flight training devices. In 2016, he was recognized as the Federal Aviation Administration Flight Instructor of the Year.
Dr. Gladys Mae West
Dr. Gladys Mae West served over the course of a 42-year career at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren in King George, VA. She is widely recognized as only the second Black woman to use her skills as a “human computer” for the United States Armed Forces in an age before computers were invented. Most notably, she served as project manager of the Seasat altimetry project, the first Earth-orbiting satellite designed for remote sensing of the Earth’s oceans. In this role, she collected and processed satellite data to determine the exact location of satellites, which led to development of the Global Positioning System. She has been recognized by the BBC in its “100 Women” series and has been inducted into the United States Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame.
About the Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame
The Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame was created to commemorate and preserve outstanding aviation contributions made in Virginia or by Virginians. Many individual efforts have resulted in the pioneering, growth, or development of aviation and aerospace and must be recorded for future generations. Each year, the Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society Board of Directors selects one or more individuals for recognition and induction into the Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame.