Several leading names in aviation gathered to pay tribute to legendary aviator Clay Lacy as he was awarded NBAA's 2011 Meritorious Service to Aviation Award, the association's highest honor, at the NBAA Convention on Tuesday.
Bob Hoover, Sean Tucker, Randy Babbitt, Fig Newton, Harrison Ford and Eugene Cernan joined Lacy on stage to celebrate his life-long love of aviation and his significant contributions to the aviation community.
Lacy was born in 1932 and grew up in Wichita, where he began working at an airport and learning to fly at the age of 12. Since that time, he has accumulated over 50,000 hours of flight time in more than 200 aircraft types, acquiring 32 type ratings along the way.
Just a few of Lacy's feats include winning the Reno Air Races in 1970, completing aerial scenes for several hit movies, including Top Gun and The Right Stuff, setting the around-the-world speed record in a United Boeing 747SP and starting one of the largest charter operations in the world from the ground up.
As a winner of the NBAA Meritoroius Service award, Lacy joins the ranks of Charles Lindbergh, Eddie Rickenbacker and a select group of other aviation legends to receive the honor, which has been given out since 1950.
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