 During ceremonies held in conjunction with the 2009 ICAS Convention, air show legends Charlie Kulp, Tom Poberezny and Bobby Younkin were inducted into the ICAS Foundation Air Show Hall of Fame on Wednesday, December 9 at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel.
Charlie Kulp was recognized as the quintessential flying farmer performer during an air show career that spanned nearly 40 years. Flying low-level, slow speed, cross-controlled aerobatics, Kulp would dupe spectators into believing that he was not a pilot and had accidently taken off in his 65 horsepower J-3 Cub. Kulp retired as an air show performer in 2008 at the age of 83.
Tom Poberezny was recognized for a career that could have easily qualified him for Air Show Hall of Fame status as either a performer or an event organizer. A member of the legendary Eagles Aerobatic Team for a quarter century, Poberezny was one-third of a formation aerobatic team that helped to define air show entertainment during the seventies, eighties and nineties. But, more recently, Poberezny is best known for his tenure as EAA president. For more than 30 years, he has overseen astounding growth in the attendance and the sophistication of EAA AirVenture. From sponsorship and programming to marketing and business management, Poberezny has been both a pioneer and industry leader in the air show business.
Bobby Younkin described himself as a “working class” air show pilot. The air show industry recognized him as the consummate showman, eager and able to entertain a crowd in anything that could fly. This Arkansas native combined natural showmanship with his well-developed skills as a pilot to entertain tens of millions of spectators throughout the United States and Canada.
|
