Wings Club

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The Wings Club, also known as the Wings Club of New York, is a social and professional club formed for aviators, based in New York City. Founded in 1942 by a group of American aviation pioneers, it is known for its monthly lunches, annual dinners and special occasions at which talks are given on various aspects of aviation. The club gives out scholarships to aviation students, and selects individuals and organizations for recognition with the "Distinguished Achievement Award".

History

The Wings Club was founded in New York City on May 15, 1942.[1] It was housed within the Yale Club and served World War II pilots as a place of leisure and occasional living quarters.[1] The first board of directors included Juan Trippe, the founder of Pan American World Airways, and World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker.[2] The first president was Caleb Bragg, a racer of automobiles and speedboats, aviation pioneer, and automotive inventor. Bragg had previously been a governor of the Aero Club of America. He was made president of the Wings Club despite suffering from a longterm illness which led to his death later the next year.[3]

The club grew quickly to 500 members in its first year, then to 1,000 by the end of its second year.[2] In the 1970s there were 1,500 members, including women for the first time. By 2011, membership had decreased to about 1,200.[1] Members met at the Yale Club in the first few years, then in April 1946 the Wings Club relocated to the Biltmore Hotel where it stayed for 37 years.[2] The Biltmore was torn down in 1981, so the club moved to nearby 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, a 20-story building opposite Grand Central Terminal. The Wings Club maintained a library, kitchen and dining hall on the 18th floor until 2002 when they stopped keeping their own quarters and instead met only at the Yale Club. In 2011, the club again moved into a permanent home, consisting of offices and a boardroom inside the MetLife Building, formerly the headquarters of Pan Am.[1]

Activities

Many notable aviators have delivered speeches at lunches and dinners hosted by the Wings Club. The first lunch talk was delivered by Gill Robb Wilson, the president of the National Aeronautic Association and an invited guest of the Wings Club. This event was so well received that it was used as the template for monthly lunch speeches. The first annual dinner speech was presented by founding club member Eddie Rickenbacker on March 22, 1944.[2]

Following the record-breaking 1945 Japan–Washington flight made by three U.S. Army Air Force generals in Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, the generals and their crews were invited to a Wings Club dinner held in their honor at the Yale Club. B-29 generals Curtis LeMay and Emmett O'Donnell Jr were able to attend, as were other USAAF generals such as Carl Andrew Spaatz and Jimmy Doolittle.[4]

In early 1964, Joseph A. Walker, the chief test pilot for NASA, spoke about NASA's space program, especially about the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle for which he served as project manager. Walker expressed great confidence in the likelihood of a successful moon landing but he died two years later in an air collision and never saw the program to completion.[5]

Founding club member, former club president and retired USAF General Harold Ross Harris implemented the annual "Sight Lecture" series at which a leading aviation notable was to be invited to deliver a lecture adhering generally to "insights, foresights and hindsights" of aviation.[6] Each lecture was to be published in book form by the Wings Club. The first Sight Lecture was delivered by Igor Sikorsky on November 16, 1964, under the title "Recollections and Thoughts of a Pioneer".[7] Sikorsky spoke primarily about the future role of the helicopter; he was certain that it would remain an important type of aircraft despite experiments with VTOL fixed-wing designs.[8] Senator Barry Goldwater, a former military ferry pilot and an avid private pilot, delivered a Sight Lecture in 1981 titled "The state of our industry and raw materials in relation to defense." Frederick W. "Fred" Smith, the founder of FedEx, is scheduled to deliver a Sight Lecture in May 2012.[9]

Beginning in 1975, the Wings Club selects one or more organizations or individuals each year to be honored with the "Distinguished Achievement Award", conferred at the annual dinner in October. The first awardee was aviation pioneer and USAF General Jimmy Doolittle.[10]

Since 2000, the club has awarded scholarships to aviation and aerospace students, beginning with Maurice Stanley who was studying aviation management at Dowling College, Long Island, New York.[11]

Guest speakers

Notable members

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Honorary members

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See also

References

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