By Greg Jordan, Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — A pilot who flew during World War I, became a test pilot, taught aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh how to land a seaplane and even helped a rocket scientist with some language issues is now in the West Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame.
The late Commander Henry J. White of Bluefield was inducted earlier this week into the West Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame during the West Virginia Airport Managers’ Association banquet at Oglebay Park in Wheeling, said Mercer County Commission President Bill Archer, who is also on the Mercer County Airport’s board of directors.
Archer and Airport Manager Jim Pilkins announced White’s inclusion into the hall of fame Wednesday during a press conference at the Mercer County Airport.
“To me, it was a really huge honor for us to have a pilot with local connections to be named to the West Virginia Aviation Wall of Valor,” Archer said. “It was an experience like very few others that I’ve had during the course of my life and I thank Jim Pilkins — our airport manager and (administrative assistant) Mandy Gates — for guiding me to Oglebay Park in order to make the speech.”
Besides recognizing the state’s aviators, the West Virginia Airport Managers’ Association shares information about airport operations.
