Two more Arkansas aviation legends take flight

By The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Contact)

Astronaut Scott Parazynski and World War II pilot Paul Irvin “Pappy” Gunn are this year’s inductees in the Arkansas Aviation Historical Society’s Hall of Fame, as Ron Wolfe reports in Thursday’s Style section.

Parazynski accepted the award at Nov. 13’s ceremony at the Aerospace Education Center in Little Rock. “To look back on planet Earth is the most overpowering thing,” he said, describing the view from space. But he counted membership in the hall of fame among the highlights of his life that began in Little Rock.

Gunn’s son, Nathaniel, accepted his late father’s award in a presentation that described Pappy, from Quitman, as “maybe the greatest World War II hero you never heard of.”

But Gunn’s name was no surprise to another hall-of-famer in the audience, retired Brig. Gen. William H. Webster of Little Rock, who flew with Gunn in the Pacific. “That son of a gun could fly,” Webster said, “and he had no question about his ability.”

“As soon as he started talking, you listened.”

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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