he 2023 King Air Hall of Fame inductees were announced at the King Air Gathering. Introduced at the 2022 Gathering, this award was long overdue to honor people – past and present – instrumental to building the Beechcraft King Air community.
Hall of Fame recipients must meet one of two of the following selection criteria:
Would the King Air have ever been made without the recipient?
And/or would the King Air have become the civilian aircraft with the longest production run in history without the recipient?
The following three recipients were honored in this second induction class, with an award made from an actual King Air propeller. The posthumous recipients are recognized with their award on display at the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee.
Richard “Rich” Born
Honoring the decades of contributions he made in selling the Beechcraft King Air by providing the finest service, in which he was recognized often by the company. His level of research, preparation and follow-up support with customers was unmatched. In addition, he gave selflessly of his time and amazing knowledge in mentoring his colleagues.
Posthumous Recipients
Raul “Rod” Rodriguez
His contributions as a Navy veteran, pilot, instructor, A&P mechanic and 34 years at Beechcraft West are legendary. His service spanned many different roles and he earned many sales awards including “Top Worldwide Sales Producer” in 1984 and the worldwide record holder for total King Air sales.
James D. “Jimmy” Webber
As Beech Aircraft’s chief engineer of Experimental Flight, he headed up the testing of Beechcraft’s new products, including being the pilot-in-command on the first flight of the iconic King Air on Jan. 24, 1964. Known as a tireless worker and strong leader, Experimental Flight Test had many good years under his leadership.