R. DIXON SPEAS

Enshrined 1995

R. Dixon Speas was born in Davie County, North Carolina. Known for his dedication to improving the safety and efficiency of public and private air transportation, his future career was foreshadowed in the 1930s when he won t h e pre stig ious W i ll i am E . Boe ing t h es is Cont est.

Following graduation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he flew for American Airlines and served as President C.R. Smith's assistant. During World War II, w h ile on loan from A merican, he performed special assign ments for the U.S. A rmy Air Force.

In 1951 he founded the first of several consulting firms; the most recent, PRC Aviation in Tucson. Over the years he has handled projects for most of the world's major airlines, for much of corporate aviation and for many international airports.

Also, he pioneered development of new operating procedures, including intercontinental computerized flight planning, that greatly increased the utility and profitability of commercial air carrier and business aircraft. There's hardly an airline or corporate aircraft operator flying anyw h ere in the worl d today w h o doesn't use som e innovative idea or method that can be credited directly to R. Dixon Speas.