NASA Flight Director Paul Dye featured guest at EAA’s Wright Brothers Memorial Banquet on December 13
Longest-serving flight director in NASA history was part of 38 space shuttle missions
Photo Courtesy of NASA/Bill Stafford
EAA AVIATION CENTER, OSHKOSH, Wisconsin — (October 10, 2024) — Paul Dye, the longest-serving flight director in NASA history, is this year’s featured guest speaker at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual Wright Brothers Memorial Banquet on Friday, December 13, at the EAA Aviation Museum.
Tickets for the event are currently available at the EAA Aviation Museum website. Attendance is limited to 350.
As the longest-serving NASA flight director in history, Dye was in a leadership position for 38 space shuttle missions, nine of which he served as the lead flight director, responsible for development and training for the mission, as well as real-time execution of all facets of the shuttle flight. Coordinating the work of thousands of mission planners, flight controllers, trainers, and astronauts, Dye spent 20 years in the center seat of Mission Control. These years were preceded by 12 years spent as a systems flight controller, and more years spent as an International Space Station flight director before his retirement in 2013.
Dye is also a renowned authority on amateur-built aircraft, having previously served as editor-in-chief of KITPLANES magazine and as a member of EAA’s Homebuilt Aircraft Council.
EAA’s annual Wright Brothers Memorial Banquet honors the Wright brothers’ successful flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, that began the era of manned flight. Tickets for the event are $75 for EAA members and $95 for nonmembers. Doors open on December 13 at 5 p.m., with the dinner starting at 6:30 p.m., and the presentation immediately following dinner. A book signing will take place after the presentation, featuring Dye’s memoir, Shuttle, Houston: My Life in the Center Seat of Mission Control.
About EAA
The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and embodies The Spirit of Aviation through the world’s most engaged community of aviation enthusiasts. EAA’s 300,000 members and 900 local chapters enjoy the fun and camaraderie of sharing their passion for flying, building and restoring recreational aircraft. For more information on EAA and its programs, call 800-JOIN-EAA (800-564-6322) or go to www.eaa.org.
