Idlewild Field

President Harry S. Truman helped dedicate Idlewild Field — the airfield that would become John F. Kennedy International Airport. Idlewild Field was named after the
golf course it replaced. The airport went through several name changes before it
was officially changed to JFK one month after the president was assassinated.

   Amelia Mary Earhart (July 24, 1897 – disappeared July 2, 1937)

Earhart was a noted aviation pioneer and the first woman to receive the U.S. 
Distinguished Flying Cross.

During an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe in 1937
in a Lockheed Model 10 Electra, Earhart disappeared over the central
Pacific Ocean near Howland Island. She was declared legally dead on 
January 5, 1939.

Amelia Earhart waves from her Electra before taking off from Los Angeles, Ca. 
on March 10, 1937

Solar Challenger was a solar-powered electric aircraft designed by Paul
MacCready‘s AeroVironment. It was powered entirely by the photovoltaic
cells on its wing and stabilizer, without even reserve batteries, and was
the first such craft capable of long-distance flight. In 1981, it successfully
completed a 163 mile demonstration flight from France to England, staying
aloft 5 hours and 23 minutes, with pilot Stephen Ptacek behind the stick. 

Aerospace genius Dr. Paul MacCready