Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame
Enshrined 2001
Gordon B. Hamilton is considered to be the “Grand Old Master” of the aviation industry. Born into a military family in 1922 at Fort MacArthur, California his family moved to Tucson, Arizona when he was a young child. He began his flying career at age 14, trading babysitting time for flying time. Five years later he operated a flying service at Van Nuys, California. In 1942, while employed by Lockheed in Burbank, California he learned the fundamentals of advanced aeronautical design from none other than Kelly Johnson, creator of the secret Skunk Works. While at Lockheed he worked on the Constellation, the P-38, and other famous aircraft.
During World War II, Hamilton flew a Piper L-4 spotter aircraft for the U.S. Army Field Artillery and later was a sergeant in the U:S. Army Air Forces, where he was a flight test engineer and inspector. Returning to Tucson in 1945, he pursued his career in aviation, this time as the operator of his own business, Hamilton Aviation.
