James Raisbeck receives Pathfinder Award from Seattle's Museum of Flight

October 8, 2007 - Seattle, Washington USA

Raisbeck Engineering's Founder and CEO, James D. Raisbeck, was the recipient of the prestigious Pathfinder Award. Seattle's Museum of Flight bestowed the honor on October 6, 2007. The award honors individuals from the Pacific Northwest who have significantly contributed to aeronautics and astronautics.

Dr. Raisbeck was cited for his numerous contributions to the safety and performance of aircraft and his influence on many business aircraft designs. As an entrepreneur in the business for nearly four decades, Raisbeck was part of the design and production of the Supercritical Wings and many systems for the Rockwell International Sabreliner 65-series. He also improved the wings for the Learjet family, now standard on all Learjets, and designed performance enhancement systems for Raytheon's entire Beechcraft King Air family, now incorporated on Raytheon Aircraft's King Air 350 production line. Dr. Raisbeck is also familiar with the world's commercial airline fleet; producing the Raisbeck Stage 3 Noise Reduction Systems for the Boeing 727, covering all models and weights.

This is not the first award for James Raisbeck. In 1979, Dr. Raisbeck was honored by Purdue University, receiving their Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award, and again in 1999 with Purdue's Outstanding Aerospace Engineer Award. In that same year he was honored with the AIAA Commercial Aviation Technical Achievement Award where he is an Associate Fellow. In 2000, he was awarded Professional Pilot Magazine's Aviation Entrepreneur of the year. In 2002, NBAA awarded him its Lifetime Achievement Award for Meritorious Service to Aviation. Seattle's Hope Heart Institute honored the Raisbecks in 2003 with their “Wings of Hope” annual award for their leadership in philanthropy, and in May 2005, he received Purdue University's highest recognition to engineers, an Honorary Doctorate in Engineering.

Dr. Raisbeck was pleased to be honored alongside Bob Hage by Museum President, CEO and Pathfinder Dr. Bonnie Dunbar. Hage is an expert in early aerodynamics, leader of engineering teams for the launch of the Boeing 707 program, professor and author of the distinguished aerodynamic textbook, “Airplane Stability and Control."

“It is an honor to be inducted into the Museum as the recipient of the Pathfinder Award,” said Raisbeck. “This is a fulfilling career as I continue to pursue current research and development projects to other business jet types; watch for us in the near future.”

The ceremony was held at the Museum of Flight during its 17th annual black tie dinner covering the event. Previous recipients include aviation notables associated with the Pacific Northwest, including Boeing Founder William E. Boeing, Sr., Joe Sutter “Father of the 747”, and Raisbeck's first supervisor at the Boeing Airplane Company in 1961, Dr. Bernie Gratzer.