International Aerobatic Club Hall of Fame

2021 Inductee

Maurice Hunter "Pappy" Spinks

The late Maurice Hunter “Pappy” Spinks has been selected to be posthumously inducted into the International Aerobatic Hall of Fame for 2022.

Pappy was the president of the Aerobatic Club of America, an active competitor, and the sponsor of the U.S. National Aerobatic Championships from 1967 to 1971 at the Oak Grove Airport in Texas. Moving the championship from Reno, where it was sandwiched in between air races, to Oak Grove helped increase participation. The location change brought out skilled aerobatic personalities such as Pancho Barnes, Allen Bean, Charlie Hillard, and Harold Krier. He also helped in drafting some of the first rules for aerobatic contests before the IAC was formed and was a major supporter of the 1970 U.S. Unlimited Aerobatic Team.

He built his own airplane at age 15 and taught himself to fly. Later in life he produced two aerobatic aircraft: the Spinks Akromaster and a Model 10. The Spinks Aircraft Industries building was built in 1968 at Oak Grove for the construction of the Akromaster, and the project lasted from 1967 to 1970. That airplane would place third in the 1970 World Aerobatic Championships flown by Charlie Hillard, who would later win the World Aerobatic Championships in 1972 in his 200-hp Pitts Special.

Previous Inductees