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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Katy Jester

Everett Crerar Bennett learned to fly in an Army flying club at Fort Bliss in Texas in 1969. Since then he has obtained ratings to fly single-engine planes, multi-engine planes, and seaplanes. He also has his commercial license, instructor certification and instrument rating (IFR).

Everett has long been fascinated by aviation. He has attended Aviation Challenge, a program in which he and a co-pilot flew in "dog fights" with another plane. Each plane was fitted with lasers and smoke bombs to simulate "hits."

He has also attended the Space Camp program for adults nine times, and in fact, was one of the first attendees for the adult program in 1987. While there, he formed a close circle of friends who dub themselves "The Banana River Bunch" after the Banana River near Kennedy Space Center. Occasionally, members of the group travel to meet at the National Air and Space Museum to reminisce and share their love of the subject. He visits the museum whenever he gets the opportunity, no matter how many times he has seen the exhibits. In 1995, when Everett's elder daughter, Katy, decided to go away to college in Washington, DC, his wife, Susan, teased him that it was because he had dragged Katy on so many visits to the Air and Space Museum that she felt familiar and comfortable with the city.

In the summer of 2001, Everett achieved a life-long dream by purchasing his own aircraft, a 1998 Cessna Skylane which he keeps in Georgetown, Delaware.

Everett lives in Milford, DE with his wife. In his spare time he enjoys flying and working on his plane, of course! He has two daughters who love him very much: Katy Bennett Jester of Washington, DC and Nancy Bennett of Wilmington, DE. (Happy Father's Day, Daddy!)