Alice Test Pilot Steve Crane Wins Prestigious Aerospace Award
Anaheim, Ca., U.S., Sept. 30, 2023 – Test pilot Steve Crane has won the prestigious Iven C. Kincheloe Award for his role in the successful first flight of Eviation’s Alice. The award, given by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP), recognizes outstanding accomplishment by a test pilot in conducting a test flight.
Crane received the award at the SETP 67th Annual Awards Banquet in Anaheim, California on 30 September 2023. Crane and Eviation join a select group of aerospace pioneers and legends to have won the award, including Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, who were honored for the Apollo XI moon landing and return to Earth. The names of Crane and Eviation will both be added to those of their illustrious predecessors on the Kincheloe award trophy kept at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
A Major Milestone in Aviation History
“Steve worked directly with two flight test engineers, a small cadre of design engineers, and business leadership to maintain steady progress towards a safe first flight,” noted the SETP in presenting the Kincheloe Award to Crane. “Steve’s contribution to the aircraft program was invaluable, and ultimately culminated in his flawless first flight of the Alice, representing a major milestone for electric aviation and the future of air mobility.”
Crane flew the nine-seater Alice on its maiden flight on 27 September 2022 in Washington State, making it the world’s first flight-tested all-electric commuter aircraft. The Alice flew for eight minutes at an altitude of 3,500 feet.
“Receiving the Kincheloe was a wonderful honor and recognition for the amazing accomplishment that our Eviation team achieved with the successful first flight of Alice,” said Crane in accepting the award. “We set the bar for commercial electric aviation that others will be measured against. It’s tremendously important that we keep moving that bar ever higher. Now is the time to continue the journey of making electric aviation the wave of the future. I’m so very humbled to be a part of this team and look forward to what we’ll do together in the years to come.”
The award is named for U.S. Air Force pilot Capt. Iven C. Kincheloe, an ace pilot in the Korean War who went on to become a test pilot, setting an altitude record of 126,000 feet in 1956. This suborbital flight earned Kincheloe the nickname “The First Spaceman”. He was killed in a crash during a test flight in 1958 and the SETP named the award in his honor. Other past recipients include Scott Crossfield, who was selected for his role in the X-15 program, and John Young and Robert Crippen for the first Space Shuttle flight.
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