EAA Sport Aviation Hall of Fame Ceremony

Homebuilders: Vic Syracuse, EAA Lifetime 180848

Vic is a 12-time aircraft builder, having built multiple RVs, three Kitfoxes, a Prescott Pusher, a Just Aircraft SuperSTOL, and a Hummingbird helicopter. In addition, he has performed numerous prebuy inspections for prospective buyers of homebuilt aircraft. His articles in Kitplanes magazine, EAA Sport Aviation magazine, and others have helped thousands of homebuilt aircraft owners with maintenance issues. In addition, his video content on YouTube and his books on aircraft maintenance and prepurchase advice are valued resources among aircraft builders.

Vic is a commercial pilot and CFII with time in more than 70 types, an A&P/IA mechanic, a designated airworthiness representative, and an EAA technical counselor and flight advisor. In addition to being the founder and owner of Base Leg Aviation, Vic has served as the chairman of EAA’s Homebuilt Aircraft Council and was honored in 2022 with the prestigious Tony Bingelis Award, which recognizes EAA technical counselors for dedicated service and significant contributions. As a volunteer pilot, Vic has flown more than 350 EAA Young Eagles flights.

International Aerobatic Club: Rob Holland (Posthumous)

Legendary air show and aerobatic competition pilot Rob Holland became interested in flying after his parents took him to military air shows. After flight training, he jumped at any opportunity to fly, ultimately logging more than 15,000 hours in more than 180 different types of aircraft. He worked as a flight instructor for air show and aerobatic pilot Mike Goulian, EAA Lifetime 259398, worked as a banner tow and ferry pilot, and flew commercial and commuter airplanes, as well as private and corporate jets. He also formed his own flight academy, Aerial Advantage Aviation.

In 2002, Rob became an active participant in air shows around the country, and in 2007, he acquired his signature one-of-a-kind MXS-RH aerobatic airplane. Over the course of the last two decades, Rob was named an honorary Canadian Snowbird and Blue Angel, received the Art Scholl Memorial Showmanship Award, and was awarded more than 38 national and international medals. He also earned 13 consecutive U.S. national aerobatic championships (Unlimited), 14 U.S. national aerobatic Freestyle championships, and six world Freestyle championships. In addition, Holland was the driving force in securing the 2026 World Aerobatic Championships for Batavia, New York. The air show and aerobatic competition communities were saddened by Rob’s sudden death in an aircraft accident in April 2025.

EAA Warbirds of America: Darrel Berry, EAA 620201/Warbirds 22139

Darrel Berry is a member of the EAA Tennessee Warbirds First Squadron, a founding member of the Ridge Runner flight team, and a lead pilot for the T-34 Association’s Formation and Safety Team. As the owner of BMT Aviation, his passion for collecting, restoring, and flying vintage military aircraft includes nearly two dozen warbirds, featuring several T-34s, T-6s, AT-11s, helicopters, and a Grumman TBM Avenger (the crown jewel of his fleet).

An Army and Marine Corps veteran, he has been a pilot since 1978. He also has earned a commercial certificate with instrument and multiengine ratings, as well as multiengine and helicopter ratings for his private pilot certificate. Darrel has logged more than 8,000 hours of flying in his career. He is also the owner of Berry Machine and Tool Co. in Lawton, Oklahoma, a tire mold repair company that serviced the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.’s largest global plant for more than 35 years.

Vintage Aircraft Association: Mark Holliday, EAA Lifetime 87406/VAA Lifetime 1316

Mark grew up in aviation and soloed 26 airplanes on his 16th birthday. Eight days after he earned his private on his 17th birthday, he flew a Mooney Mite from Hastings, Minnesota, to the EAA fly-in at Rockford, Illinois. That was 1969, and he hasn’t missed an EAA convention since. Likely the youngest Swift pilot in the nation at that time, Mark flew his GC-1A to the Swift fly-in at Ottumwa, Iowa, where he won a trophy. That was the genesis of a long list of award-winning airplanes that Mark has rescued, revived, and/or restored.

Early on, Mark flew for his family’s FBO, Lake Elmo Aero, at Lake Elmo Airport (21D) in Minnesota. He delivered airplanes to customers in every state in the nation (except Hawaii), logging nearly 1,500 hours by the time he was 21. Mark flew aerobatic routines in his Swift at air shows for 25 years and is highly regarded in the Swift community for his extensive knowledge and expertise. Mark flew a series of World War I replicas as chief pilot for the Vintage Aero Flying Museum in Fort Lupton, Colorado, just a few of the more than 200 types that he’s flown. He currently owns a 210-hp Swift, a Texas Bullet, a Meyers 200D, a Monocoupe, a Mullicoupe, and a Knight Twister.

EAA Ultralights: Dave Cronk, EAA 1653087

In 1972, Dave transformed Bob Lovejoy’s initial Quicksilver prototype into a product, launching a line of the safest and best-selling rigid-wing hang-gliders of the 1970s, bringing full structural analysis and flight testing into the industry. As rigid-wing hang-gliders became obsolete, Dave adapted his fully proven Quicksilver glider designs to powered ultralights, creating the weight-shift Quicksilver, the MX, MXL, Sprint, and GT series. In 1994, the GT-500 became the first ultralight certified in the FAA’s light-sport aircraft category. Today, his tube, bolt, and sewn Dacron sleeve construction is widely accepted and remains fundamental to many modern ultralight aircraft designs. His core belief was to keep the construction of these aircraft as simple as possible, requiring no special construction skills.

In addition to his work with Quicksilver, Dave won the 1975 Hang Gliding World Championship in Austria in a glider of his own design. His Cumulus 10 hang glider is on permanent display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia. Dave was elected to the Francis Rogallo Kitty Hawk Hall of Fame and developed inflatable military structures for the U.S. Army, earning him the U.S. Army Greatest Inventions award.

Dave continues to serve as an active consultant for several ultralight aircraft companies, as well as the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, and SpaceX.