Richard Snelson

There wasn’t much that Richard Snelson hasn’t done in the field of aviation. Starting out as an electrical engineer at Lockheed Aircraft, Snelson later joined the team at McDonnel Aircraft and worked with the Gemini flight crew to select cameras to be used in space. A job at the Clinton Power Station brought Snelson to DeWitt County where he decided to try his hand at airplane building. The result was the Thorp T-18. The plane won several awards, including the 1995 Experimental Aircraft Award presented at the Wright Brother’s award ceremony in Ohio.