Fredericksburg, Virginia

Inducted in 2004, Billie S. Toombs began her long association with Sidney Shannon and his airport in May 1968, when she was hired to work in the parts department and fill in on the front counter on the weekends. By 1970 she was involved in various aspects of the operation including the very popular Father’s Day Fly-ins which continued for two years past Mr. Shannon’s death in July 1981. After his death, Billie was hired by the trust department of the bank handling the estate to manage the airport, which she did until it was sold to a real estate development firm in 1986. They hired her to continue to manage the airport until 1994, when the bank re-acquired the airport. After receiving her private pilot license on August 14, 1990, she got permission from the owners to have an annual fly-in. The first “Just Plane Fun” Fly-in was held in the summer of 1990, and with the help of customers and Robert Stanley, her eventual partner, “Just Plane Fun” continued through 1997. In 1994 Billie and her partner Robert Stanley formed Aire Shannon, Inc., and by 1997 were the owners of one of the busiest general aviation airports in the Commonwealth with 129 hangars and 160 based aircraft.