George Hardie was born in Rockford, Illinois in 1912. When he was a young boy his passion
for aviation began with airplane model building and collecting. When he was older, he
attempted to graduate to actual flying, but was denied training due to his poor eyesight, so
he continued to fill his need for flying through advanced modeling, historical research,
study, and writing. In 1954, he received an award from the Milwaukee County Historical
Society for an exhibit of Billy Mitchell that he designed and installed at what was then
called Mitchell Air Field (now Mitchell International Airport). He has also received many
awards for his work in the early history of Wisconsin aviation.
During this time, Hardie also became involved in the development of a new organization
dedicated to the field of experimental aviation which became known as the Experimental Air
Association (EAA). Along with his responsibilities as a founding member, he also was the
editor of their monthly newsletter Sport Aviation from 1958
to 1960 and was the organization's official historian. He resumed his participation in the
EAA from 1973 to 1983 as display designer and historian.
Hardie also was a board member of the American Aviation Historical Society (AAHS) and
served as president from 1961 to 1963. Although always active in aviation circles, Hardie
bowed out of many of the administrative duties of these organizations to pursue his real
passion of researching aviation history. He published articles in dozens of periodicals on
many subjects related to Wisconsin aviation and became such a powerful influence in the
field that in 1984 he was made a charter member of the Mitchell Gallery of Flight
organization, where he served as secretary, exhibit designer, historian, and editor of their
newsletter Flightlines. His highest accolade was to come in
1991, when he was, by unanimous vote, inducted into the Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame.
After that, due to some health concerns, Hardie relegated his activities to research and
collection, an area in which he remained active until his death in the summer of 2001.
