A third-generation Oregonian who busied himself creating crude, solid-wood model airplanes as an adolescent, Buswell constructed his first home-built aircraft after obtaining his pilots license and soloing in 1938. Flying that aircraft from the pasture of his parent’s farm to Swan Island Airport in Portland ignited for Buswell a life-long passion for aviation, which led him through WWII as a B-24 Liberator pilot and an active participant in the Experimental Aircraft Association. Buswell’s award is posthumous.

top