X-51A Team members Charles Brink, George Thum and Joseph Vogel accept the Aviation Week award at a black-tie dinner in March 2011 in Washington, D.C. Awards are given based on work done the previous calendar year. (Air Force Image) X-51A Team Receives Aviation Week Laureate by Thomas Brown Propulsion 9/9/2011 - WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- The Air Force Research Laboratory's X-51A Waverider Hypersonic Vehicle Team was presented with an Aviation Week Laureate in the Aeronautics/Propulsion category. Accepting the award for the entire team were Program Managers Charles Brink of the AFRL's Propulsion Directorate, Joseph Vogel of Boeing Phantom Works, and George Thum of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. The award honors outstanding achievements in defense, aerospace, and aviation. The team successfully designed the X-51A Waverider that was launched from a B-52 above the Pacific Ocean on May 26, 2010. That historic event proved that a scramjet-powered engine could accelerate in controlled flight for a sustained amount of time.