Known as the “Zen Pilot”, Robert DeLaurentis was born January 11, 1966 in Salamanca, New York. He studied accounting at the University of Southern California before earning a graduate degree in spiritual psychology at the University of Santa Monica. He joined the United States Navy in 1989 and left in 2003 as a lieutenant commander. During this time, he pursued business opportunities in San Diego, establishing his own residential and commercial rental property company called Innorev Enterprises, Inc. In 2015, DeLaurentis set out to raise money for Lindbergh-Schweitzer Elementary programs and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Flight Training Scholarship program. On May 17, he took off from Lindbergh Field in a single-engine Piper Malibu Mirage named “Spirit of San Diego” beginning a three-month solo flight around the world. In 2019, DeLaurentis began his second solo flight around the world in a twin-engine Turbine Commander 900 named “Citizen of the World.” This time, he took off from Gillespie Field and flew over both the South and North Poles on a global peace mission. He published his experience in a book, Peace Pilot: To the Ends of the Earth and Beyond, in 2023.
Inducted in 2023.
Portrait Location: Hall of Fame Hallway

Induction Video