RIYADH — The Saudi Aviation Club has learned with great sadness of the recent passing of Joe Clark, the internationally-acclaimed aviation pioneer and serial aviation entrepreneur, who passed away in the United States. The Saudi Aviation Club condoles the death of Joe Clark, whose absence never obscures his timeless contributions to the global aviation industry, being one of the leading pioneers and serial entrepreneurs. Clark had a passion for Saudi Arabia and was a frequent traveler to the Kingdom where he had featured participation at multiple aviation events and activities, the latest of which was the 5th Saudi Aviation Forum in January 2020. The Saudi Aviation Forum is held annually under the auspices of Prince Sultan Bin Salman, chairman of Saudi Space Commission (SSC) and founder and board chairman of Saudi Aviation Club. Clark participated in his capacity as a leading figurehead in the aviation industry and airline entrepreneur. Clark graduated from aviation academy in 1964, and two years later founded Jet Air, the first dealership in the Pacific Northwest for one of the first private business aircraft, the Learjet. In the 1980s, he co-founded regional airline Horizon Air, which later became part of Alaska Air Group; and in the 1990s, he founded Aviation Partners to design and market the performance-enhancing winglets. Over the past 50 years, Clark had great contributions to the global aviation industry, and received several honors and accolades from the industry’s top bodies and personalities. He flew his own private fleet of airplanes with passionate enthusiasm; and held a record-breaking Gulf Stream non-stop flight from Florida to Riyadh in 13 hours 46 minutes. Clark, 78, died at a hospital near Palm Springs in the United States on Monday 30 March.