Inducted in 2007 “Area Rule” & “Winglets” Impact us Today 1921 – 2009 A graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a BS in mechanical engineering (high distinction) in 1943, Dr. […]
Author: First Flight
Tony Jannus
Inducted in 2006 World’s first airline pilot 1889 – 1916 Anthony Habersack Jannus was born in 1889 in Washington, DC. Tony Jannus was just twenty-one years old when he taught […]
Captain Albert Berry
Inducted in 2005 The world’s first parachutist from an aircraft 1878-? US Army Captain Albert Berry made a tethered jump from a Benoist Headless airplane over Kinlock Field near the […]
Georgia “Tiny” Broadwick
Inducted in 2005 Legends of Aviation 1893 – 1978 Georgia “Tiny” Broadwick, remembered as the “First Lady of Parachuting,” holds a place in The Guinness Book of World Records for […]
Tuskegee Airmen
Inducted in 2004 Legends of Aviation In spite of adversity and limited opportunities, African-Americans have played a significant role in US military history over the past 300 years. They were […]
Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright
Re-Inducted in 2003 First To Achieve Successful Powered Flight In A Heavier-Than-Air-Machine, 1903 Wilbur Wright 1867 – 1912 Orville Wright 1871 – 1948 The Wright brothers made the world’s first […]
John Knudsen Northrop
Inducted in 2002 Pioneer In The Aerospace Industry 1895 – 1981 John “Jack” Northrop’s aerospace career began in 1916 as a mechanical draftsman-engineer for the Loughead Aircraft Company. In 1923 […]
Clyde Vernon Cessna
Inducted in 2001 General Aviation Pioneer 1879 – 1954 Born in Iowa and growing up on a Kansas farm, Clyde Cessna exhibited an aptitude for mechanics and became an expert […]
Donald W. Douglas
Inducted in 2000 Pioneer Aircraft Designer And Manufacturer 1892 – 1981 Donald Willis Douglas, native of Brooklyn, New York, contributed to the nation’s aeronautical safety and progress as a designer […]
Harriet Quimby
Inducted in 1999 First Licensed Woman Pilot In America, 1911, And First Woman To Solo The English Channel, 1912 1875 – 1912 Harriet Quimby was born on a farm near […]