Inducted in 1985 First Man To Walk In Space Untethered, 1984 1937 – 2017 Challenger’s February 1984 flight was America’s tenth space shuttle mission and the first spacecraft of any […]
Author: First Flight
Commander Theodore G. Ellyson
Inducted in 1984 First United States Naval Aviator, 1911 1885 – 1928 Theodore “Spuds” Ellyson began training in 1910 at the Glen Curtiss flight training school in San Diego and […]
Charles Edward Taylor
Inducted in 1983 The World’s First Airplane Mechanic 1869 – 1956 Charlie Taylor was a silent but essential participant in the Wright Brothers’ success story at Kitty Hawk. In six […]
Albert Scott Crossfield
Inducted in 1982 First To Fly Three Times The Speed Of Sound, 1960 1921 – 2006 On December 10, 1960, a North American Aviation X-15 was launched from beneath the […]
Alberto Santos-Dumont
Inducted in 1981 First To Fly A Heavier-Than-Air Machine In Europe, 1906 1873 – 1932 Brazilian-born, French-educated Alberto Santos-Dumont achieved the first officially observed powered European flight on October 23, […]
Major General Benjamin D. Foulois
Inducted in 1980 First United States Military Aviator 1879 – 1967 Benjamin “Benny” Delahauf Foulois is considered the “father of U.S. military aviation” since he was the first United States […]
First Transatlantic Flight 1919
Inducted in 1979 Lieutenant Commander Albert Read, US Navy Lieutenant James Breese, US Navy Ensign Herbert Rodd, US Navy Lieutenant Elmer Stone, US Coast Guard Lieutenant Walter Hinton, US Navy […]
Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn, Jr.
Inducted in 1978 First American To Orbit The Earth, 1962 1921 -2016 On February 20, 1962, Lieutenant Colonel John Glenn, Jr., United States Marine Corps, lifted off from Cape Canaveral, […]
Crew of First Around-the-World Flight, 1924
Inducted in 1977 Chicago 1st. Lt. Lowell H. Smith, Pilot; 1st. Lt. Leslie P. Arnold, Mechanic Boston 1st. Lt. Leigh Wade, Pilot; Sgt. Henry H. Odgen, Mechanic; New Orleans 1st. […]
Major Alford Williams, Jr.
Inducted in 1976 United States Navy’s First Chief Test Pilot; The Father Of Dive Bombing 1891 – 1958 Alford Williams enlisted in the United States Navy at the beginning of […]