Inducted in 1976 First Pilot To Make A Commercial Round-trip Flight Over The Atlantic, 1937 1894 – 1982 In September 1936, Captain Henry “Dick” Merrill safely piloted his plane, a […]
Author: First Flight
Calbraith Perry Rodgers
Inducted in 1975 First United States Transcontinental Flight, 1911 1879 – 1912 In 1911 William Randolph Hearst offered a $50,000 prize to the first person to fly from coast to […]
Captain Edward V. Rickenbacker
Inducted in 1974 America’s Top World War I Ace 1890 – 1973 The development of airplanes, equipment and engines flourished during World War I. Aerial fighting was introduced and innovative […]
Louis Blériot
Inducted in 1973 First To Pilot A Plane Across The English Channel, 1909 1872 – 1936 Frenchman Louis Blériot successfully flew across the English Channel in a small, 25-horsepower monoplane […]
General William “Billy” L. Mitchell
Inducted in 1972 First To Successfully Demonstrate The Capabilities Of Air Power, 1921 1879 – 1936 After World War I, General “Billy” Mitchell argued against the huge reductions being made […]
Grover C. Loening
Inducted in 1972 Army’s First Civilian Aeronautical Engineer, 1914 1888 – 1976 Grover Cleveland Loening’s distinguished aviation career spanned more than half a century. His background earned him an appointment […]
Major Robert M. White
Inducted in 1971 First Astronaut Designee In A Winged Aircraft, 1962 1924 – 2010 The first men to reach space were aboard capsules, but great advancements were simultaneously being made […]
Lieutenant Thomas E. Selfridge
Inducted in 1971 First Military Officer To Pilot An Airplane, 1908. First Fatality In Powered Aviation, 1908 1882 – 1908 Lieutenant Thomas Etholen Selfridge, a young West Pointer from San […]
Igor Sikorsky
Inducted in 1970 First To Design, Produce And Fly A Helicopter In The Western Hemisphere, 1940 1889 – 1972 Germany produced the world’s first controllable transport helicopter in 1940 (the […]
Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, Michael Collins
Inducted in 1969 Neil Armstrong 1930-2012 Edwin Buzz Aldrin 1930- Michael Collins 1930-2021 The First Lunar Landing, 1969 Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Kennedy on July 16, 1969, bound […]