First Flight, Author at First Flight Society

1 08, 2014

Captain Henry T. Merrill

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 single engine Vultee VI called “Lady Peace,” in the first round-trip non-stop crossing of the North Atlantic. Harry Richman, a New York entertainer, was his passenger, along with 30,000 ping-pong balls added in the wings for additional flotation.

Eight months later on May 14, 1937, Merrill completed his fourth non-stop round-trip flight over the North Atlantic. Not only was this a record flight (actual flight time of 24 hours, 25 seconds), but it was the first “commercial” round-trip over the Atlantic. With this flight, Merrill proved that speedy and dependable flight service between Europe and the United States was possible.

Merrill made many daring flights during the early days of airmail delivery, prompting Captain Eddie Rickenbacker to label him the “best commercial pilot” in the […]

1 08, 2014

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 coast within a 30-day period. “Cal” Rodgers, a slender motorcycle racer with only limited flying experience (some of it gained at the Wright School), accepted the challenge. He took off from Long Island, New York, on September 17, determined to reach California and qualify for the award.

Rodgers flew a Wright EX biplane, named the “Vin Fiz” after a soft drink made by his commercial sponsor. The 35-horsepower airplane had no radio and was equipped with only one instrument, a fluttering shoelace to indicate vertical and lateral motion.

Rodgers chose a meandering route across the United States through Chicago and San Antonio to avoid dangerous mountain ranges. A train carrying his wife, mother, mechanics and $4,000 worth of spare parts followed him. The “Vin Fiz” […]

1 08, 2014

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 tactics were being devised to cope with this potentially devastating new tool of war. New words like “ace,” a pilot who had downed five or more enemy planes, entered the language. Foremost of the American “aces” was Captain Edward Vernon “Eddie” Rickenbacker, who ended the war with 26 victories, the highest number of victories of any of America’s 31 “aces.”

Rickenbacker entered the Army in 1917. He was attached to General John J. Pershing’s staff and served as a driver for Colonel William “Billy” Mitchell, the noted advocate of tactical air power. With Mitchell’s help, Rickenbacker became a fighter pilot and was assigned to the 94th Aero Pursuit Squadron, the famous “Hat in the Ring” Squadron.

Rickenbacker downed his first enemy plane on April 29, […]

1 08, 2014

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 of his own design. He beat rival Hubert Latham, who had aborted an earlier attempt, thereby winning the London Daily Mail prize of 1,000 pounds.

Blériot had amassed a modest fortune inventing automobile lights and accessories before becoming interested in aviation. Initially he experimented by towing gliders over the Seine River and then began designing airplane models.

The Daily Mail prize offering prompted Blériot to attempt the crossing. He established a headquarters near Calais, France, and waited for the poor weather conditions to break. When he noticed a slight drop in the winds, he quickly readied the frail “No. XI” for flight. On July 25, 1909, at 4:35 a.m., he took off into the murky sky and headed northward in the general direction of England.

Alone […]

1 08, 2014

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 in military aviation. His contention was that the less costly bomber and torpedo plane had rendered expensive surface warships obsolete. The uproar he stirred reached national proportions. Mitchell insisted his bombers could sink any warship afloat and proved it in July 1921.

Seventy-five miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, his Martin MB-2 bombers sank three ex-German warships, including the supposedly unsinkable “Ostfriesland.” When the exercise was repeated in 1923 near Cape Hatteras, two obsolete United States battleships, “Virginia” and “New Jersey,” met similar fates.

Many experts agreed that there were many lessons to be learned from such tests, but Mitchell was not satisfied with the pace of change. He remained a vocal critic and in 1925 issued a blistering statement accusing the War […]

1 08, 2014

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 in 1914 as the first aeronautical engineer in the Army Signal Corps.

Loening was born in Bremen, Germany, the son of the U.S. Consul. He saw his first flying machine while an undergraduate at Columbia University in 1908. Soon after, he organized the Columbia University Aero Club. The following year, Loening began working on a master’s degree in aviation and aerodynamics. His MA, granted in 1910, was the first of its kind in the United States and helped usher in the field of aeronautical engineering.

Loening spent the next few years gaining experience in aircraft design and construction. While working as an engineer for the Wright Company in 1913, Loening designed the Model G “Aeroboat” under Orville Wright’s supervision.

Anticipating the ascendancy of the monoplane over […]

1 08, 2014

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 with controlled airplane flights to the rarefied higher altitudes. Major Robert White earned “astronaut” rating by flying a winged aircraft to the lower edge of space on July 17, 1962.

White climbed to 59.6 miles (314,000 feet) above the earth’s surface in the North American X-15. This experimental, high-altitude rocket plane had passed its first test in 1959 and was progressively developed until White flew the craft, powered with 60,000 pounds of thrust, at 4,105 miles per hour.

Between 1959 and 1968, X-15s performed 199 test flights. In October 1967, a rebuilt X-15A-2 reached a speed of 4,534 miles per hour, the fastest recorded speed achieved thus far in normal flight.

White retired from the United States Air Force with the rank of Major General.

1 08, 2014

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 Francisco, joined the Aerial Experimental Association as an observer for the United States government. He corresponded with the Wright brothers on behalf of the A.E.A. and is credited with designing the A.E.A.’s first airplane, the “Red Wing.”

The group’s second machine was the “White Wing.” During tests of this airplane on May 19, 1908, at Hammondsport, New York, Selfridge piloted the craft on a flight of 100 feet. This was the first solo flight by a military officer.

Later the same year, during tests for the United States Army at Fort Myer, Virginia, Selfridge accompanied Orville Wright on the ill-fated flight of September 17. A broken propeller sent the Wright “Flyer A” out of control. Despite Orville’s best efforts to right it, the machine fell 75 […]

1 08, 2014

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 Focke-Achgelis Fa 223 kite), but was slow to exploit the achievement. As a result, Russian Igor Sikorsky was the first to successfully design a practical helicopter.

Sikorsky’s early attempts to fly a helicopter ended in failure and he transferred his interest to fixed-wing aircraft. Giant aircraft such as his “Le Grande” of 1913, the world’s first four-engine airplane, became his trademark.

The Soviet Revolution of 1917 forced Sikorsky to flee Russia. Almost penniless, he made New York his new home and attempted a fresh start. He reestablished his reputation as a great aircraft designer with the twin engine S-29-A. However, he soon abandoned his pursuit of fixed-wing airplanes to return to the subject of his earliest enthusiasm, rotating winged aircraft.

Sikorsky subsequently developed the VS-300 helicopter. […]

31 07, 2014

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 for the moon. The crew consisted of Flight Commander Neil Armstrong, destined to be the first man on the moon; Air Force Colonel Edwin Aldrin, who accompanied Armstrong to the lunar surface; and Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Collins, who remained in the command module “Columbia” during the final stages of the mission.

Five hundred feet above the moon’s surface, Armstrong assumed manual control of the lunar module “Eagle” in reaction to a computer malfunction. He had only two minutes to choose between landing or aborting the mission. The anxious moments ended when he reported “Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed.”

On July 20, 1969, at 10:56 p.m., Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon and spoke the famous words “that’s one small step for […]