News & Events

Frederick E. Humphreys

Inducted in 2009

One of first trainees for military aircraft

September 16, 1883 – January 20, 1941

After attending the Pennsylvania Military Academy, he won an appointment from New York to the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduated and was assigned to the Corps of Engineers. After assisting in bridge construction, he was deployed to Cuba during the Pacification Expedition, and a year later, returned to attend the Engineer School. While at the school, he was detailed to the Signal Corps.

“Aeroplane No. 1, Heavier-than-Air Division, US Aerial Fleet” was officially accepted by the US Army on August 2, 1909. 800 pounds of bamboo, wire and cloth, and a 30 hp engine connected to propellers by bicycle chains had cost the government $30,000. Included in the contract was the requirement for the Wright brothers to train and certify two military officers as pilots. These were to be Lieutenants Lahm and Foulois; the latter, however, was dispatched to attend the International Congress of Aeronautics in Europe, and Lieutenant Frederick E. Humphreys was detailed to take his place.

Shortly after 8 am on October 26, 1909, a mechanic held a gasoline soaked rag over the engine intake while another cranked the engine into life. Wilbur Wright hurriedly ran to a nearby shed for windowsash weights to replace his weight in the passenger seat.

After a little over three hours of actual flying time, Lieutenant Humphreys became the first military student pilot to be told he was ready to “take her up on your own.” A catapult weight dropped, and plane and pilot were assisted aloft for a three minute flight.
Two more flights were made by Lieutenant Humphreys that day, the next of eight and one half minutes, and the last of twenty-four minutes. Lieutenant Lahm also soloed for three flights, and Wilbur Wright pronounced both “certified pilots.” Over the next few days the two flew practice flights together and separately, until November 5th, when they crashed the plane and American military aviation came to an abrupt and temporary end.

Herbert D. Kelleher

Inducted in 2008

Co-Founder, Southwest Airlines

1931 -2019

Herbert Kelleher is a Founder of Southwest Airlines Co., and served as Executive Chairman from March 1978 to May 2008 and as President and CEO from September 1981 through June 2001.

Southwest commenced service with three airplanes in 1971 and today operates a fleet of more than 527 airplanes performing over 3,400 flights per day. Kelleher’s company has been profitable for 35 consecutive years and has never furloughed an employee. For 11 years in a row, FORTUNE magazine recognized Southwest Airlines in its annual survey of corporate reputations, and among all industries in 2007, FORTUNE has listed Southwest Airlines as number five among America’s Top Ten most admired corporations.

Kelleher himself has received numerous awards and honors, including the U.S. Chamber Business Leadership Hall of Fame; CEO of the Year and one of history’s top three CEOs, Chief Executive magazine; CEO of the Century, Texas Monthly magazine; National Sales and Marketing Hall of Fame; U.S. Master Entrepreneur, INC. magazine; CEO of the Decade-Airline Industry, Financial World magazine; Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy; Bower Award for Business Leadership, Franklin Institute; Smithsonian Aero Club Trophy; Tony Jannus Award; Wings Club Distinguished Achievement Award; San Diego Aerospace Hall of Fame; L. Welch Pogue Award for Lifetime Achievement in Aviation, Aviation Week; Airline Business Award, Airline Business magazine; 2005 Global Service Leader Award; History Making Texan Award; the Business Hall of Fame of the State of Texas, the University of Texas, Texas A&M, and the City of Dallas, the Herbert D. Kelleher Servant Leader Scholarship named in Herb’s honor by the Austin Business Travel Association, induction into the Texas Labor Management Hall of Fame; and the Transportation Research Forum President’s Award.

Kelleher graduated with honors from Wesleyan University where he was an Olin Scholar and where his major was English and his minor Philosophy, and from NYU Law School, where he was a Root-Tilden Scholar.

Dr. Richard T. Whitcomb

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. Whitcomb went to work for NACA – now NASA – at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory from 1943 until his retirement in 1980. During his 37 years at NASA, he celebrated many accomplishments. One that most of us can relate to is the “area rule” that allowed aircraft to break the sound barrier, which earned hi the 1954 Collier Trophy. Another is “winglets” devices used at the wingtips, normal to the wingspar, extending both upward and downward, which reduce wingtip vortices and the induced drag such vortices create, improving the aerodynamic efficiency of the wing and seen frequently in modern airliners, in which they reduce fuel consumption.

In addition to the Collier Trophy, Dr. Whitcomb is the recipient of the USAF Exceptional Service Medal 1955, NACA Distinguished Service Medal 1956, NASA Exceptional Scientific Service Medal 1959, National Medal of Science in 1973, NAA Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy 1974, National Academy of Engineering 1976, and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2003.

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 himself to fly and soloed in a Rexford Smith biplane at College Park, Maryland. Quickly becoming a skilled aviator, Jannus moved to St. Louis in 1911 to serve as the chief pilot for the Benoist Aircraft Company.

On March 1, 1912, Jannus and his passenger, Albert Berry, did something that had never been done. Although Berry was a parachutist, experienced in jumping from balloons, no one had ever jumped from a moving airplane. With Jannus at the controls, Berry dropped from the airplane at an altitude of fifteen hundred feet. His history-making jump was perfect. Later that year Jannus received worldwide newspaper coverage for his record-setting, 1,973-mile flight from Omaha, Nebraska, to New Orleans, Louisiana. In the process, the flight provided thousands of people with their first exposure to aviation.

On January 1, 1914, with the inauguration of the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line, Tony Jannus entered history books as the world’s first airline pilot. Three thousand people crowded St. Petersburg’s waterfront in anticipation of the big event. With a high bid of $400, former St. Petersburg mayor Abe Pheil won the honor of being the first passenger to travel from St. Petersburg to Tampa by air. Tony Jannus and the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line showed the world that passengers could be carried on a scheduled basis and that a demand for such service existed. Jannus had proven the dependability, practicality, and safety of scheduled air service.

On October 12, 1916, the veteran test pilot lost his life when the Curtiss H-7 flying boat that he was flying crashed into Russia’s Black Sea. In a career that spanned less than a decade, Tony Jannus had accomplished more than many aviators do in an entire lifetime. His achievements left a lasting mark on the world of commercial aviation.

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 site of the present Lambert Field in St. Louis, Missouri in march of 1912.

On 1 March 1912, Berry jumped from a Benoist pusher biplane from 1,500 feet. The 36 foot diameter parachute was contained in a metal canister attached to the underside of the plane – when Berry dropped from the plane his weight pulled the parachute from the canister. Rather than being attached to the parachute by a harness Berry was seated on a trapeze bar.

Asked if he would ever repeat the performance, Berry replied: “Never again! I believe I turned five somersaults on my way down…My course downward… was like a crazy arrow. I was not prepared for the violent sensation that I felt when I broke away from the aeroplane.”

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 her achievements as a parachutist. Georgia Ann Thompson, married at twelve, was a mother at thirteen, and soon was abandoned by her husband. At fifteen, Georgia, a cotton mill worker in Henderson, attended a carnival in Raleigh. There, she watched as Charles Broadwick jumped from a balloon and descended by parachute. It was a life-changing event for her, and Broadwick secured permission for the teenager to join his “World Famous Aeronauts.” Soon after, she became Broadwick’s adopted daughter. At just over four feet, Georgia was nicknamed “Tiny,” and was billed as “The Doll Girl.” She thrilled audiences by jumping from a swing attached to a balloon. As the novelty wore off, the Broadwicks moved their act to flying machines. In 1913, soaring in a biplane, she descended from 2,000 feet into Griffith Park in Los Angeles, becoming the first woman to jump from an airplane with a parachute.

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 denied military leadership roles and skilled training because many believed they lacked qualifications for combat duty. Before 1940, African Americans were barred from flying for the US military. Civil rights organizations and the black press exerted pressure that resulted in the formation of an all African-American pursuit squadron based in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1941. They became known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

“Tuskegee Airmen” refers to all who were involved in the so-called “Tuskegee Experiment,” the Army Air Corps program to train African-Americans to fly and maintain combat aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen included pilots, navigators, bombardiers, maintenance and support staff, instructors, and all the personnel who kept the planes in the air.

The military selected Tuskegee Institute to train pilots because of its commitment to aeronautical training. Tuskegee had the facilities, and engineering and technical instructors, as well as a climate for year round flying. The first Civilian Pilot Training Program students completed their instruction in May 1940. The Tuskegee program was then expanded and became the center for African-American aviation during World War II. The Tuskegee Airmen overcame segregation and prejudice to become one of the most highly respected fighter groups of World War II. They proved conclusively that African Americans could fly and maintain sophisticated combat aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen’s achievements, together with the men and women who supported them, paved the way for full integration of the US military.

Tuskegee Airman Brigadier General Charles McGee is an Honorary Member of the First Flight Society.

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 four successful airplane flights on the cold, windswept sands of North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Their “Flyer” lifted from level ground to the north of Big Kill Devil Hill at 10:35 a.m. on December 17, 1903. Orville piloted the 605-pound machine during the first flight, traveling 120 feet in 12 seconds.

Although Wilbur achieved the best results of the day on the fourth and final flight, 852 feet in 59 seconds, it is Orville’s earlier flight that is best remembered. As Orville later described:

“This flight lasted only 12 seconds, but it was nevertheless the first in the history of the world in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in full flight, had sailed forward without a reduction in speed, and had finally landed at a point as high as that from which it began.”

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 he joined the Douglas Aircraft Company and helped design the famous “World Cruisers” — the first airplanes to fly around the world. He later rejoined the Lockheed (Loughead) Aircraft Company as chief engineer. While there he designed the immortal Vega series of airplanes with their unique prefabricated fuselage and aerodynamic design. Piloted by legendary flyers Wiley Post and Amelia Earhart, the Vega design established many record-breaking flights.

Northrop founded his first aircraft company in 1928, Avion Corporation, which became the Northrop Aircraft Corporation in 1930. Under his leadership, the company designed and built the first all-metal body airplanes, the Alpha, Beta and Gamma.

In 1939, the newly formed Northrop Corporation changed its focus from commercial to military aircraft designs. During World War II, the company produced military planes such as the P-61 Black Widow night-fighter. Northrop’s lifelong dream was to build an all-wing airplane without a drag-producing fuselage or tail. His vision soared for a short time in the XB-35 and the YB-49 flying wing bombers of the 1940s and 1950s.

Jack Northrop’s influence on American aircraft designs extended well into the 21st century. Before his death he saw a model of the USAF classified flying wing bomber. His vision still lives on in the “Spirit” known as the B-2 Stealth Bomber.

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 in repairing farm machinery and early automobiles. Later, he took charge of an automobile sales and service agency in Enid, Oklahoma.

Impressed by the simplicity and performance of early monoplanes, Cessna built his own and taught himself to fly it in 1911. Steadily improving this plane, he used it in exhibition flights throughout Kansas and Oklahoma. After moving to Wichita, he built the Cessna-Jones Six and Comet monoplanes and used them in aerial exhibitions until World War I.

In 1925, Cessna helped form a travel air manufacturing company to build biplanes and became its president. In 1926, he developed an advanced monoplane. Two models, the City of Oakland and the Woolorac, set transpacific records in 1927. Leaving travel air, he developed a cantilevered-wing monoplane, formed Cessna Aircraft Company and became its president and chief engineer. Production of his Model A series monoplane began in 1928 and was followed by a series of improved models, as well as by a variety of racing planes and low-cost primary gliders. After the plant was closed by the Depression, he and his son, Eldon, formed the Cessna Aeroplane Company and built the CR-1 Racer, which placed in three events of the 1932 National Air Races. Their CR-3 Racer set an international speed record in 1933. After he was re-elected president of Cessna Aircraft in 1934, the Model C-34 was introduced, which earned the title of “world’s most efficient aircraft.”

Cessna is remembered for his outstanding contributions to aviation in three areas: developing and demonstrating early monoplanes, founding and overseeing aircraft manufacturing companies, and producing high-efficiency general aviation aircraft.