News & Events

Eugene B. Ely

Inducted in 1994

First Aviator To Take Off From A Ship, 1910, And First Aviator To Land On A Ship, 1911

1886 – 1911

Eugene Burton Ely, a civilian pilot from Iowa, became the first man to take off from the deck of a ship. He flew a Curtiss Model D bi-plane from a platform constructed on the bow of the cruiser USS Birmingham at Hampton Roads, Virginia, on November 14, 1910.

Rain and fog threatened to delay the flight, but Ely pressed on. Witnesses saw the daring aviator coast down the platform, drop to the bay, hit the water with a splash, rise again, and continue onward to a safe landing two and one-half miles away on Willoughby Spit.

Two months later, on January 18, 1911, Ely successfully executed the first airplane landing on a ship, again in a Curtiss airplane. He departed Tanforan Field near San Francisco wearing a padded football helmet and a bicycle tube as a survival vest. Haze obscured his view of the cruiser USS Pennsylvania, anchored in San Francisco Bay. He landed on a specially designed tilted platform at a speed of 40 miles per hour and was slowed to a gentle stop by grappling hooks fitted underneath the aircraft that caught arresting wires attached to sandbags. After a leisurely lunch on board ship, Ely made the world’s second nautical takeoff and returned to shore.

Following his California success, Ely established a reputation as an expert aviator, publicly demonstrating his skills across the country. His brief but brilliant career was cut short by a tragic crash during a demonstration at the Georgia State Fair on October 19, 1911.

Though Ely was a civilian flyer and not part of the naval organization, his flights called attention to the possibilities of aircraft landing and taking off from ships. On February 16, 1933, President Herbert Hoover recognized the significance of Ely’s contribution by posthumously awarding him the Distinguished Flying Cross.

President George Herbert Walker Bush

Inducted in 1994

First Military Flyer To Become President Of The United States, 1988

1924 – 2018

George Bush was the first rated military combat pilot to be elected President of the United States. Bush enlisted in the United States Navy on June 12, 1942, his 18th birthday. He became the youngest pilot in the Navy when he received his wings and a commission in June 1943.

While on active duty during World War II, Bush flew torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto in the pacific campaign. His Grumman TBF “Avenger” torpedo plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire and shot down in September 1944 over the Bonin Island of Chichi Jima, 600 miles south of Japan. Bush was sole survivor of the three-man crew and was rescued by the Navy submarine USS Finback. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross plus three Air Medals for his courageous service.

Bush was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1966 after a successful career in the oil industry. He was later appointed Ambassador to the United Nations, first post-war Ambassador to China and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He served as Vice President for two terms under President Ronald Reagan and was elected 41st President in 1988.

Rear Admiral Alan B. Shepard, Jr.

Inducted in 1993

The First American In Space, 1961
The Fifth Man To Walk On The Moon, 1971

1923 – 1998

Naval aviator Alan Shepard lifted off from Pad 5 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 5, 1961, at 9:34 a.m. to become the first American in space. The small Mercury capsule he named “Freedom 7” was propelled into space by a slim but powerful Redstone missile. The suborbital flight reached an altitude of 116.5 miles (space begins at 100 miles altitude or 500,000 feet) at a maximum speed of 5,180 miles per hour. In 15 minutes and 22 seconds, the flight covered a distance of 302 miles downrange.

Born in East Derry, New Hampshire, on November 18, 1923, Shepard earned a bachelor’s degree at the United States Naval Academy in 1944. He served aboard a naval destroyer prior to acceptance for flight training, and by 1950 was testing jets on aircraft carriers. In 1959 he was selected to be one of the original seven astronauts.

Shepard served as Chief of the Astronaut Office, Johnson Space Center, from 1963 until 1969. In 1971, he commanded Apollo 14, the third manned mission to the moon, and became the fifth man to walk on its surface. He again served as Chief of the Astronaut Office from 1971 until 1974. He retired from the Navy at the rank of Rear Admiral.

Robert M Stanley and Lawrence C Craigie

Inducted in 1992

First Americans to Pilot a Jet Aircraft, 1942

Robert M. Stanley
1912 – 1977

Lieutenant General Lawrence C. Craigie
1902 – 1994

America entered the jet age on October 2, 1942, when Robert Stanley, a civilian test pilot for Bell Aircraft, flew the top secret Bell XP-59A Airacomet at Muroc Dry Lake, California.

Lieutenant General Lawrence Craigie, United States Army Air Corps, later piloted the Airacomet, becoming the first American military officer to fly a jet.

Stanley’s and Craigie’s flights were significant achievements in the development of jet aircraft and laid the foundation for advancements in jet aviation.

Sir Frank J. Whittle

Inducted in 1991

Pioneer Developer Of Turbo-jet Aircraft Engines

1907 – 1996

Sir Frank J. Whittle experimented with and constructed turbo-jet engines in pre-World War II England. In 1929 he patented a turbo-jet engine and in 1937 proved to skeptical British Air Ministry officials that a jet powered aircraft was feasible.

In 1941, a Gloster E28/39 research aircraft was fitted with a Whittle “W.1” engine that produced 800 pounds of thrust. The aircraft reached 466 miles per hour and climbed to 42,000 feet, exceeding all speed and altitude limitations of that period. The success of the Whittle “W.1” turbine engine propelled England into the jet age.

Whittle’s formal training was in mechanical engineering. During the war he rose to the rank of air commodore in the Royal Air Force and served as technical advisor to the Ministry of Supply. He retired from the RAF in 1948 and in the same year was knighted because of his contributions. He was later awarded the United States Legion of Merit and the Royal Aeronautical Society gold medal.

Hans-Joachim Von Ohain, Ph.D.

Inducted in 1991

Developed The Engine Powering The World’s First Jet Plane

1911 – 1998

In 1935, German-born Hans-Joachim Pabst Von Ohain patented a jet propulsion engine design similar in concept to that of Sir Frank J. Whittle but different in internal arrangement. Von Ohain continued to develop the design and on August 27, 1939, the Heinkel He-178 experimental aircraft, powered by his centrifugal-flow HeS-3b engine, made the world’s first turbo-jet powered flight. A subse-quent design powered the first opera-tional German jet fight-er, the Me-262A, in 1942.

As World War II progressed, Von Ohain abandoned the concept of the centrifugal compressor and began developing the axial flow compressor. His new jet engine powered the Messers-chmitt 262 fighter, which first saw combat in 1944.

Von Ohain moved to the United States in 1947 under contract with the Air Force to research advanced air breath-ing propulsion systems. He later became Chief Scientist at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Aerospace Research Laboratories in Dayton, Ohio.

Colonel Yuri A. Gagarin

Inducted in 1990

First Person In Space, 1961

1934 – 1968

Colonel Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin, Soviet Air Force, became a Soviet hero as the first person to break the bonds of earth’s gravity and venture into the weightlessness of space when he orbited the earth on April 12, 1961. He described sights never before seen by man.

“I could clearly discern the outlines of continents, islands and rivers. The horizon presents a sight of unusual beauty. A delicate blue halo surrounds the earth, merging with the blackness of space in which the stars are bright and clear cut.”
Gagarin’s space voyage carried the human race beyond its planetary boundaries. Only eight years later, a person walked on the moon.

Gagarin was born on March 9, 1934, in the city of Gzhatsk, Russia, into a collective farmer’s family. He graduated in 1957 from the Voroshilov Aviation Technical Academy and soon afterward became a military fighter pilot with the rank of Lieutenant. In 1960, now a colonel, Gagarin was selected to be a member of the first group of USSR cosmonauts.

After the historic flight, Gagarin entered the Zhukowskii Military Academy and completed his study in 1968. The world was shocked to hear of his tragic death on March 27, 1968, the result of an accident while test piloting a MIG-15 aircraft.

Major General Albert F. Hegenberger

Inducted in 1989

Developer Of All-Blind Flight Control System

1895 – 1983

Major General Albert Francis Hegenberger’s pioneering work in instrument flying and navigational systems led to modern aviation equipment, enabling planes to fly anywhere in almost all weather conditions.

Hegenberger graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an aeronautical engineer and served as a flight instructor during World War I. Later, as Chief of the Instrument Branch, Air Service Engineering Division, at McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio, he began researching flight and navigation instrument development.

In 1927, Lieutenants Hegenberger and Lester Maitland were the first to fly 2,400 miles from California to Hawaii, the longest open sea flight to date, in the “Bird of Paradise,” a Fokker C-2 Tri-Motor. They received the Mackey Trophy and the Distinguished Flying Cross from President Coolidge for this achievement.

Captain Hegenberger went on to develop a blind instrument landing system. In 1932 he made the world’s first solo instrument-only flight at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio. His system was adopted for both military and civilian use and became standard equipment in all larger airplanes and at all airports. This achievement earned him a second Distinguished Flying Cross and the Collier Trophy in 1934.

Bessie Coleman

Inducted in 1989

First Black Woman Licensed Pilot

1893-1926

Bessie Coleman was born into a poor Texas family, and although she was a bright student, poverty kept her from attending college. She moved to Chicago where she saw her first air show. The excitement and thrills created by the barnstorming stunt pilots inspired her to learn to fly.

Coleman refused to give in to the racial and gender prejudices of her day. Rejected by American flight schools, she went to France, learned to fly in Nieuport biplanes, and earned the first International Pilot’s License issued to a black woman.

Returning to America in 1921, Coleman yearned to open a flight school for black pilots. She believed “the air is the only place free from prejudices.” She turned her accomplishments into celebrity, appearing on newsreels, performing at air shows, and lecturing to encourage other blacks to pursue aviation careers.

By 1926, Coleman had raised almost enough money to open her school. As fate would have it, her dreams never came true. She died in a crash at a Florida air show in 1926.

Blanche Noyes and Louise Thaden

Inducted in 1988

First Women To Win Bendix Trophy, 1936

Blanche Noyes
1900 – 1981

Louise Thaden
1905 – 1979

In 1936, Louise Thaden and Blanche Noyes won the Bendix Transcontinental Speed Race at the National Air Races in Los Angeles and became the first women recipients of the coveted Bendix Trophy. Combining talent and experience, they flew from New York to Los Angeles in 14 hours and 55 minutes in a Beechcraft model C-17R “Staggerwing,” now considered a classic aircraft design.

Louise Thaden had already achieved fame by age 23. She held women’s records in endurance, speed, and altitude categories. She had also won the Women’s Air Derby of 1929, the first all-women cross-country air race.

Blanche Noyes, wife of United States Airmail pilot Dewey Noyes, gave up an acting career to learn to fly. She took flight instructions from Noyes and soloed with less than four hours of dual instruction. She became Ohio’s first licensed woman pilot.

Thaden and Noyes gained flight experience working for the United States Bureau of Air Commerce establishing air route landmarks and providing related services essential to the development of U. S. commercial aviation. They also flew as sales representatives demonstrating aircraft built by many airplane manufacturers. By 1936 they were expert pilots, but still caused astonishment with their Bendix win because it was in a biplane, whereas racers or twin-engine planes especially built for transcontinental flights were the favored machines.