Aero Club of America
The Aero Club of America was a social club formed in 1905 by Charles Glidden and others to promote aviation in America. It was the parent organization of numerous state chapters, the first being the Aero Club of New England. It thrived until 1923, when it transformed into the National Aeronautic Association. It issued the first pilot's licenses in the United States, and successful completion of its licensing process was required by the United States Army for its pilots until 1914. It sponsored numerous air shows and contests. The organization gave out the Collier Trophy. Cortlandt Field Bishop was President of the Aero Club of America in 1910.
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[edit] History
In the summer of 1905, several members of the Automobile Club of America including Charles Glidden, Homer W. Hedge, David Morris, John F. O'Rourke, and Augustus Post founded the Aero Club of America. They were avid balloonists but found little support in America for the sport of aviation. They determined to establish a new club with an organization similar to the Automobile Club but whose purpose was to promote aviation, much like the Aero Club of France.[1] Homer Hedge became the first President.
In 1910, three different conventions were held in New York among aeronautical clubs and societies. The National Council of Affiliated Clubs of the Aero Club of America, was formed. Thirty-nine delegates, representing constituencies from Pasadena, California, to Boston, met at the Aero Club and formed the parent organization of various state chapters.[2]
At the Belmont Air Show in October 1910, a considerable controversy arose between the Englishman Claude Graham-White and the American J. B. Moisant. In one race around the Statue of Liberty, Graham-White won by several minutes, but due to a technicality, the race and considerable prize money was awarded to Moisant. John Armstrong Drexel made public statements accusing the organization of favoritism toward its own members, and Drexel held a competing dinner banquet at the same time as the awards banquet of the organization. The schism among the membership threatened the integrity of the organization, but was ultimately resolved with Drexel's resignation.[3]
[edit] Historical notes
Some of the later licenses issued by the Aero Club of America bore the printed signature of Orville Wright. Wright served for a time as Chairman of the Aero Club of America's Contest Committee. Contrary to popular myth, the Wright brothers were not issued licenses number 4 and 5 for malicious reasons. They were simply among the five pilots who had, in America, demonstrated their ability to fly airplanes before the Aero Club of America's licensing program began. Those first five licenses were issued in alphabetical order –-- a practice followed by other national organizations belonging to the FAI.
Pilot's licenses were not required by law (except by some states) until well after World War I. Aero Club of America licenses were required for participation in sporting events and demonstrations sanctioned by the ACA and FAI, and they gave credibility to pilots seeking to perform demonstration flights for hire, but many American pilots never applied for a license, which required a demonstration of flight proficiency. The ACA was also notorious for the inflexibility of its licensing process, which prescribed, among other items, a letter of application, a photograph of a candidate, appointment of an ACA examiner, and his report of examination, all of which had to be submitted in the correct form and sequence for a license to be issued, whether the candidate passed the flight test or not.
[edit] Notable Licensees
Some notable early pilots issued licenses by the Aero Club of America are listed below.[4]
[edit] Airplane division
- 01 Glenn Curtiss
- 02 Frank Purdy Lahm
- 03 Louis Paulhan - French aviator
- 04 Orville Wright(?honorary)
- 05 Wilbur Wright (?honorary)
- 06 Clifford B. Harmon
- 07 Thomas Scott Baldwin (1854–1923)
- 08 John Armstrong Drexel
- 09 Todd Shriver
- 10 Charles Foster Willard
- 13 Leon Richardson
- 17 Eugene Ely
- 24 Charles Terres Weymann
- 28 Theodore Gordon Ellyson
- 32 Edson Fessenden Gallaudet
- 37 Harriet Quimby, first woman
- 44 Matilde Moisant, second woman
- 133 Julia Clark, third woman
- 148 Katherine Stinson (1891–1977) fourth woman. She convinced flight instructor Max Lillie of Chicago to take her on as a student in 1912. Katherine became the fourth licensed female pilot in the U.S., began touring as a stunt pilot and became one of the country's most famous female aviators.[5]
- 173 Bernetta A. Miller fifth woman
- 303 Marjorie Stinson, (sister of Katherine) the ninth licensed female pilot in United States.[6]
- 440 Reginald Malcolm, World War I flying ace[7]
[edit] Seaplane (Hydroaeroplane) division
- 01 Adolph G. Sutro
- 02 Lieutenant Alfred A. Cunningham(USN)
- 03 Lieutenant B. B. Smith (USN)
- 04 LCDR P. N. L. Bellinger (USN)
- 05 Ensign G. DeC. Chevalier (USN)
- 06 L. A. Vilas aka Jack Villas
- 07 William Ellwood Doherty
- 08 H. P. Harris
- 09 Ernest C. Bass
- 10 Steve MacGordon
- 26 Roger Weightman Jannus
[edit] Balloon division
See who's who of ballooning.[8]
- 01 Major J.C. McCoy (USA)
- 02 A. Leo Stevens
- 03 Frank S. Lahm
- 04 Colonel Frank Purdy Lahm (USA)
- 05 Carl E. Meyers
- 06 Colonel Henry B. Hersey (USA)
- 07 Allan R. Hawley
- 08 Colonel Charles deForest Chandler (USA)
- 09 Thomas Scott Baldwin (1854–1923)
- 10 Albert C. Triaca
- 27 Sylvester Louis Von Phul
- 533 Harry Rasmussen (1886–1968)
[edit] Airship (Dirigible) division
Note: "Dirigible" simply meant that the airship could be made to go in any direction.
- 01 Thomas Scott Baldwin (1854–1923)
- 02 Frank Purdy Lahm
- 03 Horace B. Wild
- 04 Augustus Roy Knabenshue
- 05 A. Leo Stevens
- 06 Frank W. Goodale
- 07 R. H. Upson
- 08 R. A. D. Preston
- 09 Walter J. Pouchot
- 10 Noel Chadwick
[edit] See also
- Other Aero clubs
- Aéro-Club de France (1898)
- Royal Aero Club (1901)
- Aeroclub Royal de Belgique (1901)
- Aero Club of South Africa (1920)
[edit] References
- ^ Heitman, Charles H.; Club, Aero (12 January 1910). "Growth of aviation due to aero club". New York Times (New York). http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9B07E2DD1139E333A25751C0A9679C946196D6CF.
- ^ "National aero body formed after fight". New York Times (New York). 23 June 1910. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9903EEDF1230E233A25750C2A9609C946196D6CF.
- ^ "Says aviators closed meet". New York Times (New York). 3 November 1910. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A02E0DF1339E433A25750C0A9679D946196D6CF.
- ^ Robie, Bill (1991). For the Greatest Achievement. Washington, DC and London: Smithsonian Institution Press.
- ^ http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/aviation/sti.htm
- ^ http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/aviation/sti.htm
- ^ Cross & Cockade, Volume 6, p. 55.
- ^ Rechs, Robert. "Who's who of ballooning". http://www.ballooninghistory.com/whoswho/appendix2AR.html. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
