Early Birds of Aviation

The Early Birds of Aviation is an organization devoted to the history of early pilots. The organization was started in 1928. Membership was limited to those who piloted a glider, gas balloon, or airplane, prior to December 17, 1916. The cutoff date was set at December 17 to correspond to the first flights of Wilbur and Orville Wright. 1916 was chosen because large numbers of people were trained in 1917 as pilots for World War I. Many Early Birds went on to establish careers in public service and the aviation industry.

The original organization dissolved once the last living member had died. This occurred with the death of 99-year-old Early Bird George Debaun Grundy, Jr. on May 19, 1998. The current organization is devoted to collecting and publishing biographies on those who met the 1916 deadline. There are pilots who soloed before the 1916 deadline that never applied to the club to be members. Some have been made honorary members.

External links

* [http://www.earlyaviators.com/ Official website]

Members

*Nicholas R. Abberly
*Steadham Acker
*Raynold E. Acre
*Baxter H. Adams
*Walter J. Addems
*William R. Aitken
*Eduardo Aldasoro
*Juan Pablo Aldasoro
*A. Livingston Allan
*Walter E. Allen
*Lawrence M. Allison
*Malcolm G. Allison
*Francis I. Amory
*A. Francis Arcier
*Charles A. Arens
*Robert J. Armor
*Edward R. Armstrong
*Robert T. Armstrong
*George B. Arnold
*Henry Harley Arnold
*Arthur Aston (aviator)
*Vincent Astor (aviator), possibly William Vincent Astor, but there is no mention of him as an aviator in his biography.
*Bert M. Atkinson
*Harry N. Atwood
*Stuart F. Auer
*Reinhardt N. Ausmus
*William Avery (aviator)
*Verne C. Babcock
*W. Barlett Bacon
*Edgar W. Bagnell
*Frederick W. Baldwin
*William Ivy Baldwin
*H. Clyde Balsley
*Niel Bangs
*Horatio Barber
*Floyd E. Barlow
*Ralph S. Barnaby
*George E. Barnhart
*Richard B. Barnitz
*Rutledge B. Barry
*Carl S. Bates
*Edmond E. Bates
*Mortimer F. Bates
*Carl T. Batts
*Hillery Beachey
*George W. Beatty
*Harvey A. Beilgard
*Frank J. Bell
*Giuseppe M. Bellanca
*Edward A. Bellande
*Patrick N. L. Bellinger
*Joseph S. Bennett
*Lester F. Bishop
*Filip A. Bjorklund
*Louis Bleriot
*Joseph A. Blondin
*Pierre de Lagarde Boal
*Edward R. Boland
*Joseph J. Boland
*Alfred Bolognesi
*Allen F. Bonnalie
*C. R. Borkland
*William Bouldin III
*Overton M. Bounds
*George N. Boyd
*Philip Boyer
*Jesse C. Brabazon
*John Moore-Brabazon, 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara
*Eric T. Bradley
*Caleb S. Bragg
*Fred H. Brauninger
*Homer L. Bredouw
*Louis C. Breguet
*Lewis H. Brereton
*George H. Brett
*Bruno Brevonesi
*Georgia Broadwick
*Walter L. Brock
*William S. Brock
*Walter R. Brookins
*John B. Brooks
*Gerald E. Brower
*Harold Haskell Brown
*Harry B. Brown
*Lawrence W. Brown
*Ralph M. Brown (aviator)
*W. Norman Brown
*Harry A. Bruno
*John C. Bryan
*Mahlon P. Bryan
*Alys McKey Bryant
*Frank M. Bryant
*Gilbert G. Budwig
*Walter R. Bullock
*Vernon L. Burge
*Vincent J. Burnelli
*Arthur C. Burns
*Frank H. Burnside
*Paul V. Burwell
*Jeanette Doty Caldwell
*J. Lansing Callan
*Buel H. Canady
*Leon E. Canady
*Joseph E. Carberry
*Norbert J. Carolin
*Walter J. Carr
*Philip A. Carroll
*Ralph B. Carter
*Verne Carter
*Joseph L. Cato
*Clyde V. Cessna
*Alfred N. Chandler
*C. deF. Chandler
*Carleton G. Chapman
*Arthur R. Christie
*William W. Christmas
*Harry P. Christofferson
*Everitt Vail Church
*George Russell Clark
*Virginius E. Clark
*Armand Walter Claverie
*W. R. Clinger
*Frank T. Coffyn
*Stewart W. Cogswell
*Clarence B. Coombs
*John D. Cooper
*Harry D. Copland
*Frank T. Courtney
*Parker D. Cramer
*Harvey Crawford
*Harry B. Crewdson
*W. Redmond Cross
*Kent Crowell
*H. Paul Culver
*A. A. Cunningham
*John F. Curran
*John F. Curry
*Greely S. Curtis
*Glenn H. Curtiss
*L. Luzerne Custer
*John B. Daniell
*Herbert A. Dargue
*Earl S. Daugherty
*Howard C. Davidson
*Stuart V. Davis
*Walter C. Davis, Sr.
*F. Trubee Davison
*Charles H. Day
*Curtiss LaQ. Day
*Antonio S. DeBustamente
*Luis de Florez
*Clarence A. DeGiers
*Dana C. DeHart
*Fred Korstad DeKor
*Serigius DeMitkiewicz
*William A. Denehie
*Richard H. Depew, Jr.
*Lionel H. DeRemer
*Jean F. DeVillard
*Fairman R. Dick
*Charles Dickinson (aviator) (Honorary)
*William C. Diehl
*Ralph C. Diggins
*William E. Doherty
*Charles H. Dolan II
*Charles Dollfus
*John Domenjoz
*Burton M. Doolittle
*Henry Dora
*Raymond E. Dowd
*Carl H. Duede
*David E. Dunlap
*James L. Dunsworth
*Francis V. Dupont
*Warren S. Eaton
*Herman A. Ecker
*Samuel B. Eckert
*John P. Edgerly
*Gustav J. Ekstrom
*Frank H. Ellis
*Theodore G. Ellyson
*Albert Elton
*Raffe Emerson
*Albert J. Engel
*LeRoy M. Ennis
*Louis G. Erickson
*Frithiof G. Ericson
*Robert Esnault-Pelterie
*J. Dickinson Este
*Francis T. Evans
*W. Hendrick Evers
*Henri Fabre
*Elisha N. Fales
*Charles L. Fay
*Louis A. Fenouillet
*Harry Ferguson
*Paul L. Ferron
*Farnum T. Fish
*Sheplar W. FitzGerald
*Max C. Fleischmann
*Anthony H. G. Fokker
*Harry H. Ford
*Joseph R. Forkner
*Benjamin D. Foulois
*Heraclio Alfaro Fournier
*Harold S. Fowler
*Robert G. Fowler
*Roy N. Francis
*Joseph Frantz (aviator)
*William T. Fray
*John F. Freund
*Arthur T. Frolich
*Donald Frost
*John Frost (aviator)
*Rutherford Fullerton
*John R. Gammeter
*Harry Gantz
*Paul E. Garber
*Ben Garrison
*Ivan R. Gates
*George Gay (aviator)
*Louis H. Gertson
*William W. Gibson
*George S. Gillespie
*E.A. Goff, Jr.
*Frank W. Goodale
*Lewis E. Goodier, Jr.
*Donald H. Gordon
*Edgar S. Gorrell
*Harry T. Graham
*Charles H. Grant
*Rudolph R. Grant
*Harry D. Graulich
*George A. Gray
*John F. Gray
*William Greene (aviator)
*David Gregg
*Michael Gregor
*George D. Grundy, Jr. (Last Surviving Member)
*Emil Gustafson
*Clifton O. Hadley
*Ernest C. Hall
*George E. A. Hallett
*Garnet R. Halliday
*Thomas F. Hamilton
*Lee Hammond
*Stedman S. Hanks
*Thomas J. Hanley
*Millard F. Harmon
*William Harper, Jr.
*Helen Hodge Harris
*Arthur J. Hartman
*Harold E. Hartney
*B. R. J. Hassell
*Charles E. Hathorn
*William E. Haupt
*Beckwith Havens
*Willis B. Haviland
*Alan R. Hawley
*Jack W. Heard
*Edward B. Heath
*Andrew H. Heermance
*Leo G. Heffernan
*Howard J. Heindell
*Albert S. Heinrich
*Arthur O. Heinrich
*John C. Henning
*Charles A. Herrman
*Charles E. Hess
*Eugene Heth
*William A. Hetlich, Jr.
*Robert P. Hewitt
*John E. Hickey
*Frederick C. Hild
*Erik Hildes-Heim
*Stanley Hiller
*Edward F. Hinkle
*Melvin W. Hodgdon
*Russell Holderman
*Edward H. Holterman
*Max Holtzem
*Frederick A. Hoover
*Orton W. Hoover
*Clarence F. Horton
*Fred Hummel
*Frederick E. Humphreys
*Howard Huntington
*Joseph R. Hutchinson
*Leslie L. Irvin
*E. K. Jaquith
*William C. Jenkins
*Shakir S. Jerwan
*Christian Johanssen
*Davenport Johnson
*Edward A. Johnson
*Frank H. Johnson
*James M. Johnson
*Louis Johnson (aviator)
*Robert R. Johnson
*Victor G. Johnson
*Walter E. Johnson
*Archibald B. Johnston
*Byron Q. Jones
*Ernest L. Jones
*Harry M. Jones
*Assen Jordanoff
*J. William Kabitzke
*John G. Kaminski
*Harold D. Kantner
*Frank Kastory
*Victorin Katchinsky
*Horace P. Keane
*George M. Keightley
*Edward A. Kelly (aviator)
*Ralph B. Kennard
*Frank M. Kennedy
*Walter G. Kilner
*Leo B. Kimball
*Wilbur R. Kimball
*R. M. Kinderman
*Bertell W. King
*Jerome Kingsbury
*James L. Kinney
*Roy C. Kirtland
*Daniel Kiser
*A. Roy Knabenshue
*Roland S. Knowlson
*Alfred Koenig
*Auguste K. Koerbling
*Esten B. Koger
*Edward A. Korn
*James S. Krull
*Carl T. Kuhl
*John K. LaGrone
*Frank P. Lahm
*Emil Matthew Laird
*Dean Lamb
*Albert B. Lambert
*William A. Lamkey
*Jean M. Landrey
*Boyd Latham
*Ruth Law
*Frank W. LaVista
*Oliver C. LeBoutillier
*E. Hamilton Lee
*Robert E. Lee (aviator)
*Walter E. Lees
*Bruce G. Leighton
*Willy Lenert
*Lawrence Leon
*Lawrence J. Lesh
*Samuel C. Lewis
*Goethe Link
*Walter J. Lissauer
*Allan H. Lockheed
*Grover C. Loening
*Albin K. Longren
*Flavius E. Loudy
*Israel Ludlow
*Theodore C. Macauley
*Leslie C. MacDill
*Charles S. MacDonald
*Robert F. MacFie
*Kenneth Marr
*Richard C. Marshall
*Glenn L. Martin
*Harold S. Martin
*James V. Martin
*Didier Masson
*William A. Mattery
*Hiram Percy Maxim
*James C. McBride
*James B. McCalley, Jr.
*John W. McClaskey
*John A. D. McCurdy
*Edward O. McDonnell
*William M. McIlvain
*George F. McLaughlin
*Emil Meinecke
*George Meissner
*Russell L. Meredith
*Glenn E. Messer
*Cord Meyer (aviator), possibly the father of Cord Meyer
*Charles W. Meyers
*Bernetta Miller
*Lestere Miller
*Lloyd E. Miller
*William C. Miller
*T. DeWitt Milling
*Frank Mills (aviator)
*Robert J. Minshall
*Arthur H. Mix
*Matilde Moisant
*Robert S. Moore
*Stuart A. Morgan
*Raymond V. Morris
*P. G. B. Morriss
*Herbert A. Munter
*George D. Murray
*Edwin C. Musick
*George F. Myers
*Earl L. Naiden
*C. Edward Nelson
*Nels J. Nelson
*Douglas B. Netherwood
*George Netzow
*John M. H. Nichols
*Russell B. North
*Willy Otto Ober
*Edward Olivier
*Earle L. Ovington
*George A. Page Jr.
*Stanley H. Page
*Joseph M. Pallissard
*Harry Park
*Evan J. Parker
*Fred F. Parker
*Will D. Parker
*Augustin Parla
*Edwin C. Parsons
*Charles H. Paterson
*John W. Pattison
*Felix W. Pawlowski
*John F. Petre
*Luba G. Phillips
*Elmo N. Pickerill
*Sydney Pickles
*Percy Pierce
*Samuel S. Pierce
*Augustus Post
*Edwin M. Post, Jr.
*George B. Post (aviator)
*Claude W. Pound
*Clarence O. Prest
*Maurice L. Prevost
*Frederick H. Prime
*Frederick H. Prince, Jr.
*John Daniel Probst, Jr.
*Ira J. Profitt
*George H. Prudden
*Sam A. Purcell
*Ira A. Rader
*Dewitt C. Ramsey
*Alexander Rankin
*Arthur Ray
*Albert C. Read
*Charles Reed (avaitor)
*Andrew Reid
*Marshall E. Reid
*Clearton H. Reynolds
*Harry V. Reynolds
*Harrison C. Richards
*Holden C. Richardson
*Arthur L. Richmond
*Howard Max Rinehart
*Hugh A. Robinson
*Jean Alfred Roche
*Robert L. Rockwell
*Wallace L. Rockwell
*Bernard F. Roehrig
*Roland Rohlfs
*Domingo Rosillo
*Oliver A. Rosto
*Ralph Royce
*George F. Russell
*Lucille Belmont Rutshaw
*Gustavo Salinas-Camina
*Alberto Salinas-Carranza
*Bert Saunders
*Martin F. Scanlon
*William G. Schauffer
*Frank Schoeber
*Rudolf W. Schroeder
*Edward G. Schultz
*Blanche Stuart Scott
*Lyle H. Scott
*George H. Scragg
*William E. Scripps
*Howard M. Shafer
*Castle W. Shaffer
*Cleve T. Shaffer
*Walter J. Shaffer
*Robert F. Shank
*Samuel H. Sharp
*B. Russell Shaw
*William H. Sheahan
*A. P. Shirley
*Charles W. Shoemaker
*Joseph Shoemaker
*Igor I. Sikorsky
*Milton H. Simmons
*Oliver G. Simmons
*Robert Simon
*Dorothy Peirce Sims
*Cecil R. Sinclair
*Albert D. Smith
*Hilder F. Smith
*James Floyd Smith
*Jay D. Smith
*Lawton V. Smith
*Orval H. Snyder
*Oscar A. Solbrig
*Sir Thomas O. M. Sopwith
*Carl Spaatz
*Earl W. Spencer, Jr.
*Percival Hopkins Spencer
*Thomas Eric Springer
*Anthony Stadlman
*William M. Stark
*Arney P. Stenrud
*Thomas E. Steptoe
*John B. Stetson (aviator), possibly a descendent of John B. Stetson
*Robert J. Stewart
*Edward A. Stinson, Jr.
*Katherine Stinson
*Marjorie Stinson
*Paul R. Stockton
*Arthur B. Stone
*E. F. Stone
*George E. Stratemayer
*John G. Stratton
*Paul Studenski
*Max F. Stupar
*Hugo Sunstedt
*Harry B. Suppe
*William Fred Suppe
*Andrew M. Surini
*Adolph G. Sutro
*John Redondo B. Sutton
*Maurice Tabuteau
*Gurdon L. Tarbox
*Lansing K. Tevis
*William Thaw
*Joseph H. Thomas
*William T. Thomas
*DeLloyd Thompson
*Carl H. Thomsen
*Charles Burrell Tibbs
*Sam A. Tickell
*Carter Tiffany
*Otto W. Timm
*Henry E. Toncray
*Joseph R. Torrey
*John H. Towers
*J. Clifford Turpin
*Horace B. Tuttle
*John H. Tweed
*Ralph H. Upson
*G. E. Van Arsdale
*Clifford C. Vandivort
*Stanley I. Vaughn
*Victor Vernon
*J. B. R. Verplanck
*Jack Vilas
*Sydney A. Vincent
*H. Roy Waite
*Henry W. Walden
*L.L. Walker, Sr.
*Arthur P. Warner
*Robert A. Warren
*Waldo D. Waterman
*Hugh Watson
*Clifford L. Webster
*Harry J. Webster
*Elling O. Weeks
*Howard F. Wehrle
*Charles F. West
*Ivan P. Wheaton
*Ray Wheeler
*Bernard L. Whelan
*John Taylor Hammond Whitaker
*George Clarke Whiting
*Kenneth Whiting
*Kirby L. Whitsett
*Charles D. Wiggin
*C. Livingston Wiggin
*Paul E. Wilbur
*Horace B. Wild
*Francis A. Wildman
*Charles F. Willard
*William P. Willets
*George W. Williams, Jr.
*Harold B. Willis
*Hugh L. Willoughby
*Fred J. Wiseman
*Charles C. Witmer
*Charles R. Wittemann
*C. Murvin Wood
*Frank W. Wright
*Orville Wright (Honorary)
*Roderick M. Wright
*Wilbur Wright (Honorary)
*James M. Wulpi
*Charles D. Wyman
*Forrest E. Wysong
*George E. Yeager
*David H. Young
*Edward H. Young
*Errol H. Zistel

References

*New York Times; October 11, 1953; The Men and Women Who Taught World To Fly Were a Dedicated Crew. "Early Birds" is an organization whose membership requirement is that the applicant must have flown in either an airship or an airplane during the first thirteen years of aviation. between 1903 and 1916.