With Father’s Day this month, we thought it would be fun to highlight the men who have helped pave the way in aviation, and these men were also fathers. In some cases, their children and grandchildren even followed in their footsteps! Here are just a few of the many fathers in aviation.
Glenn Curtiss
(May 21, 1878 – July 23, 1930)
Glenn Curtiss was a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry, but he began his career as a bicycle racer and builder before moving to motorcycles. But, around 1904, Curtiss began his career in aviation by building engines for airships. By 1908, he joined the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA), founded by Alexander Graham Bell. Bell brought on Curtiss because he thought he was one of the best motor experts in the country and wanted him to build an engine for heavier-than-air flight experiments. They built four aircraft, and Curtiss was primarily responsible for the third. He even became its test pilot, flew 5,080 ft, and won the Scientific American trophy. This was considered the first pre-announced public flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft in America. A few years later, he received Pilot License #1. After his time with the AEA, Curtiss continued to make headway in the aviation industry. He won the world’s first international air meet, made the first long-distance flight in the U.S., and formed his own business which built aircraft for the Navy and Army. He had two children with his wife Lena Pearl Neff.
Jimmy Doolittle
(December 14, 1896 – September 27, 1993)
Jimmy Doolittle was a general in the military who had many accolades associated with his name. He was a brave pilot and pioneer in the aviation industry. During World War 1, Doolittle stayed state-side as a flight and gunnery instructor. After WWI, he continued to make strides in the aviation industry by making many pioneering flights. One of these flights was referred to as the blind flight, which meant he had to rely solely upon instruments to fly, which helped prove that pilots could fly in the dark and in harsh weather when vision was limited. He also set the world’s landplane speed record in 1932. In 1942, four months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Doolittle led what was called the Doolittle Raid where they bombs Japan, but he and his crew had to bail out over China when they ran out of fuel. Chinese guerrillas and John Birth, an American missionary, helped them get out safely. Later on, Doolittle was awarded the Medal of Honor by Franklin D. Roosevelt. He went on to be promoted to general, be inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame, and was listed as one of the 51 Heroes in Aviation by Flying magazine. Jimmy Doolittle had two children with his wife Josephine Daniels.
Charles Lindbergh
(February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974)
Charles Lindbergh joined the U.S. Army Air Service as a cadet in 1924, and by 1925, he’d become a second lieutenant. In that same year, he was hired as a U.S. Air Mail pilot. By 1927, Lindbergh made one of the most famous flights in history. Lindbergh made the first solo transatlantic flight, a flight that took him 33.5 hours to complete. He flew from New York City to Paris, France, on a 3,600 mi flight. Though it wasn’t the first flight to fly transatlantic, it was the first solo transatlantic flight and the longest one in 1927. Because of this flight, Lindbergh was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Coolidge and the Distinguished Flying Cross. France also awarded him the Legion of Honor, which is the highest French order of merit. In 1927, he was also promoted to colonel in the U.S. Army Air Corps Reserve. Little did he know, Lindbergh had just spurred the revolution of the aviation industry worldwide by his flight! A year later, Time magazine recognized him as Man of the Year, the first time that had ever been done. Lindbergh continued to make history throughout his lifetime. He had thirteen children, but unfortunately, Charles, Jr., his first child, was kidnapped and murdered in 1932. Though, this did spark reform in that crime. Congress declared it a federal crime if a kidnapper crosses state lines with a victim. In his later years, Lindbergh became a Pulitzer-winning author, explorer, and environmentalist.
Paul Tibbets, Jr.
(February 23, 1915 – November 1, 2007)
Tibbets was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force who is best known for being the pilot who dropped a Little Boy, one of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima in the Enola Gay, the aircraft named after his mother. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Tibbets flew anti-submarine patrols of the Atlantic, as well as other missions overseas. Afterward, he came back to the United States to help with the development of the B-29 Superfortress bomber. Eventually, Tibbets was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by Major General Carl Spaatz. He had one son, Paul Tibbets, III.
Fathers in Aviation
Though we don’t have the time to mention all the many men who are fathers in the aviation industry, we wish that we could. However, we do want to extend a hearty Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers in aviation, especially Tommy James and the fathers who work at Rebel Services.
