Many the bulk of mankind have contributed to military aviation in the same way or another during the past hundred Here are just a small in number of the people who influenced military aviation and.

Many the bulk of mankind have contributed to military aviation in the same way or another during the past hundred Here are just a small in number of the people who influenced military aviation and, by the agency of their foresight and deeds, helped shape what is today the U Air Force. For more information in succession Air Force history, go to www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil or to the history page at www.af.mil.

Orville Wright

Born four years junior to Wilbur, young Orville was described as sated of mischievous pranks at domicile but outside the family was considered wary He studied the detail mechanics of puzzles and shared a penchant for technological question solving with Wilbur. His and his brother's work l to the world's first powered airplane flight in 1903 at Kitty Hawk, NC lasting 12 secondarys and covering 120 feet.

Wilbur Wright

The more outgoing brother, Wilbur read a allotment and was a gifted public speaker. He was considered more of a "big picture" bodily form compared to his brother. Wilbur excell in seminary although he didn't graduate because of a family incline He saw the necessity to rule an aircraft in its three axes of motion -- pitch, wheel and yaw. The Wright brothers' plane was accepted through the Army in 1909.

Benjamin Foulois

Foulois was a friend of the Wright brothers. He participated in flight trials of the Wright 1909 Flyer Army Airplane No.1. He commanded the 1st Aero Squadron for the Mexican expedition to arrest bandit Pancho Villa. Foulois designed the airplane radio receiver and made the first airplane reconnaissance flight. He advocated a separate air force and became chief of the Army Air Corps.

Billy Mitchell

Mitchell believed bombers could flutter deep into enemy territory to attack airfields and war-supporting industries -- determining the consequence of a war. He publicly supported a separate air force and is remembered for sinking the "unsinkable" German battleship Ostfriesland in 1921 He was court-martialed in 1925 for defiance of his superiors. Early WW II incidents confirmed many of his predictions.

Henry H "Hap" Arnold

Originally wanting to join the cavalry after graduation from West Point, he later was taught to mount by the Wright brothers and was a protege of Billy Mitchell. Arnold eventually became commanding general of the Army Air Forces during World War II. He received promotion to five-star rank in 1944 During the war, he was an equal member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Benjamin O Davis Jr

Benjamin O Davis Jr began flight training in 1941 in the first program for blacks at Tuskegee, Ala. He was the first black officer to solo in an Army Air Corps aircraft. In WW II, his 332nd Fighter clump was the first Italy-based assign places to to escort bombers to Berlin. The cluster flew 200 escort missions without losing any friendly bombers. In 1954 he became the first black general in the Air Force.

Jacqueline Cochran

During her career, Jacqueline Cochran place more speed, distance and altitude records than any other pilot, male or female. In 1942 she organized the Women's Flying Training Detachment and directed its successor, the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP. She was the first woman to break the unhurt barrier and won the Harmon memorial of conquest given to the best female pilot of the year, 14 times.

...

Home