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Famous 'Full size' Pilots
Famous 'Full size' Pilots
- Bertrand "Bert" Blanchard Acosta, and Clarence D. Chamberlin set an endurance record of 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds in the air.
Planes
- John Alcock, with Arthur Whitten Brown, first non-stop aerial crossing of the Atlantic.
Planes
- Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Bader is upheld as an inspirational leader and hero of the era, not least because he fought despite having lost both legs in a pre-war flying accident.
- Florence "Pancho" Barnes, born Florence Leontine Lowe, one of only two dozen aviatrixes in the United States, a contemporary of female flyers such as Amelia Earhart.
- Jean Batten, became one of the world's most popular and famous pilots when she established several individual flight distance records in the 1930s.
Planes
- Lowell Bayles, air race pilot of the 1930s.
Planes
- James "Biggles" Bigglesworth, fictional character by WE Johns
- Louis Blériot, In 1909 he completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he crossed the English Channel.
Planes
- Lord Brabazon, John Moore-Brabazon, aviation pioneer and Conservative MP. He became the first resident Englishman to make an officially recognized aeroplane flight in England on 2 May 1909 on the Isle of Sheppey with flights of 450ft, 600ft, and 1500ft. In 1943 he chaired the Brabazon Committee which planned to develop the post-war British aircraft industry. He was involved in the production of the Bristol Brabazon, a giant airliner that first flew on 4 September 1949.
Planes
- Captain Arthur Roy Brown DSC and bar, officially credited with shooting down Manfred von Richthofen.
Planes
- Arthur Whitten Brown, with John Alcock first non-stop aerial crossing of the Atlantic.
Planes
- Milo Burcham, worked as a stunt pilot, air show pilot, and test pilot.
- Robert Graham Carey, opened the Ballarat Flying School & Chief Instructor at a later date. Besides the training of pilots, activities included barnstorming, advertising ventures, aerial photography and the transport of mail, freight and passengers.
Planes
- Clarence Duncan Chamberlin, and Bert Acosta set an endurance record of 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds in the air.
Planes
- Georges Chavez, the first aviator to fly though the Simplon Pass between Switzerland and Italy, a height of 6,600 feet.
Planes
- Jackie Cochran, in 1942 lead the Women's Air Force Service Pilots, "WASPs".
- Bessie Coleman, "Brave Bessie" or "Queen Bess," as she became known, the daughter of a poor, southern, African American family, became one of the most famous women and African Americans in aviation history.
Planes
- Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan, became a legendary aviator, not because of his accomplishments as a pilot but rather because of a supposed navigational error. In 1938, Corrigan "mistakenly" flew from New York to Ireland, when he was supposed to be flying from New York to California, because he seemingly misread his compass! he flew from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York, to Ireland, though his flight plan was filed to return to Long Beach. He was a skilled aircraft mechanic (he was one of the builders of Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis) and had made several modifications to his own plane, preparing it for his transatlantic flight. He had been denied permission to make a nonstop flight from New York to Ireland, and his "navigational error" was seen by some as deliberate. Nevertheless, he never publicly admitted to having flown to Ireland intentionally.
- Glenn Curtiss, U.S. Pilot's license #1 from the Aero Club of America, Aviation pioneer & manufacturer.
- Doug Davis, at eighteen years old, in 1917, volunteered for the United States Army Air Service becoming it's youngest pilot.
- Leon Ferdinand Delagrange, On 23 June set an endurance record of 18 minutes, 30 seconds in Milan.
Planes
- James "Jimmie" Doolittle, is today most famous for his audacious B-25 bombing raid on Tokyo in the opening months of America's entry into World War II
Planes
- Amelia Earhart, first woman to fly across the Atlantic in 1928. died while trying round-the-world flight in 1937
- Mary Ellis, (née Wilkins; 2 February 1917 – 24 July 2018). ATA ferry pilot, flew more than 1000 aircraft of 76 types.
- Steve Fossett, in July 2002, achieved his dream by setting an absolute round the World Speed Record and a new record for the fastest Speed by a Manned Balloon and a new 24 Hour Balloon Distance Record.
- Frank Fuller, was issued the first commercial pilots license in Hawaii. In 1936 he asked Alexander de Seversky to build him a civilian version of the Seversky P-35. Seversky took a military P-35 removed the guns added extra fuel tanks, With his modified P-35, Frank won the Bendix race in 1937 and 1939.
Planes
- Roland Garros, added deflector plates to the blades of the propeller of his Morane-Saulnier. These small wedges of toughened steel diverted the passage of those bullets which struck the blades.
Planes
- Guy Gibson VC, Wing Commander of 617 "Dambusters" squadron.
Planes
Dambusters Raid
BBC page with photos of all crew, on the raid.
Wikipedia page on Dambusters.
- Claude Grahame-White, invested wisely in 220 acres of pasture at Hendon, turning it into London's first aerodrome.
Planes
- Alex Henshaw, record holder of solo outward, home and round trip from England to South Africa (1939). Chief Test pilot at Castle Bromwich, flying Spitfires and Lancaster bombers.
- Howard Hughes, was an American aviator, engineer, industrialist, film producer, film director, philanthropist, and one of the wealthiest people in the world.
Planes
Hughes H-4 Hercules, "Spruce Goose" (NX37602)
- Amy Johnson, first woman to fly solo from England to Australia.
Planes
Gipsy Moth, G-AAAH "Jason"
- Karel Miloslav “Kut” Kuttelwascher (RAF: 111.519) was awarded the DFC (gazetted 20th May 1942) and Bar (gazetted 1st July 1942) Czechoslovak fighter pilot of WW2, in particular Night Intruder ( loiter in the vicinity of enemy airbases to attack aircraft as they take off or land) missions using Hurricane IIb or IIc , equipped with two 200-litre under-wing auxiliary tanks, which allowed for 3.5 hours of flying-time.
Planes
Z2759 ()
Z3160
Z3449
BE150
BE581 "Night Reaper"
Miles Magister (24 Nov 1940)
De Havilland Mosquito NF.II (special) with H2S radar removed and additional fuel capacity. His navigator was usually P/O G.E. Palmer (RAF: 116.970).
DD683 - YP-U
Supermarine Spitfire (1¼ hrs on 18 Dec 1940)
- Charles Augustus Lindbergh, first man to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1927 in a single engine aircraft "Spirit of St. Louis".
Planes
Ryan NYP, "Spirit of St. Louis" (N-X-211)
- Paul Mantz, set an international record of 46 consecutive outside loops, a most punishing trial for a pilot, which stood for almost 50 years.
Planes
- Ruth Nichols, the only woman to hold simultaneously the women's world speed, altitude, and distance records for heavy landplanes.
Planes
- Charles Pixton, 1914 the winner of the Schneider Trophy.
Planes
- Harriet Quimby, became the first licensed female pilot in the United States, and less than a year later, became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.
Planes
- Hanna Reitsch, test pilot for the Luftwaffe during the second world war.
Planes
Dornier Do 17 "flying pencil"
Focke-Wulf Fw 61, the first fully-controllable helicopter.
Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka"
Me-163 "Komet"
Me-262 "Swallow"
- Manfred von Richthofen "The Red Baron"
Planes
- Charles Rolls, received certificate number 2 from the Royal Aero Club, Later in the same year he became the first man to fly non-stop across the English Channel both ways. Co founder of with F. H. Royce of one of the most important aero engine manufacturers, Rolls Royce.
Planes
Engines
RR Eagle, Vickers Vimy
RR Merlin, Spitfire, Mustang, Hurricane & Lancaster
RR Olympus (593), Vulcan & Concorde
RR RB211, Boeing 747, Boeing 757 & Boeing 767.
- Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan, aerospace engineer noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, energy-efficient aircraft.
- Richard Glenn "Dick" Rutan, piloted the Voyager aircraft around the world non-stop with co-pilot Jeana Yeager.
Planes
- Charles Kingsford Smith, set out from England in November 1935, an attempt to reach Australia in under two days. All that was ever found was an undercarriage leg with a still inflated tyre - discovered 18 months later on an island in the Andaman Sea.
Planes
Lockheed Altair, "Lady Southern Cross"
- Roland Robert ‘Bob’ Stanford-Tuck (DSO, DFC & Two Bars, AFC), Wing Commander (1 July 1916 – 5 May 1987) was a British WW2 fighter pilot, flying ace and test pilot.
- Maud Tait, posted a new speed record for women on September 6, 1931, when she flew fifty miles at an average speed of 187.5 miles per hour.
Planes
Gee Bee Model "Y" Senior Sportster (NR11049)
- Louise Thaden, one of the most famous American female pilots of the golden age of aviation, Louise McPhetridge Thaden became the first woman to win major flying events and awards as well as setting world performance records.
Planes
- Gabriel Voisin, in 1906, with his brother Charles, created the first aviation firm in the world: LES FRÈRES VOISIN.
Planes
- Geoffrey Wellum, Squadron Leader Geoffrey Harris Augustus Wellum DFC (4 August 1921 – 18 July 2018). Youngest RAF pilot to fly in the Battle of Britain.
Planes
Bell P-63 "Kingcobra"
- George Hubert Wilkins, explorer.
- Wright Brothers, Wilbur and Orville, the first flight of a heavier than air machine on 17 December 1903 at Kitty Hawk.
Planes
- Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager, he became the first pilot to travel faster than sound in level flight in 1947.
Planes
- Jeana Yeager, in December 1986, with Dick Rutan became the first people to circumnavigate the world, non-stop, without refuelling their plane,
Planes
Astronauts
Astronauts
Plane
Boeing B-29
North American X-15
Spaceship
Saturn V, rocket.
- Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, became the first human to journey into outer space on 12 April 1961.
Vostok 1. Spaceship
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