Early Birds of Aviation

PIONEER FLYERS Editors Note: It becomes obvious to even the amateur aviation historian, like myself, that many of the pioneer flyers were not members of the Early Bird organization. Even those who soloed before the cutoff date, December 17, 1916 and were otherwise eligible, were either overlooked as candidates or didn't bother to apply. Nevertheless, I think they deserve our attention if we are to understand and appreciate the roles they played in the development of aviation. To that end, I hope to add a few to this page as time and opportunity permits. ABBEY, Evers ACOSTA, Bert ADAMS, Turk ALEXANDER, J. Don ANDERSON, C. Alfred ANDO, C. ANDREWS, E. F. APPLEBY, Cal AUSTIN, Charles BACH, Erna BACH, L. Morton BADGER, William R. BAKER, Hobey BALDWIN, Thomas BANNING, J. Herman BARIN, Louis BARKSDALE, Eugene BARNES, P. F. BARRETT, Thomas BARTOW, Jack "Red" BAUDER, Lynn BEACH. George BEACHEY. Lincoln BEAVERS, Bert BECK, Paul W. BEECH, Alexander BEERS, Earl BEHR, Kenneth BELL, F., M. BELL, George E. BELL, Grover BENBOW, Thomas C. BENEDICT, Ray BENOIST, Thomas BERGDOLL, Grover BERLIN, Claude BERTAUD, Lloyd BEST, Joe BETTIS, Cyrus BIDDLE, Charles BIFFLE, Ira O. BILLARD, Phil. BILLINGSLEY, William. BING, George. BINGHAM, Halsey. BIXLER, John A. BLACK, Fred L. BLAIR, Russell BLAKELY, Harold. BOARDMAN, Russell BOLAND, Frank E. BOLLING, Raynal BONNETTE, C. C. BONNEY, Leonard BOSTON, Art BOWERSOX, A. BRESSMAN, A. BRIGGS, A. W. BREADNER, George. BRINDLEY, Oscar. BRODIE, Otto. BROMWELL, Laura BRONSON, C. G. BROOKLEY, Wendell. BROOKS, Sidney. BROSSY, Frederick A. BROWN, John F.. BRUKNER, Clayton BRUNER, Harold BRYANT, John M. BULLARD, Eugene BUNCE, Howard S. BURGESS, George. BURKE, William BURLINGAME, Elmer BURNS, John BUTUSOV, William P. CABANISS, Robert CALL, Loren H. CALLAWAY, Stephen CAMPBELL, Mark M. CARLSON, Charles CARLSTROM, Carl CARLSTROM, Victor CASTELLANE, Tony CHAMBERLIN, Clarence CHAMBERS, Albert CHAMPION, Frank CHANUTE, Octave CHARLETON, Victor CHASE, Charles S. CHENEY, William CHEVALIER, Godfrey CHRISTOFFERSON, Silas CHURCH, James CLARK, Halford CLEVELAND, E. W. CLARKE, Dr. J.C. CODY, Mabel CODY, Samuel COFFELT, Glenn COHEN, Aaron COLE, Christopher COLE, J. J. COLEMAN, Bessie COLOVAN, Peter COMEGYS, Edward COMPERE, Harold COOK, Arthur B. COOKE, Weldon B. CORKILLE, John COSTA, Joe. COUCH, William COWDIN, Elliot CROFT, Alfred CROUT, Charles M. DALLAS, Jack DAVIDSON, Walter H. DAVIS, Noel DAWSON, Joseph DEBEESON, George DEVRY, Herman DICKINSON, Charles DION, Peter DIXON, Cromwell DODD, Townsend F. DOOLITTLE, James DORR, Stephen DORTCH, I. F. DOWNEY, Joe DREW, Andrew DREW, Sidney DREXEL, J. Armstrong DUFFY, Mrs. William DURANT, Cliff DURAY, Arthur EBERTS, Melchior EDGAR, Stuart EDWARDS, Walter EELLS, Fred ELLINGTON, Eric ELY, Eugene EMERY, Harri ENDERTON, Otto ENGLEHARDT, Leon EPPS, Ben T. ERDMAN, Carl EVANS, Edward FAIRCHILD, Walter FANNING, J. J. FELTON, William FERGUSON, FETTERS, FINAN, Edward FOGG, Robert S. FORBES, A. Holland FOWLER, Ransom FREEMAN, Arch FRITTS, Earl GALLAUDET, Edson F. GAINES, Albert B. GAIRENS, Martin GARLICK, Charles E. GATSCHET, Charles GEIGER, Harold GEIGER, Roy S. GEIGER, William GEIGER, Jr., William GERALDSON, Lloyd GERSTNER, Frederick GILL, Howard GILPATRIC, Guy GOEBEL, Art GREEN, Johnny GRANT, Duncan GREENE, Ralph N. GREGORY, Ben GREVE, Louis W. GRETH, Dr. August GRIFFIN, Charles GUNN, Tom GUTHRIE, Clifford HALL, Whipple HAMILTON, Carl HAMILTON, Charles HARKNESS, Harry HARMON, Clifford B.. HARRIS, Harold R. HARTNESS, James HECKSHER, G.M., HARTMAN, Rudolph R. HATTEMER, Henry HAWLEY, Charles HEEGEL, Fred HEINRICH, A. S. HEMSTROUGHT, W. HENDRICKSON, C. J. HENNESSY, Frederick HEQUEMBOURG, Ted HERBSTER, Victor D. HERRING, Augustus HETLIK HILL, James D. HILLIARD, William HINTON, Walter. HOFMANN, Richard HOLT HOOD, Gordon HORNER, Jr., Joseph HOXSEY, Arch. HUBBARD, Edward HUBBARD, Gardner HUTCHISON, Edmund HYLAN, Ray IRVINE, Lily JAMES, C.N. "Jimmy". JANNUS, Roger. JANNUS, Tony. JAPP, Alex JEWELL, Albert. JOHN