The Aero Club of America issued the first pilot's licenses in the US. It was founded in 1905, and had many sister organizations. The organization gave out the Collier Trophy. Cortlandt Field Bishop was President of the Aero Club of America in 1910.

Historical notes

Some of the later licenses issued by the Aero Club of America bore the printed signature of Orville Wright. Wright served for a time as Chairman of the Aero Club of America's Contest Committee. Contrary to popular myth, the Wright brothers were not issued licenses number 4 and 5 for malicious reasons. They were simply among the five pilots who had, in America, demonstrated their ability to fly airplanes before the Aero Club of America's licensing program began. Those first five licenses were issued in alphabetical order ?-- a practice followed by other national organizations belonging to the FAI.

Pilot's licenses were not required by law (except by some states) until well after World War I. Aero Club of America licenses were required for participation in sporting events and demonstrations sanctioned by the ACA and FAI, and they gave credibility to pilots seeking to perform demonstration flights for hire, but many American pilots never applied for a license, which required a demonstration of flight proficiency.

A complete and accurate list of the earliest pilots issued licenses by the Aero Club of America can be found in the appendix material of a book called, "For the Greatest Achievement" (Bill Robie, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC and London, 1991)

Notable Licensees

Airplane division

• 01 Glenn Curtiss
• 02 Frank P. Lahm
• 03 Louis Paulhan
• 04 Orville Wright
• 05 Wilbur Wright
• 06 Clifford B. Harmon
• 07 Thomas Scott Baldwin (1854-1923)
• 08 J. Armstrong Drexel
• 09 Todd Schriver
• 10 Charles Foster Willard
• 37 Harriet Quimby, first woman
• 44 Matilde Moisant, second woman
• 133 Julia Clark, third woman
• 148 Katherine Stinson (1891-1977) fourth woman. She convinced flight instructor Max Lillie of Chicago to take her on as a student in 1912. Katherine became the fourth licensed female pilot in the U.S., began touring as a stunt pilot and became one of the country's most famous female aviators. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/aviation/sti.htm
• 173 Bernetta A. Miller fifth woman
• 303 Marjorie Stinson, the ninth licensed female pilot in the world. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/aviation/sti.htm

Seaplane (Hydroaeroplane) division

• 01 Adolph G. Sutro
• 02 Lt. Alfred A. Cunningham (USN)
• 03 Lt. B. B. Smith (USN)
• 04 LCDR P. N. L. Bellinger (USN)
• 05 Ensign G. DeC. Chevalier (USN)
• 06 L. A. ("Jack") Vilas
• 07 William Ellwood Doherty
• 08 H. P. Harris
• 09 Ernest C. Bass
• 10 Steve MacGordon
• 26 Roger Weightman Jannus

Balloon division

• 01 Maj. J.C. McCoy (USA)
• 02 A. Leo Stevens
• 03 Frank S. Lahm
• 04 Col. Frank P. Lahm (USA)
• 05 Carl E. Meyers
• 06 Col. Henry B. Hersey (USA)
• 07 Allan R. Hawley
• 08 Col. Charles DeF. Chandler (USA)
• 09 Thomas Scott Baldwin (1854-1923)
• 10 Albert C. Triaca
• 27 Sylvester Louis Von Phul
• 533 Harry Rasmussen (1886-1968)

Airship (Dirigible) division

Note: "Dirigible" simply meant that the airship could be made to go in any direction.

• 01 Thomas Scott Baldwin (1854-1923)
• 02 Frank P. Lahm
• 03 Horace B. Wild
• 04 A. Roy Knabenshue
• 05 A. Leo Stevens
• 06 Frank W. Goodale
• 07 R. H. Upson
• 08 R. A. D. Preston
• 09 Walter J. Pouchot
• 10 Noel Chadwick

Other aero clubs

• Royal Aero Club (1901)
• Aero Club of South Africa (1920)
• Aero Club of India (1927)
• Aero Club of Switzerland
• Aero Club of France

References

• New York Times; June 23, 1910; As a result of three different conventions held in this city yesterday among aeronautical clubs and societies, the National Council of Affiliated Clubs of the Aero Club of America, was formed last night. Thirty-nine delegates, representing constituencies from Pasadena, California, to Boston, met at the Aero Club last night and perfected a temporary organization which will be made permanent at noon today.
• New York Times; November 3, 1910; The absence of Cortlandt Field Bishop, President of the Aero Club of America, and J. Armstrong Drexel from this city yesterday brought a lull in the controversy between the American aviator and the organization, which he criticized for its refusal to allow Grahame-White to fly a second time in the Statue of Liberty race in the international tournament at Belmont Park.
• Balloonhistory site with licensees and their numbers

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