Impressive Firsts Archives » Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame

George Armitage

RIAHOF — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 22:01:59 +0000

George Armitage (1887-1948) Born in England, he came to Rhode Island as a youngster and attended Providence public schools. He may have been the first person to fly in Rhode Island; it is known that he began experimenting with “power driven gliders” as early as 1905. A 1934 article in Rhode Island Review stated: “To […]

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Otto Hermann

Rich Cayer — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 18:26:49 +0000

Otto Hermann (c. 1870-1930): Otto Hermann was an auto stuntman who held a 1907 patent for a double loop-the-loop automobile-stunt ramp. He moved to Providence from Atlantic City, and started building his own biplane in the summer of 1909, described in a Journal article as “the first one to be tried out on testing grounds […]

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Harry M. Jones

RIAHOF — Sat, 23 Oct 2004 21:49:59 +0000

Harry M. Jones (1890-1973) Described in a 1912 Providence Journal article as Rhode Island’s “1st home grown aviator”, Jones managed the very first air show ever held in Rhode Island that same year. He was also the first (and last) person ever to land a plane on the Boston Common. Jones was best known, however, […]

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Mary Ann Lippitt

RIAHOF — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 20:56:06 +0000

Mary Ann Lippitt (1918-2006) was a descendant of an old and influential Rhode Island family that was very active in Rhode Island business and politics. In 1944 she learned to fly during a visit to Virginia, and was soon a skilled aviatrix. She worked as a flying instructor in Virginia and served in the US air postal service before returning to Rhode Island. She was one of about a dozen women pilots in the state.

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Martha McSally

RIAHOF — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 19:39:08 +0000

Retired Air Force Colonel Martha McSally hails from Warwick, and a Distinguished Graduate of the US Air Force Academy who became the first US female fighter pilot to fly combat missions, and the first woman to command an American fighter squadron.

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John F. “Jack” McGee

RIAHOF — Tue, 16 Dec 2003 22:30:38 +0000

John F. “Jack” McGee (1885 -1918), an aviation pioneer, was born in 1885 in Central Falls, but spent most of his life in Pawtucket. He made his first solo flight in August 1912, and by the end of the year had made a name for himself as an exhibition stunt pilot. Crowds as large as 50,000 […]

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