In 2007, the RI Aviation Hall of Fame provided Special Recognition awards to the men and women of the 1st Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment of the Rhode Island Army National Guard, which was named the Outstanding Army National Guard Aviation Unit of the Year nationwide for 2005. Flying in the Iraqi theater for virtually the […]
The Allen Family of Aeronauts: according to New York-based aeronautical researcher Chris Lynch, “If there was a founding family of RI aviation, they are it.”
Barrington natives James Allen (1824-1897) and his younger brother Ezra Allen (1840 – 1902) distinguished themselves through a lifelong commitment to aeronautics in the 19th century.
Allen P Bourdon (1888-1972) was an aviation pioneer and WWI instructor pilot; he also flew with Amelia Earhart. He moved to RI in 1917 to learn to fly at Gallaudet Aviation in East Greenwich. He became a designer and test pilot for Gallaudet and later set up his own manufacturing plant at Hillsgrove. Bourdon Aircraft […]
Captain Frederick R. Bartlett was born in Lakewood, Ohio on 22 June 1930. He grew up Wyncote, Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts, where he captained the swim and tennis teams. Fred enlisted in the Navy in 1952 at the height of the Korean War. He became a Naval Aviator, assault helicopter pilot with […]
Each year, we highlight a China service candidate for recognition. The selection for 2019 is 1/LT Sidney R. Amylon, who served in the China-Burma-India Theater as a B-25 bomber pilot from the autumn of 1944 through mid-1945. Born and raised in Warwick’s Hillsgrove neighborhood, he graduated from Aldrich High School at the top of his […]
Retired Air Force Major General, Apollo 8 Astronaut and former Textron executive Bill Anders is one of the first three humans to view the dark side of the moon. Anders described his experiences and his famous photograph, “Earthrise,” which he took on Christmas Eve, 1968. Along with the first pictures taken of the earth from […]
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 […]
William P. Armstrong (1924- 1945) was a Tuskegee Airman/Fighter Pilot, shot down in action on April 1, 1945.
Captain Karl W Augenstein USAF (1924-1954) was a German immigrant from Cranston who, as a teenager, made the decision to fight for his adopted country. He became a WWII B-24 bomber pilot, flying 11 combat missions before German capitulation in May 1945. As a civilian, he was the corporate pilot for Bulova Watch Company. He […]
Lieutenant Commander Stanley Auslander, US Naval Reserve, a long-time Warwick resident and patrol bomber pilot, sank one German U-boat and damaged another off the coast of Brazil. He later flew patrols from England before and after D-day, and is credited with homing a British destroyer in to sink another U-boat. He earned a Distinguished Flying […]
Eugene Bielecki was born in Pawtucket in 1927. Gene is a founding member and past president of the Rhode Island Pilots Association. In his piloting career he has logged well over 30,000 flight hours, including more than 15,000 hours as a Flight Instructor. He holds a number of single and multi-engine private and commercial ratings […]