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The Early Birds of Aviation is an organization devoted to the history of early pilots. The organization was started in 1928 and accepted a membership of 598 pioneering aviators. Membership was limited to those who piloted a glider, gas balloon, or airplane, prior to December 17, 1916. The cutoff date was set at December 17 to correspond to the first flights of Wilbur and Orville Wright. 1916 was chosen as a cutoff because a large number of people were trained in 1917 as pilots for World War I. The original organization dissolved once the last living member had died. This occurred with the death of 99-year-old George Debaun Grundy, Jr. on May 19, 1998.〔 The current organization is devoted to collecting and publishing biographies on those who met the 1916 deadline. There were many pilots who soloed before the 1916 deadline who never applied to the club to be members. Some have been made honorary members. ==Members== The following are the 598 aviator members:〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/arch/findaids/eb/eb_sec_15.html )〕 *Nicholas Rippon Abberly (1891–1983). He was born on March 25, 1891. He built and flew a pusher configuration aircraft in Mineola, New York on Long Island in September 1910. He soloed the aircraft in October 1910. He died in April 1983.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://earlyaviators.com/eabberly.htm )〕 *Lieutenant Steadham Acker (1896–1952). He was born on March 31, 1896 in Talladega, Alabama to William H. Acker. He became a Lieutenant in the Naval Air Service from 1918 to 1919. He was the general manager of the Birmingham Municipal Airport and founded the Birmingham Aero Club on January 31, 1932. Acker and Rountree founded and managed the National Air Carnival, an annual Birmingham based airshow. In 1946 he became the director for the National Aviation Clinic in Oklahoma City and ran the Omaha airshow. He died on October 22, 1952 in Jefferson, Alabama at age 56. *Raynold Edward Acre (1889–1966) *Baxter Harrison Adams (1885–1951) *Walter Joseph Addems (1899–1997) was the penultimate member of the Early Birds of Aviation to die.〔 *William Herbert Aitken (1887–1964) *Eduardo Aldasoro Suárez (1894–1968) *Juan Pablo Aldasoro (1893–1962) *A. Livingston Allan (1886–1954) *Walter E. Allen ✝ *Malcolm Graeme Allison (1894–1984) *Lawrence Malcolm Allison (1894–1974) *Francis Inman Amory (1895–1974) *Alex Francis Arcier (1890–1969) *Charles A. Arens (1895–1967) was the secretary of the Early Birds of Aviation *Robert James Armor (1887–1972) *Edward Robert Armstrong (1876–1955) *Robert T. Armstrong (?–1936) *George B. Arnold (1893–1956) *General Henry Harley Arnold (1886–1950) *Arthur Cruger Aston (1897–1988) *William Vincent Astor (1891–1959) *Bert Milton Atkinson (1887–1937) *Harry Nelson Atwood (1883–1967) *Stuart Francis Auer (1898–1958) *Reinhardt Norbert Ausmus (1896–1970), aka Reiny Ausmus *William L. Avery (?–1942) *Vearne C. Babcock (1887–1972) *William Barlett Bacon ✝ *Edgar Wirt Bagnell (1890–1958), learned to fly at Newport News, Virginia in 1915. He died at a nursing home in Berkeley, California on August 27, 1958. *Frederick Walker Baldwin (1882–1948) *William Ivy Baldwin (1866–1953) *Horace Clyde Balsley (1893–1942) *Neil Bangs ✝ *Horatio Claude Barber (1875–1964) *Floyd Edward Barlow (1889–1977) *Ralph Stanton Barnaby (1893–1986) *George E. Barnhart (1896–1962) *Richard Bernard Barnitz (1891–1960) *Rutledge Bermingham Barry (1896-1967) *Carl Sterling Bates (1884–1956) *Edmond E. Bates (1896–1982) *Mortimer Fleming Bates (1883–1961) *Carl Truman Batts (1892–1969) *Hillery Beachey (1885–1964) *George William Beatty (1887–1955) *Harvey Arthur Beilgard (1888-1943)
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