J. Clifford Turpin

James Clifford Turpin (May 6, 1886 – January 1966) was a pioneer aviator with the Wright Exhibition Team.

Biography

He was born on May 6, 1886. He attended Purdue University, the first graduate to receive a pilot's license. Turpin joined the Wright Exhibition team in 1910, flying demonstrations across the country. The group was disbanded in 1911. In May 1912, Turpin rented a Wright Model C for his own exhibitions. While flying in a Seattle stadium, Turpin clipped a pylon avoiding a cameraman, and veered into a grandstand, killing a spectator.[1] After the death of his flying partner, Phil Parmalee, in Yakima, Washington, Turpin quit flying. He died in January 1966. He was buried in Lothrop Hill Cemetery in Barnstable, Massachusetts.[2]

External links

References

  1. ^ Air & Space. April 2008. 
  2. ^ "J. Clifford Turpin". Early Aviators. http://earlyaviators.com/eturpin.htm. Retrieved 2010-11-04.