Lewis E. Goodier, Jr.

Lewis Edward Goodier, Jr. (August 5, 1885 – December 29, 1961) was a pioneer aviator.

Biography

He was born on August 5, 1885 to Lewis Edward Goodier, Sr. and Jane E. Northrop.

He was seriously injured in a demonstration accident on November 5, 1914 while flying with Glenn L. Martin in a new aircraft undergoing a required competitive slow speed test, the aircraft stalled, and when Martin overcorrected with too much throttle, went into what was described as the first tailspin.[1] Goodier suffered a nearly severed nose, two broken legs, a re-opened skull fracture, and a severe puncture of his knee from the drive shaft. The accident occurred amidst a series of fatal training crashes, all involving the Wright C pusher airplane, that resulted in six deaths between July 1913 and February 1914, and culminated in pilots refusing to fly pusher airplanes.[2]

In 1919 he married Myrtis Mahood.[3]

He died on December 29, 1961 in Santa Barbara, California.

References

  1. ^ Hennessey, Juliette A. (1958). The United States Army Air Arm, April 1861 to April 1917, Air Force Historical Study No. 98. Air Force History Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, Alabama, p. 123.
  2. ^ Hennessey, p. 103.
  3. ^ "Mrs. Louis E. Goodier Jr.". New York Times. July 22, 1954. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10C12F63B5A107B93C0AB178CD85F408585F9. Retrieved 2011-05-25. "Mrs. Myrtis Mahood Goodier, wife of Lieut. Col. Louis E. Goodier Jr., USA, retired, an early pilot, died here Tuesday night after a short illness. ..."