Name Curtiss Day | ||
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Curtiss LaQ Day (24 May 1895 – 25 April 1972) was an American aviation pioneer. He was once said to be youngest person in the United states to hold a pilot's license from the Aero Club of America.
Biography
He was born on May 24, 1895 in Paxton, Illinois, and attended the Gibson High School.
His first plane was a biplane glider that he built in 1910. Day attended the Thomas Brothers Flying School at Bath, New York and his training in a single-seater Thomas pusher. He was highly enthusiastic about flying in his young years that at one point of time, his parents had to force his return home by notifying the company that he was a minor. He later entered the Wright Brothers School at Simms Station in Dayton, Ohio. There, he flew solo in a Wright Model B and was awarded the FIA pilot license number 302 after flying for his tests on July 22, 1914. Day then gained employment at Hensil Aero Stabilizer Company at Cicero Field, Chicago, Illinois as a test pilot.
In June 1916, he became an assistant instructor at the Wright Flying School at Hempstead Plains, New York. After graduation from college in 1917, Day became a civilian instructor at Chanute Field. He later joined the United States Air Force and received his R.M.A. wings in 1918. Day also received his Expert License, No. 187 on August 14, 1917.
He was employed in 1916 as a test pilot of the Wright Company at its plant in Hempstead Field on Long Island. During World War I he served as an instructor in advanced flight at the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps. Day went to Morocco in 1925 to fight in the Riff War as a member of the Escadrille Cherifienne. He quit flying after the war and worked in the hotel business.
During World War II, he worked for Eastern Air Lines in the operations department at LaGuardia Field in New York and at Savannah, Georgia.
He died on April 25, 1972 in Elkhart, Indiana. He is buried in the Drummer Township Cemetery.