http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/312820416

Oral history interview with John M. Miller

Interview with John M. Miller, a pioneer aviator, concerning his reminiscences from his career in aviation, 1920-63. Influence of the early aircraft designer Glenn Curtiss; his meeting with the aviatrix Ruth Law; influence of the book "Aerobatics" by Horatio Barber; his meeting with barnstorming pilot "Swanee" Taylor; Taylor's gift of his aircraft to Miller; teaching himself to fly without formal instruction and his solo flight on December 15, 1923; college at Pratt Institute of Technology and graduation with a degree in mechanical engineering, 1927; meetings of aviators at a speakeasy, New York City, 1923-27; origins of the organization "Quiet Birdsmen"; obtaining his aircraft mechanic's license, 1927; his eye-witness account of Charles Lindbergh's trans-Atlantic flight, May 20, 1927; influence of Harold Stark's "1-2-3 System"; employment with Gates Flying Circus, 1927-29; his career as a barnstormer, 1929; his joining the Marine Corps Reserve, 1929; comments about German pilot Ernst Udet; his cross-country flight in a Pitcairn autogiro, May 14-28, 1931; making 3,000 flights as an airmail pilot; employment for twenty-five years as a pilot for Eastern Airlines; employment as a test pilot for Columbia Aircraft Corporation during World War II; test work on the Grumman J2F-6 amphibian; comments about various aircraft he flew for Eastern. Appendix consists of a memoir tilted, "UFO: United Flying Octogenarians," (seven leaves).

Open All Close All