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(class of 1908) 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] Turpin reputedly was the father of one daughter.[3]
External links
- James Clifford Turpin at Findagrave
- Washington's first airplane fatality occurs at the Meadows Race Track in Georgetown on May 30, 1912.
