Sold – The First Pilot’s License Issued by the U.S. Government
A landmark in the history of aviation.
Although by 1925 many people were looking to the sky, the U.S. had no national aviation policy. Several bills had been introduced in Congress to develop one, but each effort failed, due mainly to ego and lack of appreciation of aviation’s potential. Then President Coolidge was converted to the cause of aviation,...
Although by 1925 many people were looking to the sky, the U.S. had no national aviation policy. Several bills had been introduced in Congress to develop one, but each effort failed, due mainly to ego and lack of appreciation of aviation’s potential. Then President Coolidge was converted to the cause of aviation, both civil and military, and this proved to be the key to opening the door. He advocated an aviation bill called the Air Commerce Act that would create Federal regulation and establish an overall policy of encouraging aviation. Much of the bill’s language was the work of former Army pilot William MacCracken, founder of the National Aeronautic Association and supporter of strong Federal aviation legislation.
In May 1926, Congress passed the act, which gave the U.S. Government responsibility for fostering air commerce, establishing airways and aids to air navigation, and making and enforcing safety rules. Management of the aviation system was entrusted to the newlycreated Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce, which was established in August 1926 under the leadership of the bill’s author, MacCracken, who became Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics (his boss was Secretary of Commerce and future President Herbert Hoover). Under MacCracken’s leadership, the Aeronautics Branch set aviation standards, regulated commercial airlines, and promoted safety by certifying aircraft and licensing pilots for the first time. These measures provided a foundation for the success of commercial aviation.
The program to license pilots got underway in the spring of 1927. The Federal Aviation Administration’s website supplies an exact date and information on the first license, stating: “April 6, 1927: William P. MacCracken, Jr., Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics, receives Pilot License No. 1, becoming the first person to obtain a pilot license from a civilian agency of the U.S. Government.”
This is that first pilot’s license issued to MacCracken, on U.S. Department of Commerce, Aeronautics Branch imprinted card stock, with its “Official No. 1”at upper right, certifying that he is a “Private Pilot of civil aircraft of the United States.”
The one-year license was to expire on April 6, 1928, and was signed by Herbert Hoover as Secretary of Commerce. With the license is MacCracken’s Pilot’s Identification Card bearing the date of April 6, 1927, and the representation that it “accompanies Pilot’s License No. 1.”
It contains a photograph of MacCracken in his pilot’s garb, gives his age as 38, describes his weight, height, hair and eye color, and finishes with his signature. Both the license and ID card are sealed with the Department of Commerce seal. These are the same cards pictured on oldbeacon.com, a website devoted to the Golden Age of Aviation, as the first ones ever issued. They are from the MacCracken papers and are still in his small wallet.
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