naval avaitor #1

[DAVE GEE]

Hi group:

Can anyone here point me to a page that will tell me who
Naval Aviator #1 is? I found #5 but after a day of looking
cannot find before that.
from what I can glean every aviator is given a number
when they are put in service, someone must be the first.
also what is it up to now?

TIA
Dave G.

[Krztalizer]

>
>Can anyone here point me to a page that will tell me who
>Naval Aviator #1 is?

Wouldn't that be Eugene Ely? Since he was the first to actually fly off a
ship, and be in the Navy, ...? Just a guess of course.

v/r
Gordon
<====(A+C====>
USN SAR

Donate your memories - write a note on the back and send your old photos to a
reputable museum, don't take them with you when you're gone.

[Dave in San Diego]

"DAVE GEE" > wrote in news:104g5034eb2o686
@corp.supernews.com:

> Hi group:
>
> Can anyone here point me to a page that will tell me who
> Naval Aviator #1 is? I found #5 but after a day of looking
> cannot find before that.
> from what I can glean every aviator is given a number
> when they are put in service, someone must be the first.
> also what is it up to now?
>

Right here!

http://www.history.navy.mil/avh-1910/APP01.PDF

The first 15 (read in four columns):
Naval Navy Air
Aviator Pilot
Number Name Service Number
1 Ellyson, Theodore G. USN 1
2 Rodgers, John USN
3 Towers, John H. USN 2
4 Herbster, Victor D. USN 5
5 Cunningham, Alfred A. USMC 14
6 Smith, Bernard L. USMC 6
7 Chevalier, Godfrey deC USN 7
8 Bellinger, Patrick N. L. USN 4
9 Billingsley, William D. USN
10 Murray, James M. USN
11 Mustin, Henry C. USN 3
12 McIlvain, William M. USMC 9
13 Richardson, Holden C. USN 12
14 Saufley, Richard C. USN 8
15 Bronson, Clarence K. USN 10

--
-
"For once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes
turned skyward;
For there you have been, and there you long to return."
Leonardo da Vinci

[Frank Minich]

> from what I can glean every aviator is given a number
> when they are put in service, someone must be the first.
> also what is it up to now?

The USN stopped issuing "Naval Aviator Numbers" sometime before I got my
wings in 74.

****er,
Frank

"DAVE GEE" > wrote in message
...
> Hi group:
>
> Can anyone here point me to a page that will tell me who
> Naval Aviator #1 is? I found #5 but after a day of looking
> cannot find before that.
> from what I can glean every aviator is given a number
> when they are put in service, someone must be the first.
> also what is it up to now?
>
> TIA
> Dave G.
>
>
>
>

[vincent p. norris]

>> from what I can glean every aviator is given a number
>> when they are put in service, someone must be the first.
>> also what is it up to now?
>
>The USN stopped issuing "Naval Aviator Numbers" sometime before I got my
>wings in 74.

I got my wings early in 1951. My number, preceded by a V, is about
1500 (not sure it's a good idea to publish the exact number).

But there MUST have been more than 1500 naval aviators prior to 1951.

Can anyone explain?

vince norris

[DAVE GEE]

Thanks all for the great information!
This is a very interesting group.

Dave G.

[Robert Moore]

vincent p. norris wrote

> I got my wings early in 1951. My number, preceded by a V, is about
> 1500 (not sure it's a good idea to publish the exact number).

Hmmmm....strange, I never questioned my Sept 25, 1959 number
of 15753.

Bob Moore

[Dave in San Diego]

Robert Moore > wrote in
. 7:

> vincent p. norris wrote
>
>> I got my wings early in 1951. My number, preceded by a V, is about
>> 1500 (not sure it's a good idea to publish the exact number).
>
> Hmmmm....strange, I never questioned my Sept 25, 1959 number
> of 15753.
>
> Bob Moore

Here's a link from my previous post for an explanation of how the system
worked back then. They changed how they issued numbers a couple of times.

Dave in San Diego
AT1 USN Ret.

--
-
"For once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes
turned skyward;
For there you have been, and there you long to return."
Leonardo da Vinci

[vincent p. norris]

>> I got my wings early in 1951. My number, preceded by a V, is about
>> 1500 (not sure it's a good idea to publish the exact number).
>
>Hmmmm....strange, I never questioned my Sept 25, 1959 number
>of 15753.
>
>Bob Moore

Doesn't it seem odd, Bob, that the numbers went from 1 to 1500 in
almost half a century, which included WW II, and then from 1500 to
15,000 in less than a decade?

vince norris

[Robert Moore]

Dave in San Diego wrote
> Here's a link from my previous post for an explanation of how the system
> worked back then. They changed how they issued numbers a couple of times.

Hmmm...must be going blind, can't see the link. :-)

Bob Moore

[Dave in San Diego]

vincent p. norris > wrote in
:

>>> I got my wings early in 1951. My number, preceded by a V, is about
>>> 1500 (not sure it's a good idea to publish the exact number).
>>
>>Hmmmm....strange, I never questioned my Sept 25, 1959 number
>>of 15753.
>>
>>Bob Moore
>
> Doesn't it seem odd, Bob, that the numbers went from 1 to 1500 in
> almost half a century, which included WW II, and then from 1500 to
> 15,000 in less than a decade?

There was more than one group issuing numbers at the same time for a while.
Zero to 1500 times at least three makes the numbers look better.

Dave in San diego

--
-
"For once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes
turned skyward;
For there you have been, and there you long to return."
Leonardo da Vinci

[vincent p. norris]

>Numbering at each location started at 1. Aviators were designated
>under this scheme until March 29, 1949 when the system changed again
>as follows:.......
>Chief of Naval Air Advanced Training designated sequentially beginning
>with 1 with the prefix "V"
>
>Rich

Thanks for the explanation, Rich. Now I know why my number begins
with a V. I was designated at the conclusion of my Advanced Training,
at Corpus Christi.

I thought it meant "heavier than air," as in squadron designations.
(There were still lighter-than-air pilots around when I got my wings.
I assumed their numbers started with Z.)

vince norris

[Rich]

Dave in San Diego > wrote in message >...
> vincent p. norris > wrote in
> :
>
> >>> I got my wings early in 1951. My number, preceded by a V, is about
> >>> 1500 (not sure it's a good idea to publish the exact number).
> >>
> >>Hmmmm....strange, I never questioned my Sept 25, 1959 number
> >>of 15753.
> >>
> >>Bob Moore
> >
> > Doesn't it seem odd, Bob, that the numbers went from 1 to 1500 in
> > almost half a century, which included WW II, and then from 1500 to
> > 15,000 in less than a decade?
>
> There was more than one group issuing numbers at the same time for a while.
> Zero to 1500 times at least three makes the numbers look better.
>
> Dave in San diego

Naval aviator numbers were originally assigned through the Bureau of
Navigation, which became the Bureau of Naval Personnel (BuPers) in
1942. Numbers were assigned sequentially based on completion of the
required course and class standing. For example, my father was
designated Naval Aviator number 6953 in November 1940. On July 31,
1942, this system of numeric designation was discarded and replaced
with a system that identified with a letter the location where an
aviator received his training followed by a sequential number. Letter
identifiers were:
P = Pensacola, FL;
J = Jacksonville, FL;
C = Corpus Christi, TX;
M = Miami, FL;
N = Norfolk, VA;
A = Alameda, CA;
L = Lakehurst, NJ; and
S = Moffett Field, CA.
Numbering at each location started at 1. Aviators were designated
under this scheme until March 29, 1949 when the system changed again
as follows:
Chief of Naval Air Training designated aviators sequentially beginning
with 1 with the prefix "T"
Chief of Naval Air Advanced Training designated sequentially beginning
with 1 with the prefix "V"
and the Chief of Naval Airship Training and Experimentation designated
with the prefix letter "L" sequentially from the last number issued at
NAS Lakehurst.
Sometime in the 1970s the practice of designating Naval Aviator
numbers was discontinued.. From 1911 to the end of 1970, some 119,000
aviators were designated by number, approximately 14,500 by the
number alone system and approximately 104,500 by the Letter-Number
system. Calendar years 1942 to 1945 saw some 61,658 designated naval
aviators.

Regards

Rich

[Mike Kanze]

Rich,

Very informative posts like yours make this NG a real treat. Thanks for
enlightening us.

--
Mike Kanze

"The Project Uncertainty Principle says that if you understand a project,
you won't know its cost, and vice versa."

- Dilbert, August 6 2003


"Rich" > wrote in message
om...
> Dave in San Diego > wrote in message
>...
> > vincent p. norris > wrote in
> > :
> >
> > >>> I got my wings early in 1951. My number, preceded by a V, is about
> > >>> 1500 (not sure it's a good idea to publish the exact number).
> > >>
> > >>Hmmmm....strange, I never questioned my Sept 25, 1959 number
> > >>of 15753.
> > >>
> > >>Bob Moore
> > >
> > > Doesn't it seem odd, Bob, that the numbers went from 1 to 1500 in
> > > almost half a century, which included WW II, and then from 1500 to
> > > 15,000 in less than a decade?
> >
> > There was more than one group issuing numbers at the same time for a
while.
> > Zero to 1500 times at least three makes the numbers look better.
> >
> > Dave in San diego
>
> Naval aviator numbers were originally assigned through the Bureau of
> Navigation, which became the Bureau of Naval Personnel (BuPers) in
> 1942. Numbers were assigned sequentially based on completion of the
> required course and class standing. For example, my father was
> designated Naval Aviator number 6953 in November 1940. On July 31,
> 1942, this system of numeric designation was discarded and replaced
> with a system that identified with a letter the location where an
> aviator received his training followed by a sequential number. Letter
> identifiers were:
> P = Pensacola, FL;
> J = Jacksonville, FL;
> C = Corpus Christi, TX;
> M = Miami, FL;
> N = Norfolk, VA;
> A = Alameda, CA;
> L = Lakehurst, NJ; and
> S = Moffett Field, CA.
> Numbering at each location started at 1. Aviators were designated
> under this scheme until March 29, 1949 when the system changed again
> as follows:
> Chief of Naval Air Training designated aviators sequentially beginning
> with 1 with the prefix "T"
> Chief of Naval Air Advanced Training designated sequentially beginning
> with 1 with the prefix "V"
> and the Chief of Naval Airship Training and Experimentation designated
> with the prefix letter "L" sequentially from the last number issued at
> NAS Lakehurst.
> Sometime in the 1970s the practice of designating Naval Aviator
> numbers was discontinued.. From 1911 to the end of 1970, some 119,000
> aviators were designated by number, approximately 14,500 by the
> number alone system and approximately 104,500 by the Letter-Number
> system. Calendar years 1942 to 1945 saw some 61,658 designated naval
> aviators.
>
> Regards
>
> Rich