Banning, James Herman

Impact on the world

Became the first African American to receive a pilot's license from the U.S. Department of Commerce in 1926, then in 1932, with co-pilot and mechanic Thomas C. Allen, completed the first transcontinental flight by Black pilots in U.S. history, flying a 14-year-old secondhand biplane named 'Miss Ames' from Los Angeles to New York with virtually no sponsorship, in stark contrast to the well-funded, celebrated flight of Charles Lindbergh five years earlier.

Life & background

Born in Oklahoma and educated in electrical engineering at Iowa State College, where he also ran an auto repair shop, Banning took his first airplane ride at an air circus in 1920 and resolved to become a pilot, becoming the first African American licensed by the U.S. Department of Commerce in 1926. He served as chief instructor at William J. Powell's Bessie Coleman Aero Club flight school in Los Angeles starting in 1929, and purchased a secondhand, 14-year-old Alexander Eaglerock biplane he named 'Miss Ames.' Inspired by Charles Lindbergh's celebrated transatlantic flight but facing none of its financial backing or media support, Banning met mechanic and pilot Thomas C. Allen in 1932 and, just four days later, the two took off from Los Angeles on a cross-country flight, raising fuel money along the way and completing the first transcontinental flight by Black pilots in American aviation history. Banning died the following year in a plane crash while serving as a passenger during an air show in San Diego.

Sources

1. Blue Sky News (Black Aviators); HowStuffWorks (Bessie Coleman); San Diego Air & Space Museum