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[[image No. 51 - black & white photograph of Stinson, Haldeman, Doolittle and Holderman in front of airplane]]

[[image No. 52 - black & white photograph of Doolittle and his baby son in cockpit of airplane]]

[[image No. 53 - black & white photograph of Doolittle with trophy]]

[[caption]] Reknowned aviators at a LeRoy, N.Y., gathering, ca. 1930, are, left to right, Edward A. Stinson, George W. Haldeman, James Doolittle, and Russell F. Holderman (51). J. H. Doolittle won fame because he was a constant trophy winner (53), and because he was a family man America could take to. During fuel stop in Texas (52), he was greeted by his baby son, as he raced from Florida to California during 1922 dash across continent in less than 24 hours. [[/caption]]

James Harold Doolittle

There is probably no man in aviation's manifold history that has so outstandingly excelled in business, the military, racing, and research, as Jimmy Doolittle. He has led a charmed life.

He holds the Schneider (1925), McKay (1926), Harmon (1930), Bendix (1930), and Thompson (1930) trophies. His cross-country speed record of 21 hours, 19 minutes, in 1922, the first under 24 hours, was an epic--no less of an achievement in its day than the commanding assault, a decade later, from the Hornet to Tokyo.

Doolittle learned to fly in California during World War I, and stayed in the Air Corps until 1930. During much of this period, he was on loan to a variety of projects demanding consummate skill. One of these was the first blind flight, made on September 24, 1929, at Mitchell Field, Long Island, using three new instruments: the artificial horizon, the sensitive altimeter, and radio direction finder. In a two-place Consolidated NY-2, while under a closed hood, he flew a 15-mile course and landed safely. Lt. Ben Kelsey was his check pilot. Supported by the Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics, the effort opened the door to instrument flying.  When he "retired" from the Army in 1930, Doolittle became manager of Shell Oil's Aviation Department, where, for ten years, he helped supervise a wide array of new advances in aviation fuels.

[[image - small drawing of a propeller]]

James Harold Doolittle: born Alameda, Calif., December 14, 1896.

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