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FROM THE FLYING PIONEERS BIOGRAPHIES OF HAROLD E. MOREHOUSE

JOSEPH R. HUTCHINSON
Early Curtiss Pilot — Instructor

Joseph R. Hutchinson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania March 1, 1887. He attended local grade and high schools and developed an early interest in automobiles. This resulted in positions with Buick agencies and in 1909 he went to Orlando, Florida to work in a Buick agency there.

Later that year the Orlando agency exhibited a Buick car at the local Country Fair and Hutchinson was in charge of the display. Also at the fair was a Curtiss pusher biplane and Hutchinson became very interested in the machine.

As a result he decided to go to Hammondport at once to see about learning to fly, but due to family objections was unable to do so.

In 1911 he was transferred to the West Palm Beach, Florida Buick agency but was still intensely interested in aviation and was studying it closely. Later that year he returned to Philadelphia where he enrolled in a correspondence course of Aeronautical Engineering with the LaSalle Institute of Chicago. 

Hutchinson completed this course in 1913, then enrolled for flying instruction in the Curtiss school at North Island, San Diego, California. He started there on November 15th, along with M. W. Primm, William Brubaker and W. N. Sharpe, with T.C. Macaulay instructing on land planes. Hutchinson was

[[picture]] A bust image of Joseph R. Hutchinson as a young man. He is wearing a suit and hat and is squinting at the camera. [[/picture]]