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That spring oncoming World War I put a stop to their [[strikethrough]] venture[[/strikethrough]] school, so Hutchinson returned to his former home in Philadelphia where he joined the Essington Flying School as an instructor. This school was taken over by the government during the war as a seaplane flying school. There, while Hutchinson was helping to rig a plane, a wing crate was accidently dropped on his leg and a protruding nail cause an ugly flesh wound. Blood poisoning developed and Hutchinson was hospitalized for two months, leaving him in a weakened, run-down condition. As a result he was unable to pass a physical examination for a commission in the service.
Following the war, Hutchinson returned to California and signed up as an instructor at a flying school in Riverside which a short time later went out of business. 
In 1919 Hutchinson quit the flying game and went to Death Valley where he was employed by the Pacific Coast Borax Company.
During World War II, Hutchinson was a civilian Naval Aircraft Inspector at Ryan Aircraft Company, San Diego, California, from 1942 through 1945. He retired and lived in La Jolla, California, until his death in 1975.
A member of the Early Birds, Flying Pioneer Joseph R. Hutchinson devoted much of his early life to flying, building planes and giving instruction, and is richly deserving of his noteworthy place in early American aviation history.