John Armstrong Drexel | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | March 4, 1958 Ashford, Kent, England | (aged 66)
Occupation | Aviator |
Parent(s) | Anthony Joseph Drexel, Jr. Margarita Armstrong |
Relatives | Anthony Joseph Drexel (grandfather) Margaretta Finch-Hatton, Countess of Winchilsea (sister) Anthony Joseph Drexel III (brother) |
John Armstrong Drexel (October 24, 1891 – March 4, 1958) was an American aviation pioneer who was a member of the prominent Drexel family of Philadelphia.[1]
Drexel was a son of Anthony Joseph Drexel Jr. (1864–1934)[2] and Margarita Armstrong (1867-1948).[3] His elder brother was banker, and aviator, Anthony Joseph Drexel III, and his only sister Margaretta was married to Guy Finch-Hatton, 14th Earl of Winchilsea.[4]
He was a grandson of Anthony Joseph Drexel, millionaire banker and founder of Drexel University. His father began working for his grandfather at Drexel & Co., Drexel, Morgan & Co. of New York, and Drexel, Harjes & Co., and was made a partner on January 1, 1890, shortly before his birth.[5] His father resigned on October 21, 1893, just four months after his grandfather's death, and then lived a life of leisure.[6] Aside from his inheritance from the estate of his father, which he shared with his three siblings,[7] he inherited $1,000,000.[8]
With William McArdle, he founded the New Forest Flying School at East Boldre, the second school for pilots in Great Britain and the fifth in the world.[9]
On June 21, 1910,[10] Drexel was the 10th aviator to receive his British Royal Aero Club Aviators Certificate, recognized under the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.[11][12] He also became only the 8th Aviator to receive an Aero Club of America pilot's licence, taking the test in his Gnôme engined Blériot monoplane.[13]
On August 12, 1910, he set the world altitude record of 6,595 feet in a Blériot monoplane In competition in Lanark, Scotland.[14][9][15] In November 1910, in an attempt to fly cross-country, he lost his way and had to land near the Delaware River.[16]
During World War I, he served as chauffeur to Field Marshal Sir John French,[17] and later, flew with the French Lafayette Escadrille until 1917.[18] He was subsequently commissioned Major in the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, serving until the end of the war in the United States Army Air Service.[1]
In 1926, Drexel drove the Flying Scotsman train from London to Edinburgh.[8]
In 1934, Drexel served as a partner in the securities firm of William P. Bonbright & Co.,[19] along with August Belmont IV. He also served on Bonbright's board and on the board of the Anglo-South American Bank.[19]