Beverly "Bevo" Howard (August 11, 1914, Bath, South Carolina – October 17, 1971,

Greenville, North Carolina Greenville is the county seat of and the most populous city in Pitt County, North Carolina, Pitt County, North Carolina, United States; the principal city of the Greenville, North Carolina metropolitan area, Greenville metropolitan area; and th ...

) was an American aerobatic pilot and aviation businessman.

Life

Howard learned to fly in 1930 before the age of 16 by working as a lineboy for Hawthorne Flying Services in Augusta, Georgia. Shortly thereafter he purchased the struggling company and flew

DC-2 The Douglas DC-2 is a 14-passenger, twin-engined airliner that was produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Company starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247. In 1935, Douglas produced a larger version called the DC-3, which bec ...

s for

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...

and

Eastern Airlines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...

in order to support Hawthorne. He became the youngest pilot to receive an Airline Transport Rating before the regulations increased the age limit to 21. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he operated a primary flight training school for the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

Orangeburg, South Carolina Orangeburg, also known as ''The Garden City'', is the principal city in and the county seat of Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population of the city was 13,964 according to the 2010 United States Census and declined to 12 ...

. Over 6000 pilots, including 2000 French Air Force students, were trained at his school. At Orangeburg, he presented and demonstrated to the Army Air Corps the concept of using

Piper Cub The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is Pi ...

s as forward artillery observer aircraft, which could be operated out of unimproved farm fields close to the front lines, which was adopted and used with large success throughout World War II. After the war, Howard continued to train

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

and foreign pilots from Europe and the Middle East including training foreign pilots in

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

s. The civilian Aviation Services run by Hawthorne overexpanded across North and South Carolina and were eventually consolidated into a single location on the municipal airport at Charleston, South Carolina, which he ran until his death in 1971. A school run by his Hawthorne Aviation at

Moultrie, Georgia Moultrie is the county seat and largest city of Colquitt County, Georgia, United States. It is the third largest city in Southwest Georgia, behind Thomasville and Albany. As of the 2010 census, Moultrie's population was 14,268. It was originall ...

trained approximately 10,000 pilots from 32 countries in 10 years. In addition to the

Spence Air Base Spence Air Base was a United States Air Force base that operated from 1941 to 1961. It was later reopened as Spence Airport. History The City of Moultrie gained its first official municipal airport, Clark Field, in the 1930s. In 1940, local l ...

school in Moultrie, Hawthorne operated a number of both Air Force and Army contract schools across the Southeastern United States, notably at

Fort Rucker Fort Rucker is a U.S. Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was named for a Civil War officer, Confederate General Edmund Rucker. The post is the primary flight training installation for U.S. Army Aviators and ...

, Alabama and

Fort Campbell Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astride the Kentucky–Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee, Clarksville, Tennessee (post address is located in Kentucky). F ...

, Kentucky. Howard began air show flying in 1933. In 1938, he became the first pilot to fly an

outside loop Aerobatic maneuvers are flight paths putting aircraft in unusual attitudes, in air shows, dogfights or competition aerobatics. Aerobatics can be performed by a single aircraft or in formation with several others. Nearly all aircraft are capab ...

in a light plane, flying a 37½ horsepower Piper Cub. He went on to win the National Lightplane Aerobatic Championships in three consecutive years from 1939 to 1941, and eventually became one of the best known air show pilots in the country. Since his primary occupation was running the many aspects of his company (Hawthorne Aviation), flying airshows became an

avocation An avocation is an activity that someone engages in as a hobby outside their main occupation. There are many examples of people whose professions were the ways that they made their livings, but for whom their activities outside their workplaces w ...

and he flew many exhibitions for charity or cost such as the show where he was killed. On October 17, 1971, while performing at an air show in Greenville, North Carolina, he struck a tree while flying his Bücker Bü 133 Jungmeister. One wing was knocked off the airplane, and Howard was killed instantly when it struck the ground. His red and white checkered

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

, rebuilt after the crash to non-flying condition, is now in the

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...

of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. A Bücker Bü 133C Jungmeister, marked as his aircraft is also displayed at the

Virginia Aviation Museum The Virginia Aviation Museum was an aviation museum in unincorporated Henrico County, Virginia, adjacent to Richmond International Airport (formerly "Richard Evelyn Byrd Flying Field"). Erected in 1986, the museum housed a collection of some thirt ...

Richmond International Airport Richmond International Airport is a joint civil-military airport in Sandston, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community (in Henrico County). The airport is about 7 miles (11 km) southeast of downtown Richmond, the capital of t ...

, Virginia.

References

External links

ICAS Hall of Fame: Beverly E. "Bevo" Howard

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Beverly E. 1914 births 1971 deaths Aerobatic pilots Aviators from South Carolina Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Recipients of the Aeronautical Medal Accidental deaths in North Carolina American flight instructors Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1971