Edward Virgil Adair

GEDCOM Note

1/29/2017 Hall of Fame | Idaho Aviation Associationhttps://idahoaviation.com/hallOfFame.php 1/1E. Virgil Adair ­ 1995 E. Virgil Adair's flying career spanned 60 years, from his first solo in 1919 through Years of barnstorming, flying commercial airlines to military service in World War II. Throughout the 1920's and 30's Virgil flew in just about every air show and flying circus in the Pacific Northwest. He, like other barnstormers of the day, paid for his love of flying by giving eager passengers their first taste of flight and by performing acrobatics at county fairs or any other available occasion. In 1927 he was Idaho Governor H. C. Baldridge's official pilot and in the 1930's operated his own air service. He flew for Pan American Airways before the war, and then enlisted in the Army Air Transport Command. Throughout the war he flew everything from B­17's to fighter to every theater of operations. With Lewiston as headquarters he continued to be active in aviation until his death at 81 in 1981. 1/29/2017 LEWISTON'S VIRGIL ADAIR WAS THERE WINGS OVER IDAHO FLYING CONTRAPTIONS AND PIONEER PILOTS | Feature | lmtribune.comhttp://lmtribune.com/feature/lewiston­s­virgil­adair­was­there­wings­over­idaho­flying/article_2cc63fdb­a433­54b7­9748­c36df277d12d.html 1/2http://lmtribune.com/feature/lewiston­s­virgil­adair­was­there­wings­over­idaho­flying/article_2cc63fdb­a433­54b7­9748­c36df277d12d.html LEWISTON'S VIRGIL ADAIR WAS THERE WINGS OVER IDAHO FLYING CONTRAPTIONS AND PIONEER PILOTSApr 19, 1992Of the early Idaho aviation pioneers, Virgil Adair of Lewiston had one of the broadest experiences. His pilot's license was signed by Orville Wright and Adair was still flying over Lewiston in the early 1970s.Adair learned to fly in 1919. He was an early barnstormer and freelance pilot flying passengers, cargo and mail whenever and wherever. Before there was an airport at Lewiston he used farm fields as airstrips.You had to land uphill and take off downhill, he said during an interview in 1961.In 1931 Adair helped other Idaho pilots stage a flying circus at Boise, the main act being California stunt pilot Jack Bruce's parachuting exhibitions. Bruce had made the crash scenes in the Howard Hughes flying epic Hell's Angels.Adair flew the big ships, too: airliners for Pan American World Airways and many military types including B­17s and B­24s for the Army Air Force during World War II.Before the war he was a pilot instructor in the Midwest for the Royal Air Force and was once forced to bail out of the open cockpit trainer he was in after three training ships flown by student pilots collided in mid­air.After the war he was again a commercial pilot at different areas but landed at Lewiston to retire.One of his last major aviation endeavors was owning, restoring and flying a rare 1942 Ryan PT­22 trainer, a low­wing two seat primary training aircraft. Adair was often seen tooling around in the Ryan above Lewiston, wearing a pilot's flying cap and occasionally daring a lit cigarette to go out.