In memoriam: Ralph Charles

Flight Journal, Aug 2003 by Patterson, Dan

Ralph Charles, who at 103 was the U.S.'s oldest active pilot, died in January. He was trained to fly by Benny Whelan, who had been trained by the Wright brothers, and he soloed after only two and a half hours of instruction.

In 1926, he built his own airplane, the Miss Buckeye. He later signed on as a mechanic and copilot with TWA and flew Ford Tri-Motor aircraft. During WW II, he flew a variety of aircraft, but at the end of the War, his wife offered this ultimatum: "It's me or airplanes." He didn't fly for 50 years, but after his wife's death in the late 1990s, he renewed the requisite medical certificate and flew again.