J. Clifford Turpin

Thomas DeWitt Milling and Turpin in 1912

Turpin and Lieutenant John Rodgers ( in 1912) Rodgers name is misspelled on photo

James Clifford Turpin (May 6, 1886 – January 1966) was a pioneer aviator with the Wright Exhibition Team.

Biography

He was born on May 6, 1886.

He attended Purdue University, the first graduate(class of 1908) to receive a pilot's license. Turpin joined the Wright Exhibition team in 1910, flying demonstrations across the country. The group was disbanded in 1911. In May 1912, Turpin rented a Wright Model C for his own exhibitions. While flying in a Seattle stadium, Turpin clipped a pylon avoiding a cameraman, and veered into a grandstand, killing a spectator. After the death of his flying partner, Phil Parmalee, in Yakima, Washington, Turpin quit flying.

He died in January 1966. He was buried in Lothrop Hill Cemetery in Barnstable, Massachusetts.

External links

• J. Clifford Turpin at Find a Grave
• Washington's first airplane fatality occurs at the Meadows Race Track in Georgetown on May 30, 1912.