1909 ANTIQUE AERONAUTIC SOCIETY BULLETIN FLYING AIRPLANE BOOK DERIGIBLE BALLOON. 1958 reprint. 40 pages + soft bound cover, illustrated throughout. Signed in blue ink by early aviation pioneer Russell Holderman. Some cover soiling and wear, including edges and corners, small hole on spine. Text a bit yellowed, autogaphed on last text page in the back.Good stitched binding. It measures 5 7/8" x 9". A nice find. 


Russell Holderman, Wall of Honor National Air and Space Museum

Career over 260,000 hours in the air, from the infancy of aviation to the corporate jet.
Stunt Pilot, early Air Mail Pilot, World War 1 and World War II flying instructor, flying school and airport manager in Leroy, NY, leader in corporate aviation - Chief Pilot for Gannett Co. for 26 years (pilot for Frank Gannett)
Member of Early Birds (pilots who soloed before Dec. 17, 1916), 1970 Aviation Hall of Fame, 1940 Curtiss Trophy, Legion of Merit OX5 Aviation Pioneers.
1974 Honorary Doctorate - Embry Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach, FL. 1913 youngest pilot in America
Friend of Eddie Rickenbacker, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and Orville (who signed his license #227) & Wilbur Wright.

Reminiscing about his career in aviation, Russell remembered how it felt the first time he flew an airplane.
     That was back in 1913, when he was 18 and his flight in a Curtiss biplane covered only about 200 yards.
     Holderman said that he dropped out of high school because of his interest in aeronautics and because he "wasn't interested in geometry and all that." So he considered it "quite a feat" that he was chosen for an honorary degree.
     Holderman became interested in flying "as a kid when the Wright Brothers first flew." He clipped articles about them from newspapers and put them in a scrapbook.
     His only injury in his flying career--which totaled 260,000 hours of logged time when he retired--came in one of his glider flights. He said he came down too steeply, breaking his collar bone and three ribs.
     He gave up his pilot's license about a year and a half ago because he was getting a cataract. He said "I completed 60 years and that was enough."
     His scrapbook contains newspaper clippings, photographs and awards covering a 60-year career in aviation that included being a stunt pilot, early air mail pilot, World War I and World War II flying instructor, flying school and airport manager and chief pilot for the Gannett Co. for 26 years. His honors include the Curtiss Trophy for an air race in Miami, a world's loop record for a glider, and selection to the Aviation Hall of Fame.
     The citation for Holderman's honorary degree reads, "Mr. Russell Holderman, you early-on made known that you didn't want to be the most spectacular pilot--just the oldest--and you did both.
     Now when the question is asked, "Is there a doctor in the house?", Russ can stand up.
From The Early Birds of Aviation CHIRP
January 1975, Number 81

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