On December 18, some 94 years ago, the first practical rotary wing aircraft flew in the United States. It was a Cierva C.8W, assembled by the Pitcairn Autogiro Company – a business established by Harold Frederick Pitcairn. In his lifetime, Pitcairn achieved many feats, building his legacy as an aviation pioneer, successful entrepreneur, and famed inventor.

Early life

Harold Frederick Pitcairn was born on June 20, 1897, in Pennsylvania to John Pitcairn Jr., a Pittsburgh industrialist, and his wife, Gertrude. The older Pitcairn was the co-founder of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, now known as PPG Industries, an American Fortune 500 company. It is the largest coatings company in the world, raking in a yearly revenue of nearly $14 billion.

Judging by the success of his father’s business, one can easily see where Pitcairn’s entrepreneurial spirit came from. Pitcairn’s interest in aviation started at a young age, in admiration of the Wright Brothers' first successful sustained flight in 1903.

At the age of 16, he took up an apprenticeship at the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (now the Curtiss-Wright Corporation, following a merger with Wright Aeronautical). He then enlisted in the United States Army Air Service – where he received flight training – when the nation entered World War I.

Rise to success: Pitcairn Aviation and more

Still in his 20s, Pitcairn founded Pitcairn Aviation, later called Eastern Air Lines – which went on to become a major airline until its dissolution in 1991. He also started the Pitcairn Aircraft Company, manufacturing airmail biplanes and autogyros.

Pitcairn filed the first of his thirty rotary-wing patents in 1925, at age 27. Among his many business ventures were a flying field, a flight school, and an airmail line that became the third-largest mail carrier in terms of miles flown and the fourth-largest in terms of income.

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Within a few years, Pitcairn sold Pitcairn Aviation to the Curtiss-Keys Group (the same Curtiss where he was once an apprentice at) for $2.5 million. This sum is worth roughly $43.5 million today.

The tragic end to his success

Throughout his successful career, Pitcairn invented several aircraft, including the Pitcairn PA-2 Sesquiwing, which won the efficiency and high-speed races at the 1926 National Air Races. He also developed aircraft for the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy in World War II, and helped Firestone build its Firestone XR-9 helicopter for the U.S. Army Air Forces.

Pitcairn received the Collier Trophy for the "development and application of the Autogiro and the demonstration of its possibilities with a view to its use for safe aerial transport” and the John Scott Medal for developing the autogyro.

On April 23, 1960, 62-year-old Pitcairn died at home from a gunshot to the head, just shortly after a birthday celebration for his brother. While some alleged suicide, the police report stated that his cause of death was an accident due to a faulty automatic pistol.

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