Early Hawaii Aviators
Army Lt. Harold Geiger arrived in Hawaii on July 11, 1913 as part of the first Army aviation unit in Hawaii. Civilian Tom Gunn took up Hawaii's first paying passengers on July 13, 1913. Other early aviators were Army Captains John Brooks and John Curry, Major Harold Clark who made the first interisland flight, and Mason Didier.
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- Early Hawaii aviator Army Capt. John Brooks, 1917. He was the Army Department Aviation Officer in Hawaii from 1915-1917.
- Early Hawaii aviator Army Capt. John Curry, 1917. Capt. Curry surveyed Oahu to select suitable facilities for the 6th Aero Squadron and decided on Ford Island since it had excellent approaches and plenty of water for landings and takeoffs.
- Major Harold E. Clark followed Capt. John Brooks as Army Department Aviation Officer in Hawaii in November 1917. Six months later he made the first interisland flight. He flew a Curtiss R-6 with Sgt. Robert P. Gay from Fort Kamehameha to Maui where a huge reception waited. Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines is named for him.
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- Major Harold E. Clark made the first interisland flight in a Curtiss R-6 with Sgt. Robert P. Gay from Fort Kamehameha. They flew to Maui where a huge reception waited. From Maui, Major Clark and Sgt. Gay headed for the Big Island encountering thick clouds as they neared Hawaii's coast. They lost their bearings in the clouds and crashed on the slope of Mauna Kea. Unhurt they waited for aid; when none came they walked two days and nights without food until they reached safety.
- Mason Didier, French Aviator, Poses on his bi-plane before taking off from Leilehua (Schofield Barracks Field) on June 22, 1911. He later crashed.
- Second Lieutenant Franklin B. Bellows, for whom Bellows Field was named, 1918.
