On April 6, 1927, William P. MacCracken, Jr., Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics, received Pilot License No. 1, a private pilot license. Before accepting the license, MacCracken had offered the honor to Orville Wright, promising to waive the fee and examination. Wright declined because he no longer flew and did not think he needed a Federal license to show that he had been the first man to fly.
Student pilots receiving all instruction in an aircraft and student pilots who received a portion of their flight training in a ground trainer were co...
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