Biographical Sketches

WALDO DEAN WATERMAN

Born: June 16, 1894    In: San Diego, CA
Died: December 8, 1976    

At age 14, Waldo Dean Waterman became interested in anything written about the flights of the Wright Brothers and Glenn Curtiss. His mechanical training and a 1909 Popular Mechanics article about gliders led him to construct and fly a glider down the slopes of a canyon in San Diego.

Advanced to powered aircraft, he developed an association with Glenn Curtiss in California until 1912, when he enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley to study aeronautical engineering. There he attained his degree, and as WW1 began, became head of Theory of Flight at the Signal Corps’ School of Military Aeronautics there. After the war, he was associated with several aircraft manufacturing companies in engineering and management positions. Wearing many hats, he established and managed airports and airlines, continued to set flight records for altitude and speed, and became an airline pilot.

Waterman was lured back to aircraft design by the DoC’s quest for a simple, easy-to-fly, low-cost airplane. His Arrowplane and Arrowmobile, convertible from road to air, were his answers.

Following his retirement, he continued to produce aircraft designs and construct early Chanute and Curtiss type gliders and aircraft, some of which he flew in airshows. He continued flying and contributing to aviation until his death, and was invested in the International Aerospace Hall of Fame in 1968. (from "These We Honor," The San Diego Aerospace Museum)

REFERENCES:
Waldo; autobiography with Jack Carpenter (Arsdalen Bosch & Co paperback 1988)
Morehouse Early Pioneers

Denotes an individual known to have soloed an aircraft prior to December 16, 1917, whether they were members of the "Early Birds of Aviation" Organization or not.