James Herman Banning (November 5, 1900 – February 5, 1933) was an American

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

pioneer. In 1932, accompanied by Thomas C. Allen, he became America's first black

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

to fly coast-to-coast across the

contiguous United States The contiguous United States, also known as the U.S. mainland, officially referred to as the conterminous United States, consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States in central North America. The te ...

Background

Banning was born in

Canton, Oklahoma Canton is a town in Blaine County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 625 at the 2010 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land. Demographics As of the census of 2000, ...

, in 1900 and attended high school in

Guthrie, Oklahoma Guthrie is a city and county seat in Logan County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City Metroplex. Its population was 10,191 at the 2010 census, a 2.7% increase from 9,925 in the 2000 census. First known as a railroad st ...

. Dreaming from boyhood of being a pilot, he eventually learned to fly from an

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

aviator after being repeatedly turned away from flight schools due to racial discrimination. Banning later became a demonstration pilot on the west coast, flying a

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

named "Miss Ames"—he had attended

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines in central Iowa. It is the home of Iowa State University (ISU). According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Ames ha ...

Transcontinental flight

Banning and his mechanic, Thomas C. Allen, made the historic flight using a plane supplemented with surplus parts. The "Flying Hoboes," as they were affectionately known, made the trip from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, in 41 hours and 27 minutes aloft. However, the trip actually required 21 days to complete because the pilots had to raise money for the next leg of the trip each time they stopped.

Death

Only four months after his historic flight, Banning was killed in a plane crash during an air show at

Camp Kearny Camp Kearny was a U.S. military base located in Linda Vista, California. Established in 1917, it was named for Brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny. Camp Kearny closed in 1946. History Establishment and early years The camp was established ...

military base in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

on February 5, 1933. He was a passenger in a two-seater

Travel Air The Travel Air Manufacturing Company was an aircraft manufacturer established in Wichita, Kansas, United States in January 1925 by Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech, and Lloyd Stearman. An early leader in single-engine, light-aircraft manufacturing, ...

biplane flown by

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

machinist's mate Machinist's Mate (or MM) is a List of United States Navy ratings, rating in the United States Navy's engineering community. It is non-capitalised as machinist's mate when discussing the generic rating rather than as a proper noun when discussing a ...

second class Albert Burghardt, who was at the controls because Banning had been refused use of the airplane by an instructor at the Airtech Flying School. After taking off and climbing , the plane stalled and entered an unrecoverable

tailspin In flight dynamics (fixed-wing aircraft), flight dynamics a spin is a special category of Stall (fluid dynamics), stall resulting in Autorotation (fixed-wing aircraft), autorotation (uncommanded roll) about the aircraft's longitudinal axis and ...

in front of hundreds of horrified spectators. Banning was recovered from the wreckage and died one hour later at a local hospital.

Legacy

A large photograph of Banning is displayed at the

Disney California Adventure Disney California Adventure is a theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. The park is themed after Disney's interpretation of California ...

section of

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...

, at the ride ''

Soarin' Around the World ''Soarin, also known as ''Soarin' Over California'', ''Soarin' Around the World'', ''Soaring Over the Horizon'' and ''Soaring: Fantastic Flight'', is a flight motion simulator attraction at Disney California Adventure, Epcot, Shanghai Disneyla ...

'', a flight

motion simulator A motion simulator or motion platform is a mechanism that creates the feelings of being in a real motion environment. In a simulator, the movement is synchronised with a visual display of the outside world (OTW) scene. Motion platforms can provid ...

attraction. Provided underneath his photo is a plaque with a brief summary of his achievements and accomplishments as a tribute to the Wings of Fame, a hallway where guests wait during the line queue to the actual ride where many photographs and models of early plane concepts are displayed, including homages to significant individuals in aviation history, including Banning on the right side. In November 2022, the city of

, announced it would formally rename the Ames Municipal Airport as the James Herman Banning Ames Municipal Airport. The airport was officially renamed in a ceremony on June 17, 2023.

Notes

References