John MacDonald Miller (15 December 1905 − 23 June 2008) was a

barnstorming Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks individually or in groups that were called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes," it became popular in t ...

pilot, the first person to make a US transcontinental flight in a

rotorcraft A rotary-wing aircraft, rotorwing aircraft or rotorcraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft with rotor wing, rotary wings that spin around a vertical mast to generate lift (force), lift. Part 1 (Definitions and Abbreviations) of Subchapter A of Chapt ...

, the first to land a rotorcraft on the roof of a building, and the first to fly a scheduled US mail rotorcraft service. He was also a

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

and airline captain. He became the oldest active pilot in the US, making his first flight on his 18th birthday and ending at the age of 101. He died aged 102.

Early life

John Miller was the first child of Theodore and Florence MacDonald Miller of Poughkeepsie, New York. He had a sister, photo-reporter Elizabeth Lee and brother, Erik. Theodore Miller was the manager of the

De Laval Karl Gustaf Patrik de Laval (; 9 May 1845 – 2 February 1913) was a Swedish engineer and inventor who made important contributions to the design of steam turbines and centrifugal separation machinery for dairy. Life Gustaf de Laval was born a ...

Cream Separator Company, one of the largest businesses in the area, and Johnny attended a local preparatory school,

Oakwood Friends School Oakwood Friends School is a Private school, private, independent, co-educational Boarding school, boarding and day school located at 22 Spackenkill Road in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. With roots going back to Nine Partners Boarding Sch ...

. At the age of four Miller saw

Glen Curtiss Glenn Hammond Curtiss (May 21, 1878 – July 23, 1930) was an American aviation and motorcycling pioneer, and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle racer and builder before moving on to motorcycles. As early a ...

fly from a field opposite his father's farm as one of two permitted refuelling stops during his successful attempt to win the

New York World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 to 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers as a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publisher Jo ...

newspaper prize of $10,000 for a flight from Albany to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and decided to become a pilot. In 1915 Miller met and talked to famous aviator Ruth Law and sat in the cockpit of her

Wright Model B The Wright Model B is an early pusher biplane designed by the Wright brothers in the United States in 1910. It was the first of their designs to be built in quantity. Unlike the Model A, it featured a true elevator carried at the tail rath ...

aircraft. He studied

Horatio Barber Captain Horatio Claude Barber (1875–1964) was an early British aviation pioneer and First World War flight instructor. In 1911 he flew the first cargo flight in Britain, transporting electric light bulbs from Shoreham to Hove. He was also ...

's flying instruction book ''Aerobatics'' given to him by an uncle. Miller took his first flight in a

Curtiss JN-4 Jenny The Curtiss JN "Jenny" is a series of biplanes built by the Glenn Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft f ...

in the summer of 1922 at

Asbury Park, New Jersey Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 15,188, a decr ...

Barnstorming

In 1923 a

pilot, Sloan "Swanee" Taylor, gave pleasure flights in a decrepit Jenny from a field near his home, and the 17-year-old Miller, who was working in a machine shop during school holidays, helped him with maintenance and repairs. The aircraft was actually the Canadian version of the Jenny, a Canuck, but was modified with larger wings, giving slower take-offs and landings. It was previously owned by Ruth Law, and had a brand new engine. At the end of the season, Taylor gave Miller a 5-minute ride, then gave him the Jenny, saying that it would be cheaper to buy a new aircraft rather than repair this one. After doing a lot of repairs to it himself, Miller practised on the ground for a few weeks, and on his 18th birthday found himself rapidly approaching a stone wall, so rather than crashing into it, he applied more power and took off. After around an hour's flying, exploring the effect of the controls, he eventually managed a reasonable landing, whereupon a local farmer who had been watching him, asked him if he gave rides. Miller said yes, and took him up for a handful of change, and on landing two other passers-by asked for rides, which he also did, charging $5 a flight, the amount painted on the side of the aircraft. Miller did some more pleasure flights, then at Christmas he took it to a local barn and with the help of friends did extensive repairs. By the summer of 1924 he had finished, did more flights, mainly with the friends, and then sold it before starting college. Miller made the trip to

Roosevelt Field Roosevelt Field is a former airport, located in the East Garden City section of Uniondale, on Long Island, New York, United States. Originally called the Hempstead Plains Aerodrome, or sometimes Hempstead Plains field or the Garden City Aero ...

on 20 May 1927 to watch

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...

take off on his pioneering transatlantic flight. A month later he graduated from a mechanical engineering course at

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

of Technology in 1927, gained his A&P (airframe and powerplant) licence (no. 2906) and then worked for a while as a mechanic with Gates Flying Circus. He gained his transport pilot's licence (no. 5945) in 1928 with the Curtiss School of Flight at Mineola,

Long Island 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 ...

, New York, and did more barnstorming and pleasure flights with his four-passenger

Standard J The Standard J is a two-seat basic trainer two-bay biplane produced in the United States from 1916 to 1918, powered by a four-cylinder inline Hall-Scott A-7a engine. It was constructed from wood with wire bracing and fabric covering. The J-1 ...

-1 which he had rebuilt over six months from a near-wreck. He started

air racing Air racing is a type of motorsport that involves airplanes or other types of aircraft that compete over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a pre ...

in a

Travel Air 2000 The Travel Air 2000 is an open-cockpit biplane aircraft produced in the United States in the late 1920s by the Travel Air, Travel Air Manufacturing Company. During the period from 1924–1929, Travel Air produced more aircraft than any othe ...

. In 1927 the mayor of Poughkeepsie,

John Kelsey Sague John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

(later to become Miller's father-in-law), established Poughkeepsie Airport at

Red Oaks Mill Red Oaks Mill is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Dutchess County, in the U.S. state of New York. It lies within the limits of the towns of Poughkeepsie and LaGrange. The population was 3,613 at the 2010 census. Red Oaks Mill is sou ...

to the south-east of the town, which in 1931 Miller took over and ran. He established his company, Giro Flyers Ltd in the hangar there. His main business was repair and maintenance of the aircraft, many of them New Standard models, used by

bootleggers A bootleg is the upper part (or shaft) of a boot. Bootleg, bootlegging or bootlegger(s) may also refer to: Common meanings * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages * Moonshine, illicitly made an ...

to bring alcohol in from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Miller's interest in this lucrative business carried on until the end of

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

in 1933, but the airport carried on until it was closed in 1938. In 1931 he acquired New Standard D-24 c/n102 registered NC193E. Its fuselage had been damaged when

Anthony Fokker Anton Herman Gerard "Anthony" Fokker (6 April 1890 – 23 December 1939) was a Dutch aviation pioneer, aviation entrepreneur, aircraft designer, and aircraft manufacturer. He produced fighter aircraft in Germany during the First World War such ...

wrecked a line of parked aircraft while landing his Express aircraft at

Teterboro Airport Teterboro Airport is a general aviation relief airport situated in the boroughs of Teterboro, Moonachie, and Hasbrouck Heights in Bergen County, New Jersey. It was powered by a

Hispano-Suiza Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft engines, trucks and weapons. ...

E engine. Miller rebuilt it with a

Wright J-5 The Wright R-790 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by Wright Aeronautical Corporation, with a total displacement of about and around . These engines were the earliest members of the Wright Whirlwin ...

engine, turning it into a D-25. Assisted by efficient ground crew to marshal the passengers and refuel the aircraft, he would do up to 350 short flights (less than a minute each) a day. While doing aerobatics in the New Standard,

Marine Corps Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included raiding ashore (often in supp ...

officers saw him and invited him to join the

Reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US v ...

Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, and he served for a while at Quantico,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, as a qualified naval aviator. Miller sold the D-25 in 1935.

Autogyros

Pitcairn

In 1923 Miller read about the progress that

Juan de la Cierva Juan de la Cierva y Codorníu, 1st Count of la Cierva (; 21 September 1895 – 9 December 1936), was a Spanish civil engineer, pilot and a self-taught aeronautical engineer. His most famous accomplishment was the invention in 1920 of a rotorcr ...

was making with

autogyro An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), gyroscope, gyrocopter or gyroplane, is a class of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. A gyroplane "means a rotorcraft whose rotors are not engine-d ...

s in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. Miller wrote to him, and received two letters in return, explaining how autogyros work. In 1929 Cierva had visited the US and sold the licence for his designs to

Harold Pitcairn Harold Frederick Pitcairn (June 20, 1897 – April 23, 1960) was an Americans, American aviation inventor and pioneer. He played a key role in the development of the autogyro and founded the Autogiro Company of America. He patented a number of i ...

, forming the Pitcairn-Cierva Autogiro Company. Miller's correspondence had continued, and he visited Pitcairn, soon ordering a PCA-2, becoming the first private individual in the US to purchase an

, at a cost of $15,000 (). He then formulated a plan to perform the first transcontinental autogyro flight, which he soon discovered would be in competition with

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...

, whose Pitcairn autogyro was sponsored by the

Beech-Nut Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation is a confectionery business turned baby food company owned by the Swiss branded consumer-goods firm Hero Group. History Beech-Nut's roots go back to 1891, to the Mohawk Valley town of Canajoharie, New York. Ra ...

food company, then well known for its chewing gum. Miller realised that Pitcairn was keen for the famous Earhart to get her aircraft first to ensure maximum publicity, but Miller arranged to learn to fly a similar machine at Pitcairn's plant before his own aircraft was ready. This enabled him to do detailed training and planning before the long-distance flight, and to set off before Earhart was ready to undertake her flight, for which she was evidently under-prepared. He did practice flights at the Pitcairn plant at

Willow Grove, Pennsylvania Willow Grove is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. A community in Philadelphia's northern suburbs, the population was 13,730 at the 2020 census. It is located in Abington Township and Upper More ...

, between 9 and 12 May 1931, making 110 practice landings with a total of 5.5 hours of flying logged. Johnny Miller and Missing Link

Miller took delivery of his new machine, a black PCA-2 c/n B-13, registered NC10781, which he named ''Missing Link'' on 12 May 1931. Two days later, on 14 May, he transferred it to his newly formed company, Giro Flyers, Ltd. On the same day he set off from Willow Grove on his transcontinental flight. He stopped off at the Omaha Air Races, where he did 14 demonstration flights, finally reaching

Naval Air Station San Diego Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island , at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado ( ...

, now Naval Air Station North Island, on 28 May. He had spent 43.8 hours in the air and had no mechanical problems with the aircraft. His flight set a record which lasted 72 years, when it was broken by Andrew Keech in his Herron-Keech Little Wing LW-5 on 3 October 2003. While he was in San Diego, Miller demonstrated the PCA-2 to the military at the North Island,

Coronado Coronado may refer to: People * Coronado (surname) Coronado is a Spanish surname derived from the village of Cornado, near A Coruña, Galicia. People with the name * Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (1510–1554), Spanish explorer often referred t ...

, base, including giving passenger flights to two admirals. These were the first ever autogyro flights on the west coast of the US. Fêted by oil companies and film star

Mary Pickford Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress and producer. A Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood, pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood care ...

, his departure was delayed until 21 June, when he started the return flight to Willow Grove, arriving on 1 July. When Pitcairn mechanics inspected the aircraft, all that was needed was an oil change. Earhart flew her PCA-2. NC10780, setting out from

Newark Metropolitan Airport Newark Liberty International Airport is a major international airport serving the New York metropolitan area. The airport straddles the boundary between the cities of Newark, New Jersey, Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and E ...

on 28 May and after an unhurried journey with many publicity stops reached

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

on 6 June. She and her sponsor were extremely disappointed to learn that Miller had beaten her, and resolved to try to beat his west-to-east performance. However, she crashed at

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor County, Texas, Taylor and Jones County, Texas, Jones counties, Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan ar ...

during the attempt, finishing her journey by train but still garnering more publicity than Miller. Miller carried on over the next four years demonstrating the autogyro at air races, and air shows, and developed the skill of looping it, becoming the first person to loop a rotorcraft (though not the first person to demonstrate it publicly). He incorporated the manoeuvre into his displays, often adding a roll at the top. He was being paid $1,000 per display. In the 1932 Cleveland National Air Races he was performing a mock dogfight against a modified

Curtiss Pusher The 1911 Curtiss Model D (or frequently "Curtiss Pusher") is an early United States pusher aircraft with the engine and propeller behind the pilot's seat. It was among the first aircraft in the world to be built in any quantity, during an era o ...

and on landing, his autogyro was hit by the Curtiss as it overflew him, probably the result of a strong wind on the fragile biplane. Miller and his passenger were unharmed, but the Curtiss pilot, his friend Al Wilson, died two days later of his injuries. The autogyro was damaged and was grounded for 27 days waiting for new rotors and a rudder. There is film of the crash. On 26 January 1934 he was banner-towing in the PCA-2. He took off from Newark for a flight around

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. The engine stopped over North

Arlington, New Jersey Arlington is a neighborhood in Kearny in the western part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Geography Arlington is located in the northwestern part of Kearny on the ridge between the New Jersey Meadowlands and the Passaic Riv ...

and he landed safely in a cemetery, fixed the engine and took off from among the gravestones. United Air Lines Boeing 247D NC13369 NASM

In 1936 he joined

United Air Lines United Airlines, Inc. is a major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six continents with more destinations than any o ...

as a

Boeing 247 The Boeing Model 247 is an early American airliner, and one of the first such aircraft to incorporate advances such as all-metal ( anodized aluminum) semimonocoque construction, a fully cantilevered wing, and retractable landing gear.

D co-pilot flying the

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

and New York to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

routes. He flew with United for around 18 months, and was about to be promoted to captain when he was contacted by W. Wallace Kellett.

Kellett

Kellett had obtained a licence to produce Pitcairn autogyros, and asked Miller to be the test pilot for his new wingless version, the two-seat KD-1. The D in the name stood for Direct control, meaning that the rotor was responsible for all aerodynamic control, so that ailerons (and therefore the wings), elevators and indeed airspeed were no longer required. Other test pilots had declined to fly it, fearing for the safety of the aircraft, but Miller, thoroughly understanding the principles involved, was convinced that the radical new design would be safe, and accepted Kellett's offer. The testing went well, Miller even becoming the first pilot to dive an autogyro – the advancing rotors went near-supersonic and caused severe problems for Miller, but he survived, shaken but unscathed, and the aircraft sustained only minor damage, mainly to the rotor blades. The inspector who had asked for this test then declined to pass the aircraft but Miller told him that any aircraft subject to that level of abuse where it and the pilot both survived was obviously worthy of a certificate, and the inspector agreed. This success emboldened Kellett and Miller to lobby Washington to enable regular autogyro mail services to start, and an act was passed on 15 April 1938. Remarkably, the act released rotary-winged aircraft from most of the safety provisions that applied to fixed-wing aircraft, mainly on account of their ability to land safely almost anywhere in the event of an emergency. This exemption largely continues into the 21st century. Kellett then approached several airlines to bid on mail contracts for an autogyro service. At first only

TWA The Twa, often referred to as Batwa or Mutwa (singular), are indigenous hunter-gatherer peoples of the Great Lakes Region in Central Africa, recognized as some of the earliest inhabitants of the area. Historically and academically, the term � ...

was interested, but Miller thought that they just wanted the publicity. He made two demonstration flights for them between the Chicago postal facility and Chicago Municipal Airport (now

Midway Airport Chicago Midway International Airport is a major commercial airport on the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the city's Chicago Loop, Loop business district, and divided between the city's C ...

), but TWA then rejected the idea. Kellett and Miller then approached

Eddie Rickenbacker Edward Vernon Rickenbacker (born Edward Rickenbacher, October 8, 1890 – July 23, 1973) was an American fighter pilot in World War I and a Medal of Honor recipient.Eastern Air Lines Eastern Air Lines (also colloquially known as Eastern) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade ...

with a view to using Kellett autogyros to fly the mail between the main post office in Philadelphia and the nearby

Camden Central Airport Camden Central Airport (sometimes called Central Airport, Camden, New Jersey, Camden) was an airport in Pennsauken Township, New Jersey, Pennsauken Township, Camden County, New Jersey, United States. It had its peak of activity in the 1930s, se ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, a distance of just under six miles, crossing the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

and saving a considerable amount of time. Rickenbacker was very enthusiastic and agreed to run a one-year trial. He offered Miller the job as chief pilot of the operation. To Kellett's surprise, Miller asked for twice the amount that Kellett was paying him, and Rickenbacker agreed, even offering to take him on as a regular pilot if the mail service ended. Autogyro Shuttle mail delivery demonstrated 25025v

Autogyro Shuttle mail delivery demonstrated 25025v

On 19 May 1938, on behalf of Eastern Air Lines, Miller made a demonstration mail flight in the prototype KD-1, now modified into a KD-1A with a mail compartment in place of the front cockpit, from the Bethesda,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, postal station to a temporary post office tent outside the main DC post office (now the

National Postal Museum The National Postal Museum, located in Washington, D.C., is the primary postal museum of the United States. It covers large portions of the postal history of the United States and other countries. It was established through joint agreement be ...

), as well as a trip from the DC post office to Washington Hoover airport. Kellett then designed a new version, the KD-1B, with a canopy enclosing the rear, pilot's seat, a radio, blind-flying instruments, a landing light and other changes to Eastern's requirements. The Eastern Air Lines mail service, no AM2001, started on 6 June 1939. after Miller had done several practice flights, mainly to get used to the often severe turbulence experienced on the roof of the post office. The new KD-1B was used, with the KD-1A held as a backup. A reserve pilot was recruited after Miller had to take two weeks off with

influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...

. This was John "Skipp" Lukens, the Pitcairn test pilot who had checked Miller out before he took delivery of his PCA-2. The service, the world's first rotary-wing mail service, and the first to use the roof of a building, ran five return flights a day, six days a week, with Miller doing the majority of the flying. and was a complete success, exceeding regularity expectations. There was only one minor incident when the autogyro, piloted by Lukens, was blown over by a wind on the post office roof while taxiing. Some debris from damaged rotor blades fell into the street below, leading to false reports that the autogyro itself had crashed. Miller repaired the damage himself. There was also one precautionary landing in a vacant lot by Lukens due to suspected carburettor icing. After a short wait, he took off again without further problems. The contract was completed on 5 June 1940 but was not renewed, so Miller then joined Eastern as a fixed-wing pilot.

Later career

With Eastern Air Lines, he flew the

Douglas DC-2 The Douglas DC-2 is a retired 14-passenger, twin-engined airliner that was produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Company starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247. In 1935, Douglas produced a larger version called the DC-3 ...

and

DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

. He also formed Miller's Machine Works, and on his days off, he manufactured small parts for the

Columbia Aircraft Corporation The Columbia Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer, which was active between 1927 and 1947. History Columbia Aircraft was founded in December 1927 by Charles A. Levine as chairman and the aircraft designer Giuseppe Mario ...

, who had started producing

Grumman J2F The Grumman J2F Duck (company designation G-15) is an American single-engine amphibious biplane. It was used by each major branch of the U.S. armed forces from the mid-1930s until just after World War II, primarily for utility and air-sea rescue ...

-6 Ducks at their

Valley Stream Valley Stream is a village in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 40,634 at the time of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Valley Stream is within the Town of ...

plant on Long Island. In late 1941, as he was a reservist but too old for combat duty, he was invited to become their chief test pilot. In 1946 he also tested both prototypes of the unsuccessful Duck replacement, the monoplane Columbia XJL-1. Returning to Eastern, over the next 25 years he went on to fly the

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960 ...

DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, Douglas reworked it after the war to compete wi ...

DC-7 The Douglas DC-7 is a retired American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. A derivative of the DC-6, it was the last major piston engine-powered transport made by Douglas, being developed shortly after ...

Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first civil airliner family to enter widespread use equipped with a pressurized cab ...

and

Electra Electra, also spelt Elektra (; ; ), is one of the most popular Greek mythology, mythological characters in tragedies.Evans (1970), p. 79 She is the main character in two Greek tragedies, ''Electra (Sophocles play), Electra'' by Sophocles and ''Ele ...

, and the

DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is an early long-range narrow-body jetliner designed and produced by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. Work began in 1952 towards the United States Air Force's (USAF) requirement for a j ...

. For the latter part of his career he commuted daily in his Beech V35A Bonanza N19WC from Poughkeepsie to whichever New York airport he was scheduled to fly from – he claimed that he was the only airline pilot in the area to do that. Miller left Eastern Air Lines in 1965 with over 35,000 hours in his logbooks. Miller has stated that he retired a little early (Eastern had compulsory retirement at age 60) because he was tired of returning late at night to a cold, dark, empty house. In reality he was either fired or asked to leave. Miller then bought a three-passenger version of the

Bell 47 The Bell 47 is a single-rotor single-engine light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It was based on the third Bell 30 prototype, which was the company's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young. The 47 became the first heli ...

G helicopter which he flew on contract work, often for the police until 1971 when they bought their own helicopter. He tried to interest a local hospital in getting a heliport, but they didn't like the idea, and he then retired from commercial aviation. In 1967 he was a founding director of the American Bonanza Society. He was also a member of the United Flying Octogenarians club (UFO), and a Charter member of the

Quiet Birdmen The Quiet Birdmen is a secretive club in the United States for male aviators. Founded in 1921 by World War I pilots, the organization meets in various locations, never announced to the public. Members, called QBs, must be invited to join, and they ...

. In 2001, the 70th anniversary of his transcontinental autogyro flight, he made the trip again, now aged 94, in his Bonanza. A more leisurely affair, he stopped off at the

EAA AirVenture EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (formerly the EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In), or just Oshkosh, is an annual air show and gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at the Wittman Regional Airport and adjacent Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wisco ...

show at

Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the western shore of Lake Winnebago and had a population of 66,816 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List o ...

, and various other places. and reached his target,

Gillespie Field Gillespie Field is a county-owned public airport in El Cajon, California. It is located 11.5 miles (18.5 km; 10 nmi) northeast of downtown San Diego. History : ''Section reference dates.'' In 1942 the United States Marine Corps chose a s ...

outside San Diego. The return trip involved just two fuel stops, and the whole journey took 35.5 hours of flying. He continued to fly his Bonanza and latterly a Turbo Baron from Poughkeepsie until he finally gave up his license in 2006. For a few years before this the FAA insisted that he flew with a safety pilot, but Miller gave them strict instructions to never touch the controls. He had been the US's oldest pilot. He wrote a book called ''Flying Stories: A Chronicle of Aviation History from Jennys to Jets by the Pilot Who Flew Through It All'', published in 2002. He used 'jennys2jets' as his email address. Miller took his first glider flight in 2006 aged 100 and liked it so much he went up for another. Eastern Air Lines Douglas DC-3 NC18124 NASM

Eastern Air Lines Douglas DC-3 NC18124 NASM

Miller received the Sikorsky Award for his part in the evolution of the helicopter, a Certificate of Honour from the

National Aeronautic Association The National Aeronautic Association of the United States (NAA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and a founding member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Founded in 1905, it is the oldest national aviation club in the Uni ...

for his contributions to aviation, and had been made an honorary fellow of the

Society of Experimental Test Pilots The Society of Experimental Test Pilots is an international organization that seeks to promote air safety and contributes to aeronautical advancement by promoting sound aeronautical design and development; interchanging ideas, thoughts and sugges ...

for having “promoted the moral obligation of the test pilot to the safety of the aerospace world”. Two aircraft flown by Miller are on display at the

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...

(NASM) on Washington Mall: Boeing 247D NC13369 of United Air Lines and Douglas DC-3 NC18124 of Eastern Air Lines. The two flying prototypes of the Columbia XJL-1 that he tested are also in museums, one at

Pima Air Museum The Pima Air & Space Museum is an aerospace museum in Tucson, Arizona, US. It features a display of nearly 400 aircraft spread out over on a campus occupying . It has also been the home to the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame since 1991. Overvi ...

, Arizona, and the other at the

Yanks Air Museum The Yanks Air Museum is an aviation museum dedicated to exhibiting, preserving and restoring American aircraft and artifacts in order to show the evolution of American aviation, located at Chino Airport in Chino, California. History A pair of F ...

, California.

Personal life

Miller married Katherine North Sague on 18 June 1933. They had three children, Patricia, Joanne and John Sague Miller. Katherine died on 2 July 1963. Three years later he married Dr Edith Mead, who died on 18 April 1991. In the 1960s he started

cross-dressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express onesel ...

, adopting the persona of Felicity Chandelle. He was arrested in New York City in March 1964, charged with vagrancy and being disguised in public. His sentence was two days imprisonment, suspended. Appeals were rejected by both the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the supreme court, highest court in the Judiciary of New York (state), Unified Court System of the New York (state), State of New York. It consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeal ...

and the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

. Eastern Airlines subsequently fired Miller for having 'signalled homosexuality'. Miller claimed never to have consumed alcohol, coffee or tobacco, and never took prescription drugs, except in his final days. He ate a lot of fruit and seafood, and never had butter on his bread, asking “Who the hell needs a lubricant to eat bread? Chew it.” He exercised through hill walking. Johnny Miller died on 23 June 2008, aged 102, of natural causes at

Vassar Brothers Medical Center Vassar Brothers Medical Center (VBMC) (formerly Vassar Brothers Hospital) is a 350-bed not-for-profit hospital overlooking the Hudson River in Poughkeepsie, New York. It is part of the Northwell Health healthcare network and is the major medical ...

, Poughkeepsie. His last words, to his nephew, were "I guess my flying days are over". He had requested that his body be donated to medical research through the Anatomy Gifts Registry.

Footnotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Johnny M 1905 births 2008 deaths American aviation pioneers American commercial aviators American men centenarians American test pilots Aviators from New York (state) Aviation history of the United States Barnstormers People from Poughkeepsie, New York Pratt Institute alumni