★★★ Memorial Monday ★★★
Last week we discovered that LCDR Noel Davis, USNR (1914) should be included in Memorial Hall. He died in a plane crash in 1927, as did so many other early aviation pioneers. Noel's story is unique, though. At the time he was Commander of the Naval Air Reserve -- he's been called the father of that institution -- and he was nearly the most famous man on the planet.
On April 26, 1927 LCDR Davis and his copilot, LT Stanton Wooster '17 were conducting their final test flight aboard the trimotor biplane "American Legion," which they expected to make them the first humans to fly non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean in a heavier-than-air craft. A few weeks after their crash, Charles Lindbergh did so instead.
Noel was born in Utah on Christmas Day, 1891. He excelled at the Naval Academy, graduating third. Heavily involved in the laying and then removal of sea mines between Scotland and Norway during and after the first World War, he arrived in Pensacola, Florida for aviation training in the early 1920s. He met and married a young woman there from a prominent family. Together they had a son.
While still an aviation student he became officer in charge of the ground school, and wrote the first manual for that school. Shortly after he received his wings of gold he resigned his commission and moved to Boston to attend Harvard Law School. He also accepted a commission in the Naval Reserve and became commanding officer of the first station for Naval Aviation Reserves in Squantum, Massachusetts, later writing textbooks for training reserve pilots. While in Boston, he was co-inventor of the first aerial sextant used in flight navigation.
For nearly a hundred years the Noel Davis Trophy has been presented to the naval reserve squadron that is judged to be at the highest level of readiness. Squadrons are graded on the use of resources and training systems, flight hours achieved, personnel retention, safety records and wing commander evaluations. Personnel from the winning squadrons are authorized to wear the Navy "E" ribbon.
Noel is buried in Pensacola, Florida.
To Honor! ⚓
https://usnamemorialhall.org/index.php/NOEL_DAVIS,_LCDR,_USNR