Jimmy Doolittle

Jimmy Doolittle

Dimensions: 8" x 10"

James Harold Doolittle (December 14, 1896 – September 27, 1993) was an American aviation pioneer. Best known for the surprise attack on Japan, Jimmy Doolittle actually changed both the civilian and military aviation world prior to WWII starting. Doolittle's most important contribution to aeronautical technology was the development of instrument flying. He was the first to recognize that true operational freedom in the air could not be achieved unless pilots developed the ability to control and navigate aircraft in flight, from takeoff run to landing roll-out, regardless of the range of vision from the cockpit. In 1929, he became the first pilot to take off, fly and land an airplane using instruments alone, without a view outside the cockpit. Having returned to Mitchel Field that September, he assisted in the development of fog flying equipment. He helped develop, and was then the first to test, the now universally used artificial horizon and directional gyroscope. He attracted wide newspaper attention with this feat of "blind" flying and later received the Harmon Trophy for conducting the experiments. These accomplishments made all-weather airline operations practical and the instruments are still used today. 

A Reserve officer in the United States Army Air Corps, Doolittle was recalled to active duty during World War II. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for personal valor and leadership as commander of the Doolittle Raid, a bold long-range retaliatory air raid on the Japanese main islands, on 18 April 1942, four months after the Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941. Doolittle received the Medal of Honor from President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House for planning and leading his raid on Japan. His citation reads: "For conspicuous leadership above and beyond the call of duty, involving personal valor and intrepidity at an extreme hazard to life.  He was eventually promoted to lieutenant general and commanded the Twelfth Air Force over North Africa, the Fifteenth Air Force over the Mediterranean, and the Eighth Air Force over Europe.