Donald Hudson

Lieutenant Donald Hudson (21 December 1895 – 11 June 1967) was an American World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories. Postwar, he pioneered aviation in Bolivia, including being the first aviator to fly across the Andes Mountains.

World War I service

Hudson served with the 27th Aero Squadron for the last year of the war, as he reported there as a Nieuport 28 pilot in November 1917. He did not score a victory until 2 July 1918, when he teamed with John MacArthur and four other pilots to destroy a pair of Fokker D.VIIs. Hudson then changed to a Spad XIII as the squadron re-equipped. On 1 August, he became an ace, scoring three victories during a protection patrol with the help of Jerry Vasconcells and a couple of other pilots. The action won him a DSC.

Hudson began a series of record-setting flights; for instance, his use of the Wasp made him the only triplane pilot in South American history. On 17 April 1920, he took off from El Alto near La Paz and flew across the Andes for the mountain chain's first aerial crossing. Another flight took him to Lake Titicaca and set a South American altitude record of 8,294 meters (27, 211 feet) above sea level. Another high level flight like that, on 19 May, resulted in Hudson landing the Wasp with a mechanic passenger rendered unconscious by cold and the altitude.

On a flight between Oruro and La Paz, Hudson crashed the Wasp near Sica Sica. The destruction of the plane seems to have ended his influence, as he was then investigated by Bolivian authorities.