Douglas Henry Davis

Douglas Henry Davis (November 12, 1898 ) was an early American aviator, barnstormer, air racer, flight instructor and commercial pilot.

Early life Davis was born in Zebulon, Georgia, the son of Jonathan A. and Etta (née Ogletree) Davis. A superior informed him, "There’s a shortage of capable instructors and you’re needed here to teach others to fly."

Barnstorming and other business activities After his discharge in 1919, Davis purchased a surplus government Jenny, which he named "Glenna Mae" after his future wife, and turned to barnstorming in the southeastern United States. Eventually he sold the Jenny and bought three Wacos. It made a big impression on the boy; he later said, "From that day on, I knew I had to fly." ) He set up an aviation school there, the Douglas Davis Flying Service. Both the school and the charter service were firsts for Atlanta. at a speed of . His civilian airplane was the first to defeat military aircraft. In 1934, he won the Bendix Trophy, flying a Wedell-Williams Model 44 from Burbank to Cleveland (to compete in the National Air Races) at a speed of in nine hours, 26 minutes and 43 seconds. Movie star Mary Pickford presented him with the trophy, while Vincent Bendix gave him his $5400 prize check.

At the National Air Races, he complained that the course for the last and biggest competition, the Thompson Trophy Race, held on Labor Day (September 3 that year), was too short – rather than the more customary to make the race easier for the audience to follow – and that "Someone may get killed this afternoon." This proved to be prophetic. Davis was leading on the eighth lap, but missed a pylon. He banked to turn around and try to pass the pylon properly, only to stall and crash into the ground, dying instantly out of sight of the 60,000 spectators. He was 35 years old. The announcer lied and told the crowd he had bailed out.

Personal life Davis married Glenna Mae D'Hollosay on December 25, 1925.

His son, Doug Davis Jr., was six at the time of his father's death. He would become a successful painter before dying in an Air France Boeing 707 crash on takeoff from Orly Field, Paris, on June 3, 1962, at about the same age as his father.

Honors

Davis was inducted into the OX5 Club of America Hall of Fame in 1972 and the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame in 1991. There is a statue of him beside one of Eddie Rickenbacker in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.