Harold Frederick Pitcairn

A Pitcairn Mailwing displayed at the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Harold Frederick Pitcairn (June 20, 1897 – April 23, 1960) was an 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 innovations relating to rotary wing aircraft.

Pitcairn's start in aviation was as an apprentice at Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, in Hammondsport, during the summer of 1914. He then attended the Curtiss Flying School, in Newport News, during the summer of 1916. USA President Hoover awarded the trophy on the lawn of the White House in 1931, where a Pitcairn PCA-2 landed as the first aircraft ever. In 1931 Cierva and Pitcairn won the John Scott Medal for inventing and developing the autogyro respectively. By the end of the year, Pitcairn had produced 24 PCA-2s and 17 Pitcairn PAA-1s. It took 10 more years of litigation before the court computed the compensation to be paid by the government. Finally, in 1978, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of that ruling. The U.S. had to pay $32,048,738 in compensation.

Legacy In 1977, 17 years after his death, the Supreme Court of the United States awarded Pitcairn $32 million (equivalent to $ million in ) from the US government for rotorcraft control surfaces patents used by military rotorcraft.

Pitcairn was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1995.