James Albert Whitted

Lt. James Albert Whitted (born February 14, 1893 – August 19, 1923), was an American aviator from St. Petersburg, Florida. During his career, Whitted was an engineer, an instructor at the Naval flight school and ran a commercial air service business. Whitted was killed in a plane crash near Pensacola, Florida in 1923. The Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg was named after him in 1928.

Early life James Albert Whitted was born in St. Petersburg, Florida on February 14, 1893. Whitted's father, Thomas Albert Whitted came to the Pinellas County area with his parents from Boone, Iowa in 1878. Albert's mother, formerly Julia Phillips, was the daughter of the Long Key settler Zephaniah Phillips. In 1884, after their marriage, Thomas and Julia moved to what is now Gulfport, Florida. There they built a house and had nine children, four of which died at an early age. The third child born was James Albert Whitted. When Whitted graduated from St. Petersburg High School, he established St. Petersburg's first motorcycle shop. Albert began his commercial aviation career out of a hangar on the Vinoy Basin in St. Petersburg. He took passengers up for short plane rides in his seaplane, the "Bluebird", for flight lessons and to enjoy the view. Thousands of residents and tourists went up with him in the next few years.

Eric Whitted recalled tales of a newspaper being floated in the bay and Albert swooping down with his seaplane and cutting the paper in half. Albert also carried mail up the Mississippi River for some time. In true daredevil style, according to Eric Whitted, he flew his plane under the arched bridges that spanned the Mississippi at the time, terrifying the people crossing the bridges. By the end of 1922, shortly before Albert's death, the couple had two daughters, Catherine Eugenia "Jean", and Frances Louise "Fanty".

After Albert's death in 1923, Frances lived as a widow in the Brent family house with her and Albert's two daughters, as well as a few of her brothers and sisters. While living there she met another Naval officer, Harold Foster Fick, from St. Joseph, Missouri. Frances remarried to Harold Fick in 1927. Soon after its opening, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company chose Albert Whitted Airport as a location for one of its blimps, and the St. Petersburg City Council constructed a blimp hangar at the site at a cost of $33,062.

In 1934 the Civil Works Administration (forerunner of WPA) initiated local projects, among them the expansion of Albert Whitted Airport. It was used in World War II as a training facility.