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The Early Birds of Aviation is an organization devoted to the history of early pilots. The organization was started in 1928. Membership was limited to those who piloted a glider, gas balloon
Gas balloon

A gas balloon is any balloon that stays aloft due to being filled with a gas less dense than air or lighter than air . A gas balloon may also be called a Charli?re for its inventor, the Frenchman Jacques Charles....
, or airplane, prior to December 17, 1916. The cutoff date was set at December 17 to correspond to the first flights of Wilbur and Orville Wright. 1916 was chosen because large numbers of people were trained in 1917 as pilots for World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
.






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The Early Birds of Aviation is an organization devoted to the history of early pilots. The organization was started in 1928. Membership was limited to those who piloted a glider, gas balloon
Gas balloon

A gas balloon is any balloon that stays aloft due to being filled with a gas less dense than air or lighter than air . A gas balloon may also be called a Charli?re for its inventor, the Frenchman Jacques Charles....
, or airplane, prior to December 17, 1916. The cutoff date was set at December 17 to correspond to the first flights of Wilbur and Orville Wright. 1916 was chosen because large numbers of people were trained in 1917 as pilots for World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
. Many Early Birds went on to establish careers in public service and the aviation industry.

The original organization dissolved once the last living member had died. This occurred with the death of 99-year-old Early Bird George Debaun Grundy, Jr. on May 19, 1998. The current organization is devoted to collecting and publishing biographies on those who met the 1916 deadline. There are pilots who soloed before the 1916 deadline that never applied to the club to be members. Some have been made honorary members.

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