E.E. Aldrin, Sr., ca. 1932

E.E. Aldrin was born at Worcester, MA April 12, 1896. He attended grammar and high schools at Worcester, graduated Clark University in 1915, Worcester Polytechnic with honors in 1916, and the Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT) with master's (1927) and Ph.D. (1928) degrees. In one of the most prescient coincidences of 20th century aviation, on March 22, 1924 he married Marion G. Moon of El Paso, TX.

Then Lt. Aldrin is significant to us (among other reasons), because, just a few years later on January 20, 1930, he and Marion became the parents of E.E. "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. Their son would become the second human to set foot on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

Aldrin signed the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register once on page 12 on Monday August 9, 1926 at 11:00 AM. Based at McCook Field, Dayton, OH, Aldrin, Sr. visited Tucson westbound from El Paso, TX to San Diego, CA.

In what has to be the second-most prescient coincidence of 20th century aviation, he is carrying a passenger named R.B. Moon! There is no indication in the Register if passenger Moon was related to wife Marion. Aldrin and Moon's airplane was 23-672, a deHavilland DH-4B manufactured by Gallaudet. Although he signed the airplane into the Register with its Army acquisition number, it also had a "P-number", P-429, assigned at McCook Field.

Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Sr., In Flying Suit, Date & Location Unknown

His NASM biographical file (cited in the left sidebar) contains many pages of his study notes and exams from his schooling at MIT. For example, below is his neatly typed, MIT Advanced Airplane Structures exam from 1923. Just for fun, take a couple of hours to work through these four questions. Hand calculators or computers are not allowed; slide rules only. I enhanced the contrast of this image so you could be sure to read it more easily. Ready? Begin.

Aldrin's MIT Exam from 1923

Aldrin's flying career began in 1917. He served with the Aviation Section of the Army Signal Corps during WWI. He was promoted to captain on March 6, 1928 and to major on February 12, 1929 and assigned to the Air Corps Specialists' Reserve. In July 1929 he became civilian aviation manager for the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey directing the aviation division of the Standard Oil Development Company, and, later, manager of the Newark Airport.

Pilot Aldrin, like his son after him, led a grand life in aviation. He had enormous technical aptitude. He held industry executive positions, served on key committees, contributed publications, and rubbed shoulders and collaborated with aeronautical luminaries of the era: Goddard, Verville, Bunch, etc.

Early in his career he was a member of the Executive Committee for the Daniel Guggenheim Medal Fund, Inc., and of the Committee on Transport Operation and Air Mail, American Academy of Law. His reputation at MIT led to the following 1927 invitation and permissions for his involvement with the advisory committee for aeronautical engineering at MIT.

MIT Correspondence

MIT Correspondence

Recalling that Aldrin was still obligated to the Air Corps Specialists' Reserve, below is the permissions courtesy through the chain of command for the above request.

Army Correspondence the "Buck Slip"

Army Correspondence

"MMP" is General Mason Patrick, under whose leadership the Army Air Service was reorganized as the Air Corps in July 1926, thus receiving an additional degree of autonomy under an Assistant Secretary of War. This was probably one of Patrick's last permission granting exercises, as he retired from military service in December 1927.

As well as the MIT committee, he was a member of many other technical committees through the 1930s and beyond, especially as they related to the specifications, safety and handling of petroleum products (he was, after all, a long-time employee of Standard Oil). His contributions to publication ranged from individually authored treatises on oleo gear for airplanes, to contributed chapters published in books by other authors on aerodynamics, metallurgy, airplane structures and fuels. Whereas others ran races and ste records, Aldrin was, indeed, a powerful intellectual force in the developing science of aviation.

Aldrin reinlisted in the U.S. military in 1942 and continued his career in the Air Force until his retirement in 1956. Upon reinlistment he served with an antisubmarine unit and with the 8th and 13th Air Corps. He later was a consultant to the manned space flight safety director or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Along the way he acquired DOT Transport Pilot license number 3029.

As happens sometimes among Davis-Monthan people and airplanes, Aldrin touched the lives of several of them. For example, he flew Lockheed Vega NC105N as part of his Standard Oil duties, but, according to the Register, he never landed at Tucson with it. Below, he appears in front of an unidentified Lockheed Sirius with Register pilots Ruth Nichols and Vance Breese. This image, as are many others on this web site, is shared with us by Tim Kalina.

E.E. Aldrin (L) With Ruth Nichols and Vance Breese, October 19, 1931

His obituary appeared in The New York Times of January 2, 1975. Aldrin rose to the rank of Colonel in the Air Force. He was the founder of the Aeronautical Engineering School, which became the Air Force Institute of Technology. He flew West Saturday, December 28, 1974 at age 78.

Dossier 2.2.28

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UPLOADED: 02/07/08 REVISED: