Background
Wilson was born in Clarion County, Pennsylvania to the Review Gill Irwin Wilson and Amanda E. Robb, on September 18, 1892. A son of a Presbyterian minister, Gill Robb Wilson followed in his father"s footsteps after the Great War.
Wilson was born in Clarion County, Pennsylvania to the Review Gill Irwin Wilson and Amanda E. Robb, on September 18, 1892. A son of a Presbyterian minister, Gill Robb Wilson followed in his father"s footsteps after the Great War.
His service for the French was with French Escadrille Branch 117. He is also reported to have served with French Escadrille 66 and the 163d Aeronautical Squadron This training would serve him well in later years. During this pastorate (in 1927), Gill Robb Wilson was named Chaplain of the American Legion.
Doctors required complete silence if his voice was to have the chance of ever coming back.
Drawing upon his extensive experience in aviation and good standing in Trenton, New Jersey, the Honorary Gill Robb Wilson became Director of Aeronautics for the State of New Jersey in 1930.
He saw a need and imagined the possibilities for aviation in America. Crucial to those possibilities was the He promoted and fostered that dream, becoming the first director of the He also served as the editor of Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association"s first publication.
He witnessed the test of the atomic bomb on Bikini Island.
lieutenant is likely after effects of this event contributed to illness that later led to his death. Combining his love of aviation and skill with the pen, Gill Robb Wilson was an early editor of Flying Magazine. In I, he was a correspondent for the Herald Tribune.
Wilson was also the author of a book of poetry, which included some pieces on aviation, and the autobiographical work, I Walked with Giants, Vantage Press, 1968.
Wilson wrote the forward to popular aviation writer Richard Bach"s first book, "Stranger to the ground." Gill Robb Wilson died in Los Angeles County, California. He is greatly honored by the Civil Air Patrol California Wing each Memorial Day.
Gill Robb Wilson Award the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport in Parkersburg, West Virginia, is named Gill Robb Wilson Field.
After initially driving ambulances he became a member of the Lafayette Flying Corps (not the Lafayette Escadrille). As such, he shared in oversight of the Lakehurst landing field and participated as a member of the Inquiry Board (appointed by the United States Secretary of Commerce) related to the crash of the zeppelin Hindenburg. In 1939 he became the very first member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) which is now the world"s largest general aviation association with approximately 400,000 members.
