AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2019 - 52

"THE WORLD OF THE AIRLINE PLANE, AND THE WORLD OF
THE MILITARY PLANE, WAS A DIFFERENT WORLD THAN
THE ONE IN WHICH CARL WAS MAKING HIS AERONCAS."
-ALFRED L. WOLF
Four other Philadelphia lawyer-pilots
joined Wolf in planning sessions aimed
at creating a new association. They were
Charles Townsend Ludington, the brothers
Laurence P. and Philip T. Sharples, and John
Story Smith. These five, while hosting Civil
Aeronautics Authority Chairman Edward
J. Noble on a turkey-hunting expedition in
southern Georgia, received considerable
encouragement when Noble said that military and airline groups usually got their way
when lobbying the CAA, presenting their

arguments in a professional, convincing
manner. General aviation pilots appeared at
the CAA individually, with oddball demands
and opinions that got nowhere. By May 15,
1939, AOPA's five founders had drawn up the
association's charter and filed its incorporation papers. Ludington was named president
and AOPA was born, with its goals being to
make flying "more useful, less expensive,
safer, and more fun."
AOPA's first employee was Joseph B.
"Doc" Hartranft Jr., a recent University

AOPA Presidents

AOPA history
and initiatives

Year

AOPA'S EARLY, drooped-wing logo endures

to this day in a more modern style. The
association's founders (opposite, top
photos) hired "Doc" Hartranft in 1939; he
served through 1977, rising to become
AOPA president. Civil Air Patrol members
(opposite) and three-star AOPA Air Guard
graduates helped search for submarines
during World War II.

C. Townsend Ludington
May 15, 1939, AOPA is founded.
Membership reaches 2,000 by
the end of year one. Headquarters starts off in Philadelphia, then, once a deal with
Ziff-Davis is signed, moves to
the Transportation Building in
Chicago. "AOPA News," soon to
become "AOPA Section," first
appears in Popular Aviation.
1939

1940

1941

AOPA Air Guard is
formed. Membership
reaches 4,000 by
March.
52 | AOPA PILOT May 2019

of Pennsylvania graduate who had organized a collegiate flying club. Wolf hired
him to recruit the first members and start
a newsletter that would publicize AOPA's
initiatives. A deal was struck with the ZiffDavis publishing company to put an insert
in Popular Aviation magazine (later to be
renamed Flying and Popular Aviation and
then simply Flying magazine). The magazine
including the four-page insert would be sent
to AOPA members. By the end of 1939, some
2,000 charter members had signed up.
Hartranft had a small staff based in
Chicago, near Ziff-Davis' offices, and they
worked on the insert and lobbying efforts.
One was to support the formation of the
Civilian Pilot Training Program, which
funded pilot training for thousands who
would go on to serve as military pilots in
World War II. The fledgling AOPA also
secured a reduction in medical examination
fees and began an ongoing drive to promote
the design of safe and simple general aviation airplanes-like the Ercoupe-with the
goal of reducing the large number of stall/
spin accidents.
In 1940 the first AOPA Units-local pilot
groups organized by members-were established, starting with a unit in Washington,
D.C. The number of units across the nation
reached 175 by the early 1950s. Meanwhile,
AOPA membership reached the 4,000
mark by March 1940. A strong membership

AOPA headquarters moves
from K Street
to F Street into
the International
Building in D.C.

Headquarters moves to
the Carpenters Building in Washington, D.C.
1942

1943

1944

1945

"AOPA Section" is replaced
by "AOPA Pilot" inserts in
what had become Flying
magazine.

1946

The AOPA Foundation is created
as a nonprofit
organization
dedicated to GA
safety and pilot
education.

Headquarters moves
to the Washington
Building on New York
Avenue NW in D.C.
1947

Membership
reaches 20,000.

1948

1949

Membership
hits 50,000.

1950
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2019

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