LCDR Godfrey Chevalier

Lieutenant Commander Godfrey Chevalier was born March 7, 1889 in Providence, Rhode Island. At age 21 he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. During World War One, he held command of the first naval air station.

He was part of a very select few of our aviation pioneers. In 1916, from the USS North Carolina, he piloted the first plane to be launched from a catapult. In 1922 he was attached to the USS Langley (CV-1), the first American aircraft carrier. It was there that he became the first to make a carrier landing. That happened 93 years ago today.

Just over two weeks later, he would be involved in a crash and suffered injuries that he would succumb to on November 14, 1922, at 33 years of age. He accomplished more in those thirty-three years than most can hope to accomplish in a lifetime. We are thankful for his sense of adventure and willingness to experiment. It helped lead us down a road that would see us at the forefront of aviation technology for many years. One could argue that we never really relinquished that hold. That is because of men like Godfrey Chevalier.