October History Fact of the Month

Barristers Lodge No. 48

In October 1929 Bro. Lieutenant Walter Hinton addressed Barristers’ Lodge on his experiences as an early naval aviator. Our minutes read, “Bro. Hinton was the pilot of the NC 4 on the first Trans-Atlantic air flight and the first aviator to use the plane in exploration work, having been connected with the Hamilton Rice Expedition to the Amazon Valley”. Bro. Hinton was born on November 10, 1888, in Van Wert, Ohio, about 100 miles from Dayton, Ohio, home of the Wright Brothers. He grew up hearing of the Wright Brothers’ success, and, inspired, decided to enlist in the Navy. He became a pilot, flew in the first aerial crossing of the Atlantic, taught his lifelong friend, and fellow famed aviator, Bro. Richard E. Byrd how to fly, and was part of the first aerial mapping of the Amazon. For more information about Bro. Hinton’s life see the book, The Flying Firsts of Walter Hinton.