C. Alfred "Chief"
Anderson was born in 1906 and had his first airplane
ride in 1928. In 1933, he became the first African American
to earn a transport, or commercial, pilot's license, and
with Dr. Albert E. Forsythe completed a series of long-distance
flights in 1933 and 1934 to promote black aviation.
In 1940, Anderson instructed students from Howard University
for the Civilian Pilots Training Program (CPTP) until
he was recruited by Tuskegee Institute in Alabama to act
as its chief primary flight instructor. In 1946, he organized
Tuskegee Aviation, Inc., to service aircraft until he
was forced out of business by the state's attorney general
in the late 1950s. He has continued to fly and co-founded
Negro Airmen International in 1970 to encourage others
to enter the field of aviation.
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