J. Clifford Turpin
James Clifford Turpin was a pioneer aviator with the Wright Exhibition Team.Biography
He was born on May 6, 1886.
He attended Purdue University, the first graduate to receive a pilot's license. Turpin joined the Wright Exhibition team in 1910, flying demonstrations across the country. The group was disbanded in 1911. In May 1912, Turpin rented a Wright Model C for his own exhibitions. While flying his Fowler-Gage biplane in a Seattle stadium, Turpin clipped an iron railing whilst avoiding a cameraman, and veered into a grandstand, killing two spectators. After the death of his flying partner, Phil Parmalee, in Yakima, Washington, Turpin quit flying.
He died in January 1966. He was buried in Lothrop Hill Cemetery in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Turpin reputedly was the father of one daughter.
