Accomplished Pilot, Rotorcraft Pioneer Was 102
Aero-News is saddened to report that accomplished pilot,
engineer and rotorcraft pioneer John M. Miller left us Monday
morning, at the age of 102.
If you're not a gyroplane enthusiast, you may not have heard of
Captain Miller before... and that's unfortunate. He contributed
much to aviation in general, and served as a feisty example of how
to enjoy one's golden years.
Miller said last year that he still remembered, if not clearly,
the moment when the aviation bug bit him. It was May 29, 1910. John
was 4 years old, and he saw Glenn Curtis fly down the Hudson River
to claim a $10,000 prize offered by the New York World newspaper
for a flight to New York City from the state capital in Albany. His
later introduction to aerobatic flight, and witnessing of Charles
Lindbergh's departure on his transatlantic record flight, cemented
his life's course.
After becoming a mechanical engineer and barnstormer, John
became interested in the autogyro's potential, and ordered a
Pitcairn PCA-2 (type shown below) in 1931. He would name it
"Missing Link," which turned out to be prophetic of the gyroplane's
role as a stepping stone in the development of the helicopter. John
planned a transcontinental flight to demonstrate the machine's
capabilities.
When he discovered the factory had bumped his production slot to
get a machine to Amelia Earhart first, for her own transcontinental
attempt sponsored by the Beechnut Chewing Gum Company, he made
arrangements to get checked out in another, experimental gyro,
knowing that Amelia was waiting to get checked out in her own
machine.
The decision allowed him to depart the moment his aircraft was
delivered. He reportedly got the machine, made five test hops, and
headed west, breaking in the Wright 330 radial along the way. He
left Poughkeepsie, NY on May 14, 1931, and arrived in San Diego on
the 29th... beating Earhart's attempt by 10 days, and setting a
record time which would stand for 72 years, until Andy Keech broke
it flying a modern tractor gyroplane in 2003.
Miller later talked Congress and President Franklin Roosevelt
into testing airmail deliveries by autogyro between the roofs of
post offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey.
As part of the test, he got all weather limitations written for
fixed-wing aircraft waived for all rotorcraft, a distinction which
survives largely intact to this day. He completed the year's test
with a perfect dispatch record, although another gyro pilot he
trained suffered an accident while taxiing.
John called "Missing Link" an "absolutely excellent aircraft."
He bragged that it needed only an oil change after the
transcontinental flight in 1931, and was sold after 2400 hours with
the original air in one of the tires.
The autogyro faced extinction with the development of the first
stable helicopters. John served as a captain for United Airlines
and later Eastern Airlines, flying the DC-2 and DC-3 and the Boeing
247. He served a test pilot for the Grumman J2F5 "Duck" amphibian,
worked as an active flight instructor well into his '90s, and was
still flying his 1969 Bonanza at age 102. He complained that the
FAA required him to fly with a safety pilot in his last few years,
refusing to believe anyone his age could have passed a legitimate
medical exam.
Miller was very active in the American Beechcraft Society. He
served on the first ABS Board of Directors in the late '60s and
continued active involvement through the next 40 years. Many tales
from Miller's aviation past are featured in his book, appropriately
titled "Flying Stories."
The Monday edition of the Poughkeepsie Journal quoted Miller's
daughter, Trish Taylor, as saying John died of natural causes after
a two-day stay in a hospital, and had never used prescription
medications of any sort until the very end. Miller requested that
his body be donated to the Anatomy Gifts Registry, for use in
medical research.
After a life filled with remarkable experiences and
accomplishments, and no shortage of funny quips, his last words
reportedly were, "I guess my flying days are over." John, with all
due respect... we doubt that very much.
ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.15.24)
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