The Air Commerce Act of 1926 created an Aeronautic Branch of the United States Department of Commerce. Its functions included testing and licensing of pilots, certification of aircraft and investigati
Logo on side of a test aircraft
Seal and flag of the defunct Civil Aeronautics Board on display in the National Air and Space Museum
The Great Waldo Pepper
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The Great Waldo Pepper is a 1975 American drama film directed, produced, and co-written by George Roy Hill. Set during 1926–1931, the film stars Robert Redford as a disaffected World War I veteran pil
United States government role in civil aviation
…such regulation to state authorities. Barnstorming accidents that led to such regulations during this period are accurately depicted in the 1975 film The Great Waldo Pepper. At the urging of the aviation industry, that believed the airplane could not reach its full commercial potential without federal action to improve and…
Theatrical release poster by Gary Meyer
Redford in The Great Waldo Pepper, standing by the nose of a Standard J-1 biplane used in the movie.
A Standard J-1 with "The Great Waldo Pepper" paint scheme