An era has ended, and another chapter in AOPA's history is written. On February 22, 86-year-old Joseph B. "Doc" Hartranft Jr. died. Hartranft was one of AOPA's founders, and went on to serve as the association's first employee, its first full-time president, and a member of the AOPA Board of Trustees. He devoted his entire working life to general aviation.
As a college student at the University of Pennsylvania, Hartranft parlayed his early enthusiasm for flying into the formation of the university's flying club — the "Cloudcombers" — in 1933. Along with several other students, Hartranft soon formed what was then called the National Intercollegiate Flying Club (NIFC). The idea was to involve students from other college flying clubs in aviation symposiums and competitive air meets. The club evolved, and it survives today as the National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA).
At a 1938 NIFC conference, Hartranft met up with Alfred L. Wolf, a Philadelphia pilot-attorney who, along with other like-minded Philadelphia attorneys, belonged to the Philadelphia Aviation Country Club, based at nearby Wings Field. Club members included Wolf, John Story Smith, Philip T. Sharples, Laurence P. Sharples, and C. Townsend Ludington. A series of meetings between Hartranft and the attorneys ensued. All had the goal of establishing an association that would effectively promote the interests of general aviation pilots. AOPA was formally incorporated on May 15, 1939, with the purpose, as enunciated in the association's mission statement, "to make flying less expensive, safer, more useful, and more fun." Wolf, Smith, the Sharpleses, and Ludington would make up AOPA's first board of trustees; Ludington also served as AOPA's first chairman.
Hartranft was hired as AOPA's first employee, with his offices in the same building used by Ludington's law firm. There, surrounded by film cans and boxes of potatoes (Ludington produced films and perfected a means of vacuum-packing french fries), Hartranft boosted AOPA membership to 2,000 pilots. Annual dues for a 1939 charter member: $3.
Hartranft went on to serve in AOPA offices in Chicago, downtown Washington, D.C., and Bethesda, Maryland. In Chicago, he wrote AOPA's first publications, which were inserts in Popular Aviation (in 1943, renamed Flying magazine).
During World War II Hartranft served as a captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps in Washington, D.C., acting as secretary to the Interdepartmental Air Traffic Control Board and War Aviation Committee. This body resolved disputes that arose between military and civilian interests during wartime. Hartranft also continued to work for AOPA. He created the AOPA Air Guard, which trained pilots to spot submarines cruising American coasts. It was the forerunner of today's Civil Air Patrol.
Hartranft was elected president of AOPA in 1952, by which time membership had jumped to 50,000 pilots. In 1953 he formed the AOPA Foundation, which later evolved into the AOPA Air Safety Foundation. He was central to efforts to educate pilots in the operation of the then-new VOR navigation system; he even authored a book on how to use VOR. Hartranft also came up with the concept of — and the term — unicom, secured major reductions in pilot accident and liability insurance, and in 1962 founded the International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations (IAOPA).
In 1977, Hartranft was succeeded by John L. Baker as president, and went on to serve as chairman of AOPA's Board of Trustees until May 1985. Doc remained on the board until May 1990, retired, then was named emeritus trustee in May 1998.
In his later years Doc lived in Annapolis, Maryland, and Hampton, Maine, where he could indulge his interest in sailing. Among other ships, Doc owned a massive ocean-going trawler converted for use as a personal yacht. He took delivery of the trawler in The Netherlands in the mid-1980s, then sailed it home himself.
"Doc Hartranft was a true visionary and defender of general aviation," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "When he helped found AOPA in 1939, the military's concerns about impending world war threatened the freedom of civilian aviation. Hartranft's leadership not only preserved general aviation through that dark period, but also enlisted GA in the defense of the nation. Much of what general aviation is today is the result of Hartranft's leadership and innovation."
Former AOPA President John L. Baker said he had a deep appreciation for Hartranft's contributions. "We had a phenomenally good board, but it was Doc's efforts that put us in a posture to make the organization what it is now."
"Doc Hartranft was unselfish in his dedication to general aviation," said Ralph F. Nelson, former president of the AOPA Air Safety Foundation. "And everybody just loved him."
Pilots have lost a powerful pioneering advocate. Before Doc Hartranft, general aviation didn't even have a name, let alone a publicly perceived sense of utility or mission. People called it "miscellaneous aviation." By the time Hartranft's tenure as president came to a close, AOPA membership had risen to 265,000, and there was no one in the aviation community in Washington, D.C., or anywhere else in the world who didn't respect AOPA's influence and efficacy. With membership now at the 380,000 mark, Hartranft's legacy is preserved in the robust health of general aviation.
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A Lifetime of Recognition
A partial roster of Hartranft's aviation awards stands as testimony to his energy as one of general aviation's top advocates:
- Commendation for "distinguished service to aviation" by Jimmy Doolittle in 1953, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of powered flight.
- Award of achievement, National Aviation Club, 1966.
- Award of Commendation, NIFA, 1969.
- Honorary life membership, Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom, 1972.
- Outstanding Contributions to Aviation, Aviation Council of Long Island, 1977.
- Outstanding Contributions to Aviation, Alpha Eta Rho International Aviation Fraternity, 1978.
- Honorary Doctorate Degree in Aviation Services, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 1978.
- Award of Commendation, Royal Aero Club of the Netherlands, 1979.
- Elder Statesman of Aviation, National Aeronautic Association, 1986.
- Charles Lindbergh Diploma, Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, 1987.
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