by

Todd Kyle

    John Livingston was born on November 30, 1897, in Cedar Falls. He attended Lincoln School and completed one year of high school. John began working as a bicycle repairman at George Fagan’s bicycle shop when he was thirteen. Later, he left to become a mechanic at Ike Albert’s Harley Davidson. Following World War I, Livingston began his long career in aviation working as a mechanic at Miller Scales Aviation Company. He started flying airplanes himself in 1919. Soon, he went to work for the Iowa Airplane Company as an aircraft salesman. Later he bought out the company and re-named it the Midwest Airways Corporation. In 1928, Livingston and his brother Aden took over Chapman Field, Waterloo’s airport. During the 1930s, Livingston became a national celebrity as an accomplished race and test pilot. From 1928 to 1932, he won 79 first places in the 139 race events he entered. He then worked as a test pilot for Waco Aircraft Company from 1935 to 1937. During World War II, he trained students to fly with a contract from the War Training Service at the Iowa State Teachers College (today UNI). Following the war, Livingston returned to aircraft sales and eventually retired to Pompano Beach, Florida. In 1959 he served as National President of the OX-5 Club of America. In 1974, while testing an aerobatic monoplane, Livingston suffered a heart attack. He was able to land the airplane, but collapsed immediately after he stepped out of the airplane. His brother Aden remarked in his obituary: "In all of his years of flying, he never scratched an airplane."[1] John Livingston was inducted into the Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame on April 27, 1995.

Endnotes

Bibliography

Cedar Falls Historical Society, Series III, Box 7A-Livingston, John and "Bite", Folder One-Biographical Information.  CFHSA: Series III: Box 7C: John 

Livingston Folder (Funeral Program).  CFHSA: Series III: Box 7D: John Livingston Folder, (Waterloo Courier) "Aden Livingston" (Date and Page unknown).