View source for Bevo Howard

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| name               = Bevo Howard
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| birth_date         = 11 August 1914
| birth_place        = Bath, South Carolina
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1971|7|17|1914|8|11}}
| death_place        = [[Greenville, North Carolina]]
| death_cause        = Air crash
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| known_for          = Aerobatic flight
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[[File:20-02-800-howard.jpg|thumb|Plaque of Howard at the [[Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame]]]]
'''Beverly "Bevo" Howard''' (August 11, 1914, Bath, South Carolina – October 17, 1971, [[Greenville, North Carolina]]) was an American aerobatic pilot and aviation businessman.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Flying Magazine|date=December 1961|page=40}}</ref>

==Life==
Howard learned to fly in 1930 before the age of 16 by working as a lineboy for Hawthorne Flying Services in Augusta, Georgia.  Shortly thereafter he purchased the struggling company and flew [[DC-2]]s for [[Delta Air Lines]] and [[Eastern Airlines]] in order to support Hawthorne.  He became the youngest pilot to receive an [[Airline Transport Pilot Certificate|Airline Transport Rating]] before the regulations increased the age limit to 21.

During the [[Second World War]], he operated a primary flight training school for the [[United States Army Air Forces]] at [[Orangeburg, South Carolina]].  Over 6000 pilots, including 2000 French Air Force students, were trained at his school.

At Orangeburg, he presented and demonstrated to the Army Air Corps the concept of using [[Piper Cub]]s as forward artillery observer aircraft, which could be operated out of unimproved farm fields close to the front lines, which was adopted and used with large success throughout World War II.

After the war, Howard continued to train [[US Air Force]] and foreign pilots from Europe and the Middle East including training foreign pilots in [[P-51 Mustang]]s.

The civilian Aviation Services run by Hawthorne overexpanded across North and South Carolina and were eventually consolidated into a single location on the municipal airport at Charleston, South Carolina, which he ran until his death in 1971.

A school run by his Hawthorne Aviation at [[Moultrie, Georgia]] trained approximately 10,000 pilots from 32 countries in 10 years.  In addition to the [[Spence Air Base]] school in Moultrie, Hawthorne operated a number of both Air Force and Army contract schools across the Southeastern United States, notably at [[Fort Rucker]], Alabama and [[Fort Campbell]], Kentucky.

Howard began air show flying in 1933. In 1938, he became the first pilot to fly an [[outside loop]] in a light plane, flying a 37½ horsepower Piper Cub. He went on to win the National Lightplane Aerobatic Championships in three consecutive years from 1939 to 1941, and eventually became one of the best known air show pilots in the country.  Since his primary occupation was running the many aspects of his company (Hawthorne Aviation), flying airshows became an [[avocation]] and he flew many exhibitions for charity or cost such as the show where he was killed.

On October 17, 1971, while performing at an air show in Greenville, North Carolina, he struck a tree while flying his [[Bücker Flugzeugbau|Bücker]] [[Bücker Bü 133|Bü 133 Jungmeister]]. One wing was knocked off the airplane, and Howard was killed instantly when it struck the ground.

His red and white checkered [[biplane]], rebuilt after the crash to non-flying condition, is now in the [[National Air and Space Museum]] of the [[Smithsonian Institution]]. A [[Bücker Flugzeugbau|Bücker Bü 133]]C [[Jungmeister]], marked as his aircraft is also displayed at the [[Virginia Aviation Museum]] at [[Richmond International Airport]], Virginia.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060913185952/http://www.strom.clemson.edu/strom/gallery/howard/ ICAS Hall of Fame: Beverly E. "Bevo" Howard]
* [http://proairshow.com/Greenville%20NC.htm Touching the Face of God]
* [http://BevHoward.com/Bevo.htm Beverly "Bevo" Howard site created and maintained by his son]
* [http://BevHoward.com/Buecker.htm Information on Bevo's Bücker Jungmeister]
{{Aerobatics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Beverly E.}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:1971 deaths]]
[[Category:Aerobatic pilots]]
[[Category:Aviators from South Carolina]]
[[Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Aeronautical Medal]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths in North Carolina]]
[[Category:American flight instructors]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1971]]