Pilot, 82, Prizes Licenses Signed by Orville Wright

Roy Pemberton keeps four pilot’s licenses in his name as keepsakes because they were signed by aviation pioneer Orville Wright.

The oldest, a glider pilot’s license signed in 1930, was issued by the National Aeronautic Assn. while Wright was its chairman.

The licenses Pemberton received in the infancy of flight were numbered 8, 10, 18 and 42. The last three were issued in 1931.

“These licenses are very special to me,” said the 82-year-old retired flight instructor, who keeps them encased in plastic.

“They’re treasures because they’re signed by Orville Wright and because the license numbers are so low.”

The Bakersfield man was only the fourth pilot at Air Tech Flight School in San Diego to receive a license and an air instructor’s rating from the International Federation of Aeronautics.

He flew for the first time in 1926 aboard a World War I training plane, a JN4D, and his flying career continued until 1973 when he retired from a flight service company.

Pemberton took his first test in another historic aircraft.

“It was a Lawley Bowlus sailplane,” he said. “I knew Hawley Bowlus well because he was the maintenance supervisor at Air Tech when I was instructing there.”