Waldo Dean Waterman an aviation pioneer from San Diego, California. He was born on June 16, 1894 in San Diego, CA. He was an inventor of many types of aircraft and engines. His most notable contribution to aviation was the first tailless monoplanes, the first aircraft with modern tricycles landing gear and the first successful low cost and simple to fly. It was resembled a flying car and was commonly called a Flivver Aircraft. He built his first aircraft, a biplane hand-glider in 1909. In 1911, he partnered with Glenn Curtiss when he moved his winter headquarters to North Island. In 1912, Waterman attended the University of California as a student of mechanical engineering. He became head of the Department of Theory of Flight, School of Military Aeronautics at the University of California.

He later became Chief Engineer at the U. S. Aircraft Corporation. He moved to Santa Monica, CA where he became a test pilot for Bach Aircraft and established the Waterman Air Craft Manufacturing Company. In 1960 he built and flew his last aircraft called The Early Bird based on the original Curtiss Pusher. He died on December 8, 1976.

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Link to Oral History.