Elrey B. Jeppesen's pilot's license, which he earned at age 20, was signed by Orville Wright. He spent his early career barnstorming, instructing, and flying aerial surveys. As a young airline pilot in a time when neither government nor industry published any type of aeronautical charts, Jeppesen began devising approach procedures which included safe obstacle clearance and operating minima to airports along his routes in the western United States. When new radio ranges were installed with no standardized procedures for their use, he incorporated these new aids into his procedures. At one point, Capt Jeppesen had devised procedures for 80 percent of the airports on the routes between Chicago, Illinois and Oakland, California. Where obstruction elevations were uncharted, he got his information from city and county engineers, local surveyors, and others. When reliable sources were not available, he determined terrain elevations himself by flying past a mountain peak several times to obtain an average elevation. On many occasions, he would climb an uncharted mountain with a number of altimeters strapped to his back to obtain proper elevations. Organizing his activity into a formal business in 1934, he expanded his operation to include enroute navigational charts. In 1947, his company cooperated with the Civil Aeronautics Agency to create a standardized instrument approach procedure format; a format which has remained relatively unchanged in almost 50 years. Jeppesen's work led the way for the subsequent development of international criteria for instrument flight procedures, and his efforts have provided an immeasurable contribution to aviation safety.
Inducted in 1995.
Portrait Location: Modern Jet