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Author: Lace_Lynch
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Classification: obituary
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Gilbert A. Cargill
Gilbert A. Cargill was born in Oberlin, Ohio on June 4, 1916. He has at all times
encouraged minority youth to enter aviation as a career while striving to set an example
by maintaining the highest level of professionalism and safety.
He graduated from [OHS in 1933 and from] Oberlin College in 1937 with a major in
mathematics and a minor in physics and soon began teaching in Cleveland, Ohio.
In 1941 his childhood dream of obtaining his pilots license was finally allowed to become
a reality through the government sponsored Civilian Pilot Training Program.
In August, 1941 Mr. Cargill obtained his long awaited pilots license and continued on to
receive his commercial license with an instructor rating in October, 1942.
In January, 1943 he began teaching in Tuskegee, Alabama as a primary flight instructor and
in January, 1943 moved up to military flight instructor, flying Stearman PT-17's and
AT-6's. In 1967, he moved to Troy, Michigan to become a flight instructor and in
October of the same year he began teaching mathematics at Aero Mechanics High School.
For many years he taught ground school to students after school hours on his own time.
In October, 1972 the FAA appointed him to be the first black designated pilot examiner in
Michigan. He was appointed a safety counselor in 1975 and was subsequently honored in 1981
by the Great Lakes Regional FAA for outstanding support of the Safety Counseling Program.
In September, 1975 he obtained his coveted ATP certificate.
He was appointed to the Michigan Aeronautics Commission in 1985 by Governor James
Blanchard, serving as Chairman in 1988, and was recently reappointed for a second term.
He has also been an active member of the Negro Airmen International (NAI) for many years,
including serving two years as national president.
In June, 1987 he and a friend, John McFarlin, made a historic flight from Detroit to
London, England in a Cessna 210 in a total flight time of 25 hours.
Gilbert A. Cargill was enshrined on October 13, 1989 for his unending and tireless
commitment to the advancement of aviation through education of the next generation.
Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame,
http://www.michiganaviation.org/enshrinees/Bios/cargill.html
Gilbert Cargill, a Tuskegee airman who learned to fly despite battles with racial
discrimination, was born in Oberlin, where he developed a fascination with planes when a
barnstorming plane made a forced landing in a nearby field. He studied math and physics at
the College and went on to earn his wings in the government's new pre-war Civil Pilot
Training Program in 1939.
A commissioned Army flight instructor, he was refused admission to Maxwell Air Base in
Montgomery, Alabama, and instead reassigned to Moton Field in Tuskegee, the only place
where the Army allowed black Americans to train as pilots.
After the war, he held teaching jobs in Cleveland and Detroit while continuing to offer
flying lessons.
Mr. Cargill became the first black civilian to become an FAA examiner and was later
appointed an honorary lieutenant colonel in the Alabama Air National Guard.
He died July 16, 2004, in Shaker Heights, Ohio, leaving two sons, four grandchildren, and
one great-grandchild.
Oberlin Alumni Magazine, Oberlin, Ohio, Winter 2004-05, p. 37.
Cuyahoga
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