LITTLE ROCK – The first black aviator licensed to fly in Arkansas is among the three pilots to be inducted into the 2023 class of the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame.
The Arkansas Aviation Historical Society will honor the three new members for their contributions to aviation and aerospace history in Arkansas on Thursday, November 16 at 6:00 pm at the Ron Robinson Theater in Little Rock.
Pickens Black, Jr. fought racial discrimination on his path to becoming a pilot in Arkansas. He once built his own plane, but the government wouldn’t allow him to fly it. Perseverance paid off, however, in 1933 when he finally received his private pilot license becoming the first African American in Arkansas to do so. Black went on to own a passenger plane and two crop dusters. A graduate of Virginia Union University, Black built and repaired planes at a hangar he owned near his home in Blackville in Jackson County. Black passed away in 1980 at the age of 74 in the same house in which he was born in Blackville.
Bob Blankenship grew up on his family’s farm in Lincoln County but went on to gain fame as a pilot in air shows. He was known for his “Granny’ act where he would land his J-3 Cub on a rack on the back of a pickup truck that was racing down the runway. He also performed aerobatics in his modified Stearman that he called “Ol’ Red.” Blankenship spent several years crop dusting before working for Southwest Airlines, from which he retired. Blankenship accumulated more than 40,000 flying hours and acquired numerous type ratings throughout his career.
