Appalachian Figures
Pikeville beginnings
John Paul Riddle was born in Pikeville in 1901 and came of age while aviation was still a dare. He graduated from Pikeville College Academy in 1920, a few years before airplanes became a common sight over the Big Sandy. The Pikeville College yearbook soon carried an advertisement for the J. P. Riddle Co., a Brunswick phonograph shop in the Pauley Building, one more reminder that young Pike countians mixed business hustle with new ambitions.
Fourth of July under Middle Bridge
On Independence Day 1923, townspeople lined the Levisa Fork to watch Riddle fly a Curtiss Jenny under Pikeville’s Middle Bridge. It was audacious and perfectly timed for a holiday crowd. The bridge itself straddled U.S. 23 at the river bend, a span later recorded by the Historic American Engineering Record with photographs and a site index. Contemporary Sanborn Fire Insurance maps place the river crossings and business district that framed the stunt.
From Lunken Field to an airmail line
Barnstorming carried Riddle across the Ohio to Cincinnati, where in 1925 he met T. Higbee Embry at Lunken Field. Together they formed the Embry-Riddle Company, taught paying customers to fly, sold Waco, Fairchild, and Monocoupe airplanes, flew passengers and cargo on short routes between Louisville, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and soon won a sought-after air-mail contract that made Cincinnati one of the first cities with direct air-mail service.
AVCO years and a pause
In 1929 the Aviation Corporation, better known as AVCO, absorbed Embry-Riddle. AVCO curtailed aircraft sales and in 1930 closed the flying school. In 1932 the Embry-Riddle Division was folded into American Airways, part of the lineage that would become American Airlines. For a time, the Embry-Riddle name went quiet.
Reborn in Miami on the eve of war
Riddle revived the enterprise in Miami in 1939 with partner John G. McKay. Starting from a modest seaplane base, the school aligned with the Civilian Pilot Training Program and grew quickly as demand for pilots increased. When the Army Air Corps needed fields for a wartime training surge, Riddle selected familiar Florida ground. He had learned to fly as a cadet in the early 1920s at Carlstrom Field in Arcadia, and he moved to secure sites that could turn out pilots at scale.
Riddle Field and the British cadets
Just west of Clewiston, the new Riddle Field became No. 5 British Flying Training School. There British and some American cadets earned their wings in PT-17s, BT-13s, and AT-6s, while local volunteers in Clewiston ran a cadet club that hosted dances and socials. State and museum sources tally more than 1,300 British graduates, and alumni rolls preserve the names of those who did not return. Archival images and unit summaries show the layout and daily training on the Hendry County prairie.
Later recognition
Riddle’s Pikeville roots are honored at home with a Kentucky Historical Society marker that notes both his 1920 graduation and the 1923 bridge flight. Nationally, he received the National Aeronautic Association’s Distinguished Statesman of Aviation award in 1986. He died in 1989.
Sources and further reading
Kentucky Historical Society, Historical Marker No. 2251, “John Paul Riddle, 1901–1989.” Confirms Pikeville College Academy graduation and the July 4, 1923 Middle Bridge flight. explorekyhistory.ky.gov
Historical Marker Database (HMdb), transcription and photos of Marker No. 2251. Human Metabolome Database
Library of Congress, Historic American Engineering Record, U.S. 23 Middle Bridge, Pikeville — photo index and images (1984). Library of Congress Tile+1
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Pikeville, 1920 and 1932 — downtown and river-crossing context. The Library of Congress+2The Library of Congress+2
The Record (Pikeville College yearbook), 1924. Advertisement for “J. P. Riddle Co., Brunswick Dealers,” Pauley Building; John Paul Riddle and Walter P. Walters listed. Internet Archive+1
Embry-Riddle University Archives, “The Early Years.” Formation at Lunken in 1925, early operations, AVCO merger, school closure, and 1932 consolidation into American Airways. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Embry-Riddle University Archives, “Embry-Riddle Reborn.” Miami relaunch in 1939 under Riddle and McKay; Carlstrom Field connection. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Museum of Florida History, “Riddle Field” (Airglades/Airfield entry). Overview, aircraft types, graduate totals, cadet club. Museum of Florida History
American Air Museum in Britain, entries on No. 5 BFTS (Riddle Field). Unit summaries and curated photos. Library of Congress Handle
National Aeronautic Association, Distinguished Statesman & Stateswoman of Aviation award roll — 1986 listing for John Paul Riddle. NAA
National Register documentation: Chesapeake & Ohio Passenger Depot, Pikeville (1923) — transport context in Riddle’s era. NPGallery+1