John Paul Riddle

For others with this name, see John Riddle (disambiguation)
John Paul Riddle (May 19, 1901 – April 6, 1989) was a pilot and an aviation enthusiast, most well known for co-founding what later became Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU).

Riddle was born on May 19, 1901 in Pikeville, Kentucky. He attended Pikeville College in his hometown and graduated in 1920. After college he married Adele Goeser and they had six children. He served in the US Army Air Service from 1920 to 1922. After serving in the military, he became a barnstormer. He last lived in Coral Gables, Florida. At 87 years old, Riddle came down with an illness and died a few days later, on April 6, 1989.

Riddle's ashes were scattered over the Atlantic and he is remembered by a marker with his Royal Air Force cadets buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Arcadia, Florida.

On December 17, 1925, exactly 22 years after the Wright Brothers' first flight, Riddle and T. Higbee Embry formed the Embry-Riddle Company at Lunken Airport in Cincinnati, Ohio. Riddle had met Embry two years prior, while Riddle was barnstorming in Ohio. He had landed at Polo Field, offered Embry a ride in his plane, and from then on they were good friends. Riddle was named general manager, and the two began to sell Waco Aircraft in Cincinnati. In spring of 1926, the Embry-Riddle Company opened the Embry-Riddle Flying School. The school grew rapidly in 1928 and 1929, until the Embry-Riddle Company (now the Embry-Riddle Aviation Corporation) was merged with the Aviation Corporation (AVCO) of Delaware. AVCO phased out the Embry-Riddle Flying School in the fall of 1930. Shortly after, AVCO became American Airways (the predecessor of American Airlines), and the Embry-Riddle Company was gone.

In 1939, Riddle was ready to get back into the business of training pilots. He contacted Embry, who had no interest in reentering a partnership with Riddle. Riddle, now living in Miami, Florida, found a partner in John G. McKay and his wife, Isabel. Keeping the Embry-Riddle name, they reestablished the Embry-Riddle School of Aviation (now the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University), partnering with the University of Miami to provide flight training under the Civilian Pilot Training Program, increasing the number of pilots immediately proceeding World War II. Riddle and McKay also formed the Riddle Aeronautical Institute at Carlstrom Field in Arcadia, Florida on March 22, 1941 for the purpose of training pilots for the United States Army Air Corps. A separate division of Embry-Riddle provided technical training in maintenance and metal work.

McKay purchased Riddle's share of Embry-Riddle in 1944 and from then on the two co-founders of the original Embry-Riddle were no longer involved.

Riddle also founded many other aviation related companies and schools. The J.P. Riddle Company was a school founded in 1939. The flying and technical school was so large that it contracted five flying schools to the US and British governments. A Brazilian school, Escola Tecnica de Aviacao, was established in 1943 and was located in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In May 1945, J.P. Riddle Company used some aircraft to relocate American transport instructors to his school in Brazil. This regularly scheduled service was operated by Riddle Airlines, which was incorporated by Riddle.

• The John Paul Riddle Student Center at ERAU's Daytona Beach campus has been named after Riddle.
• The call sign for aircraft at both ERAU campuses use the phrase "Riddle" followed by the numbers (two at the Prescott campus) in its registration. This call sign can only be used in the local area, as it is under an agreement with local air traffic control.
• The John Paul Riddle Society is a gift society at Embry-Riddle reserved for those who have donated more than $500,000 to the University.

• Wesley L. McDonald Elder Statesman Award - 1986
• Pikeville College Outstanding Alumni Award - 1988
• Florida Aviation Hall of Fame

• "National Aeronautic Association Awards". Retrieved 2007-08-21. 
• "Pikeville College - Outstanding Alumni Award Recipients". Retrieved 2007-08-21. 
• "Florida Aviation Hall Of Fame Inductees Named". Archived from the original on 2007-11-10. Retrieved 2007-08-21.