Ralph Johnstone

Ralph Greenley Johnstone (September 18, 1880 – November 17, 1910) was the first American person to die while piloting an airplane that crashed. He and Archibald Hoxsey were known as the "heavenly twins" for their attempts to break altitude records.

He was born on September 18, 1880 in Parsons, Kansas.

He started as a vaudeville trick bicycle rider that performed a mid-air forward somersault. He became a Wright exhibition team pilot.

On August 17, 1910 he survived a crash at Asbury Park, New Jersey.

On October 27, 1910, the International Aviation Tournament was at the Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, New York. The meet offered $3,750 for the highest altitude, another $1,000 for a world record and a $5,000 bonus for exceeding 10,000 feet. Johnstone set a new American flight altitude record of 8,471. feet.[1] During the flight, a gust of wind forced him to fly backwards, and he landed near Artist Lake in Middle Island, New York.

He died on November 17, 1910 in Denver, Colorado in an aircrash.

He was in a crash after he failed to recover from a dive in Denver on November 17, 1910. Surviving Ralph were his wife and two young children -a daughter, Ethel Johnstone (born 1905), and a son, Ralph Ernest Johnstone (born 1904), who became a well-known and talented tattoo artist and circus banner painter.

A New York State Historic Plaque commemorating the landing at Artist Lake can be found at the lake along New York State Route 25 in Middle Island. On the ground Ralph was pals with Hoxsey and rival Curtiss team member Eugene Ely.