John W. Greene

John W. Greene. . , More than any other person, John W. Greene is credited with the success and enduring legacy of Columbia Air Center. Greene was a pioneering aviator, airplane mechanic and teacher. He managed Columbia Air Center from 1941 to 1954., Greene was born in 1901, and as a young man enrolled at the Hampton Institute in Virginia where he studied mechanical engineering. He earned his private pilot's license in June 1929, and by 1932 became the second African American to receive a commercial pilot's license and third to receive his transport pilot's license. He subsequently earned an instructor's rating, airplane and engine mechanic's licenses, a third class radio license and ground school instructor's rating., Greene moved to Washington, DC in 1940 after he was recruited to start an aviation mechanics program at Phelps Vocational School. He formed the Cloud Club with several other pilots and became instrumental in their efforts to organize operations at the Riverside Field where he soon became manager., Greene's efforts in promoting aviation to young people remains the airfield's most enduring achievement. He directed the flying portion of Howard University's Civil Pilot Training Program at Riverside Field until the start of America's involvement in World War II. After the war, the airfield offered a complete program of flight training to interested students. Greene also offered classes at Armstrong High School, and formed the Columbia Squadron, the first black Civil Air Patrol squadron in the Washington area., Under Greene's management, Columbia Air Center became one of the busiest airports in Prince George's County. By 1946, the airport had several large hangars, a maintenance shop, a classroom and an office, along with plenty of equipment, instruments and engines for instruction. The airport continued to grow, offering charter flights, sales of aircraft and fuel, a repair shop and a place for private pilots to base their aircraft., In 1954, Greene retired from the airport, but remained active in aviation. He died in 1989 at the age of 87., [Captions:] , By 1932, John Greene had acquired his commercial pilot's license and his aircraft engine mechanic's license , the first African American in the country to do so. Shown here are later copies of his licenses., Aviation pioneer John Greene, pictured in the aviation magazine Flash, ca. 1940., Piper Club ready for flight at Columbia Air Center., Page out of Flash magazine, an aviation publication that featured John Greene, ca. 1940., John Greene was a popular instructor in aviation mechanics at Phelps Vocational School (now Phelps Architecture, Construction and Engineering High School) in Washington, D.C., 1946 Accident report. Columbia Air Center was the site of one known accident, when John Green's aircraft engine stalled during a landing. Neither Greene nor his student pilot William Pegram suffered serious injuries.