Pennsylvania Pilot John Hicks

Pilot who taught himself to fly celebrates 100th birthday
Pennsylvania Pilot John Hicks celebrated his 100th birthday this week and reminisced about his historic flight in a one-passenger Aeronca C-2 plane from New York to Los Angeles in 1936. Hicks, who was denied flight training because one leg was shorter than the other, taught himself to fly by studying manuals. "I read everything I could possibly read about planes," said Hicks.