Ben Howard (aviator)

[3] It took a long time to set his leg but at age 19, Howard moved to Dallas and started working in the Curtiss Aircraft factory.

As competition increased, he and his partner, Gordon Israel, built two larger, low-wing, wire-braced monoplanes, "Mike" and "Ike" (which competed under the name Miss Chevrolet in honor of its sponsor).

[2] After the accident, Howard flew airmail and passenger transports, became an outstanding test pilot, and was recognized by aircraft designers as a natural aeronautical engineer.

His career at Douglas continued for many years, including piloting the initial tests of the DC-4E, A-26 Invader, DC-6, and Fairchild C-82 Packet aircraft.

Using knowledge gained from his racing days, he developed the Howard Optimizer Kit for the DC-3, and at the end of his career was doing low-speed wind tunnel tests for the Carroll Shelby Cobra racecar.