James Henry Carmichael Jr. "Slim" ((1907-04-02)April 2, 1907 – (1983-12-01)December 1, 1983) was a pioneering aviator, crop duster, barnstormer, airmail pilot, airline pilot, airline president, Special Assistant to the Federal Aviation Administration(FAA), and one of only ten recipients of the Airmail Flyers' Medal of Honor.

Some of his first flight jobs consisted of crop-dusting, barnstorming and stunt flying before settling in as an Airmail pilot and mechanic for Central Airlines.

Carmichael, nicknamed "Slim" due to his tall slender build, became one of only 10 pilots to receive the medal and was number 8 in a series of 8 box covers on the popular breakfast cereal Wheaties.

[3] On November 16, not more than two weeks after receiving his medal, he was taking off from the Allegheny County Airport and made it less than 100 feet above the runway when the engines on the Stinson Model A (NO-15108) Tri-motor began to sputter and then stop completely.

By 1939 Slim was the Director of Operations and went to Santa Monica, California, to pilot the first of PCA's new fleet of DC-3s from Douglas Aircraft factory to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The following day Carmichael was one of the first to arrive on site of the crash along with Red Cross Official Gordon O Stone, and Capital's Maintenance Director James Franklin.

The DC-4, a converted Army C-54, which went missing the night before, had flow at full speed and level flight strait into the side of the mountain just 200 feet below the summit.

He introduced the "Nighthawk" service providing fairs on evening flights at a reduced rate to compete with the railroad ticket prices.

On May 8, 1958, he received the Horatio Alger Award, from the American Schools and Colleges Association for his exceptional rise to prominence in business and industry.

[13] He retired in 1978 after several years of running J. H. Carmichael Associates, a Washington lobbying firm, and serving as a special assistant in the Federal Aviation Administration.

[14][15] On a night flight over Maryland's mountains from Washington, D.C., to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the left motor of Slim Carmichael's tri-motored plane shook loose and, dropping like a plummet, and smashed a landing wheel!

With one motor and half the landing gear carried away, Carmichael circled Bolling Field, while rescue squads scurried into position.

Cool-headed action in a ticklish situation won Slim Carmichael's medal fairly, again proving the high caliber of America's commercial aviators.

(Wheaties box #8)[16] 29 October 1935 at a ceremony (12:00 - 12:15) in the White House Carmichael was one of seven aviators awarded the Airmail Flyers’ Medal of Honor by president Franklin Delano Roosevelt for extraordinary achievement.

Present at the ceremony were: President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt; Postmaster General, James A Farley; Lewis S Turner of Fort Worth, Texas; James H Carmichael Jr. of Detroit, Michigan; Edward A Bellande of Los Angeles, California; Gordon S Darnell of Kansas City, Missouri; Willington P McFail of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Roy H Warner of Portland, Oregon; And Grover Tyler of Seattle, Washington.

At an altitude of 3200 feet and about half way to Pittsburgh, Pa., with no warning whatsoever the left outboard engine of the tri-motored plane crashed from the ship.

Realizing that he had about 100 miles to fly in returning to Washington, the pilot climbed to an altitude of 4500 feet in order not to overheat the remaining two engines on the plane.