JOSEPH L. CATO 1888-1965

Joe Cato, San Francisco, 1917 Courtesy of Phyllis Cato Ferguson

 

Built in Gustine, CA by Joe Cato, 1912 Courtesy of Phyllis Cato Ferguson

 

COMMEMORATION AWARDS Presented at ARMY-NAVY CLUB Washington, D.C. April 16, 1962 Courtesy of Phyllis Cato Ferguson JOSEPH L. CATO made his first solo flight on October 15, 1909 in a single surface Curtiss type airplane which he designed and constructed. He designed and built a new type of monoplane the following year using one of the first aircooled engines available, incorporating what were then some sensationally new principles. All in all he designed and built fourteen different types of airplanes and collaborated in the design of nine others. The first Liberty engine to fly was installed by Joe along with twenty-eight other new types of engines experimentally built and tested. He has ten patents and four more applied for, all aviation developments. He served forty-four years as an experimental aeronautical engineer, the last twelve before he retired at Castle Air Force Base. Perhaps his most noteworthy and outstanding contribution to aviation may turn out to be his daughter, who is a WAF officer.

 

Timeline	Cato Monoplane, 1910	Cato Monoplane 1911-1912	Cato Monoplane 1911-1912

Rusty Bound's Stunt Plane 1915-1916	LWF Model G1 1918	Marlin-Rockwell 1919	Cato Butterfly 1919

LWF Owl 1919	G. Elias & Bro., Inc. 1926-1930	Cato Retires, 1953	Detailed Biography

 

HORIZONTALLY-OPPOSED PISTON AERO ENGINES   FOUR-STROKE CYCLE DESIGNED AND/OR MANUFACTURED IN THE USA by JACK ERICKSON You will find a brief biography of Joe Cato on this very comprehensive website. You can visit his entry by clicking on: Joe Cato. I heartily recommend that you review the whole site. You can start at the homepage by clicking on: Engines

 

JOSEPH CATO ON THE AeroFiles WEBSITE You will find mentions of Joe Cato on the AeroFiles website. You can visit those references by clicking on: EC-1 Aircoupe, Airsport and using the "Find" function on "Aircoupe" and L Butterfly using the "Find" function on "Butterfly"

 

AUTOGRAPHED AIR MAIL COVER      This Air Mail envelope is signed by EB Joseph L. Cato and is postmarked INDIANAPOLIS, IND on JUNE 16. I can't read the year. It has been donated through the courtesy of Stéphane Sebile.

 

Joseph L. Cato died in 1965 From The Early Birds of Aviation Roster of Members January 1, 1993   Editor's Note: If you have any more information on this Early Bird, please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper   Back