John Armstrong Drexel

John Armstrong Drexel (October 24, 1891 – 1958) was an American aviation pioneer. With William McArdle, he founded the New Forest Flying School at East Boldre, the second school for pilots in Great Britain and the fifth in the world. On August 12, 1910, he set the world altitude record of 6,750 feet in a Blériot monoplane.

Life
Drexel was the grandson of Anthony Joseph Drexel, millionaire banker and founder of Drexel University. He was also a relative of Katharine Drexel, a nun who was later made a Roman Catholic Saint.

During World War I, he flew with the French Lafayette Escadrille until 1917. He was subsequently commissioned Major in the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, serving until the end of the war in the United States Army Air Service.