Walt Calverie attended Curtiss Aviation flying school in 1912. Walt continued flying at Curtiss Aviation School through 1914-1915 and became a civilian instructor for the U.S. Army in 1917. He was stationed first at Selfridge Field with the Signal Corps, Aviation Section as a flying acrobatic instructor. During 1918 he was transferred to Rich Field until his discharge on December 31, 1918. After WWI, Walt went in to business for himself and later, 1921, became Chief Instructor and test Pilot for the Walter Varney Aviation School in Redwood City, California, later joining the California Institute of Technology. He did his last active flying with Cal Tech in 1928. Later he joined Douglas Aircraft Corp. until he retired in 1947 to engage in private consulting.