Howard Waldorf began his career as a World War I test squadron pilot, afterwards entering journalism where he would eventually come to be known as one of the foremost aviation writing specialists.

Howard Waldorf began his career in aviation by joining World War I as a teenager who falsified his age in order to serve with a crack test squadron at Wilbur Wright Field. Once the armistice went into effect, Waldorf entered the newspaper profession following John Taylor Waldorf, his father. Waldorf worked for the Oakland Post Enquirer, and soon after he began his writing career he was recognized as one of “the earliest and best of the fast vanishing breed of aviation writing specialists.”

Waldorf covered all of the pioneering flights across the Pacific and maintained close relationships with famous pilots of the day. He always took the opportunity to fly in newly released military and commercial aircraft, and he even participated in the searches for lost fliers. When an airplane crash occurred, Waldorf always tried to promote passenger confidence in airline safety by “taking the next plane out – day or night, and reporting on the comfort and convenience of this phase of transportation.” His coverage was so extensive and accepted that he received a pass by United Air Lines to go anywhere at anytime. In Waldorf’s life as a reporter, he flew on many momentous flights, including the dirigibles Akron and Macon, the giant Mars Flying boat, the four engine F-32, Army gliders in “snatch” takeoffs, the B-36, the first B-17 bomber, the B-52, and a ski plane carrying dynamite to the arctic.

Quoted content found in Papers of Howard Waldorf Collection, Folder 01, page 2 of the Quick Bio.