Joseph C. Lincoln

Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame
Enshrined 1992

Joseph Lincoln was born in Cleveland, Ohio and moved to Phoenix In 1931. He attended schools in California and Arizona, graduating from the University of Arizona After a three-year stint in the Army Air Forces during world War II. Joe earned a private pilot’s license in 1947 but began soaring in 1956 at Falcon Field in Mesa. After buying his first sailplane he began his long association with soaring as a competitor in the National Soaring Championships As well as regional soaring contests. He won the Barringer Memorial Trophy in 1960 for the longest straight distance soaring flight in the U.S. – 455.5 miles from Prescott to Varadero, New Mexico. Joe was selected to the Helms Soaring Hall Of Fame in 1961 and in 1967 set a U.S. Multiplace Distance Soaring Record of just over 500 miles.

He also set a world Multiplace Goal and Return Record of 404.6 miles and a World Multiplace 100-kilometer speed record of 72.93 mph. Joe Lincoln Wrote prolifically about the sport of soaring. His book “Soaring for Diamonds” wherein he relates his experiences which culminated in his winning soaring’s most prestigious emblem – the Diamond C – is a classic in its field. He was President of the Arizona Soaring Association in 1957, a Director Of the Soaring Society of America, and was posthumously awarded the Soaring Society of America’s Warren E. Eaton Memorial Trophy.