Arthur Raymond Brooks - After World War I

After World War I

As a civilian, Brooks established Florida Airways Corporation, which eventually became Eastern Airlines. He was also involved in the Contract Air Mail Route No. 10, and worked for the U.S. Department of Commerce, Aeronautics Branch where he was responsible for surveying what would become the nation's first air routes. He also supervised the first installations of radiobeacons to aid airmail pilots navigating between New York and Washington, D.C.

He joined Bell Telephone Laboratories (1928), where he supervised air operations and the testing of electronic aids for air navigation and communications. He was responsible for the development of air-to-ground communications systems. He retired from Bell Labs as its Chief Pilot in 1960. He was also involved in numerous early flying clubs which were forming to encourage participation in aviation for both personal/pleasure and commercial purposes.

Circa 1985, Mr. Brooks (age 90 at the time), was visiting the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum's restoration facility in Silver Hill, Maryland with a family member. Upon entering a storage hangar as part of the tour, he spotted a tattered World War I vintage SPAD XIII airplane, the type he flew during the war. As he drew nearer the aircraft, he was astonished to discover it was his very aircraft. He climbed into the cockpit and was immediately approached by a restoration technician who advised him in a very stern manner that these aircraft are delicate pieces of American history and visitors are not permitted to touch, much less sit in them. When Mr. Brooks explained that this was his airplane, the technician’s first thought was of a doddering old veteran, longing for the real or imagined glory days of yesteryear. While Mr. Brooks' speech and external mannerisms were befitting of a nonagenarian, his mind was as sharp as it was 30 or 40 years past. He spoke to the technician as if reading from a history book about the last time this aircraft was in action over France. Included in the lesson was the name and serial number of the plane, which was not readily visible. The technician was aware of the aircraft's history and asked the old gentleman to stay right where he was while he summoned the NASM curator emeritus, Paul E. Garber. Less than two years after this meeting, Ray Brooks' fully restored SPAD Smith IV was unveiled with great fanfare at the National Air and Space Museum's 'Great War in the Air' exhibit (Gallery 206). Mr. Brooks was in attendance as a guest of honor at the ribbon cutting ceremony and treated those present to a first-person history of several World War I missions in which he participated.

Brooks remained involved with aviation for the remainder of his life. Even in his nineties, he enjoyed flying all sorts of aircraft, including ultralights, gliders and hot-air balloons. He belonged to many aviation-related and professional associations and organizations including the American Legion, Military Order of the World Wars, Combat Pilots Association, Order of Daedalians, Air Force Association, OX-5 Aviation Pioneers Association, Telephone Pioneers of America, Cross and Cockade, Associate Fellow of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, Quiet Birdmen, World War I Overseas Flyers and the American Fighter Aces Association. Brooks also remained involved with the alumni affairs of his alma mater—MIT.

He attended numerous air shows and reunions, including the sixty-fifth, and final reunion, held for the Lafayette Flying Corps at Peterson AFB, Colorado in 1983. In 1980, he was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame of New Jersey.

An extensive collection of his diaries, correspondence and other papers is maintained by the National Aviation and Space Museum. These papers relate to his military career with the U.S. Army Air Service (1917–22), his years in both civilian government service and the private sector (1923–60), as well as a lifetime's involvement in numerous military, academic, aeronautical and professional associations and organizations. Additionally, there are examples of correspondence and autographed photographs from such aerospace notables as Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Billy Mitchell, Clayton Bissell, Reed Chambers and Michael Collins.

Brooks died at age 95 on July 17, 1991 at his home in Summit, New Jersey. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving American World War I ace who served in a U.S. Squadron. He is buried in a family plot in North Framingham, Massachusetts.