Prior to December 17, 1916, covering the entirety of the. And just over two years into. The cutoff date was set at December 17 to correspond to the first flights of. 1916 was chosen as a cutoff because a large number of people were trained in 1917 as pilots for World War I.
Twelve of the aviators were women. The original organization dissolved once the last living member had died. This occurred with the death of 99-year-old. The organization was restarted and is devoted to collecting and publishing biographies on those who met the 1916 deadline.
There were many pilots who soloed before the 1916 deadline who never applied to the club to be members. Some have been made honorary members.