Bert Acosta

Bertrand Blanchard Acosta
Acosta circa 1927
Born	(1895-01-01)January 1, 1895 San Diego, California
Died	September 1, 1954(1954-09-01) (aged 59) Denver, Colorado
Resting place	Portal of Folded Wings
Nationality	American
Education	Throop Polytechnic Institute
Occupation	Aviator, Test pilot
Spouse(s)	Mary Louise Brumley (1886-1962) (m. 1918; divorce 1920) Helen Belmont Pearsoll (m. 1921; his death 1954)
Children	Bertina Dolores Acosta (1918-1970) Saranto Gloria Consuelo Acosta (born 1919) Bertrand Blanchard Acosta, Jr. (1922-1993) Allyn Lee Acosta (1924-1997)
Parent(s)	Miguel Acosta Martha Blanche Reilly

Bertrand Blanchard Acosta (January 1, 1895 – September 1, 1954) was a record-setting aviator. With Clarence D. Chamberlin they set an endurance record of 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds in the air. He later flew in the Spanish Civil War in the Yankee Squadron. He was known as the "bad boy of the air". He received numerous fines and suspensions for flying stunts such as flying under bridges or flying too close to buildings.

Acosta was born in San Diego, California to Miguel Acosta and Martha Blanche Reilly. He attended the Throop Polytechnic Institute in Pasadena, California from 1912 to 1914.

He taught himself to fly in August 1910 and built experimental airplanes up until 1912 when he began work for Glenn Curtiss as an apprentice on a hydroplane project. In 1915 he worked as a flying instructor. He went to Canada and worked as an instructor for the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service in Toronto. In 1917 he was appointed chief instructor, Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps at Hazelhurst Field, Long Island where he test flew early open-cockpit aircraft such as the Continental KB-1 over New York in below freezing conditions.

Acosta married Mary Louise Brumley (1886–1962) in 1918 but they divorced in 1920. He won The Pulitzer Trophy Race in 1921 and the same year set an airspeed record of 176.9 miles an hour. In 1922 he served as a test pilot for the Stout Batwing Limousine, Stout's forerunner to the Ford Trimotor. In 1925 he was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and was living at 1 Winslow Court in Naugatuck, Connecticut. He married Helen Belmont Pearsoll, on August 3, 1921. They eventually separated but never divorced.