Al Key (5 February 1905 – 17 July 1976) was an American aviator who broke a flight endurance record with his brother Fred in 1935.
After a distinguished career in the military, he served as the mayor of Meridian, Mississippi from 1965 to 1973.
Early life and family
Algene Earl Key was born on a farm in Kemper County, Mississippi on February 5, 1905. He was the eldest of three sons of Elmore Benjamin (1877-1951), a physician, and Mary Ola Love (Olivier) Key (1879-1970), a homemaker. In the 1920s, Al moved with his family to Meridian.
Al attended Hattiesburg Normal School (later the University of Southern Mississippi) and Mississippi A & M College (later Mississippi State University).
Career
In 1926, Key began taking flying lessons at the Nicholas Beazley Flying School in Marshall, Missouri. After obtaining his pilot's license, he sparked his brother Fred's interest in flying.
Thirty years later, it was still the official endurance record. However, by that time at least two flights were claimed to be of longer duration.