Bill Norwood he served as a pilot in Strategic Air Command from 1959 to 1965. He then began a 31-year career with United Airlines, the first African-American pilot hired by United, and the first to achieve the rank of captain. When he retired from United Airlines in 1996 his name was painted on the side of a United Airlines aircraft (a B-727) which is part of the "Take Flight" exhibit in Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.