Epps, Benjamin Thomas, 1888-1937.

Ben Epps, Georgia's pioneer aviator, was born in 1888. He grew up in Oconee County, was educated in Clarke County, and attended Georgia Tech in Atlanta. In Athens, Georgia he started an electrical contracting shop, which he later converted into an auto garage. He built and flew his first plane in 1907, only a few years after the Wright Brothers' successful flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. In the following years he built seven more planes including the Epps Lightplane. Later he established Epps Field where he taught flying, carried passengers on short trips, and gave exhibitions. He died in a plane crash in 1937.