Born in 1920 in Washington D.C., TWA Captain Clifford V. Sparrow was an American aviator from 1940 to 1985. He was among early American pioneers of American air transportation, and a leader in establishing routine trans-Atlantic flight in the mid-20th century.

Mr. Sparrow learned to fly at College Park, MD, and graduated from University of Maryland with a degree in Botany.

Early in World War II, Mr. Sparrow served as a U.S. Army primary flight instructor at fields around the eastern US. Later in the war, he flew internationally on C-54 aircrews with the US Army Air Forces Air Transport Command. He earned the American Campaign Medal, the Europe-African-Middle East (EAME) Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Ruptured Duck for his World War II service.

Commercially, Sparrow flew as a TWA captain on the DC-3, the Lockheed Constellation, and the Martin 404. He also flew as a TWA captain on the Boeing 707 and the Boeing 747.

Domiciled for much of his TWA career at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in New York City, his international destinations included London, Paris, Cairo, Frankfurt, Tel Aviv, Geneva, Zurich, Rome, Milan, Madrid, Lisbon, Athens, Bangkok, Karachi, and Bombay. He also flew US troops on TWA charters into Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon during the Vietnam War.

After reaching TWA captain mandatory retirement at age 60 in 1980, Sparrow then served as flight engineer on TWA Lockheed 1011s and TWA Boeing 747s. He fully retired as a professional aviator in 1985.

Captain Sparrow flew west for the last time from his home in Monument, Colorado on 13 March 2013. He died at 7:47 am Mountain Time.