LESSON 4 Pioneers of Flight

LENN CURTISS, born in Hammondsport, , Quick Write in 1878, sped onto the aviation scene in the G early 1900s. But he was riding a motorcycle, not an . At Ormond Beach, Florida, in 1907, he set a world speed record for motorcycles: 136.3 miles Both the per hour (mph). People called him the “fastest man and Glenn Curtiss were heavily involved with on Earth.” This was the same year the Wright brothers bicycles before taking up received their bid request for a military airplane from the fl ight. What similarities do Army Signal Corps chief, Brigadier General James Allen. you see between bicycles, early motorcycles, and Much was happening all at once in the world of early ? transportation. And any advance in one fi eld sparked progress in another. Curtiss’s passion for speed began with bicycles. As a teenager, he raced at county fairs and often won. This experience led to his love of fast Learn About motorcycles. Curtiss liked to fi ddle with the mechanical side of bicycles, motorcycles, and engines as well. • key individuals and Actually, he did more than tinker with them—he built contributions in early aircraft development gasoline engines for motorcycles. Barely out of his teens, • the contributions of he started his own motorcycle business, the G.H. Curtiss early American pioneers Manufacturing Company. in aviation • the contributions of His work with motorcycle engines eventually caught the women in early aviation eye of people in the fi eld of fl ight. Once they introduced Curtiss to aircraft, he was hooked for good.

40 CHAPTER 1 Exploring Flight LESSON 4 Pioneers of Flight

Key Individuals and Contributions Vocabulary in Early Aircraft Development • In the fi rst decade of the 1900s, when the Wright brothers • fuselage were making aviation history, other people were also becoming • multiengine plane aviation pioneers. Each person made developments in aircraft • cockpit that earned him or her a place in aviation history. • tandem • porthole Glenn Curtiss • radial Glenn Curtiss pushed aviation forward in several ways. • crankshaft Even before his record-setting motorcycle ride in 1907, Curtiss • solo was dipping his toes into aviation. He’d begun racing with • pylons his bike motors in Florida in 1904. It was there that Thomas • jumpsuit Baldwin discovered Curtiss. Baldwin, an American balloonist, owned a dirigible. As you read in Lesson 2, a dirigible is a lighter-than-air, steerable airship. By the early 1900s aviators in and Germany were using engines to maneuver such aircraft in the sky. But balloonists in the hadn’t yet taken that step. Baldwin was looking for a lightweight engine for his aircraft when he spotted Curtiss racing in Florida. He saw how well Curtiss’s engine performed. He asked if he could buy one. The young mechanic agreed. He tweaked one of his engines for use in an aircraft. Baldwin’s aircraft, equipped with a Curtiss engine, was the fi rst powered dirigible in America. Before long, other balloonists wanted Curtiss motors, too. And in 1908 the US government purchased one of Curtiss’s engines for the US Army’s fi rst dirigible, SC-1. Later, the military would purchase Curtiss planes and engines for use in World War I. The Army used the Jenny airplane—or JN-4—for training pilots. Curtiss’s Wasp engine broke records for speed and rate of climb.

Glenn Curtis Everett Historical/Shutterstock

LESSON 4 Pioneers of Flight 41 The Aerial Experiment Association Glenn Curtiss was a busy man in 1907. In addition to working on some of the devices already mentioned, he joined the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA). , best known as the inventor of the telephone, formed this group. The inventors who belonged made some important design breakthroughs. First, they built the fi rst American plane equipped with . An aileron is a small fl ap on the wing The Aerial Experiment Association, including Glenn Curtiss for controlling turns. Ailerons replaced (left) and Alexander Graham Bell (center) Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, pppmsc 00852 the Wright brothers’ wing-warping technique, which used cables to pull on the ends of the wings. The aileron was a more effective means to move an aircraft left or right. It also provided lateral balance. This was critical whenever airplanes had rigid metal wings. Although association members get credit for introducing this idea to America, none of them dreamed it up. The aileron was patented in Great Britain in 1868. In 1904 a Frenchman who was fl ying a glider used ailerons for the fi rst time. Second, members of the group built and fl ew the country’s fi rst . Curtiss would later win the fi rst government contract with the US Navy for .

Curtiss’s Fame Grows Curtiss continued to enter contests. In 1908, piloting an association plane called the June Bug, he won the Scientifi c American trophy. The award was for making the fi rst public fl ight of more than one kilometer (0.6 miles). At the Rheims Air Meet in France in 1909, Curtiss picked up a prize for speed. He fl ew the fastest two laps over a triangular, 6.21-mile course. For this feat he took home the Gordon Glenn Curtiss winning the Scientifi c American trophy Bennett trophy. Curtiss won the trophy in the June Bug in his Golden Flyer. His average speed? Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Ernest L. Jones An amazing 47 mph. Collection, cph 3b06819

42 CHAPTER 1 Exploring Flight Exploring Flight 43 Pioneers of Flight Library cph 3a35984r of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, George Grantham Bain Collection, Louis Blériot starting his monoplane before his cross-channel fl 1909 1909 ight on 25 July ight on 25 July fl fl his cross-channel his cross-channel Louis Blériot starting his monoplane before Louis Blériot starting his monoplane before LESSON 4 Finally he caught sight of the English cliffs of Dover. But then he encountered another cliffs of Dover. Finally he caught sight of the English and he was still above water and could not land. hitch. His engine was overheating, He veered toward it. The rain cooled his engine, Then he spotted a small rainstorm. ight took 37 minutes. The fl and he landed safely. He took off on 25 July 1909 from near Calais, in northern France, without a compass. He took off on 25 July 1909 He had no minutes, he was lost. He could see nothing but water and sky. 10 Within toward as best he could Blériot piloted his aircraft coastline in sight to guide him. was about 25 miles. England. He knew the journey Across the Atlantic Ocean, the French pilot Louis Blériot was also pushing the limits Blériot was also pushing the Ocean, the French pilot Louis Across the Atlantic in a heavier-than-air craft. to cross the English Channel rst man ight. He was the fi of fl out to be. And what an adventure it turned Louis Blériot Curtiss’s effect on aviation can still be felt today. To begin with, motorcycle engines begin with, motorcycle To today. can still be felt on aviation effect Curtiss’s weigh engines that won’t also need light, powerful Aircraft were light and powerful. during takeoff, landing, aircraft weight puts less strain on the them down. Less ight. and fl Never one to rest, Curtiss opened a fl ight school in 1910, the same year the Wright Wright year the the same in 1910, school ight fl a opened rest, Curtiss one to Never Curtiss ew a fl Eugene Ely a pilot named Also in 1910, opened their school. brothers the Ely landed Later, Roads, Virginia. of a ship off Hampton from the deck biplane . USS Pennsylvania the armored cruiser built on a wooden platform plane on This fl ight took place in a powered monoplane that Blériot built. (The Wright brothers’ aircraft were biplanes.) He was the fi rst man to build a powered monoplane. He named the aircraft that brought him across the English Channel the Blériot XI because he’d built 10 others before it. He’d crashed nearly 50 times during test fl ights of those aircraft. The 11th plane brought him safely to England’s shores. Blériot had many other accomplishments. Like Curtiss, he entered the fi rst international air meet in Rheims in August 1909. While Curtiss won the two-lap contest for speed, Blériot snapped up a trophy for a one-lap contest by fl ying at 47.8 mph. Also like Curtiss, Blériot built planes for the war effort during World War I. But Blériot built aircraft for his own country, France.

The Names and Anatomy of Period Aircraft

During the years between the Wright brothers’ famous fl ight of 1903 and the start of World War I in 1914, aircraft continued to grow more sophisticated. The fi rst man to use ailerons, Frenchman Robert Esnault-Pelterie, was also the fi rst to fully enclose the fuselage. A fuselage is the body of an airplane containing the crew and passengers (or cargo). Enclosed cabins protected pilots and passengers from the wind and rain.

Multiengine Planes While Louis Blériot was experimenting with monoplanes, brothers Eustace, Howard, and Oswald Short of England were adding engines to their aircraft. A multiengine plane—a plane with more than one engine—had greater power, reliability, and safety than a single-engine plane. Just as two heads are supposedly better than one, two (or more) engines upped an aircraft’s power. Safety increased, too. If one engine died during fl ight, the second could provide enough power to get the plane back to earth. The Short brothers built the Triple Twin, a two-engine, three-propeller aircraft in 1911. They placed one engine in front of the cockpit—a space inside the fuselage where the crew sits. They mounted the second engine behind the cockpit. The forward engine ran the two propellers on the wings; the rear engine drove the third propeller. Meanwhile a Russian pilot named Igor Sikorsky was designing a four-engine aircraft called Le Grand. He fl ew it on 13 May 1913. He used four 100-horsepower engines to lift the 92-foot-wingspan airplane. He mounted the four engines in two pairs in tandem—two objects with one placed directly behind the other—on the lower wings. The front engines powered the forward propellers, and the back engines drove the pusher propellers. Because the plane was so big, the landing gear had 16 wheels. The aircraft also had an enclosed Igor Sikorsky cockpit. Each passenger could peer through a porthole— Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, cbh 3b40533 a small, circular window.

44 CHAPTER 1 Exploring Flight Exploring Flight 45 FIGURE 1.4 The Gnome rotary engine The Gnome rotary Le Grand , pattern. , or round radial

Pioneers of Flight An early, two-engine version of of two-engine version An early, Library Division, George Grantham Bain Collection, ggbain 17174v of Congress, Prints and Photographs LESSON 4 They fi tted each cylinder with a fi n to tted each cylinder with a fi They fi ew. draw out the heat as the plane fl Another set of brothers, Laurent and Gustav Seguin of France, set out to reduce the motor weight. Their solution? Rotary engines. Rotary engines used as a rather than water, air, circulating coolant. The Seguins placed the engine’s cylinders in a Rotary Engines Strong engines were essential for ight. But the earliest engines sustained fl The engine and were relatively heavy. Flyer Wright propellers on the 1903 reason weighed about 200 pounds. One for this weight was that these early They engines used water as a coolant. every cient: In 1907 effi also weren’t pounds of engine generated just 10 one horsepower. Passenger-friendly inventions such as portholes and enclosed cabins contributed Passenger-friendly inventions such airliners. Flying in a protected body commercial today’s greatly to the development of air travel more attractive to paying passengers. and having viewing windows made With these changes, engines became more effi cient. The number of pounds of engine weight needed to generate one horsepower dropped from 10 to three. The Seguins named their engine the Gnome. But the Gnome was still a work in progress. The brothers needed to fi nd a way to prevent the engine from overheating when the aircraft was revving up before takeoff. The brothers decided that the crankshaft—a shaft that turns or is turned by a crank— should no longer rotate the propeller and engine. Instead, the propeller and engine ought to rotate around the crankshaft. The Seguins bolted the crankshaft to the plane’s frame. So even when the plane was at a standstill, air would circulate around the engine and keep it cool.

The Contributions of Early American Pioneers in Aviation

While some aircraft pioneers were achieving fame as inventors, others were breaking barriers as pilots. All these aviation pioneers needed great courage. They were fl ying in an age when planes were, frankly, quite fl imsy. They also had to be very curious. They were exploring a new frontier. And like Glenn Curtiss, they shared a passion for fl ight and speed—for soaring into the sky. Each one faced challenges—crashes were many, and all pilots knew the possible consequences. But they dared to continue fl ying.

The Vin Fiz Flyer

Could fl y across the United States in 30 days? That was his goal in 1911. Newspaper publisher was offering a $50,000 prize to the fi rst pilot who made the journey in that timeframe. Rodgers wanted to give it a try. But he had no money. Like today’s NASCAR drivers, he needed a sponsor. Rodgers asked soft drink manufacturer Vin Fiz if it would provide fi nancial support for his fl ight in exchange for nationwide publicity. The company agreed. It bought him a Wright airplane (the Vin Fiz Flyer) and made sure he had all the spare parts he’d need. Rodgers hired mechanic Charles Taylor away from the Wright brothers to help him out on his adventure.

Calbraith Rodgers taking off in the Vin Fiz Flyer Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, cph 3a45208r

46 CHAPTER 1 Exploring Flight Exploring Flight 47 Colonel Vernon Colonel Vernon Burge Courtesy Airmen Memorial Museum Pioneers of Flight LESSON 4 By the time Burge became a pilot in 1912, the Army Aernonautical Division had By the time Burge became a pilot in 1912, that July 1914 until 18 cer pilots, and 39 enlisted men. But it wasn’t offi 14 aircraft, 11 The y. enlisted men to fl the US House of Representatives passed a bill that authorized was also important because That bill bill limited the number of enlisted pilots to 12. Section of aviation arm—it created the Aviation cial status to the Army’s it gave offi Division. the Army Signal Corps, which replaced the corps’ Aeronautical Burge was one of eight enlisted men who joined the Burge was one of eight enlisted he and nine other enlisted men 1909 In division in 1907. Foulois and a civilian joined 1st Lieutenant Benjamin mechanic at Fort Sam Houston in , Texas. y. This was when Foulois was teaching himself how to fl Burge and another private, Glenn Madole, assisted by the civilian mechanic, built a landing system for Foulois’ airplane. During this time, Burge learned as much as he ying airplanes. could about repairing and fl US Army Private First Class (PFC) Vernon Burge was the Burge was Vernon US Army Private First Class (PFC) The Army Signal rst enlisted man to become a pilot. fi to take in 1907 Corps’ Aeronautical Division, created rule had a general charge of ballooning and air machines, men trained as cers could be pilots. Enlisted that only offi ying” the bulk of the “fl mechanics. And as late as 1908, was done in balloons. done in the Aeronautical Division to work with balloon The mechanics had to know how and to prepare the gases fabric, to control the aircraft, for the balloons. The First Enlisted Pilot Gets His Wings Pilot Gets His Enlisted The First The plane needed countless repairs along the way. In fact, by the time it got to In fact, by the time way. countless repairs along the The plane needed one strut, parts—the rudder and had only two original Fiz Flyer Pasadena, the Vin miles 4,251 trip. The trip turned out to be times during his 19 the result of crashing win the Rodgers didn’t 49 days. the anticipated 3,390. It took long, rather than a place in aviation history— took too long. But he’d earned ight fl award because the the United States from coast to coast. rst airplane crossing of he made the fi Rodgers’s biggest worry biggest a 40-horsepower with the Rocky Mountains was getting over Rodgers’s down. As the journey progressed, and weather would slow him engine. Headwinds miles. He averaged was 133 around 40 miles, and his longest ights were his shortest fl He made 68 landings. around 52 mph. Rodgers took off on 17 from Sheepshead Bay, on New York’s Long Long York’s on New Bay, Sheepshead from 1911 September 17 off on took Rodgers called for ight plan route. The fl Fiz mapped his in mind, Vin publicity Island. With Antonio, San City, Kansas , City, as New York major cities such stops in California. was Pasadena, The destination and Yuma. El Paso, The Right Stuff A Private’s Persistence PFC Vernon Burge knew he wanted to be a pilot from the moment he laid eyes on an airplane. When he volunteered for balloon duty in August 1907, he began a fi ve-year journey as ground crewman, balloon handler, and airplane mechanic. He and his fellow mechanics spent a good deal of those fi ve years at air shows around the country, helping prepare aircraft and keep them fi t for fl ight. Burge absorbed all he could about balloons and airplanes. In early 1912 Burge, by now a corporal, shipped with a Wright B airplane to the Philippines. Brigadier General James Allen had ordered that an air station be established at Fort McKinley. Burge reported to 1st Lieutenant Frank P. Lahm, who was setting up a fl ight school at the station. Aware of the shortage of offi cers, Burge took the plunge. He asked Lieutenant Lahm whether he could train to be a pilot. Lahm agreed, and Burge began his instruction 8 . He already knew a good deal about fl ying. As a mechanic, he’d taxied a good many airplanes along runways to make sure the engines were running right and repairs were correctly done. He passed his fl ight test 14 June 1912. Burge’s hard work, love of fl ying, and persistence eventually earned him a place in the Army as an offi cer. He retired 31 January 1942 at the rank of colonel. He’d spent 35 years in military aviation and had served as a pilot for 30 of those years. He’d logged 4,667 hours and 55 minutes in the air—quite a career.

Sergeant Vernon Burge in Flight Training Courtesy Airmen Memorial Museum

48 CHAPTER 1 Exploring Flight Exploring Flight 49 S • E • N • O • T • S • E • L • I • Europe Versus America Versus Europe were brothers Although the Wright airplane in a powered y rst to fl the fi pilots than had more America, Europe the United States did in those early days. France was the leader; by 1911 Britain had it boasted 353 pilots. Great and Belgium Germany 46, Italy 32, 57, 26, giving The United States had 27. it a sixth-place ranking in the world. M Pioneers of Flight Luis Fernando Curci Chavier/Shutterstock.com A working replica of the 14-Bis fl own by Alberto Santos-DumontAlberto Santos-Dumont own by own by fl fl of the 14-Bis of the 14-Bis A working replica A working replica LESSON 4 British aircraft manufacturer Thomas Sopwith learned to fl y in 1910. By 1912 he had By 1912 y in 1910. learned to fl manufacturer Thomas Sopwith British aircraft rst successful seaplane. His fi building Britain’s Company, set up the Sopwith Aviation I, War of World ghter aircraft company later manufactured some of the most famous fi which will be discussed in the next chapter. Thomas Octave Sopwith Henri Farman Although he The son of a British journalist, Henri Farman was raised in France. automobile racing— originally took up the sport of bicycle racing, he progressed to ying machines. powered fl eventually taking his mechanical skills and competiveness to wealthy from his He soon became one of the most famous pilots in France, becoming he partnered with his brother Maurice and soon became accomplishments. In 1912, airplane company produced over 12,000 His largest airplane manufacturer. France’s I. War during World military aircraft The fi rst European pilot to fl y a powered airplane was Alberto to fl rst European pilot The fi Santos-Dumont fromSantos-Dumont—the same Alberto in France for his dirigibleLesson 2 who was already famous ew his powered and fl built the 14-Bis ights. Santos-Dumont fl Brothers in 1906. the Wright airplane some three years after was a very impractical box kite design, with itsHis aircraft front of the pilot. The pilotfuselage and elevator sticking out balloon basket. would stand upright in a wicker Alberto Santos-Dumont Other Male European Pilots Other Male European and Their Accomplishments The Contributions of Women in Early Aviation

Besides the obstacles of distance and altitude, other early pilots faced the obstacle of their gender. Women found it diffi cult to realize their dreams of joining men in the skies. Even the most successful female pilots felt the strain. Blanche Stuart Scott, the fi rst American woman to solo in a plane, said, “There seemed to be no place for a woman engineer, mechanic, or fl ier. Too often people paid money to see me risk my neck, more as a freak, a woman freak pilot, than as a skilled fl ier.” Because of this public pressure and a few severe accidents in the air, Scott retired from fl ight in 1916 when she was only 27 years old. Despite the obstacles, many women thrived on the thrill of lifting, looping, and diving through the air. They broke records and paved the way for women in the future to enter careers in commercial and military aviation.

Blanche Stuart Scott

Blanche Stuart Scott was used to setting records. She became the fi rst woman to drive a car across America in 1910. And she didn’t do it on a highway, or even on a state route. At that time, there were fewer than 300 miles of paved roads in the entire United States. When men started setting records in aviation, Scott wanted to be part of the action. She was Glenn Curtiss’s only female student in 1910. In fact, she was Curtiss’s fi rst student ever, and he never took on another. In addition, Scott was the only female student pilot in the United States at that time. Curtiss worried about this. If Scott crashed, he feared he’d be blamed for putting a woman in harm’s way. What’s more, she’d be using a single-engine plane that Curtiss designed, and some people might think the plane was faulty. For these reasons, he did what he could to keep Scott from being able to take off. Scott would taxi back and forth across the runway in Curtiss’s plane. But she could never get into the air. Frustrated, on Blanche Stuart Scott 2 September 1910, she got out of the plane Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, George and took a close look at the engine. She was, Grantham Bain Collection, ggbain 12209 after all, a curious person.

50 CHAPTER 1 Exploring Flight Exploring Flight 51 Bessica Medlar Raiche Courtesy National Air and Space Museum, , NASM-2007-5475 Pioneers of Flight . She fl groups for six ew with exhibition . She fl board y with no one else on is to fl

solo

LESSON 4 Raiche eventually left fl ying. She entered medical school and became a doctor. a doctor. ying. She entered medical school and became Raiche eventually left fl rst woman specialists in obstetrics and gynecology. She became one of the fi She died in 1932. Raiche never got a license. But fl ying excited her. She and ying excited her. Raiche never got a license. But fl her husband, François, formed a lightweight airplane company called the French-American Aeroplane Company. They did two important things to make their planes better off some pounds They took than other lightweight aircraft. by exchanging heavier fabrics, such as muslin, for silk. They also used piano wires instead of iron wires. “Blanche deserved Raiche said, “but the recognition,” my lifestyle. I drove an I got more attention because of like shooting and swimming,automobile, was active in sports knickers. People who and I even wore riding pants and me or understand me looked down on this know didn’t and musician, painter, I was an accomplished behavior. linguist. I enjoyed life, and just wanted to be myself.” Some aviation historians think Bessica Medlar Raiche Some aviation historians think ight She made that fl rst woman to go solo. was really the fi into the air They contend Scott got October 1910. on 13 herself gave Scott credit purely by accident. But Raiche for the event. Bessica Medlar Raiche Scott was adventurous, but even daring people get their fi ll. After a number of daring people get their fi Scott was adventurous, but even at the age of 81. She died in 1970 at the age of 27. accidents, she retired in 1916 on the moon. rst man land She’d lived to see the fi years, although she never got her pilot’s license. She was known for two stunts. license. She was known she never got her pilot’s years, although stunt was the “death dive.” bridges upside-down. Her other ew under In one, she fl off plane toward earth, leveling to 4,000 feet, then plunge the She would climb reached 200 feet. only when she Scott had become the fi rst American woman to solo in a fi xed-wing airplane. in a fi rst American woman to solo the fi Scott had become To Scott removed the wood, climbed back into the cockpit, and asked a mechanic cockpit, and asked a mechanic wood, climbed back into the Scott removed the plane lifted off. Scott and the the runway, She taxied down to crank the propeller. was airborne. She noticed a small piece of wood lodged under the throttle lever. She deduced this She deduced lever. throttle under the lodged wood piece of a small noticed She the Curtiss had placed concluded that And she also motion. the lever’s hindered when to get off the ground be able wouldn’t the aircraft to make sure wood there the controls. she sat at

Harriet Quimby was the fi rst American woman to earn her pilot’s license. A journalist, she wrote for a popular magazine called Leslie’s Weekly. But she wanted to make more money to support herself, her parents, and her ambition to become a creative writer. In 1910 she watched aviator fl y around the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor. The sight thrilled her. She signed up for fl ying lessons. She got her license on 1 August 1911, after completing a two-part test. The fi rst part Harriet Quimby of the test required her to make fi ve left and emka74/Shutterstock right turns around pylons—tall, thin towers. She also had to fl y fi ve fi gure eights. Quimby passed this part with ease. For part two, she had to land within 100 feet of her takeoff point. Quimby failed this part the fi rst time around. She took the test again the next day. This time she succeeded. She landed within 7 feet, 9 inches, of her takeoff point. What was so remarkable was that in those days, planes did not have brakes. Quimby set a record with her mark. Quimby set other records: She was the fi rst woman to fl y at night (1911) and the fi rst woman to cross the English Channel in the pilot’s seat (1912). She broke a fashion barrier, too. The long dresses that women wore at that time weren’t practical for a pilot. Most of the planes were open to the elements, and long pieces of fabric might get caught in a propeller or other mechanism. Quimby designed an outfi t for female pilots. Her tailor sewed a one-piece uniform made of purple satin. Quimby had invented the jumpsuit, a one-piece outfi t.

Harriet Quimby in the jumpsuit she designed Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, New York World-Telegram and Sun Newspaper Photographs Collection, cph 3c22868v

52 CHAPTER 1 Exploring Flight Exploring Flight 53 S • E • N • O • T • Matilde Moisant Courtesy National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, NASM-73-3564 S • E • L • I • Dressed for Success Dressed friend was a good Harriet Quimby sister. John’s of Matilde Moisant, decided to sign up The two women When training together. ight for fl men. Why? as they did, both dressed discouraged from were Women gured so they fi y, learning how to fl Somehow, they’d need a disguise. out. They’d newspapers found about a fascinating story uncovered two determined women. M Pioneers of Flight LESSON 4 Fortunately, the thickness of her clothing and her leather the thickness Fortunately, at the Moisant died in 1964 Matilde helmet protected her. age of 77. One tragedy did strike: her brother, John Moisant, also a pilot, One tragedy did strike: her brother, Matilde crashed a number of times died in a crash in 1910. death deeply ying. Her brother’s herself, but she continued fl she said she’d make her April 1912, and on 13 affected her, out to be a very It turned dangerous ight the next day. last fl ight. The fuel tank sprang a leak, and by the time Moisant fl re. landed, her clothes were on fi Nearly 24 years later, on 13 April 1911, Moisant became the Moisant became April 1911, on 13 Nearly 24 years later, She won license. a pilot’s second woman in America to get ying at an attitude of for fl Trophy the a day when planes weren’t 2,500 feet. This was amazing in She also got a court to acknowledge as stable as they are now. after a sheriff y on Sundays. This happened it was legal to fl ying on a to arrest her for fl tried in Long Island, New York, y response was to hop in her plane and fl Moisant’s Sunday. eld. to another fi Matilde Moisant didn’t buy into the superstition that the Matilde Moisant didn’t how wise Her achievements proved is unlucky. number 13 begin with, she was born To she was to ignore such beliefs. a good day for her and That was September 1887. 13 Friday, her parents. Matilde Moisant In 1991, the US Post Offi ce created a stamp in the US Post Offi In 1991, honor. Quimby’s Despite the progress, fl a dangerous was still ight fl progress, the Despite Air Meet the Boston Quimby entered business. She and monoplane. in a Blériot 1912 on 1 July over took off Willard, P. William her passenger, 58 mph of making a record Harbor in hopes Boston plane At 5,000 feet, the ight over a body of water. fl ed spectators and nosed downward. As horrifi ipped fl fell from the plane and Willard watched, Quimby the waters. Both perished. and plunged into no pilot the monoplane—now with Amazingly, itself and landed in the or passenger—righted crash. harbor with a light Notable European

WOMEN IN EUROPE also turned their eyes to the sky during the early days of fl ight. Thérèse Peltier was the fi rst European woman to fl y as a passenger in a powered airplane in July 1908. The fi rst European woman to pilot a plane was French baroness Raymonde de la Roche. The date was 22 October 1909. Soon after, she attained another fi rst. On 8 March 1910 she became the fi rst woman to earn a pilot’s license. Raymonde de la Roche Courtesy National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, NASM-81-3423

Julia Clark

On 19 May 1912, Julia Clark was the third American woman to gain her pilot’s license. Sadly, she achieved an unfortunate other fi rst: she was the fi rst woman pilot to die in a crash. Clark had a fascinating life. She immigrated to the United States from and became an American citizen. She learned to fl y at the Curtiss Flying School at North Island in . After soloing in a Curtiss plane, she joined an exhibition group. On the evening of 17 June 1912, she decided to take a test fl ight. It was dark, and she couldn’t see that one of her plane’s wings was about to hit a tree limb. The aircraft crashed. She died only about two weeks before Harriet Quimby.

Katherine and Marjorie Stinson

Flying was a family affair for the Stinsons. Katherine, her two brothers, and her sister Marjorie all became pilots. Katherine earned her pilot’s license on 24 July 1912. She was the fourth American woman to do so. And at age 16, she was also the youngest. She would eventually become one of the most successful women in aviation.

54 CHAPTER 1 Exploring Flight Exploring Flight 55 Katherine StinsonKatherine Stinson Library Division, George Grantham of Congress, Prints and Photographs Bain Collection, ggbain 18209v Marjorie Stinson with a group of Army offi cers Army offi of Marjorie Stinson with a group Library 11664v of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Harris & Ewing Collection, hec Pioneers of Flight All four siblings had the support of their mother, Emma. She even went so far as to of their mother, All four siblings had the support ying school. open a fl so her daughters could Texas, move the family to San Antonio, were but they in the Army, I began, the sisters tried to enlist as pilots War When World to train Americans and Canadians as pilots for the war. rejected. So they opened a school Her younger sister, Marjorie, graduated Marjorie, Her younger sister, School in Flying from the Wright had Wright (Wilbur August 1914. of her mother sign a waiver because Marjorie became age.) At 17, Marjorie’s y the rst woman authorized to fl the fi experimental airmail service. Her younger brothers, Eddie and Jack, Her younger brothers, was a test pilot. became pilots. Jack For example, Katherine was the was Katherine example, For take gender to rst pilot of either fi her parade. She covered part in a New 1913 roses for the plane with of Roses Day Tournament Year’s ew over the and fl Parade in California a distance she set parade route. Later, genders in a nonstop record for both ight. cross-country fl LESSON 4 A supporter, New York Congressman Murray Hulbert, tried unsuccessfully to get Congress to pass a bill allowing women to join the Flying Corps. But women were allowed to do little more than serve as nurses during the war. Katherine went to France to work as an ambulance driver because, in her own words, “I didn’t feel I was doing enough for the war effort.” Katherine retired from aviation after an illness in 1920, and spent many years as an architect in New . She died in 1977. Marjorie quit fl ying in 1930 and worked for 15 years as a draftsman at the War Department in Washington, D.C. She died in 1975. The war the Stinsons tried to join would lead to revolutionary developments in aviation.

56 CHAPTER 1 Exploring Flight Exploring Flight 57 , and how

Pioneers of Flight

Based on what you have read here, what veryBased on what you have read here, basic safety measure might yers? early fl have saved the lives of several What did Glenn Curtiss build that interested airship owners? Curtiss build that interested What did Glenn ? ying the June Bug accomplish while fl What did Curtiss as he was crossing Blériot do when his engine overheated What did Louis the English Channel? Fiz Flyer PerryWhat did Calbraith in the Vin Rodgers accomplish long did it take? a pilot? rst enlisted man to become Who was the fi he retire? nal rank, and when did What was his fi y? engine to get it to fl remove from her plane’s What did Blanche Stuart Scott Quimby landed her plane 7 feet, 9 inches Why was it remarkable that Harriet from her takeoff point? license? woman to earn a pilot’s Who was the fourth American CHECKPOINTS CHECKPOINTS CHECKPOINTS CHECKPOINTS CHECKPOINTS CHECKPOINTS CHECKPOINTS APPLYING YOUR YOUR LEARNING APPLYING 10. Using complete sentences, answer the following questions on a sheet of paper. sentences, answer the following Using complete 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Lesson 4 Review Lesson ✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔ LESSON 4