1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet at Dominguez Field
Encyclopedia
Airshow
An air show is an event at which aviators display their flying skills and the capabilities of their aircraft to spectators in aerobatics. Air shows without aerobatic displays, having only aircraft displayed parked on the ground, are called "static air shows"....
s in the world and the first major airshow in the United States. It was held in Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
at Dominguez Field in present day Carson, California
Carson, California
Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, Carson had a total population of 91,714. Located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately 14 miles away from the Los Angeles International Airport, it is known as a suburb of the city....
. Spectator turnout numbered approximately 254,000 over 11 days of ticket sales. The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
called it "one of the greatest public events in the history of the West."
Los Angeles' Place among the Earliest Airshows
While most now acknowledge that the Wright brothersWright brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...
flew as early as the year 1903, the early 1900s saw several competing claims to have made the first practical airplane. Although the Wrights filed for a patent on their flying machine in 1906, they actually did no flying in 1906 or 1907. The year 1908 saw the Wright's first publicized demonstration flights.
On August 8, 1908 at the Hunaudières track near Le Mans, France, the Wrights silenced European doubters. In a first demonstration lasting only one minute 45 seconds, Wilbur Wright's effortless banking turns and ability to fly in a circle amazed and stunned onlookers, including several French aviation pioneers, among them Louis Bleriot
Louis Blériot
Louis Charles Joseph Blériot was a French aviator, inventor and engineer. In 1909 he completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he crossed the English Channel. For this achievement, he received a prize of £1,000...
.
Airshows between competing aircraft makers and pilots were then held in 1909 at Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and Reims, France. The Frankfurt airshow
Airshow
An air show is an event at which aviators display their flying skills and the capabilities of their aircraft to spectators in aerobatics. Air shows without aerobatic displays, having only aircraft displayed parked on the ground, are called "static air shows"....
, which began in July 1909 (now named Internationale Luft- und Raumfahrtausstellung (ILA)) claims to be the world's first such multi-participant show. The show in Reims ran during August 1909. Shortly after the Reims airshow, Charles Willard and A. Roy Knabenshue
Augustus Roy Knabenshue
Augustus Roy Knabenshue was an American aeronautical engineer and aviator.-Biography:He was born on July 15, 1875 in Lancaster, Ohio....
resolved to stage first such show in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, targeting the winter of 1909 - 1910 for its occurrence.
Los Angeles Preparations
Curtiss and Willard selected the Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
area for its favorable winter weather. After receiving a promise of participation from Glenn Curtiss
Glenn Curtiss
Glenn Hammond Curtiss was an American aviation pioneer and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle then motorcycle builder and racer, later also manufacturing engines for airships as early as 1906...
, Knabenshue contacted Dick Ferris, a Los Angeles athletic promoter and balloon enthusiast, who in turn mobilized local businesses and formed an organizing committee.
A field near Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the winter and in spring. With its backdrop of the purple San Gabriel Mountains, it is considered by many as the world's most beautiful race...
was considered, but physical obstructions such as tall trees led the aviators to search elsewhere. By December 1909, they selected Dominguez Field atop a small hill that had been developed by Manuel Dominguez
Manuel Dominguez
Manuel Dominguez , born at the Mission San Juan Capistrano in Alta California, Viceroyalty of New Spain, and was the heir to the vast Rancho San Pedro land grant.-Juan Jose Dominguez:...
on land once part of Rancho San Pedro
Rancho San Pedro
Rancho San Pedro was one of the first California land grants, and the first to win a patent from the United States. The land grant was validated by the Mexican government at in 1828, and a US patent validating was issued in 1858...
, an early Spanish land grant.
Once the site was finalised, promotion of the meet began and grandstands with a capacity of between 50,000 and 60,000 were erected. An aviators' camp was also constructed nearby. The passenger platform at the local Pacific Electric Railway
Pacific Electric Railway
The Pacific Electric Railway , also known as the Red Car system, was a mass transit system in Southern California using streetcars, light rail, and buses...
station was expanded to accommodate visitors to the rural site who might travel from downtown Los Angeles.
Organizers invited pilots of monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
s, biplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
s, balloons
Balloon (aircraft)
A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
, and dirigibles. To reinforce the event's "international" billing, French aviator Louis Paulhan
Louis Paulhan
Isidore Auguste Marie Louis Paulhan, known as Louis Paulhan, was a pioneering French aviator who in 1910 flew "Le Canard", the world's first seaplane, designed by Henri Fabre....
, a notable from the 1909 Reims Meet, was invited. Paulhan was guaranteed a small sum of money as encouragement to attend. Cash prizes were allotted for competitive events in altitude, speed, and endurance.
Participants
Glenn Curtiss
Glenn Hammond Curtiss was an American aviation pioneer and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle then motorcycle builder and racer, later also manufacturing engines for airships as early as 1906...
, American aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
pioneer and founder of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company
Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company
Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company was an American aircraft manufacturer that went public in 1916 with Glenn Hammond Curtiss as president. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the company was the largest aircraft manufacturer in the United States...
was the most famous. Other participants included Roy Knabenshue, Charles Willard, Lincoln Beachey
Lincoln Beachey
Lincoln J. Beachey was a pioneer American aviator and barnstormer. He became famous and wealthy from flying exhibitions, staging aerial stunts, helping invent aerobatics, and setting aviation records....
and Charles K. Hamilton, Howard Warfield Gill, and Clifford B. Harmon
Clifford B. Harmon
Clifford B. Harmon born July 1, 1866, Urbana, Ohio, died June 25, 1945, Cannes, France, was a wealthy real estate developer and aviator. He founded the International League of Aviators and was the sponsor of the Harmon Trophy.Harmon's real estate success came from developing suburban New York,...
, many of whom are listed among the Early Birds of Aviation
Early Birds of Aviation
The Early Birds of Aviation is an organization devoted to the history of early pilots. The organization was started in 1928 and ultimately accepted a membership of 598. Membership was limited to those who piloted a glider, gas balloon, or airplane, prior to December 17, 1916. The cutoff date was...
. French aviatiors at the event included Louis Paulhan
Louis Paulhan
Isidore Auguste Marie Louis Paulhan, known as Louis Paulhan, was a pioneering French aviator who in 1910 flew "Le Canard", the world's first seaplane, designed by Henri Fabre....
and Didier Masson
Didier Masson
Didier Masson was a pioneering French aviator. He was born in Asnières, France. He died and was buried in Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico. Among his adventures was his life as a pioneering barnstormer, being the second flier in history to bomb a surface warship, as well as combat service in the Lafayette...
.
The Wright brothers
Wright brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...
did not take part in the event, but were there with their lawyers in an attempt to prevent Paulhan and Curtiss from flying. The Wrights claimed that the aileron
Aileron
Ailerons are hinged flight control surfaces attached to the trailing edge of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. The ailerons are used to control the aircraft in roll, which results in a change in heading due to the tilting of the lift vector...
s on their aircraft infringed patents. Notwithstanding their allegations, Paulhan and Curtis still made flights.
Paulhan gave William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
his first experience of flight. However, William Boeing
William Boeing
William Edward Boeing was an American aviation pioneer who founded The Boeing Company.-Biography:Boeing was born to a wealthy German mining engineer named Wilhelm Böing who had made a fortune and who had a sideline as a timber merchant...
, who had been enthused by the new invention of the airplane, was unable to get a ride on any aircraft at the air meet:
While attending the first American Air Meet in Los Angeles, Boeing asked nearly every aviator for a ride, but no one said yes except Louis Paulhan. For three days Boeing waited, but on the 4th day he discovered Paulhan had already left the meet. Possibly, one of the biggest missed opportunities in Paulhan's life was the ride he never gave Boeing.
As part of the larger Wright brothers' patent cases, the Wrights actually won monetary damages in U.S. courts for Paulhan's public performances that day.
Local Creations
In addition to the aviators billed in the event’s programs, there were many hobbyists and inventors wishing to make a name for themselves in the new aviation industry. A $1500 prize for a locally designed and built machine that successfully flew helped to ensure a high turn-out from California inventors and would-be aviators. Some of these were close copies or modifications on already successful designs, like the Bleriot monoplane or Curtiss biplane, but some were truly original creations in every sense of the word.
Zerbe was also responsible for the creation of a "double biplane" for W.J. Davis. This machine consisted of "four decks of equal size, arranged two fore and two aft" and two propellers.
A.E. Mueller, another Los Angeles resident, created an aircraft which was so large for the time that it was dubbed "Mueller’s Monster" by the LA Times, who stated that it was "by far the largest aeroplane in existence". The plane measured seventy-five feet long by fifty feet wide, had a 600 lb (272.2 kg)., 50 hp engine, and weighed around a ton. Mueller believed that by creating such a heavy machine he would be able to avoid "the necessity of delicate balancing in light wind currents."
J.H. Klassen, also of Los Angeles, constructed a gyroscope
Gyroscope
A gyroscope is a device for measuring or maintaining orientation, based on the principles of angular momentum. In essence, a mechanical gyroscope is a spinning wheel or disk whose axle is free to take any orientation...
for the contest, as well as entering a monoplane. His design, described by the LA Times as "quite novel", consisted of "two 12-foot circular planes in the front, and two 8-foot planes in the rear." Klassen hoped that the "gyroscopic motion of the revolving planes" would aid greatly in the craft's stability in the air.
Full List of Participants
Airplanes| Participant | From | Entry |
|---|---|---|
| Glenn Curtiss Glenn Curtiss Glenn Hammond Curtiss was an American aviation pioneer and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle then motorcycle builder and racer, later also manufacturing engines for airships as early as 1906... |
Hammondsport, New York | Curtiss Biplane |
| Louis Paulhan Louis Paulhan Isidore Auguste Marie Louis Paulhan, known as Louis Paulhan, was a pioneering French aviator who in 1910 flew "Le Canard", the world's first seaplane, designed by Henri Fabre.... |
Paris, France | Farman Biplane & Bleriot Monoplane |
| Didier Masson Didier Masson Didier Masson was a pioneering French aviator. He was born in Asnières, France. He died and was buried in Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico. Among his adventures was his life as a pioneering barnstormer, being the second flier in history to bomb a surface warship, as well as combat service in the Lafayette... |
Paris, France | Bleriot Louis Blériot Louis Charles Joseph Blériot was a French aviator, inventor and engineer. In 1909 he completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he crossed the English Channel. For this achievement, he received a prize of £1,000... Monoplane |
| Charles Miscarol | Paris, France | Bleriot Monoplane |
| Baroness de la Roche | Paris, France | Bleroit Monoplane |
| Aero Nagivation Company | Girard, Kansas | Aeroplane |
| Clifford B. Harmon | New York City, New York | Curtiss Biplane |
| Charles K. Hamilton | Hammondsport, New York | Curtiss Biplane |
| H.P. Warner | Beloit, Wisconsin | Curtiss Biplane |
| Pacific Aero Club | San Francisco, California | Monoplane |
| Grant Fowler | Tucson, Arizona | Triplane |
| Charles Borok | New York | Monoplane |
| Louis Bergdoll | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Bleriot Monoplane |
| Ralph Saunier | New York | Monoplane |
| Donald H. Gordon | Bostonia, California | Aeroplane |
| J.W. Curzon | Cincinnati, Ohio | Farman Biplane |
| Dana P. Goodwin | San Francisco, California | Monoplane |
| San Diego Aero Manufacturing Company | San Diego, California | Monoplane |
| W.M. Williams | Douglas, Arizona | Monoplane |
| Roy Knabenshue | Toledo, Ohio | Aeroplane |
| H. LaVerne Twining | Los Angeles, California | Ornithopter Ornithopter An ornithopter is an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings. Designers seek to imitate the flapping-wing flight of birds, bats, and insects. Though machines may differ in form, they are usually built on the same scale as these flying creatures. Manned ornithopters have also been built, and some... |
| J.C. Klassen | Los Angeles, California | Gyroplane & Monoplane |
| William Stephens | Los Angeles, California | Monoplane |
| A.L. Smith | Los Angeles, California | Biplane |
| A.J. Gonzales | Los Angeles, California | Bowplane |
| J.S. Zerbe | Los Angeles, California | Multiplane |
| H.L. Reimer | Los Angeles, California | Ornithopter |
| E.S. Smith | Tropico, California | Monoplane |
| Pacific Aero Club | San Francisco, California | Biplane |
| La Platt Brothers | Yuma, Arizona | Ornithopter |
| James A. Liston | San Diego, California | Biplane |
| S.Y. Beach | New York | Monoplane |
| H.W. Gale | New York | Aeroplane |
| B.F. Roerig | San Diego, California | Biplane |
| G.H. Loose | San Francisco, California | Monoplane |
| Waldo Waterman Waldo Waterman thumb|200px|Waldo Waterman in 1920Waldo Dean Waterman was an inventor and aviation pioneer from San Diego, California... |
San Diego, California | Biplane |
| E.J. Campbell | Los Angeles, California | Biplane |
| W.J. Davis | Los Angeles, California | Double Biplane |
| D.J. Johnson | Los Angeles, California | Aeroplane |
| R.C.V. Mytton | Los Angeles, California | Biplane |
| Charles Skogland | Los Angeles, California | Monoplane |
| Charles F. Willard | New York | Curtiss Biplane |
| Howard Gill | Baltimore, Maryland | Gill-dosh Biplane |
Attendance
An estimated 254,000 tickets were sold, and gate receipts were roughly $137,500. During the time the meet was running, streetcars ran to Dominguez Fields every 2 minutes from the Pacific Electric station in Los Angeles. The great crowd turn-out, averaging more than 20,000 spectators per day, made it possible to return $1.25 to "the subscribers to the aviation fund for every dollar advanced".Competitive Events
All flights taking place between 2 p.m. and sunset counted towards scoring for prizes. Aviators were encouraged to fly as many times per day as possible, and to make as many record attempts in the competitive events as possible. In fact, those contestants who "do not make a flight every day between the hours of two and five o'clock p. m. of one complete circuit of the course in competition for the speed or endurance competitions will be penalized five per cent of their best time for the prize." Only the best time was counted during the judging at the end of the meet.
Ballooning competitions and events were also held in the Los Angeles suburb of Huntington Park
Huntington Park, California
Huntington Park is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 58,114, down from 61,348 at the 2000 census.- History :...
throughout the week. These events included attempts to reach a new altitude record and passenger flights.
Prizes Offered
The following prizes were offered at the air meet. All prices are given in 1910 US dollars.- $10,000.00 for "the machine which, carrying two or more persons, breaks all worlds records for duration, altitude, distance and speed."
- $7,500.00 for "the machine making the best general average in all events."
- $5,000.00 for setting a new height record.
- $5,000.00 for setting a new endurance record.
- $500.00 for "the circuit of least diameter."
- $500.00 for the shortest take-off time.
- $500.00 for the shortest take-off distance.
- $500.00 for the "greatest ability during flight (general average)."
- $500.00 for the longest glide with the motor shut off.
- $500.00 for the "best general average in landing at a given point."
- $1,500.00 for any aircraft which was designed and built by a resident of California, Arizona or Nevada which was able to fly five miles or more.
- $500.00 for any aircraft which was designed and built by a resident of California, Arizona or Nevada which was able to fly two miles or more.
- $2,500 for an aircraft that could "soar (not glide) without power save that of the aviator."
- $10,000.00 for a dirigible flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
- $5,000.00 for a non-stop dirigible flight with more than two passengers from Los Angeles to San Diego and back.
- $10,000.00 for a balloonBalloon (aircraft)A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
flight to the Atlantic Coast without landing. - $5,000.00 for the first balloonBalloon (aircraft)A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
flight to east of the Mississippi RiverMississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
without landing. - $2,500.00 for breaking Count de la Vaux's long distance record of 1193 miles (1,919.9 km).
- $2,500.00 for the first balloonBalloon (aircraft)A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
to land within five miles (8 km) of San Francisco.
Prize Winners
Paulhan dominated the Dominguez meet, winning $19,000 in prize money with the following accomplishments:- New flight endurance record; carrying a passenger almost 110 miles (177 kilometers) in his Farman IIIFarman III|-See also:-Bibliography:*Opdycke, Leonard E French Aeroplanes Before the Great War Atglen, PA: Schiffer 1999 ISBN 0 7643 0752 5-External links:**...
biplane in 1 hour, 49 minutes. - New altitude mark of approximately 4,164 feet (1,269 m).
He also performed several aerial feats during the week, and carried U.S. Army Lieutenant Paul Beck aloft for one of the first aerial bomb-dropping tests.
Glenn Curtiss set a new air speed record of approximately 55 miles per hour (89 kilometers per hour), and took home the prize for the best quick start. In all, he won approximately $6,500.
Further reading
- Dominguez Air Meet 1910 by D. D. Hatfield, Northrop University, 1976
- The 1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet by Kenneth E. Pauley, Arcadia Publications, 2009
External links
- 1910 Air Meet at CSUDH Digital Collections
- 1910 International Air Meet Website
- 1910 Los Angeles International Aviation Meet Research Collection Finding Aid at California Digital Library
- 1910 Air Meet at LA Public Library Digital Collections