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Art Smith (pilot)
Encyclopedia
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, and Fort Wayne's Smith Field
Smith Field (Indiana)
Smith Field is a public use airport located four nautical miles north of the central business district of Fort Wayne, a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States. It is owned and operated by the Fort Wayne Allen County Airport Authority. According to the FAA's National Plan of Integrated...
is named after him. In 1910, his parents mortgaged their home for $1,800 so that he could build a plane, on which he spent six months; however, he crashed it on his first flight, destroying everything but the motor. However, he quickly became a celebrated stunt pilot, notable for flying at night; he was one of the pioneers of skywriting
Skywriting
Skywriting is the process of using a small aircraft, able to expel special smoke during flight, to fly in certain patterns to create writing readable by someone on the ground...
at night using flares attached to his aircraft. Katherine Stinson
Katherine Stinson
Katherine Stinson was an early female flier. She was the fourth woman in the United States to obtain a pilot's certificate, which she earned on July 24, 1912, at the age of 21 while residing in Pine Bluff, AR...
, one of America's first female stunt pilots, was inspired to compete against him by this feat, and the competition between her, Smith, and other men received widespread press coverage. Smith made two trips to Asia, in 1916 and 1917; his aerobatics
Aerobatics
Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in normal flight. Aerobatics are performed in airplanes and gliders for training, recreation, entertainment and sport...
demonstrations in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
during those trips are believed to have inspired both An Chang-nam
An Chang-nam
An Chang-nam was the first Korean aviator.-Overview:Born and raised in Seoul, he is believed to have been inspired to learn to fly after having seen an aerobatics demonstration by American pilot Art Smith in 1916 or 1917. In 1920, he graduated from Japan's Okuri Aviation School in Susaki An...
(Korea's first male pilot) and Kwon Ki-ok
Kwon Ki-ok
Kwon Ki-ok was the first Korean female aviator, as well as being the first female pilot in China.-Biography:...
(Korea's first female pilot) to learn to fly. He later worked as a test pilot
Test pilot
A test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....
and instructor after the American entry into World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
; he had originally sought to enroll in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
's Air Service, but was refused. His height (5 feet 3 inches) was mentioned as one possible reason for the refusal; the numerous injuries he had suffered in earlier crashes were another. During the war, he was stationed at Langley Field, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and McCook Field
McCook Field
McCook Field was an airfield and aviation experimentation station operated by the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps and its successor the United States Army Air Service from 1917-1927...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
; he was one of two men trained to fly the De Bothezat helicopter
De Bothezat helicopter
|-See also:-References:NotesCitationsBibliography* Lambermont, Paul Marcel. Helicopters and autogyros of the world. London: Cassell, 1958....
, an early quadrotor
Quadrotor
A quadrotor, also called a quadrotor helicopter or quadrocopter, is an aircraft that is lifted and propelled by four rotors. Quadrotors are classified as rotorcraft, as opposed to fixed-wing aircraft, because their lift is derived from four rotors...
helicopter. After the war, he joined the United States Post Office
Airmails of the United States
Airmails of the United States or U.S. Air Mail relates to the servicing of flown mails by the U.S. postal system within the United States, its possessions, and/or territories, marked as "Via Air Mail" , appropriately franked, and afforded any then existing class or sub-class of U.S...
; he eventually came to fly the overnight mail delivery route between New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, established in July 1925. He died in February 1926 at age 32 near Montpelier
Montpelier, Ohio
Montpelier is a village in Williams County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,320 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Montpelier is located at ....
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
; he was two miles off-course when he crashed into a grove of trees while flying east. After Charles Ames, he was the second overnight mail service pilot to die on duty.