First Army Aeroplane Flight, Fort Myer, Virginia 1909

That's pretty amazing footage. Imagine what it must have to see that for people not used to seeing airplanes.
 
In 1909 my grandmother moved with her family from Albuquerque to Los Cruces, NM by covered wagon.

And a mere 60 years later first manned moon landing.

And no one pushed from the prop.....
 
Zeldman said:
And a mere 60 years later first manned moon landing.
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Hard to believe that only thirty or so years later the propeller-driven airplane had been virtually perfected with the likes of the Mustang and Spitfire. Imagine being one of the spectators--I bet that before the demo many of them didn't even believe that flight was possible.

Tim
 
The bigger deal is that their flight was much longer than the "Space" portion of the sub orbital flight just accomplished. Probably even longer than the entire flight after drop by the launch plane. I have seen that news reel many times, and it gives me a fresh thrill every time.

I wonder if the Navy realized that the Wrights had already perfected the catapult launch technique, long before they built the first carrier? Curtis demonstrated an inadequate combination of airplane, catapult, and ship, so the Wrights get the win there.

Fortunately no one from the FAA was at Fort Myer to cite the pilot for buzzing the spectators, and flying low over houses and other buildings without being in the actual landing procedure. The only safety rules enforced then were the natural laws, the sentences were often severe, and terminated careers.
 
Daleandee said:
It's also quite telling that Orville was the first pilot in history that had a passenger die from a crash:

https://www.neatorama.com/2013/03/13/Orville-Wright-and-the-First-Person-to-Die-in-an-Airplane/

According to the story linked above and the dates given the flight in the video was after this first tragic accident where Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge was killed.
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The way I read it, Lt Lahm was the first passenger, and Lt Selfridge flew a week later. The video caption says 1909, the story says 1908.
 
3393RP said:
The way I read it, Lt Lahm was the first passenger, and Lt Selfridge flew a week later. The video caption says 1909, the story says 1908.
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You read it correctly and I didn't. Sorry about that chief (as Maxwell Smart would say).
 
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