Thomas Baldwin
invents first flexible parachute and first practical dirigible
1880-Thomas Baldwin of Quincy, Illinois, invented
the first flexible parachute. Baldwin used the parachute to enhance his
hot air balloon exhibition. "Orphaned at an early age, [Baldwin] became
an acrobat with a traveling circus when only 14 years old and then progressed
step by step to prominence as an aeronaut, inventor of a flexible parachute,
builder of the first practical dirigible in the United States, and pioneer
designer, builder, and flyer of airplanes."
Chicago
hosts the first U.S. international aviation meet
1911-Chicago hosted the country's first International
Aviation Meet.
The nine day International Aviation Meet drew nearly all the well-known
American aviators and five celebrated foreign flyers. A novel plan for
distributing a large part of the prize money according to flying time
made it especially attractive to skilled flyers. Until that time, aviators
had insisted on being paid for their appearance, even if they failed to
fly. A remarkable record of 206 hours of flying time over the nine day
competition proved that airplanes could indeed fly. Lincoln Beachy set
the world altitude record
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Aviator
and inventor Glenn Curtiss pilots Airship #4, a dirigible Thomas
Baldwin (a native of Quincy, Illinois) designed with Curtiss's
help for the engine work. In 1908, the U.S. Army contracted Baldwin
to design Dirigible #1, the Army's first airship.
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On
July 24, 1912, Katherine Stinson became the fourth woman in the
United States to obtain a pilot's license. She learned to fly
at Max Lillie's Flying School at Cicero Field in Chicago. On July
18, 1915, at this same field, she became the first woman in the
world to perform a loop-the-loop.
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of 11,642 feet. Honors for total duration went to Calbraith
Rodgers, a comparatively unknown pilot. "Using a slow but reliable Wright
biplane he remained in the air more than three hours on each of the eight
days, 'lolling in his seat each afternoon, legs crossed and dangling,
a cigar in the long holder he held in his mouth.'"
Katherine Stinson
becomes first woman to obtain a pilots license in a Wright aircraft
1912-Katherine Stinson becomes the first woman
to obtain a pilots license in a Wright aircraft. "Small and frail in appearance,
she seemed unsuited to be an aviatrix. . . . Veteran pilots insisted that
she would not be able to handle the controls of a Wright Biplane on windy
days. However, after three weeks, she easily passed the complicated tests
for the Aero Club of America pilot's license, becoming the first woman
to accomplish that feat in a Wright machine, and set out on a spectacular
career as a exhibition flyer and instructor."
All quotes in this article are excerpted from Balloons to Jets: A Century
of Aeronautics in Illinois, 1855-1955, rev. 2000, by Howard L. Scamehorn
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