A Century of American Airshows
That thrilling engine rumble of vintage warbirds! Gravity-defying aerobatics! The sheer speed and precision of modern jet fighters! Now add all that to the opportunity to get up close and personal with aviation’s finest. As most Flight Journal readers know, airshows offer a unique combination of exhilaration with an appreciation of our aviation history. In this issue, “Aviation’s Living History” highlights some of the outstanding airshows around the country. These great American aviation exhibitions go back to 1910, when the first major airshow in the United States took place at Dominguez Field, just south of Los Angeles. Recall that Wilbur and Orville Wright first flew in 1903, and just seven years later, airplanes had literally and figuratively taken off!
The 1910 Dominguez Aviation Meet was highly successful, and it profoundly affected the future of American aviation. The event included monoplanes, biplanes, hot air balloons, and hydrogen-filled dirigibles. Between a quarter million to a half a million spectators turned out for the Meet, and this was the first time most of them had ever seen an aircraft in reality. The Los
Angeles Times called it “one of the greatest public events in the history of the West.”
Big dollar prizes for setting new world records at the Aviation Meet attracted the era’s top aviators to Dominguez Field, putting their lives on the line as they sought both fame and fortune. The most highly anticipated event was the challenge to set a new altitude record for a $5,000 prize. (That’s $135,000 in today’s dollars!) Louis Paulhan, a French pilot who had worked in a military balloon factory and taught himself to fly, dominated the competitions. First, he set a new flight endurance record by carrying a passenger more than 110 miles in his Farman III biplane in just under two hours. Then, he went on to achieve the new altitude mark of approximately 4,164 feet, winning the $5,000 prize. Interestingly, toward the end of the show Paulhan carried U.S. Army officers aloft to perform one of the very first bomb drop flight tests, using weights to simulate bombs.
More than a century later, planes and pilots continue to entertain crowds across the country. Check out our feature story and mark your calendar! In our opinion, you can never experience too many of these live aviation events.