This year, the world celebrates 100 years of aviation history.
Burbank and the eastern San Fernando Valley were once a great center
of aviation development, bringing to our area the most famous
aviators of the time. Our citizens created the most advanced and
fastest aircraft ever built, and completed top-secret projects that
affect world events to this day. Although aviation on the West Coast
started on a hilltop 20 miles south of here, some of those pioneering
aviators are still with us in Burbank today.
After the Wright brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk on Dec. 17,
1903, they returned to Dayton, Ohio to further develop their skills
and to secure patents on their achievements. In 1906, Alberto
Santos-Dumont of France made the first sustained flight outside the
U.S. Unlike the reclusive Wright brothers, his flights were witnessed
by the general public. Progress was rapid and "firsts" were
everywhere.
Henry Farman was the first to fly a one-kilometer circuit, the
first passenger in an airplane and the first to make a cross-country
flight. The first aircraft factory was opened by the Voisin brothers
in France.
The first international air meet was in Rheims, France in August
1909. Wilbur Wright was in France at the time giving flying lessons
but the Wrights chose to not participate in public flying displays,
believing them to be ostentatious. The only representative from the
U.S. was Glenn H. Curtiss from Hammondsport, N.Y., flying his "Golden
Flyer." Curtiss won the main event at a speed of 46.5 miles per hour.
With a cold winter in the east, Roy Knabenshue and Charles Willard
decided that Los Angeles would be the perfect place to fly. They
contacted Curtiss and began planning an international air meet even
greater than the one at Rheims the year before. To ensure the
international flavor of the meet, they invited Louis Paulhan from
France.
An area on the Dominguez Ranch north of Long Beach was chosen
because it was undeveloped, near the Pacific Electric trolley lines
and, being high up on a mesa, the public would have to pay admission
to see the action. Opening day was Jan. 10, 1910 -- 93 years ago
yesterday. The event lasted 10 days.
As described in the book "Dominguez Air Meet" by D.D. Hattfield:
"At one o'clock, a yellow winged Curtiss biplane was rolled to the
starting point in front of the grandstand and the crowd became silent
as they realized that the action was about to start. A mechanic swung
the propeller and the engine started with a roar. As the machine
