When it comes to thinking about firsts and flying everyone immediately thinks of the Wright Brothers and Kitty Hawk. As well they should. However what many don't realize is that the Wright Brothers made what might be considered a more important flight in Arlington VA at the Fort Myer Army Post.
The US Army Signal Corps wanted an aircraft that could hold two people and fly for at least one hour. The first test came in September 1908 when Orville Wright took up a two seater plane and circled the parade grounds at Fort Meyer 57 times. He then took a passenger up and flew for one hour and 12 minutes.
Later that week on another test flight Orville Wright and his passenger First Lt. Thomas Selfridge made another flight. That flight crashed killing Lt Selfridge, making him the first military flight casualty in the US.
The Signal Corps had one more requirement. The plane needed to fly at least 40 MPH. In July 1909 the Wright brothers came back to Fort Myer and flew a course between Fort Meyer and Alexandria and hit an airspeed of 42.6 MPH. The US Government then ordered their first military and commercial aircraft. A production and test facility were established across the river in College Park Maryland.
Today as you pass Fort Myer you see the spires of the Air Force Memorial honoring not only the men and women of the Air Force who have given their lives but also for the early pioneers of flight. Lt. Selfridge is buried in Arlington Cemetery close to the spot where his plane crashed. Fort Myer serves as home to the US Army School of Music and The Old Guard the army's ceremonial unit.
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Very interesting Cindy. I never heard about that before. Thanks for posting. If you don't mind, I think I'll re-blog this one.
Cindy, great post, you how much I love these local history stories. There is so much here at AR. Thanks for the great post.
Wow, Cindy! We learn something new every day here. And I just wanted to mention that the military musicians are among the most talented in the world.
Cindy: You are a wealth of knowledge. I had no idea about this story. I watched a show last night on the Pentagon Memorial of 9/11. I knew about it, but had never seen it. It's something I'd like to see up close. Looks very peaceful.
Cindy,
Thanks for sharing a piece of the local history. Northern Virginia has so much of it.
Rich
Cindy
Thanks for sharing the story, it is a very interesting post.
Good luck and success.
Lou Ludwig
That is some interesting information, Cindy! Have been to Kitty Hawk and certainly didn't learn about this there.
Dan-it seemed an appropriate post for Memorial Day and it helps that I'm currently in NC to make the connection.
Gerry-thanks for stopping by. We are both lucky to live in areas with lots of history.
Patricia-yes they are!
Chris Ann-I'm a fountain of worthless occassionally worthwhile local history.
Richard-we do have our fair share of history.
Lou-thank you for stopping by and learning a little more about Northern Virginia.
Irene-I went to Kitty Hawk on Monday. How timely was that? Are you coming to DC Rain Camp?
Cindy, I love human interest stories from our very own history. Thank you for sharing this.
Tammie-thanks for stopping by.
Cindy,
Thanks for the tip to look here! Enjoyed it!
Bill