As seemingly against all odds, U.S. Army Lt. Benjamin Foulois taught himself to fly at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, as the U.S. Army's first pilot in the U.S. Signal Corp's first and only plane, there were a number of other commendable achievements in aviation elsewhere, including Utah.
On the afternoon of Dec. 31, 1910, at the Salt Lake City Fairgrounds, Frenchman Louis Paulhan flew a 50-horsepower Farman biplane for hundreds of excited spectators. An early aviator who started his career by building model aircraft, Paulhan had served as a balloon pilot with the French military in Paris. He acquired his first airframe by winning a design competition and earned a French pilot license in 1908 after seven months of training. Like Foulois, he taught himself to fly.
As his reputation grew, he was invited to perform at a large international air meet held at Los Angeles, Calif., in 1910. He antagonized his competitors with dare-devil maneuvers, while instilling "aviation fever" in amazed spectators. His competitors disliked him, audiences loved him and newspaper accounts of his success brought him to the attention of Utah leaders.
Salt Lake City officials knew if they held an event including Paulhan, it would generate free publicity for the city and revenue from those who would pay to watch him risk his life. He accepted an invitation and Salt Lake's newspaper printed a front-page headline: "Air King is Here to Fly." Ten minutes of air time made Paulhan's performance a success.
Within a decade of the first flight in Utah, aviation progressed significantly during World War I, and for at least the decade following the Great War, the U.S. Army and Navy used obsolete aircraft to support their respective surface forces, with commercial aviation outpacing them.
By 1920, the original practice of shipping unassembled airplanes by railroad cars, had been surpassed. Commercial pilots were flying across the country and stopping in Utah for mail, fuel and rest. Airframes originally made of bamboo, wire, cloth and glue with underpowered engines, had become stronger and featured larger engines. Updated, biplane designs had 450-horsepower engines and could fly at least 140 mph.
Somewhat reliable airmail service in the United States started May 15, 1918, between Washington, D.C., and New York City with one refueling stop in Philadelphia. From 1918 to 1920, routes were expanded to include Chicago, Cleveland and Omaha. The last leg of the route was developed into a transcontinental link, Omaha to San Francisco on Sept. 8, 1920, and included stops in North Platte, Neb.; Cheyenne, Rawlins and Rock Springs, Wyo.; Salt Lake City and Reno, Nev.
Initially, Salt Lake City offered little more than a safe landing strip and a refueling stop. One pilot flying in from Reno on Sept. 10, 1920, had difficulty finding the temporary landing strip at Buena Vista Field near 800 South and 1400 West. While he circled the valley, ground crew lit a smudge pot as a signal. The flyer saw the smoke and finally made a safe landing at 4:15 p.m. He had begun his flight that morning at 9:25 on the all-day flight which now takes an hour or less to complete.
On Dec. 21, 1920, Woodward Field was dedicated at 2200 West and North Temple Street. Upon the suggestion of Salt Lake City Mayor Clarence Neslen, the new facility was named after John P. Woodward, an airmail pilot who died Nov. 6, 1920, when his plane crashed in a Wyoming snowstorm.
With its 106 acres, Woodward Field was one of the largest of 15 U.S. airfields used by the Post Office Department. In addition to runways, it had an office building, an eight-plane hangar and a service area to rebuild planes. Later, Woodward Field was renamed Salt Lake City Airport. According to Vern Halliday, airport manager from 1927 to 1936, a large wind sock indicated the wind direction during the day, while a large illuminated arrow, free to turn, provided pilots with landing information during the early evening hours.
The Post Office Department began transporting mail by airplane in cooperation with the U.S. Army, but hoped to encourage private enterprise to take over the mail contracts as commercial equipment and experience were superior.
With passage of the Air Mail Act of 1925, individuals began to compete for airmail contracts. Walter T. Varney was awarded the contract from Pasco, Wash., to Elko, Nev. The route was described by one Post Office official as "starting nowhere and ending nowhere, and over impossible country getting there."
Salt Lake City was quickly pinpointed by Varney Speed Lines and Western Air Express as a connection for points east. So, on Oct. 1, 1926, seven months after Varney began the Pasco-Elko route and with the active support of its Chamber of Commerce, Salt Lake City replaced Elko as the southern terminus.
Similarly under the leadership of its Chamber of Commerce, Ogden opened its original airport in 1927, just west of Weber Canyon. Many Utahns embraced early aviation as avid fliers as the risk of flight appealed to their pioneering spirit, entrepreneurship and boundless capacity for service through industry and hard work. Many are now memorialized in the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame, including Col. Russell L. Maughan of Logan, a decorated World War I pursuit pilot; Art Mortensen of Ogden, who began his flying career in 1926 and managed Ogden Airport for many years; Jacob Edwin Garn, who earned the first pilot's license issued in the state of Utah, who also served as a pilot in World War I, and became the first Director of the Utah Division of Aeronautics; and his son, former U.S. Utah Sen. "Jake" Garn, who served in the United States Navy and Utah Air National Guard as a pilot (logging over 10,000 flying hours and retiring as a brigadier general), and, in 1984, was a crewmember on the seven-day space shuttle flight STS 51-D. In 1992, he was awarded the prestigious Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy.
For more on this topic visit the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame Web site at http://www.hill.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5804.
Comments