The Roar of the Crowd

The first air races, meets, and flight exhibitions kicked off a wave of public enthusiasm for aviation that circled the globe. The aviators who flew ever higher, faster, and farther were great heroes to the public during this era. These events set the stage for a new age shaped by the new reality of human flight. 

The Wright brothers made their first public flights in Europe and America in 1908, bringing their invention to the masses. Wilbur Wright first flew in public at a racetrack near Le Mans, France. His ability to turn tight circles and maintain control over his plane stunned European observers, including pioneer aviators who had made their first short public hops a year before in aircraft without adequate flight controls. Wilbur Wright showed his skill and the plane’s potential in later flights at Pau, France, and in Italy into 1909. 

The world’s first major international flying competition was held in the champagne-growing region of France, near the  city of Reims, from August 22-29 in 1909. Thirty-eight airplanes were entered La Grand Semaine de l’Aviation de la Champagne, as it was formally called, in various speed, distance, altitude, and passenger-carrying events. Only 23 actually flew—perhaps due to the still fragile and unpredictable nature of aircraft during this period. The event was a great success, and by the end of the week many of the pilots were celebrities. Much to the disappointment of the organizers, the Wrights did not participate. The only American in the field was Glenn Curtiss who won the prestigious Gordon Bennett Trophy speed race. Total prize money was 200,000 francs. Upwards of a half-million spectators attended, from the wealthy elite to the average aviation enthusiast. 

With the growing number of meets and competitions after Reims, exhibition flying became quite profitable. Aerobatic displays by daredevil pilots became a regular feature at the events. Aircraft manufacturers also flew exhibitions to supplement meager aircraft sales resulting from the small market. Aerial exhibitions and meets introduced the airplane to the public in truly thrilling ways. As aviators gained experience, simple flying gave way to more complex and daring aerial maneuvers. The Russian pilot Petr Nesteroff is said to have been the first to complete a loop in the air. 

People flocked to these events, anxious to see daring aviators show their stuff. Those who weren't able to attend devoured newspaper accounts of the latest aerial feats. And while few would’ve admitted it, the ever-present possibility of disaster added to the excitement. Airplane flying in these early days was dangerous. Thirty-three people died in the first three years of public flying between 1908 and 1910.  

From 1910 to 1913, teams of pilots toured America and Europe, competing for rich prizes for flying higher, faster, and farther that the rest. Competition and cash prizes pushed planes and pilots to new and greater heights in the days of early powered flight.  

Advancements in aviation made during these events came fast and were spectacular: 

• Altitude increased from the 10–15 feet (3–5 meters) of the first flights at Kitty Hawk to a record of 18,405 feet (5,610 meters) set by France’s Roland Garros  in 1913. 
• Speed increased from 25.65 mph (41.28 km/h) by Santos-Dumont in 1906 to 126.61 mph (203.76 km/h) by Maurice Prevost in September 1913. 
•  Distance increased from the 852 feet (260 meters) flown by Wilbur Wright in 1903, to the 1,055 miles (1,698 kilometers) flown by Germany’s Karl Ingold in February 1914. 

Airplane companies soon began to field teams to demonstrate the flying machines they produced. Glenn Curtiss, founder of the Curtiss Aeroplane Company and a pioneer in early aviation, discovered that in addition to selling airplanes to the government and individuals, he could make money by sending a team of aviators and aircraft on the road to these now very popular air meets and exhibitions. Modest by nature, the Wright brothers were never as comfortable showing off in the air, despite their early aircraft demonstrations. Still, they followed Curtiss’s lead and fielded their own exhibition team as a way to further profit from building airplanes. 

A rivalry grew between the teams, and spectators were thrilled as the pilots pushed each other to ever more spectacular feats. However, the Wright exhibition team’s headlines sometimes came at a terrible cost. Some pilots, including Arch Hoxsey and Ralph Johnstone, “the Stardust Twins,” died in crashes. The Wrights disbanded the team in 1911, after just 16 months of operation. Five of nine members of the Wright exhibition team died between 1910 and 1912. 

The Wright and Curtiss teams were joined by a few other teams. American businessman John Moisant learned to fly in France, then formed the Moisant International Aviators in 1910. Operating as a touring “flying circus,” the team included his sister, Matilde, and Harriet Quimby, the first two American women to earn a pilot’s license. Some of the best known and most daring American aviators of the time flew for the Wright, Curtiss, or Moisant teams. 

Early distance competitions linking cities in a single nation gave way to longer flights between the great cities of Europe. These greater distances allowed aviators, aircraft manufacturers, and their exhibition teams, to show how far they could truly go. For example, Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly the English Channel. She flew her Blériot XI monoplane from Dover, England, to Calais, France, on April 16, 1912. She once remarked: “Men flyers have given the impression that aeroplaning is very perilous work, something an ordinary mortal should not dream of attempting, but when I saw how easy men flyers handle their machines, I said I could fly. Flying is a fine, dignified sport for women, it is healthy and stimulates the mind."  

Quimby and her teammate Matilde Moisant weren’t the only women to partake in these early exhibition feats. At just five feet (1.5 meters) tall and weighing all of 85 pounds (39 kilograms), Georgia Broadwick earned the nickname “Tiny.” Yet as the first woman to parachute from an airplane, her courage was anything but tiny. At 15, she started jumping from tethered balloons wearing a “life preserver” designed by her adoptive father. She made her first jump from an airplane on June 21, 1913. While skydiving was rare before World War I, it became a popular feature of air shows after the war. 

The daring aviators who flew higher, faster, and farther during the years before World War I were huge celebrities. Their exploits made headlines in newspapers and magazines around the globe, and a few became household names. They created the first great public enthusiasm for the airplane as a symbol of human achievement as the airplane took its first steps toward becoming a world changing technology.