Charles W. Furnas (1880-1941) World's First Airplane Passenger
On May 14, 1908, Mr. Furnas, a friend and mechanic for the Wright Brothers accompanied first Wilbur and later that day, Orville, as they made the momentous flights. It was the day Charles Furnas became the world's first passenger aboard a heavier-than-air craft.
The first flight that day began smoothly enough, but soon they were flying too far to the right and, to be on the safe side, Mr. Wright had Charles shut off the engine. Later that day, Orville took Charles for a 2-mile flight. They were moving aloft at about 30 mph when they met a 30 mph headwind, at which time one speed cancelled the other and they just "hovered" until the engine heated up and the aircraft slowly descended. During a later flight, Wilbur flew more than a mile, but ended up smashing the plane so badly that further attempts were temporarily halted. Orville and Charles returned to Dayton and constructed another plane which the U.S. Government had purchased. That craft was shipped to Fort Meyer, Virginia for a demonstration. In place of Charles as a passenger was Army Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge. The plane crashed and Lt. Selfridge was killed.
In honor of Mr. Furnas's contribution to flying, the U.S. Post Office printed 6-cent air mail envelopes which read, "Charles Furnas, West Milton, O., First Airplane Passenger, Wright Brothers Ground Mechanic. National Air Mail Week, May 15-21, 1938." Submitted by Furnas Families of America, P.O. Box 172, Avon, OH 44011