International Aviation Meet at Belmont Park

Last updated

International Aviation Meet at Belmont Park
1910 International Aviation Tournament at Belmont Park program cover.png
Belmont Park program (1910)
DateOctober 22–31, 1910 (1910-10-22 1910-10-31)
Duration9 days
Venue Belmont Racetrack
Location Belmont Park
Also known asBelmont Park aviation meet
Type air show
Patrons
Organized by Aero Club of America
ParticipantsAviators

The Belmont Park aviation meet was an international air show that took place in 1910. The Belmont Racetrack in Elmont, New York, United States, was the site of the aviation meet. The event took place over nine days and featured aerial races, and contests involving duration, distance, speed and altitude.

Contents

The show was managed and organized by the Aero Club of America and it took place over nine days, October 2231, 1910. Featured aviators included Wilbur Wright, Alfred Leblanc, Émile Aubrun, René Simon, John Moisant and Claude Grahame-White. The show awarded prize money of US$72,300 (equivalent to $2,261,314in 2022); revenue from gate gate receipts for the show totaled US$188,000 (equivalent to $5,904,543in 2022).

Background

The air show was the idea of Andrew Freedman who was a director of the Wright Company. [1] The company was started by the Wright brothers who were American aviation pioneers. They became the first to pilot a heavier-than-air flying machine on December 17, 1903. [2] On August 9, 1910, the Committee of Arrangements members were announced at the Finance Committee of the Aero Club of America. The members of the Committee of Arrangements were Alan A. Ryan, Clifford B. Harmon and W. Redmond Cross. [3] August Belmont Jr. was a Wright Company stockholder and he was selected to be the president of the event's organizing committee. The venue that the committee selected was August Belmont's racetrack at Belmont Park. [1] They selected Belmont so that they could save money by using the existing stands and they were able to enclose the grounds. [3]

By October 9, 1910, the park was being prepared for the air show. The workers used electric light to work at night. The main grandstand was expanded to accommodate the people who were expected. The organizers also had to construct hangars for the airplanes: the hangars were 1,000 ft (300 m) long and 15 ft (4.6 m) high. Aviators began to arrive on October 9 including Frenchmen Alfred Leblanc and Jacques Faure  [ fr ], and American John Moisant. [4]

History

Belmont Park (October 30, 1910) BelmontParkAirShow.jpg
Belmont Park (October 30, 1910)

Thirty aviators attended the nine day event and the prizes were valued at US$72,300 (equivalent to $2,261,314in 2022). Some of the featured aviators included Wilbur Wright, Alfred Leblanc, Émile Aubrun, René Simon, John Moisant and Claude Grahame-White. [5] The aviation meet was the second international tournament and the contests involved, duration, distance, speed and altitude. Some of the featured events included: the Scientific American Trophy, Michelin Cup, and the Statue of Liberty Flight. The 100-kilometer (62 mi) Gordon Bennett Cup Race was also a featured competition for the Gordon Bennett International Aviation Trophy and US$5,000 (equivalent to $157,036in 2022). [6]

Harriet Quimby became interested in aviation when she attended the event. It was there that she met John Moisant and his sister Matilde. John and his brother Alfred operated a flight school in Long Island, New York. Quimby, and Matilde Moisant both decided that they wanted to learn to fly and after the show they began taking classes with Alfred Moisant. [7] [8] Quimby went on to become the first American female to become a licensed pilot, on August 1, 1911. [8]

John Moisant crashed twice, the first time he crashed trying out his new Blériot aircraft on October 19. When he was helped from his plane he said, "Hurt? No, not at all. Nothing ever happens to anybody flying." [9] Later he had a warmup flight and he crashed second time. [10] The second crash occurred October 23, 1910, in Moisant's passenger-carrying Blériot aircraft. The Associated Press reported that the plane was "badly smashed" and Moisant had to work through the night to complete repairs. [11] He was forced to search for another aircraft and by the time he had found one, the Statue of Liberty race had already begun. He found that could not pass the other two competitors so he flew a different route. [10]

Moisant won the featured Statue of Liberty race which was a 58-kilometer (36 mi) trip. The race began at Belmont, went around the Statue of Liberty and ended back at Belmont: Moisant won US$10,000 (equivalent to $314,071in 2022). Thomas Fortune Ryan of Bethlehem Steel provided the prize money for the race. [1] British aviator Claude Grahame-White registered a protest; he had finished second and he wanted to have another attempt. [12]

The show was managed and organized by Aero Corporation Limited. The gate receipts for the show totaled US$188,000 (equivalent to $5,904,543in 2022). The Wright Brothers were involved with the show and they sued the Aero Corporation over payments they were owed. William W. Niles spoke for the Aero Corporation and made claims that the expenses for the show totaled US$200,000 (equivalent to $6,281,429in 2022). [13]

The aviation committee met to discuss Grahame-White's protest. They decided that the contest was over and Moisant had won. [12] Only three pilots flew in the race, Grahame-White, Moisant and Jacques de Lesseps. [14]

In March 1911 (five months after the contest) the Board of Governors of the Aero Club met and decided to disqualify Moisant because they ruled that he had failed to accomplish a one-hour flight prior to his entry. The US$10,000 prize was awarded to de Lesseps, not second-place finisher Grahame-White, because Grahame-White had been disqualified when one of his wing tips hit a pylon during the race. [14] Moisant had died on the morning of December 31, 1910, in an air crash near Harahan, Louisiana, prior to the decision. He had been making a preparatory flight for his attempt to win the 1910 Michelin Cup and the $4,000 prize for the longest sustained flight of 1910. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Aero Club</span> National co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom

The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910.

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1910:

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1911:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Moisant</span> American businessman, revolutionary, and aviation pioneer (1868–1910)

John Bevins Moisant was an American aviator, aeronautical engineer, flight instructor, businessman, and revolutionary. He was the first pilot to conduct passenger flights over a city (Paris), as well as across the English Channel, from Paris to London. He co-founded an eponymous flying circus, the Moisant International Aviators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harriet Quimby</span> American aviation pioneer (1875–1912)

Harriet Quimby was an American pioneering aviator, journalist, and film screenwriter. In 1911, she became the first woman in the United States to receive a pilot's license and in 1912 the first woman to fly across the English Channel. Although Quimby died at the age of 37 in a flying accident, she strongly influenced the role of women in aviation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matilde Moisant</span> American pioneer aviator (1878-1964)

Matilde Josephine Moisant was an American pioneer aviator, the second woman in the United States to obtain a pilot's license.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aero Club of America</span> US aviation group, now the National Aeronautic Association

The Aero Club of America was a social club formed in 1905 by Charles Jasper Glidden and Augustus Post, among others, to promote aviation in America. It was the parent organization of numerous state chapters, the first being the Aero Club of New England. It thrived until 1923, when it transformed into the National Aeronautic Association, which still exists today. It issued the first pilot's licenses in the United States, and successful completion of its licensing process was required by the United States Army for its pilots until 1914. It sponsored numerous air shows and contests. Cortlandt Field Bishop was president in 1910. Starting in 1911, new president Robert J. Collier began presenting the Collier Trophy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blériot XI</span> French airplane

The Blériot XI is a French aircraft from the pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. This is one of the most famous accomplishments of the pioneer era of aviation, and not only won Blériot a lasting place in history but also assured the future of his aircraft manufacturing business. The event caused a major reappraisal of the importance of aviation; the English newspaper The Daily Express led its story of the flight with the headline "Britain is no longer an Island".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claude Grahame-White</span> 19/20th-century English aviator

Claude Grahame-White was an English pioneer of aviation, and the first to make a night flight, during the Daily Mail-sponsored 1910 London to Manchester air race.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Paulhan</span> Pioneering French aviator

Isidore Auguste Marie Louis Paulhan, was a French aviator. He is known for winning the first Daily Mail aviation prize for the first flight between London and Manchester in 1910.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wright Exhibition Team</span>

The Wright Exhibition Team was a group of early aviators trained by the Wright brothers at Wright Flying School in Montgomery, Alabama in March 1910.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moisant Aviation School</span> American aviation school founded by Alfred Moisant

The Moisant Aviation School was a school in the early days of aviation founded by Alfred Moisant at Hempstead, Long Island, New York. Alfred and his brother John Bevins Moisant formed the Moisant International Aviators, a flying circus which toured the United States, Mexico and El Salvador. John had learned to fly in France with Louis Bleriot but died in 1910 in an accident. The school had six Bleriot monoplanes equipped with 50 horse power Gnome motors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1910 London to Manchester air race</span> Race between Claude Grahame-White and Louis Paulhan

The 1910 London to Manchester air race took place between two aviators, each of whom attempted to win a heavier-than-air powered flight challenge between London and Manchester. The race had first been proposed by the Daily Mail newspaper in 1906. The £10,000 prize was won in April 1910 by Frenchman Louis Paulhan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred Leblanc</span> 20th century French aviator

Alfred Leblanc was a pioneer French aviator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Jewell</span> American aviator

Albert Jewell was an early US aviator who disappeared off Long Island, New York, on October 13, 1913, en route to Oakwood, Staten Island, in order to take part in The New York Times American Aerial Derby. No confirmed trace of Jewell or his aircraft was ever recovered. At the time, the press compared his likely fate to that of Cecil Grace and Edouard Jean Bague, who disappeared during flights over water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Bennett Trophy (aeroplanes)</span> Award

The Gordon Bennett Aviation Trophy is an international airplane racing trophy that was awarded by James Gordon Bennett Jr., the American owner and publisher of the New York Herald newspaper. The trophy is one of three Gordon Bennett awards: Bennett was also the sponsor of an automobile race and a ballooning competition.

Charles Keeney Hamilton was an American pioneer aviator nicknamed the "crazy man of the air". He was, in the words of the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, "known for his dangerous dives, spectacular crashes, extensive reconstructive surgeries, and ever present cigarette" and was "frequently drunk". He survived more than 60 crashes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Aeronautical Reserve</span>

The United States Aeronautical Reserve (U.S.A.R.) was an early aviation organization created by Harvard University’s Aero Club on September 8, 1910. The founder was John H. Ryan, and the General Secretary Richard R. Sinclair. The earliest aviators and others to enroll near the founding date were: “Glen H. Curtiss, Wilbur Wright, Harry S. Harkness, Augustus Post, Clifford B. Harmon, Allan R. Ryan, Herbert L. Saterlee, ex-governor Curtis Guild, Jr.,, Edwin Gould, Charles K. Hamilton, Horace F. Karnay, John G. Stratton, George M. Cox, Gen. Nelson A. Miles, Commodore John H. Hubbard, Charles F. Willard, Charles J. Glidden, Walter Brookins, Ralph J. Stone, William Hilliard, Cromwell Dixon, Samuel F. Perkins, Capt. Thomas F. Baldwin, Greeley S. Curtiss, General W. A. Bancroft, and Adams D. Clafton.”, Recruiting stations were at Harvard University, in Boston, Massachusetts; Mineola, Long Island; and Belmont Park, Long Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Émile Aubrun</span> 20th century French aviator

Émile Eugène Aubrun was a French aviator who received national attention for finishing second in the 1910 Circuit de l'Est.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Goldstone, Lawrence (2014). Birdmen : the Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtiss, and the battle to control the skies (First ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. pp. 224, 225. ISBN   978-0345538055. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  2. "Wright Brothers First Flight - NASA". Nasa.gov. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Belmont Race Track for Aviation Meet". New York Times. August 9, 1910. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  4. "Aviators Gather for Belmont Flight". New York Times. October 9, 1910. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  5. "World Famous Aviators Will Compete at the Belmont Park Meet". New York Times. October 16, 1910. Archived from the original on April 23, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  6. "International Aviation Meet, Belmont Park Photographs". National Air and Space Museum. Smithsonian. Archived from the original on April 6, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  7. "Harriet Quimby profile". The National Aviation Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on May 29, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Harriet Quimby profile". centennialofflight.net. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  9. "American Aviator Fell 125 Feet". Norwich bulletin. October 20, 1910. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  10. 1 2 Hopkins, Jerry (August 1, 1960). "King of the Aviators". Air & Space Forces Magazine. Archived from the original on April 6, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  11. "Aviation Brings Big Crowds to Belmont Park". The Evening Tribune. Associated Press. October 25, 1910.
  12. 1 2 "The Aviation Prize Winners". Frederick News. November 3, 1910. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  13. "Ask Court to Tie Up Aero Meet Funds". New York Times. December 20, 1910. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  14. 1 2 "De Leseps Winner of Liberty Flight". New York Times. March 15, 1911. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  15. "Moisant, King of Aviators, Killed". The Daily Picayune. New Orleans. January 1, 1911. pp. 1, 3.


40°42′54″N73°43′22″W / 40.71500°N 73.72278°W / 40.71500; -73.72278