Barnstorming
Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks individually or in groups that were called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes," it became popular in the United States during the Roaring Twenties. Barnstormers were pilots who flew throughout the country to sell airplane rides and perform stunts. Charles Lindbergh first began flying as a barnstormer. Barnstorming was the first major form of civil aviation in the history of aviation. History Background The Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss had early flying exhibition teams, with solo flyers like Lincoln Beachey and Didier Masson also popular before World War I, but barnstorming did not become a formal phenomenon until the 1920s. The first barnstormer, taught to fly by Curtiss in 1909, was one Charles Foster Willard, who is also credited as the first to be shot down in an airplane when an annoyed farmer broke his propeller firing ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Curtiss JN-4
The Curtiss JN "Jenny" was a series of biplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft for the US Army, the "Jenny" (the common nickname derived from "JN") continued after World War I as a civil aircraft, as it became the "backbone of American postwar ivilaviation". Thousands of surplus Jennys were sold at bargain prices to private owners in the years after the war and became central to the barnstorming era that helped awaken the US to civil aviation through much of the 1920s. Design and development Curtiss combined the best features of the model J and model N trainers, built for the US Army and US Navy, and began producing the JN or "Jenny" series of aircraft in 1915. Curtiss built only a limited number of the JN-1 and JN-2 biplanes. The design was commissioned by Glenn Curtiss from Englishman Benjamin Douglas Thomas, formerl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance of , flying alone for 33.5 hours. His aircraft, the ''Spirit of St. Louis'', was designed and built by the Ryan Airline Company specifically to compete for the Raymond Orteig#Orteig Prize, Orteig Prize for the first flight between the two cities. Although not the Transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown, first transatlantic flight, it was the first solo transatlantic flight, the first nonstop transatlantic flight between two major city hubs, and the longest by over . It is known as one of the most consequential flights in history and ushered in a new era of air transportation between parts of the globe. Lindbergh was raised mostly in Little Falls, Minnesota and Washington, D.C., the son of prominent U.S. Congressman from Minnesota, Charles ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stunt Pilot
Stunt flying refers to any stunts performed in an aircraft. It encompasses aerobatics, wing walking, and transferring from one airplane to another or to a moving vehicle on the ground, such as an automobile or train, and vice versa. History From the Wright brothers to World War I The Wright brothers showed that motor-powered flight was possible, with their first sustained flight on 17 December 1903. Aerobatics followed within a decade. Frenchman Adolphe Pégoud was the first to fly inverted, on 1 September 1913. On 9 September, Russian Pyotr Nesterov flew the first loop. World War I (1914–1918) was a major impetus to the development of aerobatics. Those who mastered it were more likely to survive dogfights. The 1920s: era of the barnstormer After the war ended, some of these pilots used the skills they had mastered by barnstorming to earn a living, traveling across the country performing stunts and providing rides. It was helpful that the US government was selling plentiful ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Didier Masson
Didier Masson (23 February 1886 – 2 June 1950) was a pioneering French aviator. He was born in Asnières, France. He died and was buried in Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico. Among his adventures was his life as a pioneering barnstormer, being the second flier in history to bomb a surface warship, as well as combat service in the Lafayette Escadrille with Edwin C. Parsons and Charles Nungesser. In one of the more unusual aerial victories of history, Masson shot down an enemy plane after his own plane's motor quit running. Later in life, he was a manager for pioneer Pan American World Airways, as well as a French consular officer. Early life and flying career Didier Masson apprenticed as a jeweler for a short while in 1903 before joining the French army. He served in the 129e Regiment d'Infanterie from 1904 to 1906. After his enlistment ended, he worked for a magneto manufacturer for some years. In 1909, he hired on as a mechanic with Louis Paulhan. Masson claimed to have s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Clyde Pangborn
Clyde Edward Pangborn ( ''c''. October 28, 1895 – March 29, 1958), nicknamed "Upside-Down Pangborn", was an American aviator and barnstormer who performed aerial stunts in the 1920s for the Gates Flying Circus. He was its half-owner, chief pilot and operating manager, working in partnership with Ivan R. Gates. In 1931, Pangborn and co-pilot Hugh Herndon Jr. flew their plane, ''Miss Veedol'', on the first non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean. Early life and career Clyde Edward Pangborn, son of Max and Opal Lamb Pangborn, was born in Bridgeport, Washington, near Lake Chelan. His exact birth year is uncertain, because he used 1893, 1894, 1895, and 1896, on various documents, changing his age to appear older or younger as needed. The 1900 United States Census listed Clyde Pangborn (b. October 1893) and his brother Percy (b. January 1891) living with their mother Ola ic.in Spokane, Washington. In 1910 Clyde (age 16) and Percy (age 19) were boarders with the Alfred Heimark fam ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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History Of Aviation
The history of aviation extends for more than two thousand years, from the earliest forms of aviation such as kites and attempts at tower jumping to supersonic and hypersonic flight by powered, heavier-than-air jets. Kite flying in China dates back to several hundred years BC and slowly spread around the world. It is thought to be the earliest example of man-made flight. Leonardo da Vinci's 15th-century dream of flight found expression in several rational designs, but which relied on poor science. The discovery of hydrogen gas in the 18th century led to the invention of the hydrogen balloon, at almost exactly the same time that the Montgolfier brothers rediscovered the hot-air balloon and began manned flights. Various theories in mechanics by physicists during the same period of time, notably fluid dynamics and Newton's laws of motion, led to the foundation of modern aerodynamics, most notably by Sir George Cayley. Balloons, both free-flying and tethered, began to be use ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Standard J
The Standard J is a two-seat basic trainer two-bay biplane produced in the United States from 1916 to 1918, powered by a four-cylinder inline Hall-Scott A-7a engine. It was constructed from wood with wire bracing and fabric covering. The J-1 was built as a stopgap to supplement the Curtiss JN-4 in production. Development Charles Healy Day had designed the preceding Sloan H series of aircraft, and continued the line under the Standard Aero Corporation (later Standard Aircraft Corporation). Four companies, Standard, Dayton-Wright, Fisher Body, and Wright-Martin, delivered 1,601 J-1s between June 1917 and June 1918. The Standard J-1 can be differentiated from the Curtiss JN series by its slightly swept-back wing planform, triangular king posts above the upper wings, and the front legs of the landing gear which were mounted behind the lower wing's leading edge, just about where the forward wing spar of the lower wing panel attaches to the fuselage. Operational history Although ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bessie Coleman
Bessie Coleman (January 26, 1892April 30, 1926) was an early American civil aviator. She was the first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot license. She earned her license from the '' Fédération Aéronautique Internationale'' on June 15, 1921, and was the first Black person to earn an international pilot's license. Born to a family of sharecroppers in Texas, Coleman worked in the cotton fields at a young age while also studying in a small segregated school. She attended one term of college at Langston University. Coleman developed an early interest in flying, but African Americans, Native Americans, and women had no flight training opportunities in the United States, so she saved and obtained sponsorships in Chicago to go to France for flight school. She then became a high-profile pilot in notoriously dangerous air shows in the United States. She was popularly known as ''Queen Bess'' and ''Brave Bessie'', and hoped to start a school for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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United States Government Role In Civil Aviation
The Air Commerce Act of 1926 created an Aeronautic Branch of the United States Department of Commerce. Its functions included testing and licensing of pilots, certification of aircraft and investigation of accidents. In 1934, the Aeronautics Branch was renamed the Bureau of Air Commerce, to reflect the growing importance of commercial flying. It was subsequently divided into two authorities: the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), concerned with air traffic control, and the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), concerned with safety regulations and accident investigation. Under the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, the CAA's powers were transferred to a new independent body, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In the same year, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created after the Soviet Union’s launch of the first artificial satellite. The accident investigation powers of the CAB were transferred to the new National Transportation Safety Board in 1967, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lincoln Beachey
Lincoln Beachey (March 3, 1887 – March 14, 1915) was a Aviation in the pioneer era, pioneer American aviator and barnstorming, barnstormer. He became famous and wealthy from flying exhibitions, staging aerial stunts, helping invent aerobatics, and setting aviation records. He was known as ''The Man Who Owns the Sky,'' and sometimes the ''Master Birdman''.Marrero, Frank. ''Lincoln Beachey: The Man Who Owned the Sky'' Scottwall Associates (1997) Beachey was acknowledged even by his competitors as "The World's Greatest Aviator". He was "known by sight to hundreds of thousands and by name to the whole world". Birth Beachey was born on March 3, 1887, in San Francisco. Following in his older brother Hillary's footsteps, he worked as a ground crewman for dirigible pilot Thomas Scott Baldwin. He helped build the dirigible ''California Arrow'' and made his first dirigible flight in 1905, at the age of 17. Later he helped design a faster, more aerodynamic dirigible known as the "Beac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Role Model
A role model is a person whose behaviour, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially by younger people. The term ''role model'' is credited to sociologist Robert K. Merton, who hypothesized that individuals compare themselves with reference groups of people who occupy the social role to which the individual aspires., an example of which is the way young fans may idolize and imitate professional athletes or entertainment artists. In the second half of the twentieth century, U.S. advocates for workplace equity popularized the term and concept of role models as part of a larger social capital lexicon—which also includes terms such as glass ceiling, networking, mentoring, and gatekeeper—serving to identify and address the problems barring non-dominant groups from professional success. Mainstream business literature subsequently adopted the terms and concepts, promoting them as pathways to success for all career climbers. In 1970 these terms were not in the ge ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of Slavery in the United States, enslaved Africans who are from the United States. While some Black immigrants or their children may also come to identify as African-American, the majority of first generation immigrants do not, preferring to identify with their nation of origin. African Americans constitute the second largest racial group in the U.S. after White Americans, as well as the third largest ethnic group after Hispanic and Latino Americans. Most African Americans are descendants of enslaved people within the boundaries of the present United States. On average, African Americans are of West Africa, West/Central Africa, Central African with some European descent; some also have Native Americans in th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |