Fort Sam commemorates first military flight

  • Published
  • By Minnie Jones
  • Fort Sam Houston Public Information Office
FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (AFNEWS) --  Three vintage Stearman aircraft flew over Fort Sam Houston's parade ground March 2 to commemorate the 97th anniversary of the first military aerial flight.  It was here U.S. Army Lt. Benjamin Foulois boarded the "Signal Corps 'Aeroplane' No. 1" in 1910 and circled Fort Sam Houston's MacArthur Parade Field. 

The National Order of Daedalians' Stinsons Flight Number Two and The Jack Dibrell/Alamo Chapter of the Army Aviation Association of America, Quad A, hosted the historical event.

Retired Air Force Col. Robert H. Karre, vice flight captain of Stinsons Flight No. 2, opened the ceremony then introduced the guest speaker, Oliver "Ollie" R. Crawford, a member of the Order of the Daedalians and former World War II pilot.

Mr. Crawford retraced the military history of then Lieutenant Foulois by highlighting his major contributions to aviation; starting from his beginnings here at Fort Sam Houston, his battles with Congress over aviation issues and his final position as a major general and chief of Air Corps in Washington, D.C.  General Foulois believed in the importance of air power and building of a strong Air Corps. 

"We are here today because of Foulois' tenacity and determination," Mr. Crawford said.

"The most important lesson (General) Foulois left with us with had nothing to do with tactic, strategy or airplanes," he said. "His most important lesson was that without full support of the American public, any military program or initiative or conflict is doomed to fail before it begins.

"Something else we learn from (General) Foulois," Mr. Crawford said, is "that it's not good enough to fight well in the air; we need to dominate every environment that we operate in. We should not be satisfied with mediocrity; we should only be interested in overwhelming superiority. Anything less is unacceptable."

Following Mr. Crawford's remarks, Colonel Karre called for a moment of silence, then, along with Mr. Crawford and retired Col. Stewart Wyland, placed a wreath at the granite landmark that marked the birth of military aviation.  Colonel Wyland is the president of the Jack Dibrell/Alamo Chapter of the Army Aviation Association of America.

General Foulois graduated from the Army Signal School in 1908 and first learned to fly on Army Dirigible No. 1, a lighter-than-air engine-propelled airship. He later participated in the trials of the Wright Flyer with the Wright brothers. During the trials, General Foulois was on board in the observer's seat of the Wright Flyer with Orville Wright and clocked the airplane's landmark 10-mile flight time that qualified that airplane for acceptance into the Army.

In February 1910, the Lieutenant Foulois was transferred to Fort Sam Houston with a team of enlisted men known as his "flying Soldiers" and the Army's only airplane, "Army Airplane No. 1."  Here, he learned to fly it himself, aided by instructions in letters from the Wright brothers. General Foulois said that he was a "mail-order pilot" who had learned to fly through his correspondence with the Wright brothers.

Then, March 2, 1910, at Fort Sam Houston, Lieutenant Foulois climbed aboard Army Airplane No. 1, and at 9:30 a.m., circled the field at a speed of 30 mph, attaining an altitude of 200 feet.  The flight only lasted for seven and a half minutes. 

Lieutenant Foulois made four flights that day, crashing on the last flight due to a broken fuel pipe. The premier flight became known as the "birth of military flight" and he became known as the "father of U.S. military aviation." 

"I made my first solo, my first landing, and my first crackup -- all the same day," General Foulois said.  

The general was relieved from flying duties in July 1911, and returned to aviation duty with the Signal Corps Aviation School at North Island, San Diego, Calif., in December 1913. He later commanded the lst Aero Squadron in Mexico during the campaign to arrest Pancho Villa in 1916. 

He served as chief of air service, Air Expeditionary Force, in France from1917 to1918. General Foulois was in charge of the materiel division at Wright Field in Ohio from 1929 to1930, and Dec. 20, 1931, became chief of the Army Air Corps. General Foulois retired from active military service Dec. 31, 1935. He died April 25, 1967.

Comment on this story   (comments may be published on Air Force Link)

Click here to view the comments/letters page