Evans Eyes to the Sky: A History of the Development of Aviation Mass Spectacles

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Evans Eyes to the Sky: A History of the Development of Aviation Mass Spectacles

Ryan Evans

March 4, 2008 Revised

Phi Alpha Theta Abstract

Eyes to the Sky: A History of the Development of Aviation Mass Spectacles and Air Racing Made Possible by an Air-Minded Public

Abstract:

Aviation spectacles developed in two separate eras: the birth of aviation and the Golden Years (1920-1930). In the beginning aviation was more centered on breaking records and harnessing the cultural phenomenon of air mindedness. It later mutated into a platform for trade, enterprise, the education of the public and demonstrations of military might. With the absence of strong nationalistic and heroic competition, air shows lost their following and exist as entities of education, markets and a stage for demonstrating the technological triumph of the nation's military. Aviation spectacles held wonderment and allure, similar to other technological trade spectacles, (such as automotive and nautical expos), for the portrayal of the airplane was not only new and innovative but it fed into the culture of air mindedness and nationalistic competition. 

This analysis will focus on the history and development of the air race and the air show by looking at two distinct timeframes. The time frames covered are the birth of the aviation spectacle that started in France but then came to the United States between 1909 and 1913. The next segment is the revival of aviation after the end of the First World War and the Golden Years of aviation of the 1920’s and 1930’s. In the beginning, aviation was more centered on breaking records and harnessing the cultural phenomena of air mindedness, but later mutated to a platform for trade enterprise, education of the public and the demonstration of military might strengthening that country’s sense of nationalism. Aviation spectacles held wonderment and allure unique to other technological trade spectacles for the portrayal of the airplane was not only new and innovative but it fed into the culture of air mindedness and nationalistic tendencies of competition.

The Winged Gospel and Air Mindedness

Man has been obsessed with the dream of conquering the sky with flight. Once the dream of flight was obtained and perfected, a fascination of flight spread like wildfire throughout the world. After December 17th 1903, the first powered airplane flew and opened up the gate of opportunity for the world. Aviation was sweeping into the limelight of American society. The airplane was not just another mundane technology of transportation. It captured the imagination of a culture that was advancing rapidly in both technology and industry and the airplane seemed the key to the future. “More than anything, the airplane symbolized the promise of the future. Americans in this period viewed mechanical flight as portending a wondrous era of peace and harmony, of culture and prosperity. This was the promise of the ‘winged gospel’”.1 The airplane caught the world in a state of wonder and amazement and its potential seemed endless.

The cultural fixation of air mindedness in America became more and more prevalent after the passing of key milestones which created nationally and globally recognized heroes such as the Wright brothers and Charles Lindbergh. December 17th, when the Wright brothers successfully made their first flight, was created into an official day of public remembrance designated as National Aviation Day by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 19342 . This is a prominent example of an ideology that the nation embraced and marveled at aviation in a limelight of peace. The fervor and excitement of aviation and the ideology built around the worship and belief that aviation would bring peace and prosperity is how Joseph Corn defines his term ‘air mindedness. Monumental events and advancements that pushed the limits of airplane’s performance and endurance captivated the world during the prewar years. One of the most famous achievements in aviation history was Charles Lindbergh’s solo flight across the Atlantic. This proved to the world that the airplane could in fact connect Europe with America. This discovery paved the way for commercial airline traffic across the Atlantic, thus connecting the world by a network of air transportation which we now take for granted. Air mindedness can also be defined as the love and belief of the benefit of aviation which became very similar concepts between aviation’s genesis from 1903 to 1913 and the Golden Age of aviation of the 1920’s and 1930’s.

“The winged gospel, however, was always more than simply a belief in the airplane as the source of progress. Aviation was a religion. Like traditional faiths, its belief system gave meaning to existence and provided a grand design for future life. This faith not only could give aviators courage but they also could motivate air minded men and women to great efforts on behalf of the cause.”3

This deeply rooted belief that aviation was a movement towards progress and the future was wide spread. It was from the dreams of aviation enthusiasts that air spectacles were conceived and made a reality. As air mindedness spread, the support and general interest of air events followed. Corn noted that it even went beyond general jubilation when he wrote: “The celebration of Lindbergh and his flight extended beyond parades, speeches, and public gatherings. Americans named babies, schools, and streets after the flier”.4 Support of flying went beyond a general interest; the early years of flight captivated America.

Rheims Air Spectacle: 1909

The first air race and aviation spectacle was held in Rheims, France at the Bétheny airport on Sunday, August 22, 1909. It took 225,000 francs for the preparation of the site at Bethany. Much of this money was derived from the large champagne producers of the Marne.5 In order to provide easy access to the site at Bétheny, a special railroad track was laid along with a new station. Spectators poured in from Rheims on these trains and those who could not afford the train came by carriage on the packed muddy road. Four grandstands were built that were able to accommodate a surplus of thee thousand people with richly decorated elegant boxes and lesser class seating. The spectators had excellent service including full meals served by the 150 waiters and a staff of 50 of the finest French cooks.6 The French architects of the event wanted every French man and woman to be able to have the opportunity to attend the event regardless of class. Granted, they expected dignitaries and the aristocracy to attend for they were top paying customers. “Despite its aristocratic cachet, the meet at Rheims was designed from beginning to be a popular festival that brought together the classes in celebration of the new and very French technology.”7 Special viewing areas were designated for the lower paying customers to congregate during the event. “All the gentry of Europe were there, with a goodly smattering of America’s sporting bloods. The citizens of Rheims and the surrounding country made up the rest of the audience.”8 This hierarchical structure of these classes of the audience shows the roots of elitism and the class structure of early twentieth century European society. The torrential rain storms of August 22nd 1909 turned the entire area into a muddy pit. The twenty thousand people who came to the event the first day had to cope with the rain and the mud.“The only heroic sight to be seen was the Marquis de Polignac gliding above the mud on his handsome horse, struggling to maintain some modicum of order. Ladies grumbled as their elegant satin shoes sank in the mud and were discolored”9 The French had a huge sense of national pride surrounding aviation. Nationalism was interwoven in the accomplishments of French aviators. French aviator Bleriot successfully flew across the English Channel and the French national hype was accelerated with that accomplishment. The main event was the Gordon Bennett Cup which awarded the winner $5,000 cash, a trophy valued over $2,500 and the most prestigious honor for winning the speed race of 20 kilometers.10 The other prizes were for the fastest single lap that covered an area of 10 kilometers, which was part of the Gran Prix de la Champagne. The other part was the Prix d’Altitude which was given to the highest altitude achieved. Not all of the records were broken by the French. An American aviator, Glenn Curtis beat the famed Louis Bleriot in the Gordon Bennett Prize by flying faster over a course of 20 km. Curtis flew the 20 kilometer course in a total of 15 minutes 50 seconds which was enough to beat Bleriot’s time by 5 and 3/5 seconds.11Alarmed that their countrymen had lost to an American, the French were still pleased to have won many of the other records at the meet. The altitude record was broken by a Frenchman at a level of 508 feet (155 meters) by Latham. The crowd stood in amazement and disbelief to see multiple airplanes flying at the same time. It was something the world had not witnessed ever before. The end result of the Rheims ended in a great success with a total of five hundred thousand people paid attendance totaling close to 800,000 francs. Even the closing day of the event brought large crowd. Two hundred and fifty thousand flocked to participate in witnessing the closing day of the spectacle. These figures do not include the hundreds of thousands of non-paying members that viewed the event from the surrounding hills. The stockholders of the Compagnie Generale de L’Aerolocomotion were happy to bring in a profit that was over twenty times their initial investment.12The great success of the Rheims paved the way for future aviation spectacles and races. It proved that the public had a great interest in aviation and that it could be turned into profit.

After the highly successful Rheims air meet of the summer of 1909, the French searched for a way to host yet another event to display the progress of French aviation. Just one month after the finishing of the Rheims event, the French held the 1909 International Exposition of Aerial Locomotion in Paris. It displayed to the public a collection of aircraft and balloons in a Parisian palace in October. It was put together and organized by Robert Esnault-Pelterie. The exposition was located in the spacious Grand Palais divided up between the central hall and two wings. Each wing held around thirty French planes that were roped off on display. Strategically arranging the planes and the displays in the palace required extensive planning due to the need to get planes up on the second floor of grand marble staircases. Robert Esnault-Pelterie had designed his own R.E.P monoplane and had strategically positioned it in one of the primary positions in the air show. There was also a vast selection of other items that complemented the flying machines. “Scores of booths displayed examples of the rapid proliferation of products related to aviation: magnetos and carburetors, special clothing and souvenir watches, a lightweight aluminum radiator and even a folding washstand for use in hangers or in the gondolas of sport balloons, which were also on display.”13 To get people to come to the event, free tickets were distributed all over the streets of Paris. The exposition was opened by the French president, Fallieres. The French dominated their presence in the exhibits - 318 of the 333 exhibitors were French. After three days, over 100,000 people visited the exposition in Paris.14 This showed the world the extent of public excitement and interest in aviation and set the stage for bigger and more elaborate expositions. After the great success in France, air spectacles moved to the United States. In 1910, a series of air races started in Los Angeles in January and culminated in the massive international event of Belmont Park, Long Island in October. At Belmont, however, the British swooped into the forefront as Claude Grahame-White won the Bennett trophy; this was the reoccurring trophy that remained the main event at each of the international air meets.15 The international Aviation Tournament at Belmont Park attracted huge crowds that jammed the park for the ten days. The Statue of Liberty Race was held on October 22- 30th 1:30. American symbols were depicted interwoven with aviation to express America’s mastery of the technology and its legitimacy for hosting a world renowned international aviation spectacle. The race consisted of a 35 mile course.16 The aftermath of the race continued to thrust aviation farther ahead as a great international competition by proving that civil driven aviation could push planes further than those designed by the military. The planes held in the military were very much inferior in comparison to these entered in these races by civilians who were determined record breakers. Newspapers and air event organizers placed great incentives to motivate the competing pilots to win these events. Racers strived for winning prize money, national fame, and the knowledge that their efforts and achievements would push forward the development of the airplane. This was truly a capitalistic system of survival of the fittest where many independent entrepreneur pilots and aircraft designers all competed to produce the best product to outperform the competition. This technological Darwinism approach was very applicable in regards to the development of these planes and for the future of aviation. With each passing air meet, planes flew faster and higher. A sense of national pride was attached to the outcome of the winning pilots and the public was caught up in this air fever. This was to change as the airplane that brought peace and prosperity would soon become a weapon.

Europe fell into war and aviation was put towards this effort. Planes developed rapidly during the Great War as they were used as instruments of death. Civil aviation was halted and planes were either used to train military pilots or used for the war. All international air spectacles were halted. Pilots gained aerobatic skills as flips and turns were vital for pilot’s survival in dogfights. These fighting maneuvers would later be retained and perfected into air stunt flying to amaze audiences. By the end of the war, there became a surplus of advanced airplanes that had been used in the war. These conditions paved the way for the golden age of aviation. America would soon take the lead in reviving and promoting aviation and aviation spectacles.

Air Mindedness of the 1930’s

Air shows captivated the world in the culture of air mindedness from their start in 1909. Air mindedness was both resurrected and magnified after the First World War which later became known as the Golden Years of aviation. There were now civilian air heroes who pushed flight to the edge in front of huge mesmerized crowds. During the interwar period, more and more records were broken and the general public was included in witnessing these acts. The goal of the newspapers and aviators themselves were to get the public swept up in the achievements of aviation in order to further the advancement and future of aviation. It was a hope that air spectacles would attract and hold the attention of people.

In order to spark interest in aviation in America, individual entrepreneurs called Barnstormers roamed the countryside searching for a public audience. The majority of passenger rides in the airplanes and the pilots who held shows of air stunts during this early period tended to be in farmers’ fields and the airplane was commonly stored in or next to large red barns. The term, Barnstormers, was coined in late 1918 after the end of the Great War was coined for the grass roots of aviation spectacles that came from those farm-based bi-plane rides and stunt spectacles. Carl M. Cleveland, author of a history of a famous early barnstormer, made it apparent that the vast surplus of airplanes available made it possible for aviation enthusiasts to obtain aircraft and start their own business by supplying rides or putting on spectacles. According to Cleveland, after the war in 1918, the price of surplus planes dropped from five thousand dollars to an affordable three hundred and was made available for the American civilian market. 17 “(The American barnstormer’s) planes were to fly from hundreds of farm fields, give the excitement of powered flight to thousands of passengers and thrill spectators with some of the wildest stunts ever conceived.”18 Barnstormers systematically flew from town to town in search for customers. In order to advertise their presence they would fly low over populated areas to get the public’s attention. These exploits brought work to these innovative aviators in a time where work was scarce. Their efforts spread the excitement and awareness of aviation to the general public which paved the way for more organized aviation spectacles in America.

Aviation aspired to become a great spectacle to harness the enthusiasm generated both by the work of the early Barnstormers and the incredible feats by people like Lindbergh. Air competitions were devised to award cash prizes to pilots for speed, distance, and altitude. The facilities needed to hold air shows were cheaper than the infrastructure needed for ground races. The air show architects had heavy hopes that airplane races would generate revenue and capture the public attention in the 1930’s. In September of 1931, the eleventh National Air Races (now held in Cleveland) hoped to draw large crowds that would compete with the fame of the Indianapolis auto races and the Kentucky Derby horse races. According to the 1931 September Aviation trade magazine, the air show directors made grand efforts to draw crowds including setting cash prizes totaling $100,000, constructing permanent wooden grandstands that were capable of seating 50,000 people, and building a race administration building.19The managers of the race became aware that public impression of the event depended greatly on its success. People wanted to get up and close to view the planes. This was remedied by building public viewing areas. In addition to the flow of people on the grounds, the transportation structural accommodations needed to be set in place to facilitate the heavy automobile traffic. An 80 acre parking area was set up to fulfill the needs of 30,000 automobiles. The connecting highways changed to be one way for inward traffic while others were designated only for outward traffic.20 These changes would maximize the efficacy of transporting in and out of the spectacle. Air racing started out to be planes flying individually against the clock which quickly lost its spectator appeal. Over the years, planes lost some of their fascination, so new efforts had to be made to make air racing and spectacles more exciting. Head to head air racing was devised from similar principles of auto racing. Planes were made to fly around pylons and jockey for position. This was a much more visually engaging spectacle for spectators. These Races fueled the public interest of aviation.

From the beginning, aviation was an object of international curiosity and through the spectacles and races brought about by the culture of air mindedness, aviation has grown into the technological and commercial marvel it is today. During the Golden Years the development of aviation was accelerated through the efforts of the Barnstormers and the record breakers. Air spectacles were a large cultural fixation and civil aviation fully supported until the advent of the Second World War.

Bibliography

Primary Sources:

Studer, Clara. Sky Storming Yankee: The Life of Glenn Curtiss. Harrisburg, PA: Telegraph Press, 1937

Warner, Edward P. “Setting the Stage for the Races: The Eleventh annual Meet of the Series is to Have an Elaborate Background” Aviation McGraw Hill Publication Vol.30 September 1931, 516-517.

Secondary Sources:

Corn Joseph J. The Winged Gospel America’s Romance with Aviation, 1900-1950. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983.

Downie, Don. The Oshkosh Fly-In. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: TAB Books Inc., 1981.

Dwiggins Don. The Air Devil: the story of Balloonists, Barnstormers, and Stunt Pilots. New York: JB Lippincott Company 1966.

Gilpatric, Guy. “The Wing Walker”. In Men In The Air: The Best Flight Stories of All Time From Greek Mythology to the Space Age, edited by Brandt Aymar, 232-242.New York: Crown Publishers Inc., 1990.

Mathews, Glenn C. “Air show Canada 78 1962 Remembered” Abbotsford International Air show program. 1978

Prendergast., Curtis. The First Aviators Chicago, IL: Time Life Books Inc, 1981.

Terry Gwynn-Jones the Air Racers Aviations Golden Era 1909-1936. London: Guild Publishing, 1984.

Wohl, Robert. The Spectacle of Flight: Aviation and the Western Imagination 1920-1930. New Haven: Yale University Press. 2005.

Periodicals:

“Oshkosh Joins Ranks of Paris and Farnborough” Aviation Week & Space Technology; 7/31/2006, Vol. 165 Issue 5, p70-70, 1/2p

Robert Eng. “Air Racers feel the need for speed” Boston Herald.  April 29, 2001. p. 59.

1 Joseph Corn the Winged Gospel America’s Romance with Aviation, 1900-1950 (New York: Oxford Press, 1983), VII.

2 Corn, 60.

3 Corn, 136.

4 Corn, 23.

5 Robert Wohl. A Passion for Wings Aviation and the Western Imagination 1908-1918. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.), 100

6 Wohl, 101.

7 Wohl, 101.

8 Clara, Studer. Sky Storming Yankee: The Life of Glenn Curtiss. (Harrisburg, PA: Telegraph Press, 1937.), 173.

9 Wohl, 105

10 Studer, 173.

11 Struder, 177.

12 Wohl, 109.

13 Curtis Prendergast. The First Aviators (Chicago, Il: Time Life Books Inc, 1981), 72.

14 Prendergast, 72.

15 Terry Gwynn-Jones The Air Racers Aviations Golden Era 1909-1936 (London: Guild Publishing, 1984),52

16 Gwynn-Jones, 53.

17 Carl M. Cleveland. “Upside-Down” Pangborn: King of the Barnstormers (Glendale, CA: Aviation Book Company, 1978), 8.

18 Cleveland, 8.

19 Edward P. Warner. “Setting the Stage for the Races: The Eleventh annual Meet of the Series is to Have an Elaborate Background” Aviation Vol.30 September 1931, 516.

20 Warner, 517