The 1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet

by Kenneth E. Pauley, Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum

Overview

America's first international air meet was held January 10-20, 1910, in Los Angeles on a mesa called Dominguez Hill, situated 13.5 miles south of the plaza at the pueblo of Los Angeles. Enthusiasm for aviation grew after the first international air meet in 1909 in Rheims, France, where American aviator Glenn H. Curtiss won three prestigious speed prizes and 36,000 francs. An even more spectacular air meet, which would also invigorate the local economy, was promoted for Los Angeles. Businessman Dick Ferris, the Los Angeles Merchants and Manufacturers Association, and the Los Angeles Examiner collaborated to make it possible. Most Americans had never seen the newfangled machines that soared in the skies. Initially skeptical, they soon were awed. So began America's love affair with aviation. The air meet influenced aviation in Southern California and transportation worldwide into the 21st century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738571904
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	12/02/2009
Series:	Images of Aviation
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.52(w) x 9.28(h) x 0.34(d)

About the Author

The Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum commissioned this book to commemorate the January 1910 Air Meet. The museum worked closely with author Kenneth E. Pauley, an aviation and California history enthusiast. Many of the images in this work are courtesy of California State University, Dominguez Hills; the Los Angeles Public Library; and the Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 6

Introduction 7

1 Rheims to Los Angeles 9

2 An American First 21

3 The Sideshow and Oddities 39

4 Aviators and Aeronauts Flock to Los Angeles 55

5 Aëroplanes, Dirigibles, and Balloons 77

6 The Program, Events, and the Grand Finale 99

7 A Century of Flight 119

Bibliography 127

Editorial Reviews

Title: Past on Parade: Book celebrates country's first aviation meet

Author: Sid Gally

Publisher: Pasadena Star-News

Date: 1/17/2010



This month is the 100th anniversary of the first international aviation meet in this country held on Dominguez Hill.



In celebration of the event, a book has just been issued by Kenneth E. Pauley and the Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum as part of the Images of Aviation series of Arcadia Publishing.



This illustration is the official program for Monday, Jan. 17, 1910. The program was kept by a Pasadena woman who attended the air meet while in college, going by Pacific Electric train, as did thousands of others.



Each day was in honor of some community or event. "Los Angeles Free Harbor Day" refers to the fight to get the harbor in San Pedro rather than in Santa Monica.



The weather turned fine on Jan. 17, after a couple of days of wind and rain. Louis Paulhan, the famous French flyer, was scheduled to try for the Michelin cup for distance and endurance records in his Farman biplane over a newly laid out course three miles in length.



A new record carried a cash prize of $4,000. American Charles Hamilton in a Curtis biplane was also to try for a distance and endurance record.



Paulhan took off at 2:15 and flew only 75 feet above the ground. His hand signals to the judges made it appear he was trying for a 10-lap speed record but he kept on so they knew he was trying for an endurance record. He had enough gasoline aboard to fly for twelve hours.



Hamilton took off later to the tune of Dixie. He was about a half mile from Paulhan. With his more powerful engine, Paulhan gained on Hamilton and gunned the engine and leap-frogged over him. The crowd in the grandstand cheered.



Another flyer on the ground with binoculars noticed that one of Hamilton's wings was warped. He was flagged down and a strut was found to have come loose which could have led to a fatal accident.



Then trouble started for Paulhan. As he passed the grandstand, people smelled gasoline. He landed and a pinhole leak was found in the tube carrying gasoline from the tank to the engine.



This event was for "aeroplanes" but dirigibles and balloons were also in competitions flying from a field in Huntington Park.

From the Publisher