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| The Wright Military Flyer is set up on a launching rail at College Park in 1909. |
College Park, Prince George's County was once the Cape Canaveral of the United States with all eyes on the events that were taking place there just over a century ago. The Brownsville Daily Herald of October 09, 1909 tells the story of invention, discovery and hitech accomplishment in Prince George's County:[1]
"Makes a World Record in his Flight of
Yesterday" College Park, Md., October 9 - With practically a dead calm
settled over College Park, Wilbur Wright today broke the world's record for
speed in his aeroplane over a meter course including a turn beyond the course,
his time being 58 3-5 seconds or 20 seconds less than that of Delagrange over a
similar course in France. Wright obtained
a speed of 46 miles per hour for the distance."
"Cross-Country Flying is to be Program of Government Aviators" read the headlines of The Washington times., September 05, 1911, LAST EDITION, Page 4:[2]
"A big
program of cross-country flights for this week has been mapped out by Capt.
Paul Beck, of the Government aviation school at College Park. Provided the weather is good the surrounding
country within a radius of forty miles will be visited by the Army flyers.
Benning was
visited yesterday and the flights were so successful that men are anxious for
other flights.
This
afternoon Annapolis will be visited.
Three machines will make this trip.
Captain Beck will lead the fleet in his last Curtiss biplane and Lieutenant
Arnold will sail over in his old Wright.
Lieutenant Kirtland will go in the Burgess-Wright. Four o'clock is the time set for the
departure of the flyers, and they hope to return by sundown.
Baltimore
comes next. The officers plan to sail to
that city Thursday or Friday, possibly Thursday. They will leave in the morning about ten
o'clock and return in the afternoon about sundown.
The line of the flight will be directly over the Baltimore and Ohio railway
tracks. Captain Beck will in all probability
wait until the last 10:15 train passes College Park on its way to Baltimore and will try out his biplane
in a race against the express. He
figures that he can beat it into Baltimore by at least ten minutes.
With
prospects of good weather during September, the officers will make a number of
cross-country flights. Washington again
may have the opportunity of seeing the machines sail over the city.
Realizing
that each aviator at the Government school has learned about all there is about
plain sailing around an aviation field,
the men are going to seek other work, and naturally the next move will be to
make long and more daring flights."
" Return of Aviators from Benning Proves a
Splendid Flight" The return of Capt. Beck and Lieutenants
Kirtland, Arnold, Kennedy and Private Whalen from Benning to College Park last
evening was splendid. The flyers made
the trip back in much shorter time than in going over, for a wind was behind
them. Lieutenant Arnold carried Lieutenant Kennedy as his passenger, reached
College Park at 6:27, returning in seven minutes. When over Hyattsville a distance of two miles
from College Park , Lieutenant Arnold cut off his engine and volplaned all the
way to the aviation field. He was up 1,500
feet at Hyattsville, and after cutting
off the power his machine sailed perfectly the two miles to the hangers.
At 6:42
Lieutenant Kirtland and Private Whalen returned. They made the trip in exactly seven minutes,
too. When at Riverdale Lieutenant
Kirtland turned his machine nose downward and glided from an altitude of 1,000
feet to a perfect landing on the aviation field.
Captain Beck
make a moonlight trip in returning. He
did not get back until 7:06, Two big bonfires were built on the aviation field
to guide him in making a landing. The
whir of the propeller on the fast-flying Curtiss was heard when the machine
reached Hyattsville, and instantly the privates at the school started the
bonfires. Captain Beck was not sighted until
within half a mile of the field, and he was only visible on a line with the
moon. Flying at the rate of over a mile
a minute, Captain Beck swooped over the field and made a beautiful landing.
Four minutes was the time on the return."
1909 Cpl.
Frank Scott Drive
College
Park, MD 20740
301-864-5844;
TTY 301-699-2544
Hours of
Operation:
Daily, 7
am-10 pm
for more information check out: http://www.collegeparkairport.org/
[1] Wright
Scores Again. Daily Herald of October 09, 1909. Library of Congress. [accessed
April 26, 2012] http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86099906/1909-10-09/ed-1/seq-8/;words=Park+College+Wright?date1=1908&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1910&proxtext=College+Park+%2B+wright&y=1&x=8&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=0
[2] Cross-Country
Flying is to be Program of Government Aviators . The Washington Times.,
September 05, 1911, LAST EDITION, Page 4. Library of Congress. [accessed April
26, 2012] http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1911-09-05/ed-1/seq-4/;words=Park+College+Arnold?date1=1911&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1913&proxtext=College+Park+%2B++Arnold&y=15&x=20&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=1
[3] ibid. Return of Aviators from Benning
Proves a Splendid Flight
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