| Only one airport can claim the title of the | | | | and Belmont Park in Long Island, New York. |
| “world’s oldest, continuously-operating” one. | | | | Operated by a Curtiss JN-4H Jenny on August 12, and |
| That title belongs to College Park Airport, located in | | | | flown by Max Miller, it had successfully carried the mail |
| Maryland, some 25 miles from the state’s major | | | | to New York. |
| facility, Baltimore-Washington International Airport. | | | | The Jenny, the workhorse of the US airmail fleet, had |
| College Park’s own | | | | a 27.4-foot overall length and a 43.8-foot wingspan. |
| origins can be directly traced to the Wright Brothers. | | | | The two-place biplane, powered by an OX-5, |
| Although their sustained, controlled, and powered flight | | | | liquid-cooled engine, had a 1,430-pound empty weight, |
| at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, as well documented, had | | | | but could carry a useful load of 490 pounds, comprised |
| occurred in 1903, it had not been until 1908, when their | | | | of the pilot in the rear seat and the mail itself in the |
| attempt to interest the Europeans in their design had | | | | front. Maximum speed had been 75 mph. |
| generated sufficient interest in it in their own country. | | | | An airmail hangar and compass rose had been |
| The Wright Model A Military Flyer, one of three aircraft | | | | constructed in 1919 and 12 aircraft had formed the |
| submitted to fulfill the US Army Aeronautical | | | | airmail fleet before the service had been transferred |
| Division’s requirements for “a motorized, | | | | to the transcontinental route from New York in 1921. |
| heavier-than-air flying machine and the training of two | | | | Another chapter in College Park’s history had been |
| pilots,” had first flown from nearby Ft. Myer, Virginia, | | | | written in 1924 when the father-and-son team of Emile |
| later that year, but its perilous fate had led to the injury | | | | and Henry Berliner, sponsors of the already-established |
| of Orville Wright and the death of its passenger. | | | | Washington Aeroplane Company, had conducted the |
| The reconstructed aircraft, | | | | world’s first controlled vertical helicopter flight on |
| demonstrating its capabilities during a one-hour flight, | | | | February 24 before media and US Navy officials. |
| had met all specifications: a capacity of two, a 40-mph | | | | The Berliner helicopter, employing an 18-foot-long |
| airspeed, and a 125-mile range, and the design had | | | | Nieuport 23 fuselage, had featured a 38-foot wingspan |
| been handed over to the Army on August 2, 1909. | | | | in triplane configuration from whose leading and trailing |
| What remained, however, had been the yet-unfilled | | | | edges shutter-like vanes had horizontally protruded and |
| requirement to train two officers to fly it. | | | | atop which two 13-foot diameter counter-rotating |
| The Ft. Myer site, hitherto location of all test flights, had | | | | rotors driven by a 220-hp BR-2 Bentley engine had |
| proven too constrained and had often been | | | | been installed. The single-seat, 641-pound design |
| surrounded by curious onlookers, and a larger area | | | | rested on a quad-wheeled undercarriage. |
| had clearly been needed. Its replacement, 160 acres | | | | Rising to 15 feet, the helicopter had maintained a |
| of flat land in nearby Maryland, had subsequently been | | | | 40-mph airspeed and a 150-foot maneuvering radius, |
| chartered as an airfield after Army Signal Corps | | | | traveling some 200 yards, although the experimental |
| Lieutenant Frank Lahm had spotted it from a balloon. | | | | flight had revealed a power deficiency and inadequate |
| The parcel, located near the new Maryland Agricultural | | | | lateral control. Nevertheless, it had led to |
| College, had been train- and trolley-accessible, yet | | | | advancements which had been later incorporated in |
| remote enough to discourage significant numbers of | | | | Igor Sikorsky’s own vertical design of 1940. |
| public viewers. It became College Park Airport. | | | | College Park Airport had not only been instrumental in |
| After having been cleared of several trees in October, | | | | vertical flight, but also in blind flight. Between 1927 and |
| a small hangar and a launching track to facilitate the | | | | 1934, the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) had |
| wheel-devoid Military Flyer had been constructed, while | | | | tested and developed radio navigation aids to facilitate |
| the actual aircraft had been transported, in a | | | | zero-visibility flying with hooded biplanes. Jimmy |
| disassembled state, to the new location. | | | | Doolittle, making the first blind landing at Mitchell Field, |
| Flight training of Lieutenants Frank P. Lahm and | | | | Long Island, on September 24, 1929, had paved the |
| Frederick Humphreys, which began on October 8, | | | | way for the first such operation at College Park on |
| resulted in both successfully soloing in little more than | | | | September 5, 1931, while the first instrument flight, from |
| three hours, but the latter, achieving the feat first, | | | | origin to destination, had been conducted in 1934 |
| became both the world’s first military officer to | | | | between College Park and Newark. The Washington |
| become a pilot and the first to fly a government | | | | Institute of Technology, taking over the development |
| aircraft in the process. Both were subsequently | | | | program, had been able to lay the foundation for |
| reassigned within the Army. | | | | today’s instrument landing system (ILS). |
| Two other “firsts” occurred that year: Mrs. | | | | Also in 1927, management of the airfield had been |
| Ralph H. Van Daman became the first woman in the | | | | handed off to George Brinckerhoff, who had been |
| US to fly as a passenger and Lieutenant George | | | | instrumental in taking it into the Golden Age of Aviation |
| Sweet became the first naval officer to fly when he | | | | by conducting extensive pilot training and staging |
| did so with Lahm on November 3. | | | | frequent air shows, the latter of which, particularly, had |
| A hangar, housing the Wright Brothers and ten enlisted | | | | introduced the public to aerial flight. |
| men, had served as living quarters during fight | | | | One of the most frequently featured aircraft during |
| instruction. | | | | these shows had been the Monocoupe 110. |
| Rex Smith, an inventor and patent attorney, can be | | | | Powered by a 145-hp Super Scarab piston engine, the |
| credited with sparking civilian aviation at College Park | | | | high-wing, 1,611-pound aircraft, with a 20.8-foot overall |
| when he had established the Rex Smith Aeroplane | | | | length and 32-foot wingspan, had been fast, efficient, |
| Company and the National Aviation and Washington | | | | and aerodynamically sleek for its day and could attain |
| Aviation Companies had later provided aircraft | | | | 120- to 148-mph speeds. It had often won speed |
| services and support. | | | | records at College Park races and air meets. |
| The Wright Model B, succeeding the initial “A” | | | | The two-place, tandem-arranged Taylor J-2 Cub, |
| version in 1910 and integral to this operation, had been a | | | | introduced four years later in 1936, had also been |
| two-person, open-cockpit design constructed of West | | | | instrumental during this period. The docile, high-wing |
| Virginia white spruce whose aluminum powder coating | | | | trainer, with a 22.5-foot overall length and 35.2-foot |
| had given it a metallic look. Its dual wings, like those of | | | | span, had had a 970-pound gross weight and could |
| the original 1903 Wright Flyer of Kitty Hawk fame, had | | | | attain 87-mph speeds with its single, 40-hp Continental |
| been fabric-covered and bank-induced not by the | | | | A-40 engine. Used by Brinckerhoff for flight training |
| later-standard ailerons, but instead by the | | | | during a 30-year period, the type had become the |
| Wright-designed wing-warping method. Powered by | | | | quintessential private pilot trainer at general aviation |
| a 30-35 hp, four-cylinder, water-cooled Wright engine | | | | airports throughout the country. |
| which drove twin, 8.6-foot, counter-rotating propellers | | | | Another prevalent trainer, introduced three years later |
| at 428 rpm, the 950-pound aircraft could become | | | | and featuring improved capability, had been the |
| airborne at an almost stationary 27 mph and could | | | | Taylorcraft CL-65. Unlike the tandem seating |
| attain a maximum speed of 40 mph with its long, | | | | configuration of the J-2, the side-by-side arrangement |
| 38.6-foot wingspan. A dual rudder and equally | | | | had facilitated dual instruction. The high-wing, tail |
| warped elevator comprised its tail. | | | | wheel aircraft, with a 22-foot overall length and |
| An initial deficiency of providing only a single, | | | | 36-foot, fabric-covered wingspan, had been powered |
| wing-warping and rudder control lever between the | | | | by a 65-hp Lycoming O-145 piston engine and, with a |
| pilots, yet two elevator actuators, had been remedied | | | | 1,150-pound gross weight, could achieve 102-mph |
| two years later with the installation of a second | | | | maximum speeds. |
| wing-warping and rudder control, thus ending the right- | | | | Another College Park-indicative design, the Aeronica |
| and left-seat pilot phenomenon. The type conducted | | | | 65LA “Chief,” had plied Maryland skies during |
| both training and experimental flights. Along with a | | | | the 1940s. Equaling the Taylorcraft’s speed, it had |
| Wright-Burgess and two Curtiss Pushers, it had | | | | been powered by a 65-hp Continental C-65 engine |
| formed the aviation school’s initial flight training fleet. | | | | and had featured a 1,250-pound maximum weight. |
| In all, Wilbur Wright had made 55 flights from College | | | | Only 87 of the type, however, had been produced. |
| Park in 1909, the fastest of which had been at a | | | | During World War II, the Women’s Air Services |
| record-setting 46 mph. | | | | Pilots, or WASPs, had trained at College Park under |
| Although the Wrights had left College Park in | | | | Maryland’s Civilian Pilot Training Program, enabling |
| November of 1909 after their contract had been | | | | them to assume non-combat aerial duties. |
| fulfilled and they had relocated their training school to | | | | The Boeing PT-17 Stearman, a two-place, |
| Ft. Sam in Houston, the seeds planted by the first two | | | | open-cockpit biplane instrumental in the training of pilots, |
| Signal Corps pilots had blossomed into a full-fledged | | | | had often performed stunts and competed in air races |
| military aviation training facility in 1911 when the Army, | | | | during the Brinckerhoff period from 1927 to 1964. The |
| receiving a Congressional appropriation for Army | | | | aircraft, with a 24.10-foot overall length and a 32.2-foot |
| Aeronautics, had leased 100 more acres of land, | | | | wingspan, had been powered by a 220-hp Continental |
| constructed additional hangars, and ordered more | | | | R-670 radial engine and, at a maximum gross weight |
| aircraft, establishing the first Army Aviation School. | | | | of 2,717 pounds, could achieve 124-mph speeds. |
| Indeed, the initial Wright hangar had multiplied into | | | | More than 8,500 in 11 different versions had been |
| seven, along with a headquarters building and a | | | | produced for the Army, the Navy, and several |
| medical and a mess tent at this time. | | | | countries. |
| Aviation’s foundation continued to be laid that | | | | One aircraft, registered N8NP and piloted by Gus |
| year. The first test of an aircraft bombsight, for | | | | McLeod, had become the first open-cockpit biplane to |
| instance, had occurred, while College Park had | | | | have flown over the North Pole. Departing |
| become both the origin of the first cross-country flight | | | | Gaithersburg, Maryland, in April of 2000, it had |
| and the first military cross country, a 42-mile sector to | | | | penetrated zero-visibility and below-zero temperature |
| Frederick, Maryland, in a Burgess-Wright airplane. The | | | | conditions on its intended 13-day expedition, finally |
| first member of Congress had been flown by the US | | | | circling the pole on April 17, but mechanical difficulties |
| Army and the first aerial photographs had been taken | | | | had forced it to land. The pilot, returning the following |
| of the airfield at 600-, 1,500-, and 2,000-foot altitudes. | | | | month with the needed replacement battery, had |
| The Bleriot XI, a single-engine, fabric-covered | | | | discovered that the ice floe on which it had been |
| monoplane designed and built in France and named | | | | located had drifted some 80 miles toward Norway. |
| after designer Louis Bleriot, had joined the Curtiss and | | | | After repairs, the Stearman had flown as far as |
| Wright aircraft at College Park’s National | | | | Nunavut in Canada before weather impeded further |
| Aeroplane Company in 1911. Powered by a 70-hp | | | | continuation. |
| Gnome rotary engine, the 661-pound, pilot-only design, | | | | The Ercoupe 415D, designed by the Engineering and |
| with a 25.7-foot “twistable” wingspan, had been | | | | Research Corporation (ERCO) which Henry Berliner |
| the first heavier-than-air airplane to cross the English | | | | himself had founded in 1932, had been a low-wing |
| Channel from Calais to Dover more than a century | | | | monoplane employing a tricycle undercarriage and twin |
| previously on July 25, 1909 and had served as the | | | | vertical fins which had been tested at College Park. |
| basic configuration upon which all current-day aircraft | | | | Powered by an 85-hp Continental A-85 engine, the |
| had been based. Its (then) novel, single-wing | | | | two-place, 1,400-pound general aviation aircraft, with a |
| arrangement, however, had been the reason for the | | | | 30-foot wingspan, could attain 117-mph speeds and had |
| Army’s rejection of the type over the standard | | | | uniquely offered a coordinated control system by |
| biplane configuration after pilots from New York’s | | | | linking the ailerons and rudders by means of the control |
| Moisant School had demonstrated it to them in | | | | column. Devoid of rudder pedals, it had facilitated pilot |
| Maryland at College Park. Nevertheless, the National | | | | training, and had been considered slip-, stall-, and |
| Aeroplane Company became the type’s | | | | spin-proof. |
| authorized agent for sales in the Washington area. | | | | In 1973, the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning |
| Aviation “firsts” continued to be notched up in | | | | Commission purchased College Park Airport and four |
| 1912. A “Military Aviator” pilot rating, for | | | | years later it had been added to the National Register |
| example, had been introduced; the first aircraft-installed | | | | of Historic Places. |
| machine gun had been tested; Lieutenant Hap Arnold | | | | Today, “the world’s oldest |
| had made the first mile-high flight; and, sadly, the first | | | | continuously-operating airport,” occupying 40 acres, |
| death of a military enlisted man, Corporal Frank S. | | | | is a non-towered, general aviation facility with 80 |
| Scott of the US Army, had occurred. | | | | based aircraft and a single, lighted, 2,600-foot runway |
| Civil aviation had increasingly usurped its military | | | | (15/33). The original airmail hangar and compass rose |
| counterpart until it had altogether replaced it in 1913 | | | | of 1919 are located at the end of the field below the |
| when the Army had relocated to North Island in San | | | | railroad tracks, while the 27,000-square-foot College |
| Diego as a result of its lease expiration in June. The | | | | Park Aviation Museum, a glass-and-brick, curved roof |
| Rex Smith Aeroplane Company, which had already | | | | building inspired by early Wright Brothers designs and |
| established its presence there, had designed its own | | | | an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is located on |
| aircraft, and the National Aviation Company had | | | | the side and showcases many historic, airport-related |
| repaired and provided flight instruction in Bleriot, Curtiss, | | | | aircraft. |
| and Wright designs. The Washington Aeroplane | | | | Countless, modern-day turboprop and pure-jet airliners |
| Company had built the Columbia Mono- and Bi-Planes | | | | regularly ply the corridor to and from Maryland’s |
| during this time. | | | | Baltimore-Washington International Airport, perhaps |
| College Park Airport entered a new chapter in 1918 | | | | oblivious to the tiny parcel of land called “College |
| when the US Post Office had selected it as the | | | | Park Airport” below them. But at least a nod of |
| location of its first airmail service after a three-month | | | | recognition and appreciation should occasionally be |
| trial from Potomac Park in Washington to Philadelphia | | | | extended. This, after all, is where it all began. |