America’s first aerial gunners practiced on this Maryland field you can visit today

Wilbur Wright’s Military Flight School at College Park

The Army got into the air game back in 1909 at College Park, Maryland. They paid $200 monthly for 160 acres where Wilbur Wright could train pilots.

By October, Wright had set up his plane and was teaching Lieutenants Lahm and Humphreys to fly. Soon after, Humphreys became the first military pilot to solo in a government aircraft.

The site quickly grew into America’s first military flight school, where pilots tested the first bombsight, fired the first machine gun from a plane, and even flew the first controlled helicopter.

Today, College Park Airport stands as the birthplace of military aviation in America.

The Army Paid $200 Monthly for a Dusty Maryland Field

The Army Signal Corps rented 160 acres at College Park, Maryland on August 25, 1909 for $200 a month. They needed space for Wilbur Wright to train their first pilots.

Lieutenant Frank Lahm spotted the location during a balloon flight. Workers built a small hangar, and the Wright Type A biplane arrived on October 7.

Ten enlisted men lived in the shed with the plane, while Wilbur Wright stayed in private homes with the officers.

Wilbur Wright Took Officers Skyward Within Hours of Arrival

Wilbur Wright started quickly on October 8, 1909. He took his first test flight around 3:30 p.m. , making a few circles above the field.

After checking the plane worked right, Wright took Lieutenant Frank Lahm up to about 150 feet for five minutes. Signal Corps Chief Brigadier General James Allen came to watch.

News spread fast, and curious people started coming from Washington in carriages and cars to see the flying machine.

Two Lieutenants Made History as America’s First Military Pilots

On October 26, 1909, Lieutenant Lahm and Lieutenant Humphreys flew solo for the first time. Humphreys became the first Army officer to fly alone in a government airplane.

The next day, Mrs. Ralph Van Deman became the first woman passenger to fly in America when Wright took her up.

Wilbur Wright ended his time at College Park on November 2 by setting a world speed record of 46 mph over a 500-meter course. This was the last time Wright ever flew in public.

Congress Finally Gave the Army Money to Buy More Flying Machines

Flying stopped on November 5, 1909, after the Army’s only aircraft got damaged during landing.

Things stayed quiet until March 1911, when Congress finally opened their wallet and gave $125,000 for Army flying for the 1912 budget.

The Army used this money to buy five more planes and set up their first real flying school at College Park. New planes arrived during summer 1911, and the site grew into the Signal Corps Aviation School.

Fresh Pilots Became America’s First Flight Instructors

Lieutenant Henry Arnold and Lieutenant Thomas Milling finished flight training with the Wright brothers in Dayton in May 1911.

Arnold soloed on May 13 after just three hours and forty-eight minutes of flight across 28 lessons.

The Army sent Arnold and Milling to College Park on June 15, 1911, to become the first flight teachers in military history. Arnold got his official pilot certificate number 29 on July 6, 1911.

At this time, the Army had only three qualified pilots.

Young Lieutenant Arnold Kept Breaking His Own Altitude Records

Arnold set an altitude record of 3,260 feet on July 7, 1911, at College Park. Over the next year, he broke his own record three more times.

On August 18, 1911, he climbed to 4,167 feet. Then on January 25, 1912, he went up to 4,764 feet in fifty-nine minutes.

Arnold topped himself again on June 1, 1912, when he soared to a new world record of 6,540 feet, becoming the first to pass the one-mile height mark in a military plane.

They Dropped Bombs on Goldfish Ponds to Test Accuracy

Riley Scott, a former Coast Artillery Corps officer, created a sixty-four-pound bombsight in 1911. During testing, Scott lay flat on the lower wing of a Wright Type B airplane while Lieutenant Milling flew.

Scott dropped two eighteen-pound dummy bombs from 400 feet up. The bombs landed within ten feet of a tiny four-foot by five-foot target.

They used the goldfish ponds at the end of the airfield as target areas for these early bombing tests.

A Captain Shot a Machine Gun from a Plane for the First Time

Colonel Isaac Lewis visited the flying school on June 7, 1912, bringing his new invention: the Lewis machine gun. Captain Charles Chandler agreed to try firing it from an airplane.

They strapped the gun to the right-seat foot-rest of a Wright Model B with Lieutenant Thomas Milling at the controls. Chandler fired at a six-foot by seven-foot cheesecloth target from 250 feet away and got five hits.

The gun weighed just over 25 pounds and could fire 500 rounds per minute.

Military Flyers Followed the Sun South Each Winter

In November 1911, Army airmen packed up their planes and moved to Augusta, Georgia for the winter. The school came back to College Park in April 1912 when the weather warmed up.

During their time there, Army pilots tested all kinds of new tech: radios, cameras, weapons, and bombing devices. When November 1912 arrived, they moved again, this time to North Island in San Diego, California.

The Signal Corps never returned to College Park, and the lease ended in June 1913.

Father-Son Team Brought Strange Flying Machines to the Field

Emile and Henry Berliner moved their helicopter experiments to College Park in 1920.

Henry had worked as an Army Air Service aerial photographer before joining his inventor father’s vertical flight project. In 1922, Henry got a surplus Nieuport 23 fighter fuselage and put in a Bentley 220 hp engine.

He added two horizontal rotors on a truss sticking out from the sides and a third rotor at the back for pitch control. On June 16, 1922, he showed controlled horizontal helicopter flight to U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics officials.

Their Helicopter Proved Vertical Flight Could Work

The Berliners added triplane wings to their helicopter in 1923, giving it gliding ability in case the engine quit. On February 23, 1924, a test flight reached 15 feet high at 40 mph forward speed.

The next day, Henry Berliner flew before Navy officials and reporters, keeping his craft at 15 feet altitude with a 150-foot turning radius while moving at 40 mph.

People called this the first controlled helicopter flight, proving that vertical flight aircraft could move in multiple directions under full control.

Visiting Maryland Museum of Military History

The Maryland Museum of Military History at 1985 Corporal Frank Scott Drive showcases College Park Airport’s role as America’s first military aviation school.

You’ll pay $4 admission ($2 for kids) to see exhibits about Wilbur Wright training the first military pilots in 1909. The museum opens Tuesday through Sunday from 10am to 4pm.

Take the Green Line to College Park Metro, then enjoy the outdoor patio where you can watch planes take off from the active runway.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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