Early Aviation in Long Beach

Download or read book Early Aviation in Long Beach written by Gerrie Schipske and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2009 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By 1920, when Ameila Earhart attended Earl S. Daughertyas air circus and then took her first airplane ride with Long Beach Poly High School graduate Frank Hawks, Long Beach was already a key part of the golden age of aviation. Balloonists had parachuted onto the cityas beaches in 1905 near the Pine Avenue Pier, and stunt pilots such as Frank Stites took off and landed on its sands in 1908. The Long Beach Chamber of Commerce sponsored the altitude contest won by Arch Hoxsey in the second Los Angeles Air Meet in 1910. Cal Rodgers ended the first transcontinental flight in the water near Linden Avenue on December 10, 1911. A former Army Air Corps flight instructor, Earl Daugherty was known as the agreatest stunt pilota and owned the areaas first non-beach airfield. This volume offers glimpses of early aviation at one of its core development locales, including photographs never before published of Earhartas flight instructor, John G. Montijo.