The first major airshow in the United States was held from January 10 to January 20, 1910 in Los Angeles County at Dominguez Field (Carson, CA). The turnout was great, with over 254,000 spectators coming over the 11 days of ticket sales.

Most of the famous flyers drawn to the Air Meet were Americans, such as Glenn Curtiss, founder of Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Among other well-known attendees, many of whom are among the rolls of the Early Birds of Aviation—an elite group made up of 598 pilots who made their first ventures into the air before December 17, 1916—were Lincoln Beachey, Howard Warfield Gill, Charles K. Hamilton, Clifford B. Harmon, Roy Knabenshue, Charles Willard and such French air luminaries as Didier Masson and Louis Paulhan.

Dominguez Field in Carson, Los Angeles County, was the site of the 1910 airshow, which The Los Angeles Times called “one of the greatest public events in the history of the West.”

A total of $75,000 in prizes lured pilots, who would let judges know which specific prize they were after and then take their turn in the air, flying counterclockwise around the 1.61-mile (2.59 km) course. They were forbidden to fly over grandstands or anywhere crowds gathered, unless judges gave them express permission. Should they violate this restriction, they would be penalized.

Prize scoring was based on flights occurring between 2 PM and the setting of the sun. Aviators could try, and were indeed encouraged, to log as many flights as they could in their attempts to win prizes. In fact, should they be competing for speed or endurance prizes and fail to log at least one flight per day between 2 PM and 5PM, they were penalized 5% of their best time among the flights they did make. At the end of the meet, only pilots’ best times counted in the judging.

Los Angeles suburb Huntington Park, not to be left out of the action, held its own festivities during the week of the airshow; these included not just passenger flights high above the streets, but also ballooning competitions and attempts to set new altitude records.

IMAGE CREDIT: A poster of the 1910 International Air Meet, held at Dominguez Field, California, USA.

GOLDEN AGE HISTORY INSPIRED BY: HURTLING WINGS by L. Ron Hubbard
In the story Hurtling Wings, racer and test pilot Cal Bradley flies in the National Air Meet to capture valuable air mail contracts. But Cal faces an unscrupulous competitor and a gorgeous dame who may spell ruin as the planes take flight (read more…)

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