A Salute to Military Flight
Educator Resource
Lt. Benjamin Foulois took the first military flight
March 2, 1910 from Fort Sam Houston.
ITC Photo Library
San Antonian Kara Hultgreen was the first fully qualified female navy fighter pilot.
Courtesy Sally Spears
The Institute of Texan Cultures hosts a three-part exhibit honoring the centennial of military flight in San
Antonio. The exhibit offers a look at the birth of military aviation, the local military community through the
years, and artistic expressions for the love of flight. The educator resource can be used in conjunction with a
tour of the exhibit or as a stand-alone unit. Feel free to pick and choose topics and activities, but be sure to
check out the website for more educational resources.
The three-part exhibit includes:
Military Aviation Comes of Age in San Antonio is a retrospective exhibit celebrating the 100th anniversary of the
first flight at Fort Sam Houston, when Lieutenant Benjamin Foulois took flight on March 2, 1910. The exhibit
includes artifacts and images from private collectors and from the official collection of the United States Air
Force.
Flights of Fancy is a collection of folk art model airplanes collected from around the world by Sherry Kafka
Wagner; photos of Alexander Calder’s artistic airplanes painted for Dallas-based Braniff Airlines; and 16 iconic
photos from Texas aviation photographer Jay Miller.
San Antonio: Military City USA is a video presentation on the history of San Antonio’s military aviation and
includes commentary on the significance of the military in San Antonio, as shared by community leaders.
Accompanying images document aviation in San Antonio from military aviation taking flight in 1910 to WWI,
the 20s through WWII, continuing from the Cold War through the Space Age, and into the 21st century.
1
NOTES TO THE EDUCATOR
This guide was prepared by the Education and Interpretation Department of the Institute of Texan Cultures.
For more information on this guide please contact:
Carey Eagan
Educational Specialist III
Office of Education and Interpretation
Institute of Texan Cultures
UTSA HemisFair Park Campus
801 East Durango Blvd., San Antonio, TX 78205-3209
Phone: (210) 458-2351
Fax: (210) 458-2360
[email protected] TexanCultures.com
You will notice that there are links in blue throughout the background section. These are for you to expand
on the people and events appropriate for your classroom. You also will need to test access to the links provided in the Background to ensure that they are not blocked. If any video links are blocked, use the tip below
to save a copy on a USB drive at home and then load it on your classroom computer.
Using YouTube Videos at School
If your school district’s policy prevents you from accessing YouTube at school, you can download educational
videos from the website at home and show them the next day. (This also works with other video sites.) Here’s
how:
2
•
At home, go to www.youtube.com and locate the video that you want.
•
Copy the URL of that particular video.
•
Go to www.keepvid.com In the blank, paste the URL of the YouTube video that you want.
•
Click the Download button at the end of the URL bar.
•
A choice of formats will appear. Click on the one you want and select Save. Give the video a name
that you’ll recognize and save it to your desktop.
•
Once the video is downloaded, copy it to a flash drive to take to school the next day.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Salute to Miliatry Aviation
MYTHOLOGY AND ANCIENT HISTORY OF FLIGHT—4
THE BIRTH OF AERONAUTICS—4
AMERICAN AVIATION—4
WARTIME AVIATION—WORLD WAR I—5
AIRMAIL—6
GOLDEN AGE OF AVIATION—7
WOMEN IN AVIATION—8
WARTIME AVIATION—WORLD WAR II—8
MODERN FLIGHT—9
THE SPACE AGE—9
THE FUTURE OF AVIATION—10
Local Connections
Fort Sam Houston—10
Kelly—10
Brooks—11
Randolph—12
Lackland—12
ACTIVITIES
Activitiy 1—The Flight of Daedalus and Icarus—14
Activitiy 2—Paper Airplane, Jet-Powered Airplane—19
Extension: Folk Art Airplanes–Design Your Own—21
Activitiy 3—Dancing with the Aviation Stars: Learn the Lindy Hop—22
Primary Sources–Lost in Translation: Bessie Coleman’s Pilot’s License—23
Primary Sources–Teacher Reference Sheet—24
Primary Sources–Student Handout—25
Primary Sources–Lost in Translation: Bessie Coleman’s Pilot’s License—26
Primary Sources–Oral Histories: Local Aviators Share Their High-Flying Experiences—33
A Salute to Military Flight–Podcast Transcipt 1: Crane—34
A Salute to Military Flight–Podcast 1: Crane—38
A Salute to Military Flight–Podcast Transcipt 2: Eubanks—41
A Salute to Military Flight–Podcast 2: Eubanks—43
A Salute to Military Flight–Podcast Transcipt 3: Hand—45
A Salute to Military Flight–Podcast 3: Hand—48
3
You also will see noted in red the activities, and where it is recommended that they are addressed. Vocabulary words can be found
in bold; the definition is in italics.
In conjunction with this resource you will find four videos on our
website related to the background information provided in the
following pages. While they do not cover all the information noted
here, they provide a visual history of military flight and San Antonio specifically. They are organized in the following way: Beginning to WWI, ’20s to WWII, Cold War to the Space Age, and Into
the 21st Century. The transcripts are provided online next to the
videos.
Leonardo da Vinci, design for a helicopter
MYTHOLOGY AND ANCIENT HISTORY OF FLIGHT
Since man looked to the sky and saw birds take flight, man
has dreamed of soaring. Many cultures tell stories of winged
gods and flying creatures. [Activity 1: Unit Introduction - Culture
and Flight: the Greek myth of Daedalus and Icarus] Man tried
everything from Chinese kites that carried war scouts on
reconnaissance, information gathering, missions to balloons
that floated where the wind took them unless tethered. When
man tried using wings to fly, he met a tragic end; plummeting to
his death.
Lichterfelde (near Berlin)
Even Leonardo da Vinci tried to fulfill man’s dream of flying with wings. Ornithopters, machines that
allowed aviators to beat their arms like bird’s wings, were popular. The problem with ornithopters is that
humans do not have the muscle power to imitate bird flight. It wasn’t until 400 years after da Vinci that
French inventor Gustave Trouve used an internal combustion, an act or instance of burning, engine to power
the ornithopter that a man flew 70 meters with wings.
4
THE BIRTH OF AERONAUTICS
“The father of aeronautics,” the art or science of flight, an Englishman, Sir George Cayley, built and
flew the first model glider in 1804. He was the first to uncover the secret to bird flight— the arched shape
of the bird’s wings. Cayley also understood that flying machines would need different systems for lift, the
upward force that opposes the pull of gravity, propulsion, to drive forward or onward by or as if by means of a
force that imparts motion, and control. [Activity 2: Flight- Paper Airplane & Propulsion Flight; Extension: Folk
Art Airplanes, Design Your Own] Another important person in aviation is Otto Lilienthal. He expanded on
Cayley’s work by making 2,000 flights between 1890 until his death from a crash in August 1896. Lilienthal
experimented with 18 different designs, including monoplanes, single-winged planes, and biplanes,
double-winged planes. Lilienthal’s crafts were all hang gliders, aircraft controlled in the air by the pilot’s body
movement.
AMERICAN AVIATION
During the 1870s, an American engineer became interested in flying machines. Ocatve Chanute
made a triplane/biplane hang glider. Chanute’s work attracted scientist Samuel P. Langley to aeronautics.
Langley, expanding on previous
findings and experimenting on his own,
invented aerodromes, small rubberband-powered models. Following his
successful model flights, Langley was
hired by the War Department to build a
full-scale aerodrome capable of carrying
a human pilot. The tests in late 1903
were unsuccessful; fortunately the pilot
survived both attempts.
Around the time of Langley’s
disaster, the famous Wright Brothers–
First flight, 120 feet in 12 seconds, 10:35 a.m.; Kitty Hawk, North Carolina]
Orville and Wilbur–appear on the
aviation, the development and operation
of heavier-than-air aircraft, scene. On May 30, 1899 Wilbur Wright wrote to the Smithsonian Institute and
stated that he believed that humans could fly. These print shop and bicycle shop owners rediscovered their
love of flight when Lilienthal died. They looked back on their childhood rubber-band-powered helicopter
toy and set out to launch human flight.
A year later, the Wright Brothers flew their first biplane 300 feet. Using their personal experiences with
bicycling and previous aviation findings, the brothers worked with machinist Charles Taylor to design and
build an aircraft with a four-cylinder internal combustion engine controlled by the pilot. On December 17,
5
1903, just nine days after Langley’s aerodrome piloted flight attempts
failed, the Wright Brothers completed four successful human flights.
Wilbur piloted the famous flight near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, remaining airborne for 59 seconds and flying a distance of 852 feet.
The brothers continued developing flying machines over the next
two years. In 1906 they were granted a patent, an official document securing for a term of years the exclusive right to make, use, or sell an invention, for the airplane control system. Finally, in 1908 the brothers made
public flights in Europe and America. And, in 1909 the U.S. military
purchased the first “military plane” for $30,000 from them. Wilbur died
of typhoid fever in 1912, but Orville continued to fly until 1918. He sold
his interest in the company in 1915, but remained somewhat involved
until his death in 1948.
WARTIME AVIATION – WORLD WAR I
Manfred von Richthofen, 1917-1918
Planes were important during World War I, and the U.S. Army included planes as part of its war efforts. After purchasing the first “military plane,” the military used the planes
to provide aerial reconnaissance. The passengers of the planes photographed and mapped military positions, reporting back to their commanders on the ground. The new concern was protecting the observation
aircraft and fending off enemy airplanes.
In 1915 the “pursuit” for fighter airplanes was born. A spinning propeller was used with a machine gun
to fire upon enemies. Flying Aces became all the rage during this time. This title was awarded to the pilots
with the most enemy aircraft shot down during combat. The most famous Flying Ace was the “Red Baron,”
who Snoopy from the Peanuts comics likes to imagine himself defeating. The Red Baron was a German airman named Manfred von Richthofen. He led the pack with 80 victories. America’s ace was Captain Edward
Rickenbacker, a Medal of Honor recipient with 26 victories during his short combat pilot career.
As situations changed, America developed airplanes known as “bombers.” At first, pilots had to toss
small, hand-held bombs from the cockpit. But with fears of disaster, the military began to design and build
planes for bombing.
In November 1918, World War I ended, but not before Congress created the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1915. Their focus was military aviation, but eventually they focused on broader
flight technologies. They worked on every American aircraft produced from the 1920s to the 1960s, pioneering new aircraft structures, air safety, flight testing, and space flight. October 1, 1958, President Dwight D.
Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 forming the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA).
6
AIRMAIL
The first agency beyond the
military to see the value in airplanes as
a vehicle was the U.S. Post Office. The
use of airplanes increased the reliability and speed of mail delivery across
the country. The first official airmail
flight took place May 15, 1918, from
Washington, D.C., to New York. Within
two years a number of major cities
were added to the airmail route. By
1921, a transcontinental, going across
a continent, airmail route between San
Francisco and New York was estabL eft to Right, Lt. Bernanrd S. Thompson, Operations Officer, Col. Charles Lindberg and
Capt. Arther B. McDaniel, Director of Training at Kelly Air Force Base.
lished. These pilots were still flying in
open-air cockpits. As with the early
flights, time of day (daylight), weather
and the landscape were major factors in the pilot’s success.
In the mid-1920s, effective navigational, the method
of determining position, course, and distance traveled, tools,
improved communications, weather-reporting systems
and enclosed cockpits aided in the expansion of flight.
With the advent of night flight, wing-tip flares, searchlights, and larger landing fields were required. The first
coast-to-coast, day-to-night airmail started in 1924. By
1930, Congress passed legislation to allow Postmaster
General Walter Folger Brown to set up air routes. From
this a national air system was developed and four major
U.S. airlines: TWA (TransWorld Airlines), American Airlines,
United Airlines, and Northwest Airlines. Despite the Great
Depression, airmail continued to expand, reviving the dying aviation industry. Mail is still transported by air today.
GOLDEN AGE OF AVIATION
Amelia Earhart (left)visits the Alamo on Feb. 27, 1936.
The “Golden Age of Aviation” began as World War I comes to an end and airmail is taking off. Flying fever
spreads across the world. Daredevils took to the air entertaining audiences by walking on the wings and
hanging upside down as the planes soared above the ground. Pilots put on a show by spinning, diving, and
flying upside down. Air racing was extremely popular.
7
This era gave rise to aviation legends such as Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. Lindbergh is known for being the first
person to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. The 3,600-mile
flight from New York to Paris, France, happened May 21, 1927. Lindbergh flew his famous plane the Spirit of St. Louis. Everything from
clocks to movies and music were created in his likeness. A popular
dance the “Lindy Hop,” a jitterbug, swing-style dance that is based
on the Charleston, was named for Lindberg’s (Lindy) “hop” across the
Atlantic. [Activity 3: Dancing with the Aviation Stars – Learn to Lindy
Hop] Later in his aviation career Lindbergh aided the American war
efforts and then consulted on commercial aviation projects.
Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic as
a passenger. In 1932 she became the first woman to fly solo across
the Atlantic. She later earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, a
medal awarded to any officer or enlisted member of the United States
Bessie Coleman, 1921
armed forces who distinguishes himself or herself in support of operations by “heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in
an aerial flight, subsequent to November 11, 1918. Earhart’s death is still a mystery. She set out to be the first
woman to fly around the world, but she, Fred Noonan, her navigator, and the plane went missing. Geraldine
Mock finally claimed the record in 1964.
WOMEN IN AVIATION
While Earhart is the most well-known
female pilot, the first woman to earn a pilot’s
license was Harriet Quimby in 1911. In 1912
she flew across the English Channel in just over
an hour. In 1931, Lindbergh’s wife, Anne Marrow, was the first woman to receive a glider
pilot’s license. Katherine Stinson—local airfield
Stinson Field is named for her family—was the
fourth woman to be issued a pilot’s license. In
1913, she was the first woman to carry mail
via airplane, and in 1915 she was the first to
perform an aerial loop-to-loop and skywrite.
Jackie Cochran, a former beautician, was the
first to transport a bomber across the Atlantic
8
Tuskegee Airmen - Circa May 1942 to Aug 1943 Location unknown, likely Southern Italy or North Africa
and break the sound barrier, when an aircraft flies faster than the speed of sound, on May 18, 1953. [Teacher
Demonstration: Mach number] (As seen in the Wikipedia video clip Chuck Yeager was the first man to break
the sound barrier.)
A Texas-born woman broke through two barriers of her own. Bessie Coleman was the first AfricanAmerican female pilot. She went to France, where the Federation Aeronautique Internationale awarded her
the license. [Activity 4: Part 1 Primary Documents Bessie Coleman’s Pilot’s License – Lost in Translation] Other
notable women aviators include Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space, and Eileen Collins, first female
pilot and commander of the Space Shuttle.
WARTIME AVIATION – WORLD WAR II
America was brought into World War II on December 7, 1941, when Pearl Harbor was attacked. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt noted the air attack in his “The Day of Infamy Speech.” (The beginning of
which can be heard on the National Archives Site.) The bombers came into play early in the war during the
Doolittle Raid on Tokyo. In July 1941, The Army Air Corps began an African-American pilot training program
known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Once these men completed basic training they were sent over to the Tuskegee Army Airfield for flight training. Their planes were identified by the red paint on the aircraft tails. The
Germans feared them, calling them the Schwartze Vogelmenschen or Black Birdmen. The American bomber
crews called them The Black Redtail Angels because the pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group never lost an
escorted bomber to enemy fighters. The Tuskegee Airmen are the
only ones able to make the claim.
During WWII even civilians were involved in the war effort. They volunteered to keep their eyes on the sky to spot enemy
aircraft. They were provided with “spotter cards,” playing cards with
images of various aircraft and taught to radio in and report any
planes they saw.
MODERN FLIGHT
With WWII coming to an end and the Korean War starting, jets
became important for modern air combat. Speed was a necessity.
This also led to passenger airlines taking off in the 1960s, surpassing train and ship travel. Britain introduced the first jet airliner in 1952. Once the cabin pressure problem was
solved, air travel became safe at higher altitudes, which in turn reduced fuel consumption.
Helicopters became viable in 1939 when American Igor Sikorsky flew the first successful flight. He provided helicopters for WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. They are utilized today for numerous jobs from transportation of the ill and injured to traffic and news reports.
9
THE SPACE AGE
The Space Age began with the development of NASA. The launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik 1 on
October 4, 1957, left the United States behind. The United States joined the “space race” on January 31, 1958,
with the launch of the Earth satellite Explorer 1.
From 1959-1969 the Air Force, NASA, Navy, and North American Aviation worked on the X-15 program.
This project brought about hypersonic speeds, weightless
elevations, new electronics, protective materials and highpressure suits. It prepared man for space flight.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced his
plan to land an American on the moon by the end of the
decade. The Apollo missions experienced highs and lows,
including the crew of Apollo 1 burning in a capsule fire on
the launch pad in January 1967. The program wasn’t successful until Apollo 8. On Christmas Eve 1968, a capsule
circled the moon. Finally, in July 1969, Apollo 11 landed on Fort Sam Houston airfield, 1900s
the moon with astronauts, persons engaged in or trained
for spaceflight, Neil A. Armstrong and “Buzz” Aldrin. Michael
Collins remained in the space capsule to assist Armstrong and Aldrin. Armstrong made his famous statement
“one small step for man…one giant leap for mankind.”
Space flight for civilians (non-military personnel) continues to be a dream. Virgin Airlines plans to be the
first passenger carrier in space.
THE FUTURE OF AVIATION
Thoughts of The Jetsons and The Rocketeer come to mind for many Americans when asked to envision
the future of flight. Instead of cars will we all have our own hovercraft? Will there
be passenger space travel and colonies in space?
LOCAL CONNECTIONS
Fort Sam Houston —Originally housed at the Alamo and its surrounding buildings, in 1890 the military depot at San Antonio moved to its current location and
became a post designated Fort Sam Houston, in honor of Gen. Sam Houston by
President Benjamin Harrison.
Fort Sam Houston is the birthplace of military aviation. On February 15,
1910, Lt. Benjamin Foulois brought the army’s first airplane to Fort Sam Hous10
Lt. George E. Kelly, 1878-1911
ton. Lt. Foulois learned to fly through letters from the Wright Brothers. His plane, the United States Army
Aeroplane Number One, is in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
This post also played a vital role in the hunt for Pancho Villa. Nine airplanes and fifteen pilots were
ordered from Fort Sam Houston to Columbus, New Mexico, to assist Gen. John J. Pershing in the hunt.
By 1940 the fort was the largest army post in the United States, and served as an internment camp, a
prison camp for the confinement of enemy aliens, prisoners of war, political prisoners, etc.
Fort Sam is also the home to the Brooke Army Medical Center, a major military medical center.
(BRAC’s San Antonio Military Medical Center)
Kelly—The “father of military aviation,” Capt. Benjamin Foulois, selected the site in November 1916 to expand the Aviation Section of the United States Army
Signal Corps from Fort Sam Houston. The new airfield
was named for Lt. George E. Kelly, who was killed
in a crash at Fort Sam Houston on May 10, 1911. He
was the first American military aviator to lose his life
while piloting a military aircraft. The base was initially
called Aviation Camp, then Kelly Field. When the air
force separated from the Army in 1947, the name was
changed from field to Air Force Base, as were all other
Army Air Corps fields.
Almost all of the combat aviators of World War Brooks AFB, 1943
I earned their wings at Kelly Field. Most of the future
leaders of the air force passed through Kelly Field for training including Air Force chiefs of staff. Even Charles
Lindbergh earned his wings at Kelly Field, and the famous “Flying Tiger” Claire Lee Chennault. In 1928, the
Academy Award-winning film Wings was filmed at the base.
Later Kelly was transformed from a pilot training installation to an Air Material Area, storing and
distributing equipment. To accommodate the change of the aircraft to larger transport and cargo ships, Kelly
built a million-square-foot hangar.
The Base Closure and Realignment Commission scheduled to close Kelly in 1993. It is now Port San
Antonio, a master-planned, 1,900-acre aerospace industrial complex and international logistics platform.
Port San Antonio is approximately equidistant from the East and West coasts of the United States and at the
center of the NAFTA Corridor between Mexico and Canada. The entire development enjoys designation as a
Foreign Trade Zone.
Brooks—After the start of World War I in 1917, the army created a school to train flying instructors. It was
originally called Gosport Field for the Gosport System, where the instructor spoke to the flight trainee
11
through a tube. On December 5, 1917, it was changed
to Signal Corps Aviation School, Kelly Field no. 5, only to
have the name change again after the death of Cadet Sidney Johnson Brooks, Jr. during a training accident. Signal
Corps Aviation School, Kelly Field no. 5 became Brooks
Field on February 4, 1918.
Brooks has the oldest existing hangar in the United
States Air Force. From 1922 until 1931, Brooks served as
the primary flying school for the Army Air Corps; more
than 1,400 pilots were trained there.
Randolph Air Force Base Administration Building, 1931
Notable instructors and students included Charles
Lindbergh, Claire L. Chennault, Lester Maitland, and Jimmy Doolittle.
In 1931, both the flying school and the aviation medicine school were moved to nearby Randolph
Field (now Randolph Air Force Base), but the School of Aviation Medicine returned to Brooks from Randolph.
Brooks became headquarters for the Aerospace
Medical Center on October 1, 1959.
This medical center has played a major role in
the national space program; including the development of the capsule that carried the monkey Sam
into outer space on December 4, 1959. President
John F. Kennedy’s final official act prior to his assassination in Dallas, Texas, was the dedication of four
buildings in the complex that housed the Aerospace
Medical Division headquarters and the School of
Aerospace Medicine.
In 1995, the Department of Defense decided
to close the base. It is now Brooks City-Base.
Basic Trainees at Lackland AFB
Randolph—Previously known as the United States’ “West Point of the Air,” Randolph Air Force Base, Texas,
was dedicated June 20, 1930, as a flight-training base. A committee decided to name the base after William
Millican Randolph, a native of Austin, Texas, and graduate of Texas A&M University. During 11 years of flying,
Randolph had an outstanding record and contributed to the progress of aviation. On February 17, 1928, his
AT-4 crashed on takeoff from Gorman Field, Texas.
Over the years the aircraft models have changed, but Randolph remains a flight training school. It
serves as headquarters of the Air Education and Training Command and is known as “the Showplace of the
Air Force” because of the Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture in which all structures, including the
12
hangars, were constructed. The symbol of the base is a large water tower on top of Building 100, housing the
12th Flying Training Wing headquarters, known throughout the Air Force as “the Taj Mahal” or simply “The
Taj.” An Air Education and Training Command unit, the 12th Flying Training Wing is the host wing for Randolph.
Lackland—Originally part of Kelly Field, Lackland Air Force Base, “Gateway to the Air Force,” was separated
in June 1942 and became the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center. It provided classification and preflight
training for aspiring pilots, bombardiers, and navigators, and eventually training for all personnel including
dentistry and chaplains.
In 1946 the base was renamed Lackland Army Air Field for Gen. Frank A. Lackland, an early commander of Kelly Field. The base continued to expand and establish innovative programs for women entering
the Air Force, for officers entering the Air Force with direct commissions, a language school, Wilford Hall (the
largest medical facility in the Air Force), and by 1958 the Air Force marksmanship school and the sentry-dog
training program.
[Activity 4: Part 2 Oral Histories – Local Aviators Share Their High-Flying Adventures]
13
ACTIVITIES


Activity 1: Unit Introduction — Culture and Flight: The Greek Myth of Daedalus and Icarus
Activity 2: Flight— Paper Airplane & Jet Propulsion Flight
Folk Art Airplanes, Design Your Own

Activity 3: Dancing with the Aviation Stars: Learn to Lindy Hop

Activity 4: Primary Sources — Lost in Translation: Bessie Coleman’s Pilot’s License Oral Histories: Local Aviators Share Their High-Flying Experiences
14
Activity 1—The Flight of Daedalus and Icarus
Objectives
Students will be able to do the following:
Be assigned a culture story of flight and compare and contrast it to The Flight of Daedalus and Icarus utilizing graphics
software.
Present chart to the class.
TEKS: GRADE 4
Social Studies 4.20
English Language Arts and Reading 4.4/4.9 (Beginning school year 2009-2010)
Technology Applications 3-5.7
Materials/Resources
Rhett Rushing’s version of The Flight of Daedalus and Icarus (in packet)
Virginia Hamilton’s The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales
Neil Philip’s The Illustrated Book of Myths: Tales & Legends of the World
Mary Hoffman & Jane Ray’s Sun, Moon, and Stars
American Folklore Website The Flying Canoe
Google Books The Flying Machine p. 31-32
Use any cultural stories on flight you can find
Equipment
Computer with audio capabilities and speakers, or some other method of playing a digital audio file.
Computer(s) with graphic software such as Inspiration, Word, or PowerPoint to create a Venn Diagram or Comparison/
Contrast Chart, etc.
If available, LCD projector for presentation/discussion.
Procedures
1. Inform your learners that you all will be starting a unit on aviation or flight.
2. Pass out a copy of The Flight of Daedalus and Icarus to each learner, and do one of the following: You read the story
aloud to the class, read the story aloud as a class using various methods to select readers, have them read the story in
small groups, have each learner read it individually, or play the MP3 audio version provided by ITC as your learners follow along.
3. Discuss as a class. Why was flight the only way of escape for Icarus? Where did the idea to fly away come from? Why
didn’t Icarus listen to his father? Try to get your learners to discuss along these lines: Flight allowed them to go great distances quickly and easily to escape. It was a method of transportation no one else could follow. Daedalus got the idea from
watching the birds. Icarus didn’t listen to his father because he was so excited and distracted by flying; he felt powerful.
4. Assignment. Group your learners using any method you prefer. Assign each group a flight myth from another culture.
Have them read the myth and develop a chart comparing and contrasting their assigned myth to The Flight of Daedalus
and Icarus. Distribute laptops to each group, take them to computer lab, or rotate them on the classroom computer.
Have the learners choose from software such as Inspiration, Word, or PowerPoint to create their comparison chart. Once
the charts are completed have each group present their chart to the class on an LCD projector or in print form as a
poster on the board.
5. Wrap up. As we discovered many cultures have stories of flight. It has been a dream of man to fly like the birds since
man has been communicating. Today, flight is a major part of our everyday life. Aside from pleasure, mankind utilizes
flight for exploration and warfare.
15
GRADE 7
Objectives
Students will be able to do the following:
 Research a culture’s story of flight.

Select a presentation method to share the story
with the class, explain why their selected culture passed on
this story and if and how any form of the story exists in today’s
activities, celebrations, or performances by this culture.
Frederic Leighton, 1869
TEKS: GRADE 7
Social Studies 7.19
English Language Arts and Reading 7.4/7.9 (Beginning
school year 2009-2010)
Technology Applications (Computer Literacy) 6-8.1
Materials/Resources
Rhett Rushing’s version of The Flight of Daedalus and Icarus (in packet)
Virginia Hamilton’s The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales
Neil Philip’s The Illustrated Book of Myths: Tales & Legends of the World
Mary Hoffman & Jane Ray’s Sun, Moon, and Stars
American Folklore Website The Flying Canoe
Google Books The Flying Machine p. 31-32
Use any cultural stories on flight you can find
Equipment
Computer with audio capabilities and speakers
Computer(s) with graphic software such as Publisher, PowerPoint, MovieMaker, or iMovie
If available, LCD projector for presentation/discussion
Procedures
1. Inform your learners that you all will be starting a unit on Aviation or flight.
2. Pass out a copy of The Flight of Daedalus and Icarus to each learner, and do one of the following: you read the story aloud
to the class, read the story aloud as a class using various methods to select readers, have them read the story in small
groups, have each learner read it individually, or play the MP3 audio version provided by ITC as your learners follow along.
3. Discuss as a class. Why was flight the only way of escape for Icarus? Where did the idea to fly away come from? Why
didn’t Icarus listen to his father? Try to get your learners to discuss along these lines: Flight allowed them to go great distances
quickly and easily to escape. It was a method of transportation no one else could follow. Daedalus got the idea from watching
the birds. Icarus didn’t listen to his father because he was so excited and distracted by flying; he felt powerful.
4. Assignment. Group your learners using any method you prefer. Have each group select a flight myth from another culture. Have them read the myth and develop research questions. Their focus is to explain why their selected culture passed
on this story and if and how any form of the story exists in today’s activities, celebrations or performances by this culture.
16
6. Distribute laptops to each group, take them to computer lab, or rotate them on the classroom computer. Have the learners choose from software such as Publisher, PowerPoint, MovieMaker, or iMovie to create their comparison chart. Once
the charts are completed have each group present their chart to the class on an LCD projector or in print form as a poster
on the board.
7. Wrap up. As we discovered many cultures have stories of flight. It has been a dream of man to fly like the birds since man
has been communicating. Today, flight is a major part of our everyday life. Aside from pleasure, mankind utilizes flight for
exploration and warfare.
17
The Flight of Daedalus and Icarus
*Version by ITC Folklorist Rhett Rushing
Many years ago King Minos imprisoned a brilliant Greek inventor by the name of Daedalus deep in a labyrinth below the palace. Along with Daedalus was his son, Icarus, a smart but impatient boy who didn’t
always listen to instructions.
Daedalus spent years imprisoned in the labyrinth working on a plan for escape. He could look out at the
sky and see the birds flying outside his window. He began setting traps for the birds with scraps of the food
they served him every day. Over time Daedalus was able to capture enough birds to make a complete set of
wings for himself and for his son.
The wings were made from the feathers of the captured birds, and held to a frame of sticks with beeswax
that he gathered from a hive just outside the window. When the wings were finished and the day of their
escape arrived, Daedalus spoke to his son.
“Icarus,” he began seriously, “these wings will carry us to the nearest land, but only if we are very careful. We
cannot fly too close to the sun or else the wax will melt and the feathers will fall out. We cannot fly too near
the water or the steam will dampen the feathers and we will fall.”
Icarus pretended to be listening to his father, but he was so excited about the idea of escape and wanted
so badly to try flying like a bird that he did not pay attention to his father’s warnings. As they took off from
the window, Icarus felt the cool sea breeze under his wings and he began diving and soaring and trying to
do tricks with his fragile wings. Daedalus tried to warn him to fly steady and straight to the nearest land, but
Icarus was lost to the joy of flying. He was not listening to his father.
As Icarus soared way up into the sky, he noticed that the heat of the sun began melting the wax holding the
feathers in place. Several of the feathers began to fall out. He flapped his wings harder and harder, but he
quickly began descending toward the ocean. As he struggled to stay aloft he realized that he had dipped
too close to the water and the rising steam began to soak the feathers of his wings and weigh him down.
Daedalus could do nothing to rescue his son. He watched with great sadness as Icarus crashed into the sea
and disappeared beneath the waves. Daedalus flew on alone toward land and his freedom.
*Podcast/ MP3 version available on our website.
18
Activity 2—Paper Airplane
Objectives
Students will be able to …
Using various paper air plane designs, weights of paper and embellishments, construct multiple paper airplanes, and measure and
compare the different flight distances.
TEKS
Science 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 4.4; 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4
Math 4.11, 4.14, 4.15, 4.16; 7.9, 7.13, 7.14, 7.15
Materials/Resources
Printouts of appropriate paper airplanes (Please see following pages.) Consider printing the designs on varying weights
of paper. The groups can discuss the affect the weight of the material used to fabricate the airplanes effects the lift and
distance flown.
Standard paper clips
Crayons, markers, glitter, etc.
Embellishments – go to your nearest teacher supply or craft store and find Air Force stickers or conduct an online search
“scrapbooking stickers - air force.”
Equipment
Measuring tape (one per group)
Procedures
1. Introduce the activity to your learners with something like the following:
Today we will be experimenting with various airplane designs. In your groups you will be given some paper airplane templates,
folding instructions and embellishments. Your group will need to prepare a hypothesis for each airplane design. You will then
create the paper airplanes, fly them, noting observations of the flight, and measure the distances for comparisons. Your group
with complete your report by drawing conclusions.
2. Divide them into groups of three.
3. Distribute materials.
4. Monitor each group and facilitate as needed.
Wrap up: Have each group share their hypotheses and experiences. What other things could change the airplanes abilities? Do you
think that aviation pioneers went through the same process when building real airplanes? What kinds of materials would they have
used? What other factors would have affected their planes during flight?
Paper Airplane Designs PDF
19
Jet-Powered Airplane
Top View
Objectives
Students will be able to …
Demonstrate how jet propulsion works by creating a forward push from a jet of energy sent
in the opposite direction, and compare it to
the paper airplanes from the previous activity.
string
TEKS
tape
balloon
straw
wing
Science 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 4.4; 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4
Materials/Resources
Scrap of cardboard or poster board, about 1 by 5 inches
Ruler
Pencil
Scissors
Red and blue crayons or marking pens
Drinking straw
Transparent tape
15 to 20 feet of strong thread or fishing line
Balloon (the long balloon type works best)
Helper (optional)
Steps
1. To make “wings” for your experimental jet craft, round the tips of the piece of cardboard or poster board, as shown, and
cut a small V in the center to make taping easier.
2. Using crayon or marking pens, decorate the wings with the circled-star emblem of the U.S. Army Air Corps. Then center of
the emblem is red, the star is white, and the rest of the circle is blue.
3. Tape the wings to the straw, about 2 inches from one end. Use narrow (1/4 inch) strips of tape to make as firm a hold as
possible.
4. Run the thread or fishing line through the straw. Tie one end of the line to the back of a chair, or some other item of furniture, and the other end to another chair, stretching the line as taut as possible.
5. Have 2 or 3 pieces of tape ready, each about 1 ½ inches long, or have a helper ready to apply the tape.
Blow up the balloon. Hold the end of the balloon closed with one hand and tape it to the straw with the other, or have
your helper apply the tape.
6. As soon as the tape has been applied, let go of the balloon and watch the jet of air propel across the room.
Wrap up: Compare your observations between the paper airplanes and the jet propulsion airplane. Which one moved faster or flew
further? What other modern aviation crafts achieve lift-off in much the same way as jet propulsion? What other methods (refer to background information for possible answers) were used to take flight?
20
Extension
Folk Art Airplanes
Design Your Own
Object(s):
Students will be able to …
Express their flights of fancy through art.
TEKS
Art 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4; 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4
Social Studies 4.20; 7.19
Coca-Cola can Folk Art Plane from Sherry Kafka Wagner’s collection.
Made in the Philippines.
Materials/Resources (This is a suggested list, be creative.)
Boxes of varying sizes and materials
Pencil, crayons or markers
Pipe cleaners
Glue
Balloons
Wood
Aluminum
Ruler
Drinking straw
Tape
Strong thread or fishing line
Clay
Plastic
Any materials you have available
Steps
1. Present Folk Art Airplanes PowerPoint to class.
2. Discuss the material with the class.
3. Have students complete the assignment at the end of the PowerPoint.
Wrap up: Share with the class your folk art plane. Explain why you choose the material, colors, and other items that you did. Ask the
class to guess what your feelings or message about flight is?
For more information on Folk Art go to the following websites:
•
http://www.folkartmuseum.org/default.asp?id=877
•
http://www.moifa.org/about/whatisfolkart.html
•
http://arts.factexpert.com/502-folk-art.php
•
http://www.longislandtraditions.org/pages/what.html
•
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Folk-Art-Tells-a-Story/Susan-Conklin-Thompson/e/9781563083822
•
http://library.usu.edu/folklo/edresources/objects.html
21
Activity 3—Dancing with the Aviation Stars
Learn the Lindy Hop
Lindy Hop Instruction Videos
Lindy Hop Instructor Teresa Egan and her partner give a brief history of the
dance and detailed step-by-step instructions. You will find eight videos at
http://www.monkeysee.com/play/557-dance-the-lindy-hop .
Object(s):
Students will be able to …
Connect the Lindy Hop to the historic flight of Charles Lindbergh across the Atlantic Ocean.
TEKS
Physical Education 4.1(i); 7.1 (d), Music 4.5 (b), Theatre 4.1 (b&c)
Materials/Resources
Large open space to dance
Equipment
Computer with Internet access
LCD projector
Procedure
1. Play the first video. Teresa explains how the dance got its name and then begins dance instruction.
2. Progress through the videos at a pace appropriate for the class.
3. Repeat videos as needed until smooth.
4. Consider hosting a Dancing with the Aviation Stars dance competition at an event like a PTA meeting or Open House.
Wrap up
Look at today’s headlines in the newspaper. If a new dance was developed and the same method to name it was used, what would be the
next big dance craze?
22
Primary Sources
Lost in Translation: Bessie Coleman’s Pilot’s License
Objective(s):
Students will be able to …
•
Distinguish between primary and secondary sources.
•
Analyze a primary source.
•
Use various resources to research support associated with an artifact.
TEKS
Social Studies: 4.5, 4.21, 4.22, 4.23; 7.21, 7.22, 7.23
English Language Arts: 4.6, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 4.15, 4.16, 4.23; 7.6, 7.8, 7.9, 7.10, 7.11, 7.13, 7.15, 7. 16
Materials/Resources
 Student Handout
 Assignment Sheet
 Bessie’s License
 Reverso Dictionary (for French to English translation)
Suggested Equipment





Smartboard
Computer with LCD
Transparency of Bessie’s license
Poster print of Bessie’s license
Student computer lab or classroom computer(s) (for webquest extension)
Procedure
1. Introduce primary documents to your learners using the Primary Source Student Handout. When possible display examples of primary vs. secondary sources.
2. Place students in small work groups to complete the Assignment: Be the Historian. Circulate around to assist the groups as
needed. You may consider allowing students to use the computer to access Reverso Dictionary once they have analyzed
what they could on their own.
3. Once the groups have completed their analysis, lead a class discussion on what each group found. Students are encouraged to fill in information from the other groups.
4. Using one of the suggested equipment listed above, display Bessie’s license and diagram the translated words next to the
original French word as groups share their findings. Have your students do the same on their copy.
Extension: Have the groups continue as historians researching Bessie Coleman by completing the webquest.
Additional Resources
1. Follow Your Dreams: The Bessie Coleman Story has excellent lessons, a timeline and an interactive quiz
2. Great children’s book with lessons
3. Other books on Bessie and a doll with her biography
23
Primary Sources
Teacher Reference Sheet
When planning to use Primary Sources you should…
1.
Decide how the document can be dropped into the curriculum.
2.
Use documents when longer reading assignments would be too
much for the time available.
3.
Determine what personal application the document has for
students.
4.
Determine what is usable in the document.
Using Primary Sources allows the learner to…
•
Discover evidence.
• Become the historian and examine the document as a historian’s tool.
• Work directly with the document.
• Establish the context of the document for historical events.
• Use documents to raise questions for further research.
• Relate the document to larger issues or concepts of study.
• Realize the importance of referencing multiple resources for information.
• Determine validity and reliability of sources.
• Question from where information comes.
Primary sources provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic. They are created by
witnesses or recorders who experienced the events as they occurred. Primary sources also can include
autobiographies, memoirs, and oral histories made later. Primary sources are characterized by their content,
regardless of whether they are available in original format, in microfilm/microfiche, in digital format, or in
published format.
For more information on Primary Sources go to the following sites:
The Library of Congress
The National Archives
24
Primary Sources
Student Handout
Historians, experts in history, use a wide variety of sources to answer questions about the past. They use
both primary sources, actual records that have survived from the past, such as letters, photographs, articles of
clothing and secondary sources, accounts of the past created by people writing about events after they happened, such as your history textbook which may also include some primary sources, like direct quotes from people
living in the past or excerpts from historical documents.
When analyzing primary sources, historians consider the type of primary source they are studying. Different
primary sources were created for different reasons. Knowing the different types of primary sources will help
you evaluate the reliability of primary sources. Listed below are the five different types of primary sources
and some examples:
Artifacts -Tools, weapons, inventions, uniforms, fashion, tombstones, fine art, memorabilia,
and souvenirs
Images -Photographs, film, videos
Text -Recipes/cookbooks, journals, yearbooks, scrapbooks, autobiographies, print advertisements, ancestors’ papers, and genealogical information
Audio -Oral histories, interviews, music, audio recordings
Statistics -Census data, land surveys, maps, ordinances, blueprints, or architectural drawings
What kind of historical records do you leave behind in your daily life? Consider starting a family archive. Historians call all of these clues collectively an archive or the historical record.
25
Lost in Translation:
Bessie Coleman’s Pilot’s License
Assignment: Be the Historian
While conducting research on aviation, you made a visit to the home of a family member of Bessie Coleman,
the first African-American female pilot. Her relative gave you the document below for your Texas Aviation Archives, but it is written in French. You do not know French. Use journalistic questioning and your knowledge
of English words to decipher the following:
What is the document? _______________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Is it a primary source or secondary source? Refer back to your Primary and Secondary
Source Student Sheet. Explain.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
When is it from? _____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Where is it from? ______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
26
Why is it in French? ___________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
What other information could you decipher? _____________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Now that you have completed your analysis of the artifact, listen to what others were
able to conclude. Take notes on anything you may have missed
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
27
28
WEB
QUEST
Directions
Using the links provided on this worksheet soar across the Web and discover facts about the first African-American female aviator.
Bessie Coleman
1. During which years did Bessie Coleman live?
________________________________________________________
2. What city named a street after Bessie in 2000?
_______________________________________________________
3. To what was Bessie inducted in 2000?
_______________________________________________________
Fly Girl
4. Where was Bessie born?
_______________________________________________________
5. Where did Bessie move to as an adult during her early 20s?
________________________________________________________
6. What did Bessie dream of becoming?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Stories from Bessie’s Sister
7. What is Bessie’s sister’s name?
_______________________________________________________
29
8. What was Bessie’s nickname?
________________________________________________________
9. What did Bessie write in her last letter to her sister?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Bessie’s Biography
10.Bessie attended school in a one-room school house. What was the last grade she completed?
_______________________________________________________
11.What job(s) did Bessie hold when she was with her brothers in Chicago?
________________________________________________________
12.Why did Bessie go to France in 1920?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Bessie’s Historical Marker
13.How many siblings did Bessie’s have in her family?
_______________________________________________________
14.Besides Atlanta, where else in Texas did Bessie live?
________________________________________________________
15.Where is the historical marker? When was it erected?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Library named in Bessie’s Honor
16.What city has a branch of the public library named for Bessie?
_______________________________________________________
17.When was it opened/dedicated?
________________________________________________________
18.Who attended the opening/dedication?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
30
Bessie Flies Again
19.How was Bessie honored by the United States Postal Service?
_______________________________________________________
20.When was she honored?
________________________________________________________
21.How much did the object honoring Bessie cost?
________________________________________________________
Women in Aviation History
22.What two things stopped Bessie from getting in to an American flight training school?
_______________________________________________________
23.What school did Bessie earn her pilot’s license from?
________________________________________________________
24.How did she gain fame upon her return to the U.S.?
________________________________________________________
25.Bessie flew what type of trainer (airplane)?
_______________________________________________________
26.What was another nickname for Bessie?
________________________________________________________
NASA’s Background on Bessie
27.Besides reading, what other subject was Bessie good at in school?
_______________________________________________________
28.What happened to Bessie and her mechanic on April 30, 1926?
________________________________________________________
Where is Bessie Buried?
29.What cemetery is she buried in?
_______________________________________________________
30.What state is the cemetery in?
_______________________________________________________
31
31.What does it say on her tombstone? Is there any artwork? If so, what?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
Encyclopedia Britannica
Use the encyclopedia entry to fact-check your findings. Are there any differences? If so, what? If
you completed the “Be the Historian” activity, were you able to verify facts to support the document or vice versa?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
32
Primary Sources
Oral Histories: Local Aviators Share Their High-Flying Experiences
Objective(s)
Students will be able to …
•
Listen and learn by taking/completing notes.
•
Identify the accomplishments of notable individuals.
•
Differentiate between, locate, and use primary and secondary sources such as computer software; interviews; biographies; oral, print, and visual material; and artifacts to acquire information about the United States and Texas.
•
Form and revise questions for investigations, including questions arising from readings, assignments, and units of study.
•
Connect history to his/her own life.
TEKS
Social Studies: 4.5, 4.22, 4.23, 4.24; 7.7, 7.20, 7.21, 7.22, 7.23
English Language Arts: 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.13; 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 7.4, 7.5, 7.13
Materials/Resources
What Is Oral History? Student Handout
Podcast Series A Salute to Military Flight (three total) from our website
A Salute to Military Flight Worksheets (included in this guide)
(Optional) A Salute to Military Flight Transcripts
Equipment
Computer with speakers or student computer(s) with headphones or mp3 players with podcasts loaded.
Procedure:
1. Introduce oral histories to your learners using the “What Is Oral History” and briefly discuss
2. Pass out the appropriate worksheet. Instruction your learners to listen to the podcast closely and complete the fill in
the blanks.
3. Discuss.
4. Repeat step 2 & 3 for the 2 remaining podcasts.
Wrap up: S hare with your group the story you found most interesting and why.
Extension
Using the ITC Library Oral History Instructional Unit, assign your learners to conduct an oral history interview.
33
Primary Sources
What Is Oral History?
Have you ever listened to someone tell you about the “good old days” or sat through a relative’s rambling
about what life was like for them a long time ago? Well, that’s oral history. It is a record of what happened
that is not written down. Sometimes we can record a person’s oral history and keep it forever so that others
can listen and learn from it.
Oral historians record these stories and memories and keep them in a collection called an archive. Later, anyone can come and hear them and get a much better idea of what life was like for the speaker.
Sometimes oral histories reflect the speaker’s opinion or bias. If they fought on the losing side of a war or
voted for the losing candidate in an election, they may have strong opinions that come out in their personal
story. An oral history gives the listener a chance to experience history from the speaker’s point of view. To
get a more complete picture of the time period, a scholar would need to listen to several oral histories from
different people who experienced that event or that time period.
Oral histories are also wonderful tools for learning about the histories of people that don’t always make it
into the history textbooks. We know some things about the Battle of the Alamo from the Mexican Army and
from a few people who were allowed to leave. What we don’t know much about is what the battle was like
for the townspeople that lived nearby, or the cooks and laundry workers that followed the Mexican Army to
the battle.
Oral histories work because they are often spoken from the heart. As you listen, you will learn the truth as it
is understood by the speaker. Always remember that different people may have different ideas and interpretations of the very same event, so one person’s story may not give you a complete picture. It is up to you, the
historian, to seek several versions and not to be afraid when some of them disagree with others.
-Rhett Rushing ITC Oral Historian
*Podcast/ MP3 version available on our website.
34
A Salute to Military Flight
Podcast Transcript 1: Crane
Introduction Music/Sound Effect: Medal Ceremony (Short) & Jet Flyby
RR: Welcome to the A Salute to Military Flight podcast brought to you by the Institute of Texan Cultures.
I’m your host Rhett Rushing, folklorist and oral historian.
This series contains three oral histories, recorded in the early 1980s, from local military aviators: Colonel
Carl J. Crane USAF Retired, Major General Eugene Eubanks USAF Retired, and Lieutenant Colonel Harry
Hand USAF Retired.
San Antonio is the birthplace of military aviation. In 1910 Lt. Benjamin Foulois brought the Army’s first
airplane, a Wright Flyer, to Fort Sam Houston.
In this installment (1of 3) Retired Col. Carl J. Crane shares his childhood memories of the first military
flight, as well as his own flight experiences.
CC: “Well, it seems almost that I fell in love with flying as soon as I was able to identify myself as a human
being because Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright made their first flights in 1903, on December 17 of 1903. By
the time I was four or five years old, you can imagine that a lot of people were aware of, and interested in, the
antics of the Wright brothers. And my dad, particularly, was interested in everything he could read on aviation
as identified by the flights of the Wright brothers. So you might say I grew up on East Commerce Street in San
Antonio just a few blocks from Fort Sam Houston and there I was ready, at the age of ten, to witness the first
flight of an Army airplane by the late General Foulois, at that time Lieutenant Foulois, who made his first solo
flight at Fort Sam Houston in 1910. Of course, I could see this airplane flying from my front porch. After a while,
I made it my business to get as close to it as possible on my bicycle. I was ten years old at that time, and that is
when I really got interested in aviation.”
RR: In the next clip, Col. Crane shares the story of a frightening flight he made in 1925 with a congressman’s son on board and how he became interested in flying with instruments.
CC: “Well,[ this interest in instrument flying] began in a very serious manner just a few months after I reported
for duty at Selfridge Field in October 1925. Each one of us had to make a flight on what was known as the
Army’s Model Airways. Now the purpose of the… [Interviewer General William Harris interjects, “I never heard
that expression.”] The Model Airways was an experimental scheduled air transport system they were using at
that time. It was sort of parallel to the Post Office airmail system. We had to take turns in flying a certain route
from Selfridge Field. Now the people at Mitchell Field also had a special route they had to fly. The people at
Kelly Field had a special route. Our route at Selfridge took us from Mt. Clemens (where Selfridge was located),
Michigan, to Dayton; from Dayton across to Washington; Washington up to Long Island, Mitchell Field; then
down to Norfolk, to Langley Field; then back to Washington; then back to Dayton; then back to Selfridge Field.
Sometimes we were gone for a month, due to all kinds of problems. Weather, maintenance, things of that kind
35
were studied. We carried a pad of forced landing reports in out airplanes. Because we had lots of ’em. And we also
carried a pad of government invoices in the airplane so that if we needed anything special, like paying off a farmer
for knocking down one of his trees or something, we could sign this invoice and pay the bill.
My turn came up to fly this route just about two months after I reported to Selfridge. We flew (on those
routes) a two-place deHaviland DH-4 Liberty engine airplane. My purpose on my flight of 7 December 1925 was
to take a Congressman’s son to Washington to visit his father. He was 17-years-old. We took off on a bright winter day, and it was almost my Pearl Harbor day…. We climbed up to about 3,000 feet and headed due south for
Dayton. Within a short while a cloud bank appeared above me and I tried to stay above it, and I did until I was up
about 8,000 feet, and then I flew into the cloud mass. Our airplanes had no instruments for [blind] flying, except
a magnetic compass, which was useless to try to fly an airplane with. And in a short time, I was losing altitude;
completely out of control; could not fly the airplane at all. It had gotten into a spiral dive…halfway down I looked
around at my boy in the back and he was enjoying the flight no end. He was shaking his hands and grinning and
I was slowly dying because I knew we were going to crash. I couldn’t control the thing. Finally it got down to under
a thousand feet and I said, ‘Well, here we go. I’m going to look at my boy once more.’ And as I turned around to
look at him, a sign went by my wing it said Statler Hotel…. I had just missed the top of the Statler Hotel. In all the
mist and rain I could see the buildings and the streets and flew down the street and got over the Detroit River and
flew about ten feet high all the way to Toledo, shaking all the way. So this was my introduction to flying in obscure
visibility.
There were no answers. Nobody knew what the answer was. I asked and checked with the airmail pilots
that we would meet on flights. They had a lot of trick ways they would do things but nowadays, of course, I knew
that they were either lying or telling stories to see what we would do about it. But nobody knew. We had no instruments to fly with through weather. And that was the introduction, you might say, to a lifelong study on my part to
find better ways to do it. [Interviewer General Harris interjects: ‘You had a rather object lesson right there to urge
you on.’] It certainly was; and it hasn’t let go of me yet. [Interviewer General Harris interjects: ‘What did you first
do in order to ascertain the answer to this?’] The first thing I did was ask some very considered questions. I didn’t
want to show how ignorant a pilot I was, who couldn’t fly an airplane through clouds. In fact, I thought to myself
when I was coming down in that spiral dive, ‘What did they tell us at the advanced school at Kelly to do about
this?’ Well, they didn’t tell us anything, except to stay out of bad weather. So the answers were not forthcoming. A
short time after that, my group operations officer, a veteran World War I pilot, Cy Bettis, took me and another man
in formation into a cloud deck and I was so cloud-shy at that time that I peeled off and landed. It turned out the
cloud deck was only a couple hundred feet thick and they got up on top and flew around and came in and landed
and I caught hell from the group operations officer. Which I deserved, but that same year Cy (for Cyrus) Bettis did
the same thing with two other wing men, leaving Philadelphia to come back to Selfridge. The two wing men were
able to get up above the cloud deck by just leaving the airplane do the flying but Cy Bettis never appeared. They
found him three days later crawling on a mountaintop. He’d lost control of the airplane just like I did.”
RR: That concludes episode one of the A Salute to Military Flight podcast series brought to you by the Institute of Texan Cultures. I’m Rhett Rushing. Thanks for joining me on this high-flying adventure. Be sure to join
36
me next time when we hear from Major General Eugene Eubanks USAF Retired about his flight training, his
serving as an instructor at Kelly AFB, and witnessing the hunt for Pancho Villa.
37
A Salute to Military Flight
Directions: You are about to listen to segments from a local aviator’s oral history recorded in the 1980s. As
you listen fill in the blanks to complete the podcast transcript.
Podcast 1: Crane
(Run Time 9:27)
Introduction Music/Sound Effect: Medal Ceremony (Short) & Jet Flyby
RR: Welcome to the ___ _____________ ______ ______________ _____________ podcast brought to you
by the Institute of Texan Cultures. I’m your host Rhett Rushing, folklorist and oral historian.
This series contains three oral histories, recorded in the early _________, from local military aviators: Colonel
Carl J. Crane USAF Retired, Major General Eugene Eubanks USAF Retired, and Lieutenant Colonel Harry Hand
USAF Retired.
San Antonio is the birthplace of military aviation. In ________ Lt. Benjamin Foulois brought the Army’s first
airplane, a _______________ _______________, to Fort Sam Houston.
In this installment (1of 3) Retired Colonel Carl J. _______________ shares his childhood memories of the first
military flight as well as his own flight experiences.
CC: “Well, it seems almost that I fell in love with flying as soon as I was able to identify myself as a human
being because ______________ and _____________ Wright made their first flights in 1903, on December
17. By the time I was four or five years old, you can imagine that a lot of people were aware of, and interested
in, the antics of the Wright brothers. And my dad was interested, particularly; in everything he could read
on aviation as identified by the flights of the Wright brothers. So you might say I grew up on East Commerce
Street in San Antonio just a few blocks from _____ _________ _______________ and there I was, ready at
the age of ten, to witness the first flight of an Army airplane by the late General Foulois, at that time Lieutenant _______________, who made his first solo flight at Fort Sam Houston in 1910. I could see this airplane
flying from my front porch. After a while, I made it my business to get as close to it as possible on my bicycle.
I was ______ ____________ __________ at that time, and that is when I really got interested in aviation.”
RR: In the next clip Col. Crane shares the story of a frightening flight he made in 1925 with a
_________________________ son on board and how he became interested in flying with instruments.
CC: “Well, this interest in instrument flying began in a very serious manner just two months after I reported
for duty at Selfridge Field in October 1925. Each one of us had to make a flight on what was known as the
Army’s Model Airways. Now the purpose of that… [Interviewer General William Harris interjects, “I never
heard that expression.”] The __________ _____________ was an experimental scheduled air transport system they were using at that time. It was sort of parallel to the Post Office _______________ system. We had
38
to take turns in flying a certain route from Selfridge Field. Now the people at Mitchell Field also had a special
route they had to fly. The people at Kelly Field had a special route. Our route at Selfridge took us from Mount
Clemens (where Selfridge was located), Michigan, to Dayton; from Dayton across to Washington; Washington up to Long Island, Mitchell Field; then down to Norfolk, to Langley Field; then back to Washington; then
back to Dayton; then back to Selfridge Field. Sometimes we were gone for a month, due to all kinds of problems. Weather, maintenance, things of that kind were studied. We carried a pad of forced landing reports in
our airplanes. Because we had lots of ’em. And we also carried a pad of government _____________ in the
airplane so that if we needed anything special, like paying off a _____________ for knocking down one of
his trees or something, we could sign this invoice and pay the bill.
My turn came up to fly this route just about _______ ___________ after I reported to Selfridge. We
flew (on those routes) a two-place deHaviland DH-4 Liberty engine airplane. My mission on my flight of 7
December 1925 was to take a Congressman’s son to Washington to visit his father. He was 17-years-old. We
took off on a bright winter day, and it was almost my ____________ _____________ day…. We climbed up
to about 3,000 feet and headed due south for Dayton. Within a short while a ___________ ____________
appeared below me and I tried to stay above it, and I did until I was up about 8,000 feet, and then I flew
into the cloud mass. Our airplanes had no instruments for [blind] flying, except a __________________
_____________, which was useless to try to fly an airplane with. And in a short time, I was losing altitude;
completely out of control; could not fly the airplane at all. It had gotten into a spiral ___________…halfway down I looked around at my boy in the back and he was enjoying the flight no end. He was shaking
his hands and grinning and I was slowly dying because I knew we were going to crash. I couldn’t control
the thing. Finally it got down to under a thousand feet and I said, ‘Well, here we go. I’m going to look at
my boy once more.’ And as I turned around to look at him, a sign went by my wing it said _____________
____________…. I had just missed the top of the Statler Hotel. In all the mist and rain I could see the buildings and the streets and flew down the street and got over the ___________ River and flew about ten feet
high all the way to ___________, shaking all the way. So this was my introduction to flying in obscure visibility.
There were no answers. Nobody knew what the answer was. I asked and checked with the airmail
pilots that we would meet on flights. They had a lot of trick ways they would do things but nowadays, of
course, I knew that they were either lying or telling stories to see what we would do about it. We had no
instruments to fly with through weather. And that was the introduction, you might say, to a ____________________ study on my part to find better ways to do it. [Interviewer General Harris interjects ‘You had a
rather object lesson right there to urge you on.’] It certainly was; and it hasn’t let go of me yet. [Interviewer
General Harris interjects ‘What did you first do in order to ascertain the answer to this?’] The first thing I did
was ask some very considered questions. I didn’t want to show how ignorant a pilot I was, who couldn’t fly
an airplane through clouds. In fact, I thought to myself when I was coming down in that spiral dive, ‘What did
they tell us at the advanced school at __________ to do about this?’ Well, they didn’t tell us anything except
to ___________ ________ of bad weather. So the answers were not forthcoming. A short time after that, my
39
group operations officer, a veteran World War I pilot, Cy Bettis, took me and another man in formation into
a cloud deck and I was so cloud-shy at that time that I peeled off and landed. It turned out the cloud deck
was only a couple hundred feet thick and they got up on top and flew around and came in and landed and I
caught hell from the group operations officer. Which I deserved, but that same year Cy (for Cyrus) Bettis did
the same thing with two other wind men, leaving Philadelphia to come back to Selfridge. The two wing men
were able to get up above the cloud deck by just leaving the airplane do the flying but Cy Bettis never appeared. They found him ________ days later crawling on a mountaintop. He’d lost control of the airplane just
like I did.”
RR: That concludes episode one of the “A Salute to Military Flight” podcast series brought to you by the Institute of Texan Cultures. I’m Rhett Rushing. Thanks for joining me on this high-flying adventure. Be sure to join
me next time when we hear from Major General Eugene ___________ USAF Retired about his flight training,
serving as an instructor at Kelly AFB, and witnessing the hunt for ______________ __________.
40
A Salute to Military Flight
Podcast #2 Transcript: Eubanks
Introduction Music/Sound Effect: Medal Ceremony (Short) & Jet Flyby
RR: Welcome to the A Salute to Military Flight podcast brought to you by the Institute of Texan Cultures. I’m
your host, Rhett Rushing, folklorist and oral historian.
This series contains three oral histories, recorded in the early 1980s, from local military aviators: Colonel Carl
J. Crane USAF Retired, Major General Eugene Eubanks USAF Retired, and Lieutenant Colonel Harry Hand
USAF Retired.
San Antonio is the birthplace of military aviation. In 1910, Lt. Benjamin Foulois brought the Army’s first airplane, a Wright Flyer, to Fort Sam Houston. In this installment (2 of 3), Major General Eugene Eubanks shares
he memory of being at Ft. Sam when Lt. Kelly crashed, how Major General Eubanks became a flight instructor and his participation in the hunt for Pancho Villa.
EE: “The war clouds were gathering in Europe; a number of young men were giving serious thought to their military obligations and when an officer candidate training school to train young men for military duty was established, I volunteered and came to San Antonio to enter an officer’s training camp to Leon Springs. Shortly after my
arrival at Leon Springs, I applied for flying training. We were first sent down to Fort Sam Houston to take a physical
examination for flying. An amusing incident: while we were at Fort Sam taking our examination… myself and
there was about a dozen other people… the ambulance pulled up at the front door of the hospital and a man was
carried in on a stretcher. The word was given that he had been injured in a flying accident at Kelly Field. One of
the men who had come down with me to take the physical examination looked at him, got up and said, ‘That’s all
the flying I need. I won’t take any more examinations.’ The rest of us took our examinations and shortly thereafter
were ordered to the University of Texas … a pre-flight school where we were given further military training and
subjects incident to flying. We stayed in Austin until September 1917, when we were ordered to Kelly Field for flying
training. At that time there were 40 flying cadets who were receiving dual training here at Kelly, usually given by
three civilian flying instructors…one of whom Bob Shanks, Eddie Stinson, and I forget the other one.
[Lt. Col. James B. Sweeney USAF Retired interjects: “You mentioned names, you were in there with some famous pilots, but they weren’t in your class. What happened, what was the next step in your course?]
After we were given our flying rating in December 1917, most of us were retained here at Kelly Field as flying
instructors. Flying instruction at that time was an all-day job from daylight in the morning ’til night. Usually an
instructor with his six teams flew from daylight ’til noon then turned his plane over to another instructor for six
more students who flew it from noon until dark. The next day we reversed the procedure…one flying in the morning and the other in the afternoon. We continued this flying instruction here at Kelly Field and I worked hard at it
and I was selected to be an assistant stage commander for dual flying. I was still a second lieutenant but I’d been
41
promoted. I got to work all day instead of just half a day! In the summer of 1918, a new flying school was being
set up at Payne Field, West Point, Mississippi, and I was selected to go over there to be assistant officer in charge of
flying. I stayed there until the end of the war, November 1918 and was later ordered to Ellington Field, Texas, in the
spring of 1919.
In June of 1919, the Mexican bandit, Francisco Villa, was acting up down on the border and a squadron of 12
DH4Bs was ordered from Ellington Field to El Paso to patrol the border. Not much has been said about the border
patrol but I consider it one of the finest things that happened in the early days. Young officers who had had very
little flying away from the training field were given an opportunity to do regular flying over rough country, to meet
emergencies, and it gave them a chance to grow and develop and I don’t believe this would have happened in any
other way. A number of people who later became very prominent in our Air Corps were also on border patrol with
me. These include Sandy Fairchilds, George Kenney, Travis MacMullen, Jimmie Doolittle, and others who are well
known to all aviation students.”
RR: Well, that concludes episode two of the A Salute to Military Flight podcast series brought to you by the
Institute of Texan Cultures. I’m Rhett Rushing. Thanks for joining me on this high-flying adventure. Be sure
to join me next time for our final episode in the series, when we hear from Lieutenant Colonel Harry Hand
about his first experience in the Air Corps, famous flyers he served alongside, chasing Pancho Villa on the
border, and becoming a cadet commander.
42
A Salute to Military Flight
Podcast #2 Transcript: Eubanks
Introduction Music/Sound Effect: Medal Ceremony (Short) & Jet Flyby
RR: Welcome to the A Salute to Military Flight podcast brought to you by the Institute of Texan Cultures. I’m
your host Rhett Rushing, folklorist and oral historian.
This series contains three oral histories, recorded in the early 1980s, from local military aviators: Colonel Carl
J. Crane USAF Retired, Major General Eugene Eubanks USAF Retired, and Lieutenant Colonel Harry Hand
USAF Retired.
San Antonio is the birthplace of military aviation. In 1910 Lt. Benjamin Foulois brought the Army’s first
airplane, a Wright Flyer, to Fort Sam Houston. And in this installment (2 of 3) Major General Eugene
___________shares he memory of being at Fort Sam when Lt. Kelly crashed, how Major General Eubanks
became a flight instructor and his participation in the hunt for Pancho Villa.
EE: “The war clouds were gathering in Europe; a number of young men were giving serious thought to their
military obligations and when an officer candidate training school to train young men for military duty was
established, I volunteered and came to _______ _____________ to enter an officer’s training camp to ________
__________. Shortly after my arrival at Leon Springs, I applied for flying training. We were first sent down to Fort
Sam Houston to take a physical examination for flying. An amusing incident: while we were at ______ ________
taking our examination… myself and there was about a dozen other people… the ambulance pulled up at the
front door of the hospital and a man was carried in on a stretcher. The word was given that he had been injured
in a flying accident at Kelly Field. One of the men who had come down with me to take the physical examination looked at him, got up and said, ‘That’s all the flying I need. I won’t take any more examinations.’ The rest of
us took our examinations and shortly thereafter were ordered to the University of Texas … a pre-flight school
where we were given further military training and subjects incident to flying. We stayed in Austin until September _________, when we were ordered to ___________ ___________ for flying training. At that time there were
______flying cadets who were receiving dual training here at Kelly, usually given by three ____________ flying
instructors…one of whom Bob Shanks, Eddie ________ and I forget the other one.
After we were given our flying rating in December 1917, most of us were retained here at Kelly Field as flying
______________. Flying instruction at that time was an all-day job from daylight in the morning ‘til night. Usually an instructor with his _____ teams flew from daylight ‘til noon then turned his plane over to another instructor for 6 more students who flew it from noon until dark. The next day we _________ the procedure…one flying
in the morning and the other in the afternoon. We continued this flying instruction here at Kelly Field and I worked
hard at it and I was selected to be an assistant stage commander for dual flying. I was still a second lieutenant but
I’d been promoted. I got to work all day instead of just half a day! In the __________ of 1918, a new flying school
43
was being set up at Payne Field, West Point, ___________________ and I was selected to go over there to be assistant officer in charge of flying. I stayed there until the end of the War, November 1918. And was later ordered to
Ellington Field, Texas in the spring of 1919.
In June of __________, the Mexican bandit, Francisco _____________, was acting up down on the border and a
squadron of 12 DH4B’s was ordered from Ellington Field to ____ __________ to patrol the border. Not much has
been said about the border patrol but I consider it one of the finest things that happened in the early days. Young
officers who had had very little flying away from the training field were given an opportunity to do regular flying
over rough country, to meet emergencies, and gave them a chance to grow and develop and I don’t believe this
would have happened in any other way. A number of people who later became very prominent in our ________
___________ were also on border patrol with me. These include Sandy Fairchilds, George Kenney, Travis MacMullen, Jimmie ___________, and others who are well known to all aviation students.”
RR: Well, that concludes episode two of the “A Salute to Military Flight” podcast series brought to you by the
Institute of Texan Cultures. I’m Rhett Rushing. Thanks for joining me on this high-flying adventure. Be sure
to join me next time for our final episode in the series, when we hear from Lieutenant Colonel Harry ______
USAF Retired about his first experience in the Air Corps, famous flyers he served alongside, chasing Pancho
Villa on the border and becoming a cadet ____________________.
44
A Salute to Military Flight
Podcast #3 Transcript: Hand
Introduction Music/Sound Effect: Medal Ceremony (Short) & Jet Flyby
RR: Welcome to the A Salute to Military Flight podcast brought to you by the Institute of Texan Cultures. I’m
your host Rhett Rushing, folklorist and oral historian for ITC.
This series contains three oral histories, recorded in the early 1980s, from local military aviators: Colonel Carl
J. Crane USAF Retired, Major General Eugene Eubanks USAF Retired, and Lieutenant Colonel Harry Hand
USAF Retired.
San Antonio is the birthplace of military aviation. In 1910 Lt. Benjamin Foulois brought the Army’s first airplane, a Wright Flyer, to Ft. Sam Houston. And in this installment (3 of 3) Lieutenant Colonel Harry Hand tells
of his first experience in the Air Corps, famous flyers he served alongside, chasing Pancho Villa on the border
and becoming a cadet commander.
HH: “My first experience with the Air Corps was in 1914. I was in charge of the Army transportation as a Staff Sergeant at El Paso Quartermaster Depot. A memorandum came through from the Chief Signal Corps officer of the
Army, General Squires, that he wanted 50 men for a detachment of the aviation section of the Signal Corps. They
wanted 50 volunteers. So I approached my Commanding Officer William E. Hunt, depot quartermaster, and asked
him if he would send in my application to volunteer. And he informed me that there would be no future to the
aviation and I was very foolish to leave my comfortable job as chief of motor transportation of the United States
Army, which consisted of 10 trucks and 2 passenger cars at that time. I knew motors. But I inveigled him into sending my application to Washington and in less than 20 days, I was reduced to a buck private and sent to San Diego
to be one of the first 50 in the aviation section of the Signal Corps.
The first 50 were collected in an old quarantine barracks on the mainland and we scrubbed that up and sanitized
that. And then we procured a boat and went over to North Island and we built our own barracks over there with
hammers and saws. The Air Corps doesn’t build its own barracks anymore. But we did our own. And we proceeded
to finagle around at North Island with what airplanes we had…old number 7 and old number 9. We had some
antiques that were super antiques. Some of the men flew; there were some flying officers there.
Foulois, who later became Chief of the Air Corps and was considered one of the fathers of aviation, was there.
And in 1915, we got an order to organize a squadron. And who the hell knew what a squadron was at that time?
There’d never been one organized. So we all set to and we organized a squadron. Table of personnel, how many
officers, how many non-commissioned officers, how many buck privates, and rank, and all that sort of thing.
Then we organized a table of equipment. How many screwdrivers, saws, hammers, chests. And then said how
many airplanes. So we organized the first air squadron in San Diego and brought it overland to Fort Sill, Oklaho-
45
ma, to work with the artillery in 1915. I can’t tell you what the first air squadron looked like but I can tell you it had
some wonderful personnel in it.
I could name you most of the early day fliers we had in the first Aero Squadron. Some of them had fields named
after them, McDill, lovely fine fellow; Wheeler, Sheldon B., Wheeler Field, Hawaii; oh we had fine men. I think, by
and large those early day fliers all gave their all and were devoted to the development of the aviation. We didn’t
realize what was coming on in this next 50 or 75 years, of course. I had been told by my commanding officer there
was no future to it in 1914!
Then we were picked up from there and sent to Columbus, New Mexico, to work with the expedition that went into
Mexico, 1916. Mexican punitive expedition, which was a mixture of our troops we had at that time, cavalry, foot
soldiers, infantry, and supply, quartermaster and services. And we went into Mexico with the Pershing Expedition.
We went in there, oh, I guess about 250 miles, 300. We had trucks and no roads and no air fields. The farthest in
Mexico that we penetrated with the first aero squadron was Statevo, about 30, 40 miles below Chihuahua. Cavalry
had gone on ahead of us and gotten into some fights. There were troops scattered out from that point on back to
Columbus, New Mexico.
We used the airplanes for communications, observation, and such surveillance as was too wide for the cavalry to
do; sort of screening. We were hunting Pancho Villa. We never did find him.
We lost one pilot down there for two or three days and we figured that we would find him where the most buzzards were. But he came riding back, Leslie McDill, Lieutenant, came riding back after being lost for two days. He
rode back into camp on a burro. He said he’d run out of gas and left his airplane in charge of a Mexican national
down somewhere in the country. I guess it’s still down there. (laughter).”
[Interviewer Retired USN Captain Pickett Lumpkin asks “Well, later on you got involved and became sort of
Commandant of the Aviation Cadets at Kelly Field. Could you tell us a little about how this came out? And what
happened.”]
HH: “I was at Kelly Field in ’16 and ’17 and had previous experience in the air and been in before they organized
the squadron. I could handle the work all right, I was assigned.”
[Interviewer Retired USN Captain Pickett Lumpkin interjects “Were you a commissioned officer at this
time?”]
HH: “Oh yes. Oh yes indeed. I was involved with all of the work that the reception and housing and feeding and
clothing and records and training of the cadets. Except time in the air. I was one of the officers in charge of flying.
Of course I had quite a number of experiences. I had to bury my cadets who were killed. We killed, oh sometimes,
two, three a week. We expected it. We had sometimes as many as 325-330 planes in the air at one time, training in
various stages at Kelly Field; in the air. Training is probably the most dangerous element of the air, especially with
the old crates that we had at that time. They could poop out on you anywhere. They weren’t overly reliable. My
46
experience there was more or less routine, I would say; routine administrative work.”
RR: Well, that concludes the final episode of the A Salute to Military Flight podcast series brought to you by
the Institute of Texan Cultures. I’m Rhett Rushing. Thanks for joining me on this high-flying adventure.
47
A Salute to Military Flight
Podcast #3 Transcript: Hand
Introduction Music/Sound Effect: Medal Ceremony (Short) & Jet Flyby
RR: Welcome to the A Salute to Military Flight podcast brought to you by the Institute of Texan Cultures. I’m
your host Rhett Rushing, folklorist and oral historian.
This series contains three oral histories, recorded in the early 1980s, from local military aviators: Colonel Carl
J. Crane USAF Retired, Major General Eugene Eubanks USAF Retired, and Lieutenant Colonel Harry Hand
USAF Retired.
San Antonio is the birthplace of military aviation. In 1910 Lt. Benjamin Foulois brought the Army’s first airplane, a Wright Flyer, to Fort Sam Houston. And in this installment (1of 3) Lieutenant Colonel Harry _______
tells of his first experience in the Air Corps, famous __________ he served alongside, chasing Pancho Villa on
the border and becoming a cadet commander.
HH: “My First experience with the Air Corps was in 1914. I was in charge of the Army transportation as a Staff
Sergeant at El Paso Quartermaster Depot. A memorandum came through from the Chief Signal Corps officer of
the Army, General Squires, that he wanted 50 men for a detachment of the aviation section of the __________
__________. They wanted 50 volunteers. So I approached my Commanding Officer William E. Hunt, depot quartermaster, and asked him if he would send in my application to volunteer. And he informed me that there would
be no ___________ to the aviation and I was very foolish to leave my comfortable job as chief of motor transportation of the United States Army, which consisted of 10 trucks and 2 passenger cars at that time. I knew motors.
But I inveigled him into sending my application to Washington and in less than 20 days, I was reduced to a buck
private and sent to _______ ___________ to be one of the first 50 in the aviation section of the Signal Corps.
The first 50 were collected in an old quarantine barracks on the mainland and we scrubbed that up and sanitized
that. And then we procured a boat and went over to North Island and we built our own ____________ over there
with hammers and saws. The Air Corps doesn’t build its own barracks anymore. But we did our own. And we proceeded to finagle around at North Island with what airplanes we had…old number 7 and old number 9. We had
some antiques that were super antiques. Some of the men flew; there were some flying officers there.
____________, who later became Chief of the Air Corps and was considered one of the ____________ ______
_______________, was there. And in 1915, we got an order to organize a squadron. And who the hell knew what
a squadron was at that time? There’d never been one organized. So we all set to and we organized a squadron.
Table of personnel, how many officers, how many non-commissioned officers, how many buck privates, and rank,
and all that sort of thing.
48
Then we organized a table of equipment. How many screwdrivers, saws, hammers, chests. And then said how
many airplanes. So we organized the first _______ ____________ in San Diego and brought it overland to Fort
Sill, Oklahoma, to work with the artillery in 1915. I can’t tell you what the first air squadron looked like but I can tell
you it had some wonderful personnel in it.
I could name you most of the early day fliers we had in the first Aero Squadron. Some of them had fields named
after them, McDill, lovely fine fellow; Wheeler, Sheldon B., Wheeler Field, Hawaii; oh we had fine men. I think, by
and large those early day fliers all gave their all and were devoted to the development of the aviation. We didn’t
realize what was coming on in this next 50 or 75 years, of course. I had been told by my Commanding Officer there
was no future to it in 1914!
Then we were picked up from there and sent to Columbus, New Mexico, to work with the expedition that went into
__________, 1916. Mexican punitive expedition, which was a mixture of our troops we had at that time, cavalry,
foot soldiers, infantry, and supply, quarter master and services. And we went into Mexico with the ___________
Expedition. We went in there, oh, I guess about 250 miles, 300. We had trucks and no roads and no air fields. The
farthest in Mexico that we penetrated with the first aero squadron was Statevo, about 30, 40 miles below Chihuahua. Cavalry had gone on ahead of us and gotten into some fights. There were troops scattered out from that
point on back to Columbus, New Mexico.
We used the airplanes for communications, _____________, and such surveillance as was too wide for the cavalry to do; sort of screening. We were hunting _________ ____________. We never did find him.
We lost one pilot down there for two or three days and we figured that we would find him where the buzzards
were. But he came riding back, Leslie McDill, Lieutenant, came riding back after being lost for two days. He rode
back into camp on a burro. He said he’d run out of gas and left his airplane in charge of a Mexican national down
somewhere in the country. I guess it’s still down there. (laughter).”
[Interviewer Retired USN Captain Pickett Lumpkin asks “Well, later on you got involved and became sort of
Commandant of the Aviation Cadets at Kelly Field. Could you tell us a little about how this came out? And what
happened.”]
HH: “I was at Kelly Field in ’16 and ’17 and had previous experience in the air and been in before they organized
the squadron. I could handle the work all right, I was assigned.”
[Interviewer Retired USN Captain Pickett Lumpkin interjects “Were you a commissioned officer at this
time?”]
HH: “Oh yes. Oh yes indeed. I was involved with all of the work that the reception and housing and feeding and
clothing and records and training of the cadets. Except time in the air. I was one of the officers in charge of flying.
49
Of course I had quite a number of experiences. I had to _____ my cadets who were killed. We killed, oh sometimes,
two, three a week. We expected it. We had sometimes as many as 325-330 planes in the air at one time, training in
various stages at Kelly Field; in the air. Training is probably the most ____________ element of the air, especially
with the old crates that we had at that time. They could poop out on you anywhere. They weren’t overly reliable.
My experience there was more or less routine, I would say; routine administrative work.”
RR: Well, that concludes the final episode of the “A Salute to Military Flight” podcast series brought to you by
the Institute of Texan Cultures. I’m Rhett Rushing. Thanks for joining me on this high-flying adventure.
50