College Park’s Unique Transportation ‘First’
Partnership Monthly Bulletin
Many know the Wright Brothers – Orville and Wilbur Wright as the engineers responsible for creating the first airplane. While the pair remain a household name, the story of the Wright Brothers unfolds much closer than you may think.
On December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers made their first successful flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Though Wilbur and Orville Wright were the only engineers known to be capable of flight, it would take five years for the US War Department to express interest in their design. In the summer of 1909, the Wright Brothers put their invention to the test for the US Army in Fort Meyer, Virginia.
Orville, accompanied by Lt. Benjamin D. Foulois, tested the Wright Flyer based on the criteria outlined in the Army’s Request for Proposal (RFP), which required the machine carry two persons, maintain a speed forty miles an hour or more, stay airborne for at least 60 minutes, and land without serious damage. A crash during flight trials delayed its acceptance, killing Lt. Foulois and injuring Orville. After design improvements, the U.S. Army accepted the Wright Flyer Model B the following summer. The Wright brothers are credited not only with creating the first successful airplane but the first performance-based contract to the U.S. Military.
After granting the contract to the Wright Brothers, the U.S. Army needed space for the training the Wright Flyer, officially called Signal Corps No. 1. The Army leased a 160-acre tract of land in College Park, Maryland. Now home of the headquarters for the Army’s Aeronautical Division, Wilbur Wright trained pilots Lt. Frank P. Lahm and Lt. Frederic E. Humphries right here in College Park. This training base, now the College Park Airport (KCGS), is the world’s oldest continuously operating airport and several aviation ‘firsts’.
Apart from being a fully operational airport, KCGS hosts the College Park Aviation Museum, which explores aviation history and innovations at College Park Airport and in Prince George’s County, Maryland. You can learn more about the history of aviation at the College Park Aviation Museum here.