One hundred years ago, in the skies above this
monument, three soaring flights were made on
March 16th, 17th, and 20th, by an aeroplane-
glider flown by Aeronaut and parachute dare-
devil, Daniel John Maloney, which had been
designed and built by Professor John. J.
Montgomery.
The frail craft, weighing only 42 pounds, was
constructed of spruce, wire, and fortified canvas,
and had tandem-wings with a 24 ft. wingspan
and a four sided tail. It was taken aloft here at
the then Leonard Ranch by a smoke-balloon
rented by Fred Swanton and owned by Frank Hamilton, to heights of 800 ft., 1,100 ft., and 3,000 feet. The longest flight lasted over 18 minutes and covered
over 2 miles...From a letter by Prof. Montgomery to his mother...
My machine flew three times, each time better than the other and descended beautifully. Going in different directions under perfect control of the aeronaut, and landing in a spot selected by him as gently as a feather.
These flights were the result of 22 years of experimentations and flight testing by Professor Montgomery, beginning with his first glider flight in 1883 at Otay Mesa in San Diego and ending with his accidental death in 1911.
Called the "Father of Basic Flying", his successes and contributions to the development of flight
were heralded by the world's press at the time, but are now largely forgotten.
Comments 0 comments