Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps

In 1908, the Aeronautical Division, at the intercession of President Theodore Roosevelt in the acquisition process, purchased a nonrigid dirigible from Thomas Scott Baldwin for US$6,750 (equivalent to $219,850 in 2022),[7] and an airplane from the Wright Brothers for US$25,000 (equivalent to $814,259 in 2022). Specification No. 486 required both types of aircraft be able to carry two persons. The dirigible had to be able to carry a load of 450 pounds (200 kg) and reach a speed of 20 miles per hour (32 km/h); the airplane's requirements were a load of 350 pounds (160 kg), a speed of 40 miles per hour (64 km/h), and a flying distance of at least 125 miles (201 km).[13]

The dirigible was delivered first, in July 1908, after Baldwin submitted an extremely low bid to ensure receiving the contract. Baldwin and Glenn Curtiss flew the test trials over Fort Myer and met all specifications except speed, which was just under the requirement. It was designated Signal Corps Dirigible No. 1. During August, Baldwin trained three officer candidates to fly the dirigible: Lahm, Selfridge, and 1st Lt. Benjamin Foulois, Infantry. Foulois was trained as the first dirigible pilot and prepared to move the ship from Fort Omaha to St. Joseph, Missouri, for a state fair exhibition. However, the first solo ascent in the dirigible, and the first flight solely by army pilots, did not occur until May 26, 1909.

1st Lt. Frank Lahm and Orville Wright in the first U.S. Army airplane, S.C. No. 1, July 27, 1909

The Wright Brothers, who had been asking US$100,000 (equivalent to $3,257,037 in 2022) for their airplane, then agreed to sell a Wright Model A satisfying the requirements for $25,000 (they also received a US$5,000 (equivalent to $162,852 in 2022) bonus for exceeding the speed requirement). The airplane was delivered to Fort Myer, Virginia, on September 1, 1908, for trials. The first acceptance flight of the airplane was made on September 3 at Fort Myer, with Orville at the controls. Selfridge and Lahm were named official observers of the trials of the Wright aeroplane for September 1908. Both Lahm and Squier made acceptance flights as observers, and on September 13, Wright kept the airplane aloft for an hour and ten minutes.

Crashed Wright Flyer that took the life of Selfridge September 17, 1908

On the afternoon of September 17, 1908, two officers of the United States Navy, Lieut. George C. Sweet and Naval Constructor (Lieut.) William McEntee, and another from the Marine Corps, 2nd Lt. Richard B. Creecy, were present at Fort Myer as official observers, accompanied by Secretary of the Navy Victor H. Metcalf.[14] Under orders to travel to St. Joseph for the dirigible exhibition, Selfridge asked to take Sweet's place on a scheduled test flight, conducted in front of 2,500 onlookers.[n 6] During the flight, flying at 150 feet (46 m), a propeller split and shattered on the fourth lap, severing a guy wire to the rudder, and caused the airplane to crash.[n 7] Wright was hospitalized, and Selfridge—the Army's only officer experienced in heavier-than-air flight—was killed in the first fatal crash of an airplane.[15][n 8]

Orville Wright, along with Wilbur this time, returned to Fort Myer in June 1909 with a new though smaller and faster airplane, powered by the engine from the wrecked 1908 Flyer. The brothers spent the better part of July fine tuning the airplane and warming up for the final tests while bad flying weather hampered much of the month. For 1909's acceptance trials both Lahm and Foulois were named as official observers.

Lahm flew with Wright on July 27, and on July 30, with President William H. Taft as a spectator,[9] Foulois and Wright in the final acceptance trial made a cross country flight of 10 miles (16 km) around Shuter's (or Shooters) Hill between Fort Myer and Alexandria, Virginia.[16] This flight broke all of the existing records for speed, duration with a passenger, and altitude with a passenger. Pleased with the performance of this airplane the Army purchased it awarding the Wrights US$25,000 (equivalent to $814,259 in 2022) plus an added bonus of US$5,000 (equivalent to $162,852 in 2022) ($1,000 for each mile achieved over 40 miles per hour (64 km/h)). The plane's best speed had been 45 miles per hour (72 km/h), bringing the total sale price to US$30,000 (equivalent to $977,111 in 2022).[17]

The Army accepted the Wright A Military Flyer on August 2, 1909, designating it "Signal Corps (S.C.) No. 1".[18] On August 25, the Army leased 160 acres (0.65 km²) of land along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at College Park, Maryland, for use as a training field. The newly purchased airplane was delivered to College Park on October 7, assembled by Wilbur Wright, and flown for the first time the next day. Wright began instruction of Lahm and 2nd Lt Frederic E. Humphreys, detailed from the Corps of Engineers, flying constantly in front of often large crowds of curiosity seekers, newspaper reporters, and dignitaries. Both soloed on October 26, Humphreys going ahead of Lahm (the detachment commander) because it was his turn to fly. Although both flights were of less than 15 minutes in duration and 30 ft (9.1 m) of altitude, late in the day Lahm remained aloft for 40 minutes, telling Wright he landed only because it was suppertime.[16] The Army's contract with the Wright Brothers ended with the completion of training of the two student pilots, and Wilbur Wright made his last public flight on November 2.[19] Later that day, Lahm took Lieut. Sweet up as a passenger and he became the first naval officer to fly.[16]

On November 5, both pilots were aboard the airplane, with Lahm at the controls, when it crashed in a low altitude turn. Although neither pilot was injured, and the Wrights bore the expense of repairs, the crash ended flights until 1910. Both Lahm and Humphreys returned to duty with their respective branches.[20][n 9]

The dirigible service proved short-lived, as the corrosive effects of weather and the hydrogen gas used to lift the ship caused the gasbag to leak with increasing severity. The dirigible was condemned and sold at auction. Foulois had been a vocal critic of the dirigible, recommending that it be abandoned, and although one of the two candidates selected to be trained as an airplane pilot, he was sent to Nancy, France instead as a delegate to the International Congress of Aeronautics.[20] Foulois arrived back from France on October 23 and was given some preliminary flight time with Wilbur Wright, even though Wright was not contractually obligated to do so, with the intent that Humphreys would complete Foulois' training.[16]

In November 1909, Foulois became the only officer detailed to the Aeronautical Division. He accrued three hours and two minutes total flying time at College Park but did not solo.[16] Because of inclement winter weather at College Park, Foulois was assigned to move the flying program to Fort Sam Houston, an Army post near San Antonio, Texas. Foulois and eight enlisted men[n 10] disassembled the still-damaged S.C. No. 1, shipped it to Texas in 17 crates, and reassembled it on February 23, 1910, after building a shed to house it on the Arthur MacArthur Field used for cavalry drill.[21][22] On 2 March 1910, after training himself, Foulois logged his first solo from 9:30am to 9:37am[22] and four flights in total, crashing the S.C. No. 1 on its final landing.[23] He achieved a maximum altitude of 200 ft (61 m) and a speed of 50 mph (80 km/h) in logging 59 minutes and 30 seconds of flight time.[22] He flew the repaired craft five times on March 12, and received written instruction by mail from the Wright Brothers.[24] Until 1911, Foulois remained as the Army's sole aviator and innovator. He stated in annotating the aircraft's flight log that he installed a 4 ft (1.2 m) leather cinch strap from the Cavalry saddlery[25] as a safety belt on the S.C. No. 1 on March 12, 1910,[26] then on August 8 he and Oliver Simmons bolted wheels from a cultivator[25] onto the landing skids to provide the first landing gear.[27] S.C. No. 1 made its last flight, and the 66th on it by Foulois, on February 8, 1911.[28]

In early 1911, the United States gathered much of the Regular Army in south Texas as a show of force to Mexican revolutionaries, forming the "Maneuver Division". In March 1911 near Fort McIntosh at Laredo, Texas, Foulois and Wright instructor Philip Orin Parmelee demonstrated the use of airplanes in support of ground maneuvers for the first time. The S.C. No. 1 was not sufficiently airworthy for the reconnaissance and messaging missions it performed, and for a nominal fee of one dollar, Foulois rented the Wright B Flyer privately owned by Robert J. Collier, owner of Collier's Weekly, on February 21. Foulois and Parmalee landed the rented airplane in the Rio Grande during their second flight, on March 5.[29][n 11]

Squier, now Chief Signal Officer of the Maneuver Division, formed a provisional aero company on April 5, 1911, the first aviation unit in American history,[n 12] in anticipation of training 18 additional pilots.[30][n 13] Five new airplanes were authorized for purchase, and two were received at Fort Sam on April 20, a Curtiss 1911 "Type IV military aeroplane" (Curtiss Model D) designated Signal Corps No. 2, and a new Wright Model B that became S.C. No. 3. Both came equipped with wheels rather than skids, and the Curtiss aircraft was powered by an 8-cylinder, 60 hp (45 kW) engine in sharp contrast to the 40 hp (30 kW) 4-cylinder training engines the student pilots were accustomed to.[31] Two civilian pilots, Frank Trenholm Coffyn of the Wright Company and Eugene Ely from Curtiss, arrived with the aircraft to assist in instruction.[32] All three of the Army's aircraft took to the air at the same time on April 22, 1911, during a parade and review of troops of the Maneuver Division at Fort Sam Houston, captured in a panoramic photograph linked below.[33]

After Army acceptance of the aircraft on April 27, Foulois and Ely then undertook training a small group pilot candidates on the Curtiss machine, including three (Capt. Paul W. Beck, 2nd Lt. George E.M. Kelly, and 2nd Lt. John C. Walker, Jr.) who had been partially trained as prospective Curtiss instructors by Glen Curtiss at North Island, San Diego, California, before being ordered to Texas.[34] Student pilots were divided into separate sections because the flight controls on the two types were markedly different and the single-seat Curtiss machines did not allow for dual instruction. S.C. No. 1, judged no longer airworthy due to many rebuilds, was retired from service on May 4 and sent to the Smithsonian Institution in October.[35]

The most proficient new pilot was Beck, who by seniority was made commander of the provisional aero company, causing a permanent rift between himself and Foulois, by far the more experienced pilot. The Curtiss machine, S.C. No.2, nearly crashed on May 2 with Walker at the controls, nose-diving when Walker attempted a turn. The plane cartwheeled and although Walker miraculously regained control, he was so badly shaken that he voluntarily withdrew from flying. The next day Beck crash-landed S.C. No. 2 when its engine failed while he was at 300 ft (91 m), severely damaging it. On May 10, Kelly, the least experienced pilot, was killed flying the same airplane on his qualification flight when he crashed while landing in gusty wind conditions. The division commander, Major General William H. Carter, immediately withdrew permission to fly at Fort Sam.[n 14] Foulois, who was a mustang officer and a combat veteran of the Spanish–American War, blamed the crash on improper repairs to the Curtiss D, and indirectly, on Beck. Foulois also refused to serve under Beck, who took over as instructor and moved the school back to College Park with S.C. No. 3 in June.[n 15] Foulois remained behind with the Maneuver Division and was removed from aviation in July by assignment to the Militia Bureau in Washington, D.C. Beck served as the Curtiss instructor at College Park until May 1, 1912, when he was returned to the Infantry by enforcement of the so-called "Manchu Law".[36][n 16]

Henry H. Arnold at the controls of a Wright Model B airplane 1911

While stationed in the Philippines in 1908, 2nd Lieutenant Henry H. Arnold assisted Capt. Arthur S. Cowan (then in the Infantry) in a military mapping detail. Cowan returned to the United States, transferred to the Signal Corps, and was assigned to recruit two lieutenants to become pilots. Cowan contacted Arnold, who cabled his interest in also transferring to the Signal Corps but heard nothing in reply for two years. In 1911, relocated to Fort Jay, New York, Arnold sent a request to transfer to the Signal Corps, and on April 21, 1911, received orders detailing him and 2nd Lt. Thomas D. Milling to Dayton, Ohio, for flight instruction at the Wright brothers' aviation school.[n 17] Beginning instruction on May 3, Milling had soloed on May 8 after two hours of flight time while Arnold made his first solo flight May 13 after three hours and forty-eight minutes of flying lessons.

In June, he and Milling completed their instruction and were sent to College Park, Maryland, as the Army's first flight instructors, on June 14. Two Wright B airplanes were available for use in instruction when S.C. No. 4 was delivered five days later and joined S.C. No. 3, newly arrived from Texas. The school officially opened on July 3, 1911, and taught ten students, including two members of the National Guard[n 18] and Chandler, who had been assigned to command the school and division again after graduation from the Signal School.[n 19] S.C. No. 2, repaired and returned to service,[n 20] was joined at the end of July by S.C. No. 6, a new Curtiss E "scout",[n 21] and Milling became the only aviator able to master the significantly different flight controls of each type. A split developed between the "Wright pilots" and the "Curtiss pilots" that was not resolved until the Wright machines were phased out in 1914 for safety reasons.[n 22]

Milling won the Tri-State Biplane Race in a Wright B against a field of experienced fliers, flying a course from Boston, Massachusetts, to Nashua, New Hampshire, to Worcester, Massachusetts, to Providence, Rhode Island and back to Boston, a total of 175 miles, without the use of a compass. It was also his first night flight, with several large bonfires providing guidance to the landing field.

Arnold set an altitude record of 3,260 ft (990 m) on July 7, 1911, and twice broke it. In August, he experienced his first crash, trying to take off from a farm field after getting lost. At the end of the November the school disassembled its four aircraft and moved to Augusta, Georgia, for the winter, flying from a leased farm. One of its students, Lt. Col. Charles B. Winder of Ohio, was the first National Guard officer to complete flying training and receive an F.A.I. certificate in the spring of 1912.[37][n 23]

Arnold accepted delivery of the Army's first tractor plane (with a propeller and engine mounted on the front) on June 26, 1912, but crashed into the bay at Plymouth, Massachusetts, during takeoff. Arnold began to develop a phobia about flying, intensified by the fatal crashes of the Wright Company instructor who taught him, Arthur L. Welsh on June 12, and an academy classmate of Arnold's, 2d Lt. Lewis Rockwell, on September 18, 1912, both in the new Wright C "speed scouts".

In October 1912, Arnold and Milling were sent to Fort Riley, Kansas, to experiment with spotting for the field artillery. On November 5, Arnold's Wright C stalled, went into a spin, and he narrowly avoided a fatal crash. He immediately and voluntarily grounded himself, then returned to the Infantry in 1913 after closing down the school at College Park, which was discontinued in favor of one with favorable flying conditions year-round on North Island at San Diego, California, later named Rockwell Field in 1917 in memory of Arnold's classmate.

Beck was possibly the first advocate of an air service separate from the Army ground forces. In 1912 Beck authored an article for the Infantry Journal entitled, "Military Aviation in America: Its Needs", promoting the concept of an independent air force with its own missions. After he returned to the Infantry, he continued to lobby friends in Congress to return to aviation. In February 1913, Representative James Hay (Democrat-Virginia) introduced a bill intended to transfer aviation from the Signal Corps to the line of the Army as a semi-autonomous "Air Corps". The bill was considered too radical and died in committee, but when the 1913 appropriations bill included many of its provisions, Hay offered a revised bill in May, HR5304 "An Act to Increase the Efficiency in the Aviation Service". Hearings were held on the new bill in August 1913. Beck appeared to testify on behalf of the bill, the only officer to do so, and was opposed by Major Billy Mitchell, representing the General Staff, and Foulois, Arnold, and Milling representing the Signal Corps. That bill had its original language expunged and was written to become the enabling legislation for the Aviation Section, Signal Corps on 18 July 1914.[42][43]

Appropriations for aviation fell to $100,000, in part because the Signal Corps had spent only $40,000 of the Fiscal Year 1912 funding. However, as a result of the high number of fatalities, flight pay (35% increase above base pay) and accelerated promotion for pilots were approved by Congress on March 3, 1913, in the appropriations legislation and the Aeronautical Division grew from 14 to 18 pilots. The Army Air Forces Statistical Digest (World War II)[44] listed the strength of the division at 51 officers and men on November 1, 1912, and 114 on September 30, 1913. Statistics compiled for the HR5304 hearings showed that United States ranked 14th in expenditures among the nations with air services.[45]

In the following year, Congress increased the size and prestige of Signal Corps aviation when it established the Aviation Section, with the Aeronautical Division continued as its headquarters component issuing orders in the name of the Chief Signal Officer. Reber became chief of the section and was promoted to lieutenant colonel, delegating the duties of head of the Aeronautical Division to another non-aviator, Major Edgar Russel, senior instructor and assistant commandant of the Signal School.[n 31] In February 1917 the Aeronautical Division was one of three divisions in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer (OCSO) comprising the Aviation Section, the others being the Administrative Division and Engineering Division. On October 1, 1917, during World War I, the Aeronautical Division was renamed the Air Division and was abolished altogether by the War Department on April 24, 1918.

Between August 1, 1908, and June 30, 1914, the Signal Corps spent $430,000 on aeronautics,[n 32] funding the purchase of 30 aircraft and the building of a 31st (S.C. No. 23) from spare parts.[n 33] By 1914, only nine of the surviving 23 remained in service, and two of those that were retired never flew operationally.[4][n 34]

SOURCES: Hennessy, The United States Army Air Arm, April 1861 to April 1917, Chapters 2–6, pp. 28–102; Warnock, "From Infant Technology to Obsolescence: the Wright Brothers' Airplane in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, 1905–1915"