Meet the Aviators

The Wright Brothers	Glenn Curtiss	Walter Brookins
Frank Coffyn	Famous 1910 Aviators	Ralph Johnstone
Charles K. Hamilton	Archibald "Arch" Hoxsey	Hugh L. Willoughby

The Wright Brothers

Orville Wright was born on April 16, 1867 in Millville, Indiana. Four years later, on August 19, 1871, Wilbur Wright was born in Dayton, Ohio. The Wright Brothers, in an attempt to capitalize on the cycling craze of the late 1800s, built a bicycle design and repair shop in 1897. However, they garnered their true fame as the inventors of the airplane. On December 17, 1903 – in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina – the Wright Brothers exhibited their creation to the world. Flying an aircraft of their own design, the Wright Brothers made the first controlled and sustained flight in a heavier-than-air airplane. In the years following their first flight, the Wright Brothers made significant improvements to their design, and – by 1910 – although most individuals had never seen an airplane, the idea of flight had become a common concept. The Wrights produced their aircraft more widely and in a number of different models. To drum up sales and promote their invention, the Wright Brothers opened the Wright Flying School in 1910. From the graduates of the Wright Flying School, Orville and Wilbur formed the Wright Exhibition Team – a group of aviators who performed aerial shows for the public, setting and breaking numerous records for altitude and endurance. Aside from scolding the pilots for their dangerous flying, Wilbur was rather uninvolved in the Wright Exhibition Team’s activities. He was preoccupied with the Wright Company’s legal affairs. Heightening the competition between the two companies, the Wright Company and Glenn Curtiss’ Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company were involved in a heated lawsuit over patent infringement. Orville, however, trained the first exhibition pilot teams, later turning them over to Walter Brookins. The exhibition team disbanded in November of 1911. By 1912, more than half of the original team had died in airplane crashes. Wilbur Wright died of typhoid on May 30th, 1912 in Dayton, Ohio. Orville died January 30th, 1948 in Dayton, Ohio.

Glenn Curtiss
The main rival to the Wright Company empire, Glenn Curtiss was born May 21, 1878 in Hammondsport, New York. An inventor, innovator and pioneer aviator, Curtiss first achieved fame as a stunt motorcyclist – breaking numerous records for speed – and for his reputation as the leading maker of high-performance motorcycles. His interest in motorcycle engines fostered his desire to build engines for aircraft, and in 1904 he became the engine supplier for Tom Baldwin, a California aeronaut. Curtiss’ work for Tom Baldwin caught the interest of Alexander Graham Bell, and Bell asked Curtiss to join his Aerial Experiment Association (AEA). At AEA, Curtiss designed the famous June Bug airplane, and became the aircraft’s test pilot. In 1909, Curtiss competed in the world’s first air meet in Reims, France where he won the Gordon Bennett Cup race. Around the same time, Curtiss formed his own exhibition team. He and his demonstration pilots performed at aerial demonstrations and at competitions across the United States, promoting his aircraft. In September of 1910, Curtiss trained the first woman pilot, Blanch Stuart Scott, to fly. Following his career as an inventor and aviator, Curtiss built and designed aircraft for the United States military. In 1929, shortly before his death, the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company merged with the Wright Aeronautical Corporation, a child organization of the original Wright Company, to form the Curtiss-Wright company. Curtiss died July 23, 1930 in Buffalo, New York from complications after appendix surgery.

Walter Brookins

Walter Brookins was born July 11, 1888 in Dayton Ohio. Brookins was a close family friend of the Wright family – having once been a student of Katherine Wright, the Wright Brothers’ sister. In 1909, Brookins was the first aviator to be trained by Orville Wright at the Wright Flying School. His performance at the Indianapolis Air Meet in 1910 designated him as a skilled pilot. He broke the world record for altitude in Indianapolis and, again, in Atlantic City where he became the first person to fly to the height of one mile. Aside from Orville, Walter was the first pilot-instructor to be hired by the Wright Flying School. After the school’s closure in 1916, Brookins continued to work as an exhibition pilot and instructor for the Wright Brothers. Upon his retirement from aviation, Brookins worked in the automotive industry. He died on April 29, 1953.

Ralph Johnstone

Ralph Johnston was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1886 and became a star flier for the Wright Exhibition Team. Prior to becoming an aviator, Johnstone was a vaudeville entertainer who performed acts as a trick cyclist. Johnstone joined the Wright Exhibition Team as a pilot and was known for his friendly competition with fellow Wright flier, Archibald Hoxsey. He and Hoxsey were nicknamed the “heavenly twins” for their daring attempts to break world records for altitude. Johnstone, however, pushed himself perhaps too far. On November 17, 1910 in Denver, Colorado, Johnstone became the first Wright Team pilot to die. From a high altitude, Johnstone attempted to dive his airplane toward the ground with the intention of pulling up and recovering before he touched down. Johnstone’s attempt to recover failed and his aircraft crashed, killing him instantly.

Archibald "Arch" Hoxsey
The second half of the “heavenly twins,” Archibald “Arch” Hoxsey was born on October 15, 1884 in Staunton, Illinois. At the age of 18, Arch Hoxsey began working with the Wright Brothers as a mechanic in their factory. When Orville Wright opened a flight school in Montgomery, Alabama in March of 1910, Hoxsey signed up. Hoxsey proved himself a worthy student and was selected to join the Wright Exhibition Team. He gained prominence as an aviator after his demonstrations in Asbury Park. At Kinloch Field in St. Louis, on October 11, 1910, Hoxsey had the honor of taking President Theodore Roosevelt on Roosevelt’s first flight in an airplane. Sadly, Archibald Hoxsey met a similar fate as Ralph Johnstone. On December 31, 1910 in Los Angeles, Johnstone flew to a height of 7,000 feet. On the descent, his aircraft spun out of control and he died when his airplane crashed into the ground.

Charles K. Hamilton
Born in 1881, Charles Hamilton was an aviator for Glenn Curtiss’ exhibition team. Hamilton began his career as a hot air balloonist and parachute jumper, leaping from great heights at fairs and circuses around the country. Through his exploits in the world of hot air ballooning, Hamilton befriended Roy Knabenshue, an American aeronautical engineer and aviator, and began piloting airships. In 1909, Charles abandoned his career as an airship pilot in order to learn how to fly airplanes under the tutelage of Glenn Curtiss. After briefly studying with Curtiss, Hamilton joined the Curtiss exhibition team. He quickly garnered a reputation for being a stuntman and daredevil pilot. Crowds would flock to experience Hamilton’s wild style of flying; his performances were full of dangerous dives and turns which often resulted in crashes. In his time as an aviator, Hamilton survived more than 60 accidents and countless injuries. On June 13, 1910, Hamilton made the first roundtrip airplane flight between New York City and Philadelphia, winning a prize of $10,000. His career was cut short when he died of tuberculosis on January 22, 1914.

Frank Coffyn

Frank Coffyn, one of the original members of the Wright Exhibition Team, was born on October 24, 1879 in Charleston, South Carolina. Coffyn’s father was an acquaintance of one of the Wright Company board members, and coordinated a meeting between Frank and Wilbur Wright. In May, 1910, Wilbur invited Frank to visit Dayton, Ohio where Frank began training at the Wright Flying School. In addition to working for the Wright Company as an exhibition pilot, Coffyn trained nascent aviators, delivered aircraft to the United States Army and assisted in opening smaller flying schools. Additionally, Coffyn was hired on contract by the Vitagraph Film Company to shoot the first aerial footage of New York City in February of 1912. After his time at the Wright Company, Coffyn continued his career in aviation. He worked as an Army flight instructor and was later employed by the Hiller Helicopter Company. He died on December 10, 1960 in Palo Alto, California.

Hugh L. Willoughby
Born in 1856, Hugh L. Willoughby led a life of privilege. A resident of Newport, Rhode Island for much of his life, Willoughby graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1877 where he made a name for himself as an athlete and trendsetter. He played on the university’s first football team, was the stroke oar for the crew team and started the University Athletic Association. Upon graduating, he continued making a name for himself as a sportsman, adventurer and aviator. He started a cycling club called the League of American Wheelmen which, at one point, had an enrollment of 800,000 members. He was one of the first civilians to dive in a submarine and the first to drive an automobile from Washington, D.C. to Richmond, Virginia. A founding member of the Aero Club of America, Willoughby always had a keen interest in aeronautics. In 1888, inspired by the wings of hawks, he constructed a lighter-than-air-aircraft. In 1909, he built an airplane called the War Hawk. It was the largest amateur-built aircraft of its time. His achievements in aviation did not go unnoticed by his contemporaries. In fact, at the 1910 airshow in Atlantic City, when Glenn Curtiss infamously went missing for several hours, it was because Curtiss had decided to fly to Willoughby’s home in Ventnor, NJ in order to see an aircraft Willoughby was constructing. For his contributions to the field of aviation, Willoughby was named the Director of the Belmont Park Airshow in October of 1910. Hugh Willoughby authored several patents for airplane parts and equipment, and his clientele included aviators such as Glenn Curtiss and Charles K. Hamilton. Willoughby used this prestige as an aeronautical inventor and innovator to launch the Willoughby Aeroplane Company. He died on April 4, 1939.