Air Line Pilot, August 2000, page 28
By Esperison Martinez, Jr., Contributing Editor

ABOVE:  The 27,000-square-foot museum is modeled on an early Wright aeroplane.  ABOVE RIGHT:  The musuem's glass wall and the exhibits face the existing airport's single runway.  Shown in the foreground are a Curtiss JN-4D Jenny and the Berliner helicopter.  RIGHT:  Aviation pioneers depicted on a huge mural of the early airfield look down upon the full-size Wright Model B replica.

As the desolate, wind-swept Kitty Hawk of 1903 is hailed as the birthplace of powered aviation, many aviation historians consider the "cradle of aviation" to be College Park Airport, chartered in 1909 as an airfield on an isolated 160-acre tract of flat Maryland land some 7 miles from Washington, D.C., and adjacent to an agricultural college. This airport is renowned as the site of many of aviation's early achievements.

Today, the sand dunes at Kitty Hawk are not nearly as bleak as they were in 1903, and commercial growth has encroached on the airport at College Park. The airport has been reduced to 40 acres, and its isolation has given way to a nearby industrial park. The agriculture college is now one campus of the University of Maryland with a student body of 33,000, and U.S. Route l is one of the airport's main access roads.

A 27,000-square-foot museum has been erected to preserve the historical significance of the airport, which recorded more firsts than any other airport in the United States and spawned major contributions to contemporary knowledge of aviation, mechanics, and technology.

The College Park Aviation Museum, a two-story glass and brick structure, opened in 1998. Its curved roof is reminiscent of an early Wright aeroplane, which its architects used as the inspiration for their creative design. A two-story northeast-facing glass wall filters the daylight that floods the cavernous, hangar-like open-bay exhibit hall. On its floor and suspended from its steel-ribbed ceiling are aviation artifacts and displays that record the events of the three innovative decades that followed the airport's birth in 1909. Museum officials say the airport, more than any other site, "exemplifies the growing years of aviation."

That College Park Airport ever came into being may be owed to the pique of a U.S. Army commanding officer at having aeroplane flight-testing take over his Ft. Myer, Va., parade ground.

The Army established its Aeronautical Division within the Signal Corps in 1907 and let a contract bid for "a motorized heavier-than-air flying machine and the training of two pilots" in 1908.

The Wright Military Flyer, Model A, which Wilbur and Orville Wright submitted, met all contractual specifications in flight tests at Ft. Myer. The brothers delivered the aeroplane, and the Army accepted it on Aug. 2, 1909. All that remained was to train the two pilots.

But because the Ft. Myer parade ground was "needed," Capt. Charles Chandler, officer-in-charge of the 1st Aeronautical Unit of the Army's Signal Corps, was told to find a suitable site for the Army's first flight school.

The search began, and on Aug. 9, 1909, balloonist Lt. Frank Lahm, Army Signal Corps, departed Ft. Myer, located next to Arlington Cemetery, Va., in a balloon and drifted over the Potomac River into Maryland. He found an isolated large piece of flat land with few trees, and only two small buildings. That land was destined to become College Park Airfield, the site of the military's first flight training school.

The Army signed a lease for the land on Aug. 25, 1909. The property was then, and is still today, bound on the west by railroad tracks, on the north and east by the Paint Branch and the Eastern Branch of the Potomac River, and on the south by private property; but what was then an isolated location is today a heavily populated community near Washington, D.C.

By early October 1909, workmen had erected a small wooden hangar, cleared obstacles, and built a monorail starting track that was oriented in the direction of the prevailing wind--the airplane had no wheels. The Military Flyer was transported to the field in a wagon from Ft. Myer. It was reassembled and ready to fly on Oct. 8, 1909.

As you enter the first museum gallery, a replica of the 1909 Wright hangar, you see an animatronic Wilbur Wright holding his hands about a wooden propeller, an enlisted man's bed in the corner with blankets wrapped tight in military fashion, and a work area laden with tools and various artifacts in glass cases that belonged to the Wrights and their two students, Lts. Frank P. Lahm and Frederick Humphreys.

Lt. Benjamin Foulois was originally to have been selected for instruction. However, at the last minute he was sent to Nancy, France, to attend an aeronautical exhibition.

Some of the "hangar's" other artifacts include the stove used at Kitty Hawk and ribs from the 1908 Wright airplane that crashed at Ft. Myer.

From the animatronic and verbal Wilbur you learn that he is holding a propeller from the Wright Military Flyer. He talks about his Kitty Hawk experiences, emphasizing that "when that little aeroplane got 6 foot off the ground and kept on flying, just the way we intended it to--well, those years of trial and error, all the disappointments and failures--it was all worth it."

Revealing how difficult getting the U.S. government interested in the Wright aeroplane was, Wilbur says: "Once they even sent us a form letter of rejection."

About the training of the two students, which began on Oct. 8, 1909, Wilbur remarks, "I am rather proud of my two young students, Lieutenants Lahm and Humphreys. Both men soloed after only about three hours [3 hours 4 minutes 7 seconds] of flight training. Humphreys has a natural inclination for flying--he picked it up rather sooner than anyone else. Humphreys was the first military officer to fly a government plane."

The Associated Press reported that event to a world still largely oblivious and uncaring about exploits in the air: "College Park, (Md.) Oct. 8--For the first time in the history of America, an aeroplane owned by the United States government soared in the air today. Guided by Wilbur Wright, it flew five times in the dedication to aviation of the government's first tract of land here. With almost ideal conditions for spectators, and a breeze blowing scarcely at the rate of a mile an hour, Mr. Wright began the flights to teach the officers of the Signal Corps how to handle the machine. Off the starting rail at 3:35 o'clock, he circled the field for three minutes, 25 feet above ground. Again at 4:09 o'clock Mr. Wright took off for another flight. This time he was in the air five minutes. Each time he had kept to the reservation grounds. Then Lieutenant Lahm took a place in the extra seat. At 5:25 o'clock the two rose probably 150 feet. They went a mile and a half toward Washington in hardly more than as many minutes. In about five minutes after they had left, they landed within 20 feet of the starting rail. In another short flight, Mr. Wright took Lieutenant Humphreys with him. Flights probably will be made tomorrow and on the days following until the officers are familiar with the new art."

In 1911, military aviation training began in full strength. The Army leased an additional 100 acres of land, enlarging the operational area of the grass field used for flight activities, built four new hangars, ordered five more airplanes, and established the first Army Aviation School, which for more than 2 years operated there as part of a long list of "aviation firsts" (see list above).

Upon exiting the Wright hangar, a visitor sees a floor display of a full-size Wright Model B replica sitting before a huge wall mural of aviation pioneers who made a mark at the field.

The mural includes a scene of the flight school, its field, and its hangars. Gazing at this display, through the wings of the Model B, gives one a sense of the military aviation history that was made just a few feet away on what was then a grass field.

The Berliner helicopter of 1924 shows tri-wings mounted on a Nieuport fuselage.  Emile Berliner and his son Henry achieved the first controlled helicopter flight at the field, but only after several years of experiments.  The Model T Ford automobile in the background reinforces the times of the airport's events.

Following the military's departure from the airfield in 1913, numerous creative and renowned civilian aviators, inventors, and aero companies ensured College Park Airport's association with aviation history when they focused various activities at the field.

For example, Rexford Smith, a patent attorney, bicycle inventor, and founder of the Rex Smith Aeroplane Company, was one of the first to set up operations on the field. Smith flew an airplane of his own design. Two of Smith's most successful test pilots later became famous in their own right: Paul Peck became a well-known exhibition flyer and Tony Jannus made history in 1914 as the pilot for the world's first scheduled commercial airline, the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line. A replica of the Rex Smith Aeroplane Company 1910–1917 delights museum visitors. Smith was later joined by the National Aviation Company, which, in addition to being the sole agent for Curtiss Aeroplanes in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area, provided instruction in--and repaired--Wright, Curtiss, and Bleriot airplanes.

In 1912, the Washington Aeroplane Company came to the field, staying until 1917. The company manufactured the well-known "Columbia" Bi-Plane and Monoplane, which Rex Smith Co. aviators flight-tested. Emile Berliner, who in 1920 brought his experiments with vertical flight to the field, was one of the original sponsors of the Washington Aeroplane Co. and its activities.

The Post Office Department also played a major role in the airport's heritage by selecting the site, in 1918, as the Department's first airmail service field following a 3-month trial by the Army at Potomac Field in Washington, D.C. In 1919, an airmail hangar and directional "compass rose" were built on the field--both are still there today.

Among the museum's floor exhibitions is a Curtiss JN-4D Jenny, which symbolizes the fleet of 12 that the U.S. Post Office Department used in operating the country's first airmail service, from the airfield, from 1918 to 1921. Next to the display is a kiosk with an interactive simulator that lets visitors fly an early airmail airplane.

Another exhibit is a Berliner helicopter from 1924. Emile and his son Henry Berliner achieved the first controlled helicopter flight at the field, but only after several years of experiments. The machine, with its triplane wings mounted on a Nieuport fuselage, was able to maneuver in a radius of 150 feet while maintaining a speed of 40 miles per hour. The vehicle on display is on loan from the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.

Suspended from the ceiling is a recreated scene of a Washington Air Derby Air Race. College Park Airport, thanks to the innovative and activist management of George Brinckerhoff, hosted many air shows, meets, and races throughout the 1920s, 1930s, and early 1940s. The museum scene shows a bright red Monocoupe 110 racing around a pylon during one of the 30-mile events. On May 7, 1933, well-known pilot Helen McCloskey won the women's race in a Monocoupe. More than 30,000 people attended the race, which made front-page headlines in all of the region's major newspapers.

Hung next to the Monocoupe is an Ercoupe, which was manufactured in Riverdale, Md., by the ERCO plant, which Henry Berliner founded and which built 112 of the airplanes before World War II; they were extensively flight-tested at College Park. The floor display has a Taylor J-2 Cub from about 1936, a forerunner of the popular Piper J-3 Cub and extensively used for flight instruction at the field. Alongside the announcer's platform, in this scene of "Meets and Feats," is a pristine Model T Ford automobile, and a one-speed "Trail Blazer" bicycle leans against the stand. These artifacts help fix the time of the events firmly in the visitor's mind.

In addition to the main exhibition floor, the museum has four 30-foot by 30-foot display areas in which it further extols the history of aviation. The Civilian Aviation room displays records of events and memorabilia through the mid-1960s. Oral histories are available. The Significant Firsts gallery chronicles the events of the airport's primary years, when so many firsts were established (see sidebar). This story is presented by skillful use of photographs, artifacts, and hands-on devices that visitors can manipulate.

Upon entering the last of these display areas, a visitor is greeted with words that add perspective to College Park Airfield's important role in aviation history: "It was a time when aviation became more than just a means of transportation. The romance and glory of flying became the focal point of the news media, and the recreation and sport of flying became a form of entertainment. That was the age of Lindbergh and Earhart, familiar names to all of us because of the romantic appeal of aviation during that wonderful and decadent period of time. College Park Airport was caught up in the excitement of this wondrous time as well. Men and women of all ages and persuasions took to the air, flying for personal pleasure as well as for the publicity and prizes that soon became the hallmark of aviation events all over the country, and especially at College Park Airfield."

Those times and that spirit yet live in the "Cradle of Aviation," which is so worth preserving in the College Park Aviation Museum.

The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission owns both the museum and College Park Airport. The airport, still active, has remained operational since 1909 and is certified as "the world's oldest continuously operating airport." The field is maintained both as a not-for-profit operating general-aviation airport and as a historical site listed on the National Register of Historic Places, an aviation historical treasure that invites public sightseeing and examination.

The airport's call letters are CGS; its single runway, 15/33, is 2,600 feet long and its overrun area is 2,740 feet. The airport does not have an instrument approach and has no electronic landing aids or air traffic control tower. Noise abatement rules prohibit operations between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. The runway is lighted and generally remains so until 10 p.m. After 10 p.m., the pilot-controlled runway lights are available in an emergency. Fuel service is available, as is a service and repair facility.

Approximately 80 small aircraft are based at the airport. Operational use is heaviest in the summer and on weekends, with recreational flying being the mainstay of activity. Because CGS is the only general aviation airport inside the interstate highway (I-495) that encircles Washington, D.C., and its environs, some businesspersons commute to CGS. A big plus is the nearby stop of the Metro, the area's subway system.

The airport grounds themselves remain a living reminder of the airport's heritage. Only a few buildings line the airport's perimeter. A Metro line and station were added to the active train rails along one edge of the airstrip. The field's 8-foot- tall chain link fence is adorned with placards that tell the story of the different activities that once thrived in the area. A visitor may take a self-guided tour along walking paths through the airport's historic sites, which include visible foundations of the 1911–1912 Army Aviation School's hangars as well as the 1910 Rex Smith hangar, the 1919 hangar built for the first U.S. Air Mail, and in front of the hangar, the directional "compass rose," which pilots used to set their compasses.