Exhibition Pilots 1909-1914 : from Aerial Exhibition to War Clouds

Abstract

The focus of this paper is the role that early exhibition pilots had on changing the ambivalence that Americans experienced in the early twentieth century. This paper supports the argument that pre-existing doubt and ambivalence towards this new technology changed relatively quickly between1909 and 1914 while exhibition pilots plied their trade across the United States and Europe. From 1903 through 1908 there was considerable disbelief in what the Wrights had achieved. As exhibition pilots took to the air around the nation they changed peoples belief in this technology by proving it was valid and reliable. The end results of this changing attitude towards flying can be found in the support of Congressional approval for more government funding in this new field. Members of Congress helped lead to greater interactions in early flight training and in the early development of military use of this new technology by approving congressional bills for funding. Subsequent hearings to support spending on military aviation stand as examples of how the public perception of aviation changed from skepticism to acceptance of early aviation. Military aviation came to be viewed as necessary rather than wasteful. These changes also set the stage for early exhibition pilots to play a vital role in training America's earliest military pilots and the subsequent growth military aviation has undergone.