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Lincoln Beachley Info @ 1914AT DUBUQUE AVIATION MEET. LINCOLN BEACHY AND WIFE SIZING UP THE CROWD BEFORE THE FLIGHT LINCOLN BEACHEY - A Brief Biography LINCOLN BEACHY A Brief Biography Lincoln Beachy was born in San Francisco, California, on March 3, 1887, the son of William, a Civil War veteran , and Amy. Lincoln's older brother, Hillery, spent much of his early childhood escorting their blind father each day during the course of William's work. Much of the Beachey Brothers' childhood was consumed by the necessity of earning money to supplement their small family's income. As the 19th century came to a close the San Francisco Bay area already had a long history of aerial experimentation. The Beachey Brothers were aware of this local history and had an active interest in everything aeronautical. By December 1903, when the Wright Brothers achieved their stunning success... the first controlled, sustained, heavier-than-air flight... Lincoln was already engaged in his aerial career, working with balloons. By 1905, Lincoln and Hillery Beachey were working full time in avaition, assisting with and operating airships and captive gas balloons, and by 1907, "The Year of The Airships," Lincoln had become one of the most well known and most successful airship aeronauts in the U.S. One of his flights was observed by a small group which included Wilbur and Orville Wright, whoe he met. Hillery also worked with airships, rigging as well as operating them. The 1910 Los Angeles International Aviation Meet, held on land owned by the Dominguez Family at Compton, California, near Los Angeles, was a turning point for Beachey. While he had attempted, with others, to build a flyby aeroplane, at the 1910 Los Angeles Meet he was still an aeronaut, operating a Beachey LINCOLN BEACHEY - A Brief Biography Knabenshue Racing Airship. Hillery had transitioned to heavier- than-air craft by then, and during the Meet managed to make a few hops as well as to nearly complete one circular flight in the Gill-Dosh Curtiss-type Biplane. After the 1910 Los Angeles Meet, Lincoln never again operated an airship. By January of 1911 Lincoln was considered a professional aviator. By mid-1911 he was famous throughout the U.S. as an aviator, flying over Niagara Falls and then, less than a month later, breaking the world's record for altitude at the great Chicago International Aviation Meet. He commanded a significant fee for his exhibitions of flight. His successes into 1912, as did his fame and status as one of the most accomplished avaitors in the U.S. Lincoln Beachey was regarded as one of the greatest of the period's avaitors at the time he abruptly retired, deeply saddened and feeling trapped by his success. Fir Beachy, 1913 was a difficult year, personally and professionally. Many of his avaitor friends had perished and some in the press blamed Beachy for the deaths, accusing him of setting a bad example by flying in a "dangerous" manner. In truth, Beachy was pursuing the outher edges of what was then still a very new art. Aviating, as it was termed, was discussed and debated from two perspecties, that of the "safe and sane" aviators, those who made large sweeping turns and valued the perceived safety of low, straight and level flight, and that of those "flying fools" who made large sweeping turns and valued the safety of higher flight. One consequence of flight at higher altitudes was the development of the "volplane," a long glide without engine power. From that point, the "spiral glide" was soon developed, which became a hallmark Beachey's exhibitations and which was at leas attempted by the most daring LINCOLN BEACHEY - A Brief Biography Page 3 of 4 and most skilled of the pioneer aviators. Beachey was clearly not of the "safe and sane" school, although he was hardly foolhardy. Beachey was, indeed, a very safe aviator who valued safety, well- built reliable equipment and highly skilled mechanicians, as mechanics were then called. The exhibition season of 1914 belonged to Beachey. He was the first aviator in the U.S. to loop an aeroplane, and he did so over 1,000 times between November 1913 and November 1914. His races with legendary race car driver Barney Oldfield drew tremendous crowds, thunderous applause and over $250,000 in receipts. In the U.S., 1914 and Beachey marked the high point of exhibition flying, while in Europe, war, on the ground and in the air, put a temporary end to civilian flying. During the Great War, World War I, one after another proponent of "safe and sane" flying would be shot from the sky by aviators utilizing the steeply banked tight turns and other aerial maneuvers developed by pre- war aviators such as Adolphe Pegoud, Roland Garros, Walter Brookins, and Lincoln Beachey. Beachey's death at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco on March 14, 1915, eleven days after his 28th birthday, marked the effective end of exhibition flying in the U.S., although aeroplane exhibitions, usually by individual aviators, would continue well into 1916. Beachey's death came at a time when his life held the promise of happiness and security and his loss was keenly felt by those concerned with the military potential of aviation. Beachey was unique to his time, just as the exhibition era was unique to its time and place. The barnstorming of the 1920's and the great air races and air shows of the 1930's were different in many respects from the great aviation meets and exhibitions of the pre- WWI period. The exhibition era was a time of great experimentation and purposeful risk, and it has become a time http://lincolnbeachey .comllbbio.html 8/21/2006 LINCOLN BEACHEY - A Brief Biography Page 4 of 4 almost lost to memory. Beachey's life and career were so striking that, almost inevitably, many myths, misunderstandings, tall tales and outright fabrications have become firmly fIXed to his story. Several recent publications, including at least one book, have fallen victim to many of these tall tales, as well as adding newly minted ones. Sadly, what ought to be Beachey's proper place in the aeronautical scheme of things has thus been denied him, in large part because of those very myths and fabrications. The truthful rendering of Beachey's life and career is a wondrous story in its own right and Beachey certainly requires no invention, fabrication or mythology to enhance the story of his life. Hopefully, the facts of Beachey's life and career will permit Beachey to fmally assume his proper place in the story of ffight. Home http://lincolnbeachey.comllbbio.html 8/21/2006 search.com - Lincoln Beachey Page 4 on First American to "Ioop-the-loop" References Frank Marrero; Lincoln Beachey: The Man Who Owned the Sky External links Lincoln Beachy Amacord: Lincoln Beachy Selected references in the New Yark Times New York Times; June 3,1906; pg. 1. Falls with his airship. Propeller Cuts the Gas Bag. Aeronaut Narrowly Escapes Death. Cleveland, Ohio; June 3, 1906. Lincoln J. Beachey, a Toledo aeronaut, lost control of his airship to-day while 1,000 feet from the ground, and when the disabled machine fell heavily he was under it. He was unconscious when dragged out, but revived soon and was found to be uninjured. New York Times; July 24, 1908; pg. 2; Airship beats auto. Lincoln Beachey Claims New Record, Flying 14 Miles In 33 Minutes. White House and Capitol upset by an airship; Executive mansion staff and Congressmen run to the show. Loeb sternly calls police but aeronaut calmly makes repairs on White lot and resumes flight, while all Washington stares. Washington, District of Columbia; June 14, 1906. Executive and legislative Washington abandoned business for an hour or more this morning and gave itself http://www.search.com/reference/Lincoln Beachey 8/2112006 search. com - Lincoln Beachey Page 5 of7 up to joyous, neckcraning contemplation of a young man sailing around in an airship and making passing inspections of the top of the monument and the tip of the Capitol dome. New York Times; Baltimore, Maryland; July 23, 1908. Lincoln Beachey, who is making daily and nightly flights in his airship from a suburban amusement resort, asserts that he made new records both for distance and speed in a flight this morning from Arlington to and around the City Hall. The distance, fourteen miles, was made without a stop in 33 minutes. New York Times; October 5, 1911. Beachey's Brother Hurt. Flier Falls Fifty Feet at St. Louis and Wrecks His Aeroplane. St. Louis, Missouri, October 4, 1911 -- Twenty-five thousand spectators saw Hillary Beachey, brother of Lincoln Beachey, the aviator pilot, fall fifty feet from an aeroplane today at Fair Ground. It is the second serious fall he has had in a month. New York Times; May 13, 1913; pg. 6; Beachey will fly no more. Aviator Feels That He Has Led Others to Death and So He Quits. San Francisco, California; May 12, 1913. Lincoln Beachey the aviator, will never fly again, according to what he himself said last night at the Olympic Club. New York Times; Nov 19,1913; pg. 1; San Diego, California. Beachey Loops the Loop. New York Times; October 14, 1914; pg. 3; Not Attempting a Feat When Young Woman Was Killed, He Says. Hammondsport, New York; October 12, 1913. Lincoln Beachey, the aeroplanist, http://www.search.comlreference/Lincoln Beachey 8/21/2006 search. com - Lincoln Beachey Page 6 of7 whose aeroplane in a flight last Tuesday caught several persons, killing one, a young woman, was able to get up to-day. He has been confined to his bed since the accident, recovering slowly from the nervous shock and from the bruises and strains sustained in his fall. New York Times; March 15, 1915; pg. 1; Beachey killed in a Taubel drop; Air Pressure Crumples Monoplane's Wings as Airman Tries to Resume Glide. Crowd of 50,000 horrified. Machine and Aeroplanist Fall Into San Francisco Bay. Recovered by Navy Diver. Brother saw his plunge. Fatal Perpendicular Drop from 3,000 Feet Like Feat Beachey Often Had Executed in Biplane. San Francisco, California; March 14, 1915. Lincoln Beachey, noted as an aviator the world over and perhaps the greatest rival of the Frenchman, Pegoud, in the execution of hair-raising aerial feats, fell to his death here today in the new German Taube monoplane in which he had been attempting to duplicate the spectacular performances of which, in the biplane, he was the acknowledged master. Timeline 1887 Birth of Lincoln Beachey on March 3rd 19001900 census Beachey.gif 1906 Dirigible crash in Cleveland on June 3rd 1906 Lands on White House lawn in dirigible on June 14th 1908 Sets dirigible speed record on July 4th http://www.search.com/reference/Lincoln_Beachey 8/2112006 search.com - Lincoln Beachey Page 70f7 1910 1910 census Beachey.gif 1910 Pilot's license 1911 Flight over Niagara Falls on June 27th 1913 Anounces he will fly no more on May 12th 1913 Robbed of $6,000 on October 8th 1913 Kills a spectator in a crash on October 13th 1913 Loops the Loop in San Diego on Nov 19th 1914 Start of 126-city tour on May 12th 1914 End of 126-city tour on December 31st 1915 Death of Lincoln Beachey on March 14th help Lincoln Beachey I Search I advanced search )) preferences )) []search within these results BNET I CNET.com I CNET Channel I CNET Download.com I CNET News.com I CNET Reviews I CNET Shopper. com I GameSpot International Media I MP3.com I mySimon I Release 1.0 I Search.com I TechRepublic I TV.com I Webshots I ZDNet Copyright @2006 CNET Networks, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy I Terms of Use I About CNET Networks http://www.search.comlreference/Lincoln _ Beachey 8/21/2006 search.com - Lincoln Beachey Page lof7 Web Images Reference Directory Down. U~I more }} Lincoln Beachey Lincoln Beachey Encyclopedia Lincoln Lincoln J. Beachey (March 3, 1887- March 14, 1915), was a pioneer American aviator. He was known as The Man Who Owns the Sky. Birth He was born in San Francisco. California, on March 3, 1887. He had a bother: Hillery Beachey (1885-1964). Aviator He started his career as a dirigible pilot in Thomas Baldwin's balloon troupe. Beachey helped build the dirigible "California Arrow" and made his first dirigible flight in 1905. He then bought his own dirigible, and as a publicity stunt flew http://www.search.com/reference/Lincoln _ Beachey I Search I ac:lYar1( ~~cm:h prefere Sources open directory project Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web. Submit a site - Become an editor WordNet @ 1.7.1, @ 2006 Princeton University ~/):," Wikipedia. '. ':" . Di" Licensed under '';'~"if/ the GNU Free \XhKIi'IT>l1\ . {',f",,,,,, ".. Documentation License. Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org. 8/21/2006 search. com - Lincoln Beachey Page 2 of7 it around the Washington Monument and landed it on the lawn of the White House. He learned to pilot airplanes from Glenn Curtiss and crashed during each of his first three flights. He joined the Curtiss exhibition team on tour in 1910, and by the end of 1911, Beachey was aviation's single greatest moneymaker. At the height of his career, Beachey would earn more money in a single day of touring with his airplane than the average American could earn in a year. Stunt flying On June 27, 1911, he flew over Niagara Falls and under the "Honeymoon Bridge." In Chicago, he raced a train and let his wheels touch the top of the moving train as it passed underneath. His stunt specialty was the "Dip-of-Death," where he would dive straight for the ground at full speed and then pull up at the last second, barely averting a crash. Orville Wriqht said: "An aeroplane in the hands of Lincoln Beachey is poetry. His mastery is a thing of beauty to watch. He is the http://www.search.com/reference/Lincoln .. Beachey 8/21/2006 search.com - Lincoln Beachey Page 3 of7 most wonderful flyer of all." Thomas Alva Edison wrote: "I was startled and amazed, when I saw that youngster take to the sky and send his aeroplane through the loop and then follow that feat with an upside-down flight. I could not believe my own eyes, and my nerves were a tingle for many minutes." Solo career Beachey left the Curtiss team and toured at exhibition races with the popular automobile racer, Barney Oldfield. Beachey and Oldfield traded wins every other day to keep fans interested. In their first year of exhibiting together, Beachey and Oldfield earned more than $250,000. Death Beachey died in an air crash on March 14, 1915. He was demonstrating a new monoplane at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition when the plane's wings sheared off and It crashed into San Francisco Bay. Monikers The Man Who Owns the Sky Alexander great of the Air The Genius of Aviation Master Birdman The Divine Flyer Achievements First to fly upside-down http://www.search.com/reference/Lincoln Beachey 8/21/2006