The Fourth of July in our region has seen some memorable moments. Slavery ended in New York on July 4, 1827. In 1863, news must have just started trickling in about Lee fleeing Gettysburg with his crushed army, and Grant marching into Vicksburg. What must that day have been like in 1946, with World War II victoriously ended, the boys back home, and America on top of the world! In 1972 people were still counting the dead and finding the living from the terrible flood twelve days earlier. But four years later, local folks joined Americans around the globe to celebrate their bicentennial, almost exciting as the CENTENNIAL Fourth in 1876. In Bath, in the late 19th century, EVERY Fourth meant a huge parade!
*As soon as this day dawned in 1908 people started converging on Pleasant Valley Wine Company. They came by bike and they came by buggy. They rode on horses and they rode in cars. They came on foot, or erupted from “special” trains of the B&H Railroad. The army had an observer there, and so did the German government. The movies were there, and so were the newspapers. The Aero Club was there, and “Scientific American” was there.
*Before you knew it, a thousand people were milling about the grounds, thrilled to have a chance denied to almost every human being living, or any who had ever lived. They were going to see a man fly.
*Hammondsport’s own Glenn Curtiss, who had just turned 30, was working with the awe-inspiring Alexander Graham Bell to create and perfect airplanes. Working with three younger partners (plus a lot of kibitzing from anyone who was interested), they had already designed, built, and flown “Red Wing” and “White Wing.” Now they had a new aircraft – “June Bug” – with Curtiss as pilot and chief designer. The new machine had a new feature – tricycle landing gear, still widely used today. It also sported ailerons, invented for “White Wing” and still in universal use.
*”June Bug” was so successful that Curtiss was going to fly for the “Scientific American” trophy. This would require an officially-observed unassisted takeoff, a one-kilometer flight without any stops or touchdowns, and a safe landing. He’d picked the Fourth of July to be sure of getting a crowd, and now the crowd was ready and eager. “June Bug” was ready, and the officials were ready. But Glenn Curtiss wasn’t there.
*For all his well-deserved reputation as a daredevil, Curtiss paradoxically was a bear for safety. There were thunderstorms in the area. Air conditions weren’t good, and when conditions weren’t good, Curtiss didn’t fly.
*No official time had been set for the trial, but around noon the crowd started getting ugly. They had all come out to watch a flying machine. Examined closely, how likely did that seem? Were they all the victims of some gigantic hoax?
*The winery invited everybody in for an impromptu tasting and a cold collation. They all decided they could wait a little longer.
*By late afternoon things had improved, and Curtiss motored out to the winery. After conferring with officials he took his seat, revved up the engine, rumbled down the trotting horse track, and took off as his wife screamed.
*Generations of amused male chauvinists have made much of this scream, utterly overlooking the fact that Lena was right – she had instantly spotted the problem, and recognized its dangers. “June Bug” was shooting up higher than they had ever flown before, at an angle steeper than they had ever tried before. Curtiss was standing up in the airframe, leaning on the wheel, trying to get the nose down low enough to regain control.
*He managed, and soon discovered that the tail had been assembled at the wrong angle, forcing the nose upward. After disassembly and reassembly they wheeled back to the start line, ready to try again. As Curtiss looked down the course he saw a photographer setting up just short of the one-kilometer mark.
*He’d been having a bad day, and he later wrote to Bell that something snapped in him at that moment. This unspeakable shutterbug was all prepared to snap a picture of Curtiss just FAILING to reach his goal. So, he told Dr. Bell, just to spite the man he flew down the course, over the photographer, over the mark… and kept going… into the sunset of the Fourth of July… as a thousand voices cheered.
*He made just about a mile before landing to shut down his engine to prevent overheating. Back at the winery workers grabbed bottles off the shelves and rushed outside. The movie crew soon found that it had fine film – the first ever made of an airplane flying in America. An even bigger crowd turned out for more flights on the fifth, and Glenn Curtiss was launched on a spectacular career in aviation. What could top that, for a Fourth of July?
*(Lightly edited from an earlier column)