 | ||
The Wright Exhibition Team was a group of early aviators trained by the Wright brothers at Wright Flying School in Montgomery, Alabama in March 1910.
Contents
History
The group was formed in 1910 at the suggestion of Augustus Roy Knabenshue.
The team made its first public appearance on June 13, 1910 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The team performed aerial shows and set records for altitude (4939 feet) and endurance.
Pilots were paid $20 per week and $50 a day when flying. By August there were five separate teams flying at one time with $186,000 in receipts. Ralph Johnstone was the first to be killed.
After attempting another altitude record over Denver's Overland Park in November, Johnstone put his plane into Walter Richard Brookins' 'spiral dip' dive, and he never recovered. The plane plummeted to the ground, and Johnstone was crushed.
A month later, on New Years' Eve, 1910, Arch Hoxsey was killed in an identical crash. Although the team had lost its star fliers, newer pilots trained by Welsh joined the team and continued performing around the country at 25 locations.
Troubled by the deaths of the pilots, the group was disbanded in November 1911.
Members
† Died in flight crashes.