On September 20, 1904, Wilbur Wright flew the first complete circle in history by a manned heavier-than-air powered machine, flying the Wright brothers’ biplane 4,080 feet. It wasn’t a quick circle, taking about a minute and a half. This image from the Library of Congress American Memory Collection of a
page from Wilbur’s logbook shows data and a diagram of the flight.
It wasn’t long before Nebraskans were soaring in those flying machines. Dr. Frank A. Brewster
of Beaver City was known as the Flying Doctor. Dr. Brewster embraced new tools to help him with his far-flung practice in western Nebraska and Kansas. He began using a motorcycle in 1903 to make his rounds, and in 1905 got an automobile. In 1919 he bought a biplane and hired World War I pilot Wade Stevens to fly him to his patients. The duo is pictured on the left with the plane. On May 23
rd 1919 he flew to Herndon Kansas to perform surgery on an oilfield worker who had suffered a crushed skull in an accident – possibly the first time an airplane was used for commercial or humanitarian purposes. Dr. Brewster continued his flying practice until 1937 and learned to fly himself in 1943, at the age of 71. More images in Nebraska Memories of Dr. Brewster can be viewed
here.
Air shows in the pioneering days of flight were popular events showcasing flying machines and the skill of the pilots, just as they are today. Aerial performances are dangerous and can be fatal. This summer the pilot was killed at a crash at the Kansas City Air Show in August and there are multiple deaths (11 at this writing) from the crash this month at the Reno Air Race.
We don’t know if the pilot of the plane which crashed on the roof of a barn at an early Nebraska air show survived, but the plane certainly didn’t.
More images of biplanes in Nebraska Memories can be viewed
here .
Visit
Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.
Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more
information, or contact
Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director,
or
Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.
