America's Military Takes Flight

America's Military Takes Flight. . , On this field, the U.S. Army Signal Corps opened America's first official military flight school in 1911. Congress showed their support of America's fledgling aviation industry by approving funds specifically for new heavier-than-air machines, or aeroplanes, as they were called in the early decades of the 1900s. The money paid for two Wright B aeroplanes, two Curtiss D aeroplanes, and one Burgess-Wright aeroplane., The Army Quartermaster Department leased the 200-acre field, an increase of 40 acres over the 1909 lease, for $325 per month and build four temporary wooden hangars along the railroad tracks. Due to lack of housing in College Park, enlisted mechanics stayed in one of the hangars on the field, and stood guard over the planes as an additional duty. Officers resided in Washington, DC and commuted by car or train from the city to the field., You are standing in front of the remains of the original U.S. Signal Corps hangar footprints. As civilian aviation flourished at the airport, additional hangars and buildings were constructed adjacent to the Army hangars., [Captions:] , This photo shows U.S. Army Signal Corps personnel preparing a Wright plane for flight at College Park in October 1909. The triangular tower beyond the plane is part of a rail system (or catapult) to launch the plane since it had no wheels! With the installation of wheels on planes in 1910, the catapult system became unnecessary. National Archives and Records Administration , Air Force Collection, 2nd Lieutenant Thomas DeWitt Milling (right) with Navy Commodore J.C. Gillmore (left) in a Curtiss D at College Park in 1912. Milling got his flight training at the Wright Company's flying school near Dayton, Ohio and then served as one of the first flight instructors at the Army Signal Corps Aviation School at College Park. Note the Army hangar with its cured roofline in the background on the left side of the image. Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress, Members of the Army Aviation School carry part of a wrecked Wright B aeroplane in 1911. They are walking behind some of the additional buildings that appeared on the airfield as more individuals began experimenting with aviation. The building with the automobile in front is home to the Rex Smith Aeroplane Co. Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress, A view of the Army Signal Corps Aviation, or Aero, School at College Park, c. 1912. This image offers a different perspective as the photographer stood with the railroad tracks (where the Metro and train tracks exist today) to their west and looked to the northeast, at the back of all the hangars. The original Signal Corps hangars with their curved roofs are barely visible on the left side of the image. National Archives and Records Administration, This undated image of U.S. Army Signal Corps' wooden airplane hangars captures a train speeding by behind the hangars. (Train is visible on the left side of the photo.) It's no accident that the aviation training facility was located next to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad! The railroad provided an efficient way to transport people and materials. This photograph also captures the two other modes of transportation at the time: an automobile and a bicycle! National Archives and Records Administration