The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 58, July 1954 - April, 1955 Page: 353
650 p. : ill., maps (some col.), ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Origin of Military Aviation in Texas, 1zgo-1913 353
ers, and blacksmiths at Fort Sam Houston, enabled me to carry on a
reasonable amount of flying and a steady program of service testing
and re-design of No. 1 under "correspondence courses" which I
initiated between the Wright brothers and myself immediately after
my bucking experience with No. i on March i2, 191o.30
Foulois has said that his two major objectives during the first
four months at San Antonio were (i) to learn how to fly the
airplane with a minimum amount of damage to himself, and
(2) to carry on service tests of the "plane, engines, the fuel and
oil systems" for use in future airplane and engine specifications.
Both of these objectives were interrupted on June 15, 91go, when
Foulois and the entire aviation detachment with the exception
of O. G. Simmons and Glenn R. Madole were transferred to Leon
Springs to install an annunciator buzzer system on the target
range. During the absence of most of their helpers, Simmons and
Madole were busy around San Antonio collecting the materials
essential to the construction of a set of wheels for the skids of
the Wright airplane. By the time the detachment returned from
Leon Springs a month later, the wheels were ready to be in-
stalled.'1
Foulois and the aviation detachment returned to Fort Sam
Houston on July 16, 1910. Four days later Foulois made three
short flights from the drill field, and the next two weeks were
spent putting the finishing touches on the new tricycle wheel
assembly."3 By August 8 the landing gear had been attached to
the skids of the Flyer and the first flight in the improved machine
came on August 18, when Foulois completed two flights of 25
minutes duration. As had been expected, the recoil caused by the
shock of rough landings was too much for the springs supporting
the wheels and the gear buckled. The landing gear assembly was
then removed from the plane and rebuilt. By August 22, the
wheels were described as "working nicely" on several flights
during which Foulois practiced spiral glides, or, as the feat was
described by the Express, "he made his descent in a semi-circle."8
30B. D. Foulois to Barney M. Giles [undated], cited in Barney M. Giles, "Early
Military Aviation in Texas," Southwestern Historical Quarterly, LVI, 146.
3'Ibid.; Aviation Notebook, 191o, citing National Archives, SC No. 23907, and
Aeronautics, August, 191o; Chandler and Lahm, How Our Army Grew Wings, 181f.
32San Antonio Express, July 21, 1910.
8Slbid., August 23, 1910.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 58, July 1954 - April, 1955, periodical, 1955; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101158/m1/420/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.