One of the Shortest Flights in Hawaiʻi Aviation History

The history of aviation on the Big Island dates back to June 10, 1911, when Clarence H Walker came to Hilo for an exhibition flight in his Curtiss Biplane.  There were no airports on the island, so Hoʻolulu Park was selected for the runway.

The notoriety of this flight wasn’t really about its length, nor that it was the first flight on the Island of Hawaiʻi – its ending is its acclaim … but that is getting ahead of the story.

In 1911, Walker and Didier Masson teamed up and, on their way to Australia, stopped in Hawaiʻi.  The former’s biplane was on board, so was the new Mrs Walker.

During May, 1911, Dexter P Dorgan of the Continental Aviation Company, San Francisco, arrived in Honolulu to arrange flight demonstrations by pilots Walker and Masson.

A young millionaire, Walker originally took up flying as a pastime.  He built his own airplane at Salt Lake City but, unable to make it fly, decided to take bona fide flying lessons then buy an airplane of standard construction - purchasing a Curtiss biplane (60 hp) for $6,500.

From Honolulu Walker and his wife made their way Hilo; they were there for flight demonstrations by Walker out of Hoʻolulu Park, a horseracing facility in Hilo.

Inspecting the facilities, Walker noted the enclosure was too small for easy take-offs, but indicated a willingness to make a flight from the grounds.  Two days were agreed upon, Saturday & Sunday, June 10 & 11. The Hilo Railway set up a special schedule to handle the expected crowds.

The flyer made several test flights prior to public demonstrations, thus giving Big Islanders their first view of an airplane in action.  The paying crowd which had gathered was disappointingly small; most of the local people were planning on Sunday for the aerial show.

The aviator got ready.

The biplane rose rapidly amidst enthusiastic cheers.  However, from the beginning, the 8-cylinder engine was heard to misfire, the plane’s wings tipping from side to side.  He flew to the edge of the ocean, then decided on a quick landing and headed back to the field.

Then, a gust of wind caught and dashed the airplane into a 25-foot high lauhala tree. Four or five of the boys perched on the tall tree were knocked to the ground. The tall tree’s outstretched branches served to soften the plane’s fall, destroying the plane; Walker survived the crash.

Walker emerged from the wreckage and climbed onto the race track fence to show crowds, including his wife, that he was unhurt. This dramatic gesture was marred somewhat when fence boards gave way, sending Walker to the ground.

Repairs to his wrecked biplane were arranged with Hilo mechanics and the young couple boarded an interisland ship for Honolulu to join Masson and the others.

Walker later said, “I thought of landing in the ocean and then on the beach, but the water looked too deep and the beach was too full of boulders.”

The local paper carried the aviation story on its front page.  It stated that spectators got their money’s worth, seeing the airplane fly “but also had a chance to realize the danger of the sport, when Aviator Walker’s biplane came to a sudden stop in the branches of a lauhala tree.”

Walker received $1,250, the contracted fee, and the promoter lost approximately $1,000 due to one day’s demonstrations having to be cancelled.

This was the first aircraft accident in the Islands.

That didn’t deter the dream of aviation on the Big Island; 8-years later (May 9, 1918,) Army Major Harold Clark and Sgt Robert Gray left Kahului Harbor on the second leg of their flight from Honolulu to Hilo.

Their Curtiss R-6 seaplane got lost in the dense clouds over Kaiwiki and Clark was forced to land in the forest near the volcano.  Clark and Gray walked for two days before being found.  Their plane was later recovered.

The first successful flight from Honolulu to the Big Island was made on March 24, 1919 by Army Maj Hugh Kneer in a US Army hydroplane A-1816.  He landed in Kūhiō Bay.  He carried a bag of US mail, thus beginning air mail service between Honolulu and Hilo by Army planes.

In December 1920, a ramp was built by the Hawaiian Contracting Company in Radio Bay in Hilo to haul visiting seaplanes from the bay onto land.

Army Maj. Gen. Charles P Summerall visited Hilo on September 23, 1921 to look for sites for a landing field on the Big Island.  He recommended that the county build a landing field 600-feet long and 200-feet wide in or near Hoʻolulu Park.  Despite the recommendations of both the Army and the Hilo Board of Trade, the County of Hilo failed to finance the airstrip.

Reportedly, an article in the Hilo Tribune Herald, Army Lt. Joseph A. Wilson flew his DeHaviland over Hilo on December 4, 1924, circled the city and dropped a message in Mooheau Park addressed to the Hilo Chamber of Commerce.

 It read, “We would like to drop in and see you this morning if you only had a landing field.  Air Service Unit, Wheeler Field, is visiting Parker Ranch.  Kohala is condemning 12 acres of cane field for landing field. Lieut. JA Wilson.”

And thus began the effort to construct a landing field in Hilo.  (Information here is from hawaii-gov.)

The image shows Clarence H Walker (af-mil.)  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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First Flight in Hawai‘i – 1910

Bud Mars was the first man to fly an airplane in Hawaii on December 31, 1910.

Piloting a Curtiss B-18 biplane, he flew to 500-feet over Moanalua Polo Field, Oahu.  He repeated the flight the next day to the thrill of thousands of spectators.

On December 19, 1910, a “real birdman” arrived in Honolulu aboard the Manchuria.  Whipple Hall, agent for the Curtiss Aircraft Company, debarked with an excitingly strange proposal.  He announced that within a week two airplanes and men to fly them would arrive by ship.

Hawaii was to be the first stop on the group’s 30,000-mile demonstration tour which included Japan, China, the Philippines, Siam, Singapore, Java, Persia, Africa, the Holy Land, Egypt, Spain, France, England, and “anywhere else bird men had not been seen before.”

The Curtiss agent proceeded with arrangements for the entourage’s arrival and the exhibition flights.  During an interview, Hall explained that his Curtiss flying machine was a speedster, requiring 35 miles per hour to stay off the ground, while the competitive Wright planes, with their greater lifting power, would go backwards and keep climbing in a strong wind.

Honolulu’s imagination was stirred by Hall’s words.  Residents looked forward to the arrival of the men and flying machines.  Announcements continued in daily newspapers, plus features on flying.

On December 27, 1910, J. C. “Bud” Mars, pilot for the demonstrations, arrived on the Wilhelmina.  Their strange looking metal birds were taken to Samuel Damon’s Moanalua polo field for assemblage.  Each was a pusher craft with propeller and engine behind the pilot; there was no cabin or compartment for the man.

Bud Mars had the reputation of being the most daring flyer in the United States.  A case was cited to the press of him swooping under the bridges across the Mississippi River. 

Tickets for Honolulu spectators went on sale at the Empire Theater, the M.A. Gunst cigar store and the Alexander Young Hotel, at one dollar each.  One airplane was assembled by December 29th, two days later, all was in flight readiness.

People arrived on the scene by auto, bus, carriage, drawn by horses, bicycles and afoot.  Most of the 3,000 fans that paid admission charges were in full attendance at Moanalua polo field.  Hundreds more gathered on surrounding hilltops.

The tent hangar was filled with curious people observing the plane’s odd assemblage of spruce, ash, bamboo, steel tubing, and rubberized silk wing covering (an invention of Baldwin).  Several feet wider than the ordinary Curtiss biplane, Shiver’s design gave it about 30 feet of wing span, its wings five feet wide and the same distance apart.

Soon after 2 pm, December 31, 1910, the mainland group finished preparations and the slight young man, Mars, climbed aboard the biplane.  The marines who guarded the plane moved to one side and the manned box-kite made its way bumpily down the grass “runway.”

By Captain Baldwin’s watch, it took Mars nine seconds to get airborne.  Thousands of people burst into a yell of approval to see their first airplane flight.  They were watching history being made in a feat—unknown to them at the time—which would alter the destiny of Hawaii and, along with other places, the world.

Climbing to 500 feet, Mars flew to the hills then back over Moanalua field.  Within minutes, he brought the airplane to a standstill on the ground and the crowds gathered in close to see the new hero dismount his iron bird.  The test flight was a complete success.

The group then set up a christening ceremony, with the designer’s wife doing the honors.  There was no champagne available but someone went to get some by motorcycle. When it arrived, Mrs. Shriver christened the plane “Skylark,” as Mrs. Mars stood by elated at her husband’s performance.

Now more relaxed, the young pilot mounted his Skylark and proceeded to make another flight.  This time he flew higher and farther.  His route was to Red Hill, which commands a superb view of Pearl Harbor and the military plains of Leilehua beyond.  A third time, he pleased his promoters by dropping paper souvenirs over Moanalua field.

The following day, Mars’ statement appeared on the front page of the Sunday Advertiser: “I am proud to have been the first man to fly over the soil of these beautiful Islands.”

Then added, “I am proud to hold the pioneer air record for Honolulu and I am glad, too, that the new Skylark has taken her maiden flight here.  She is after this the Honolulu Skylark and I will call her that wherever we go on our trip towards the Far East.  I find your Hawaiian air currents rather tough ones, but everything else was lovely.”

Watching the flight activity, one local boy referred to Mars’ airplane as “Pinao” (Hawaiian for dragonfly.)  Another cried out, “Aloha, Mokulele!” (sky-boat, aircraft).

This summary and photos were summarized from hawaii.gov/hawaiiaviation.  I have added additional photos to a folder of like name in the Photos section of my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii