Off to the Air Races

1903 - The Wright brothers achieve the first powered flight.

Six years later newspaper owner Gordon Bennett turns flying into a spectator sport.

One competitor describes the 1910 course as a "death trap." Luckily nobody dies despite the planes crashing constantly, mostly due to low speeds and elevations.

The Wright brothers wisely decline to participate despite their plane being featured on the trophy.

It's a Boat! It's a Plane!

1913 - A French balloonist named Jacques decides air racing on land is too safe and starts one for seaplanes.

Nobody dies during the race but ten people die practicing.

Jacques would have participated himself except he could no longer fly due to injuries sustained in a horrible ballooning accident.

James Dole Gets Rich

Plucky entrepreneur James Dole arrives in Hawaii in 1899 with nothing to his name except:

- A degree in agriculture from Harvard

- $500,000 in today's money

- His cousin Sanford B. Dole, who had been appointed governor of Hawai'i after the native queen was overthrown in a coup orchestrated by American businessmen

His business plan was simple:

• Enact the first nationwide consumer advertising campaign to drive demand for pineapples
• Mechanize the processing and canning of pineapples to increase output and profits
• Use his family ties to purchase Lana'i, the 6th largest island in Hawai'i and turn it into a pineapple plantation
• Corner the market using slave labor foreign indentured servants to cut costs
• Purchase Maui, the 2nd largest Hawaiian island
• Sponsor a deadly air race in an effort to cut out the naval shipping middlemen.

The Dole Air Race

1927 - James Dole announces that starting in August he would give a large cash prize to whoever first flew from California to Honolulu.

An Early Bird

Ex-army pilot Ernest Smith is eager to prove he can complete the challenge. Despite many setbacks including his original navigator quitting due to the danger, running out of fuel, and crash landing in a thorny tree, he and the new navigator make it to the island intact.

Dole decides this doesn't count because he didn't follow Dole's rules and proceeds with the competition.

Rough Run Up

The competition claims three lives before it even begins.

• Covell and Waggener crashed on route.
• Arthur took his plane for a test flight and crash landed.
• Lundgren and Giffin crashed into San Fransico bay on route.

Dole death toll: ☠ ☠ ☠

A Bad Start

With 9 of the 15 entrants dead or disqualified, the remaining 8 teams line up for takeoff.

Lost Forever

Two of the four planes that manage to start the journey never show up in Honolulu. Only two out of the fifteen original teams make it to Hawai'i.

The competition has claimed eight lives.

Dole death toll: ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠

Hapless Heroism

But we're not done yet! William Portwood Erwin fixes up his plane and takes off three days later to search for the missing planes.

He and his navigator also go missing.

Dole death toll: ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠

Sore Loser

Martin Jensen, upset about coming in second, returns to California and immediately announces he will be flying a Metro Goldwyn Meyer lion non stop from LA to NYC.

He crashes into a mountain in Arizona instead.

Dole death toll: ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ (☠ 🦁)*

* indirectly

Air Racing Takes Off

1930 - Nobody learns anything and air races spring up all over America.

At least 22 people die in air show related accidents in 1930 alone. Some "highlights":

• Pilots Loren Scott and Everett Arnholtt were killed after colliding with a tree during a memorial day flying display
• Acrobat Fritz Schindler along with three pilots die when their two planes crash attempting to transfer Schindler from one plane to the other via a rope ladder
• Lieutenant J.P. Deshazo is killed during the national air races when he loses control while attempting a barrel roll during a speed race. He crashes in front of the bleachers killing concessionaire Louis Weiner and injuring seven others

Remember Hoot Gibson? Sponsor of one of the Dole air race teams? The picture to the right is his plane after participating in the National Air Races. He survived.

More Mishaps

Even After World War II air shows continue to claim lives:

• Lt. John Peeler is killed when his Navy F4U Corsair crashes into a sandlot baseball game and catches fire a few blocks from the airport. Two teenagers on the ground were killed and seven others injured
• Aerial stuntman Dick Powell is killed after falling from an airplane while dangling from his knees over the leading edge of the wing. He is unable to pull himself back up onto the wing and the pilot is unable fly to a nearby lake before he falls.
• Parachutist Jimmy F. Taylor is killed when his parachute fails to open after jumping from a height of 600 feet during an airshow

The Last Accident

1949 - As planes got faster and more standardized interest in the races waned. The final nail in the coffin came during the National Air Races in Cleveland when a competitor dove into a house killing himself and two residents. Cities quickly banned the sport from taking place in their airspace.

Airshows became much safer in the aftermath.

Just Kidding!

So many people die in air shows there is a page on wikipedia dedicated to air show accidents.