Learn the history of Signal Corps No. 1, the Army Signal Corps’ first airplane, which was acquired from the Wright brothers in 1909.
Transcript
The Wright brothers’ 1909 Military Flyer. This is the beginning of true air power as we know it today. It’s the Air Forces first airplane. Flying in 1909 was pretty dangerous. Every flight was different, you were always learning something. You had to learn how to take off, you had to learn how to turn, always a new experience. But then you also had to learn what happens if a bug hits you in the eye. They had to learn the hard way, you better wear goggles when you fly. This is the beginning of so many things. They’re looking at reconnaissance, carrying information. That’s why this aircraft is called Signal Corps One. The Signal Corps of the U.S. Army, which eventually becomes the U.S. Air Force, needed this aircraft to carry messages, to do reconnaissance, to look for enemy troops. This is 1909. Only six years earlier, the Wright brothers had just flown their first aircraft at Kitty Hawk.