Page 78 - Demo

The first 500-mile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was on Tuesday, May 30, 1911, although during the track%u2019s first two years of operation%u20141909 and 1910%u2014there were a number of shorter races. One was the first licensed aviation meet in the United States, which took place between June 13 and 18 of 1910. The event was the idea of Speedway President Carl Fisher, who was just as fascinated with fast planes as he was with fast automobiles. In fact, that%u2019s what inspired the Speedway%u2019s famous wingedwheel logo, which was designed back in 1909. The wheel, of course, represented automobile races, while the wings represented aviation events. However, the next airplane race didn%u2019t occur until 2010.Among the aviators at the Speedway in 1910 were Orville and Wilbur Wright. They brought with them a team of six planes and a crew of expert pilots. The night before the competition, each Wright pilot signed a contract specifying he would receive $20 per week, plus $50 a day when when flying. Orville was the first to take off%u2014in a plane with a 40-foot wingspan and a 45-horsepower engine, launched from a monorail. He circled the track twice and landed, impressing the spectators with his mastery. It was the very first time an aeroplane had flown in Indiana. Over six days, in front of packed grandstands, there were about sixty flights, thirty-five different events, numerous records broken, and no accidents. One award went to the machine making a complete circuit of the speedway track while flying nearest to the ground. At the other extreme, twenty-one-year-old Walter S. Brookins, the Wrights%u2019 star pilot, set a world altitude record by soaring to 4,384.5 feet. He also set a record for staying aloft the longest%u20141 hour and 4 minutes. One of the week%u2019s highlights was a five-lap pursuit race featuring Brookings, and another Wright pilot, Arthur L. Welsh. All this was just seven years after the Wrights%u2019 first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. No wonder a newspaper called the pilots %u201cair wizards.%u201d Even Carl Fisher himself flew%u2014but only as a passenger. Reproduction of 1910 post card.