Charles K. Hamilton
Charles Keeney Hamilton (May 30, 1885[1][2][3][4][5] – January 22, 1914) was an American pioneer aviator nicknamed the "crazy man of the air".[6][7][8] He was, in the words of the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, "known for his dangerous dives, spectacular crashes, extensive reconstructive surgeries, and ever present cigarette"[9] and was "frequently drunk".[10] He survived more than 60 crashes.[11][9][12]
Biography
Hamilton was born in New Britain, Connecticut[5] to Joseph Delliber Hamilton and Nellie Keeney Hamilton. Charles' parents split up by the time that he reached six years old. Nellie moved in with her mother and became a forewoman at the C.J. White Company[13], makers of hose-supporters and garters. She later remarried to Benjamin Joseph Beaudette.[2] His father remarried twice, and eventually worked in real estate in Hartford[14]. Joseph completed his will in 1909,[15] Joseph Delliber Hamilton died in 1923.[16]
Charles – who described himself as an "aeronaut" – was a hot air balloonist and parachute jumper at fairs and circuses at the age of 18.[11][5] Three years later, he became friends with aeronautical engineer and aviator A. Roy Knabenshue and began piloting dirigibles.[11][5] On the day Louis Bleriot flew the English Channel, July 25, 1909, Hamilton was sailing his own airship across the Bay of Osaka in Japan.[17]
In late 1909, he started taking flying lessons from Glenn Curtiss.[11][3] He joined Curtiss's exhibition team and quickly acquired fame and a nationwide reputation as a daredevil flyer.[3][7] In December, he flew at St. Joseph and outside St. Louis, Missouri, and in Overland Park, Kansas[18] before participating in the 1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet at Dominguez Field, the first major airshow in the United States, which ran from January 10–20, 1910.[6] He then embarked on an 11-city, two-month exhibition tour across the American Southwest, starting at Phoenix, Arizona and ending in San Diego, California.[6] On February 19, Hamilton became the first to fly an airplane in Tucson, Arizona.[19] In San Diego, he became just the third American flier to remain aloft for at least an hour, crossing the ocean to Mexico and back.[6]
Hamilton became the first to fly in the state of Washington, when he piloted the Reims Racer over Seattle on March 11.[7][20] The very next day, he went up again, drunk, and "Swooping like a rapacious bird from a height of 500 feet [150 m], the Curtiss biplane, with Charles K. Hamilton, dived into the newly formed lake at The Meadows".[7] He had to be fished out of the lake, but suffered only minor injuries.[7]
Undaunted, he flew at Tacoma, Washington, and crossed the border to become the "First Air Visitor to Vancouver, B.C."[21] on March 25.[6][22] The next day, he flew to New Westminster and back, covering 20 miles (32 km) in 30 minutes.[23] He participated in an air meet in Spokane, Washington between April 1–3.[3] On April 9, he flew over Mercer Island and Lake Washington.[7]
In San Antonio, Texas, he set a record for the quickest takeoff: 79 feet (24 m) in 3.8 seconds, breaking Glenn Curtiss's mark of 95 feet (29 m) in 5.25 seconds.[6] In May, he performed in Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia, before heading to Mineola, New York, Curtiss's headquarters.[6]
On June 13, 1910, Hamilton won a prize of $10,000, sponsored by The New York Times and the Philadelphia Public Ledger, for being the first to fly from New York City to Philadelphia and back,[6] the first flight between two major US cities.[24] He departed from Governors Island in New York harbor at 7:30 am and reached Philadelphia at 9:26 am.[25] With a stopover in Philadelphia, the round trip took a little over 11 hours, at an average speed of nearly 51 miles per hour (82 km/h).[6]
He received a hero's welcome in his hometown of New Britain,[26] and, on July 2, 1910, made "the first public flight in the State" there.[27] It was also the first in New England.[26][28]
Between June and August, he performed at Knoxville, Nashville and Atlantic City.[6] In Nashville, he made the first night flight in America, remaining aloft 25 minutes before developing engine trouble.[6]
When Hamilton fell behind on payments, Glenn Curtiss repossessed the Reims Racer.[6] Hamilton then had a new airplane built by Walter Christie, who had a car and engine factory in Manhattan.[6] Finished on August 31, it was reputed to have the most powerful airplane engine yet, boasting 110 hp.[6] Hamilton named his new airplane the "Hamiltonian".[6] In September, however, the Hamiltonian stalled and crashed during a demonstration flight outside Sacramento, California; Hamilton was "badly cut, bruised and burned", but was flying again in a week.[6] "On September 28, he was issued American pilot license no. 12."[6]
He then joined John Moisant's exhibition team, performing with them in Richmond, Chattanooga and Memphis. In Memphis, he broke his own speed record of 64.6 miles per hour (104.0 km/h) by going 79.2 miles per hour (127.5 km/h).[6] In February 1911, he and Moisant parted company, with Moisant keeping his airplane.[6] He pioneered flying in Cleveland, Tennessee in October 1911, piloting a Curtis biplane.[29]
Hamilton died of tuberculosis[11] or "a lung hemorrhage after a long bout with tuberculosis"[5][29] on January 22, 1914. He was buried in Hartford, Connecticut on January 26.[30] Those familiar with his short career claimed he had earned a quarter of a million dollars, but he spent it and died almost broke.[30]
Hamilton married twice. He was divorced by his first wife and was survived by his second, Gussie, whom he had married the summer before his death.[12]
References
- 1900 United States Federal Census
- 1910 United States Federal Census
- Laura Arksey (January 15, 2008). "Charles Hamilton demonstrates airplane flight in Spokane on April 2, 1910". HistoryLink. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
- "Charles Hamilton". Hill Air Force Base. May 16, 2007. Archived from the original on September 20, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
- "Charles K. Hamilton (1885 – 1914)". Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
- Dennis Parks, Curator Emeritus of Seattle’s Museum of Flight (January 29, 2012). "The crazy man of the air: C.K. Hamilton wows crowds in 1910". General Aviation News. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
- Aubrey Cohen (March 10, 2010). "Plane first flew in Seattle 100 years ago, crashed the next day". Seattle Post-Intelligencer (blog).
- Graff, Cory (2008). Boeing Field. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0738556157.
- "The Frank Coffyn Collection: Charles K. Hamilton". U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. Archived from the original on September 21, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
- "The First U.S. Airshows: the Air Meets of 1910". U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. Archived from the original on 2012-10-10. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
- "Meet the Aviators". Flying Feerless: Celebrating the Centennial Anniversary of New Jersey Airshows, 1910-2010, sponsored by the Atlantic City Free Public Library and the Asbury Park Public Library. Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
- "Aviator Hamilton Dies Suddenly". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 22, 1914 – via Newspapers.com.
- Nellie, Hamilton. "New Britain, Connecticut, City Directory, 1901".
- Hamilton, Joseph Delliber. "Hartford, Connecticut, City Directory, 1895".
- Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999
- "Joseph D. Hamilton at Find a Grave".
- The First Aviators by David Nevin, c.1980 for Time-Life Books
- https://www.traditionsfurniture.com/downtown%20overland%20park/downtownoverlandpark.html
- "Feb. 19: Today in Arizona history". Arizona Daily Star. February 19, 2012.
- "The First Airplane Flight in Washington State". Museum of Flight. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
- "Item : Air P43 - [Charles K. Hamilton] First Air Plane Visitor to Vancouver B.C." City of Vancouver Archives. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
- Chuck Davis. "First Flight West of Winnipeg" (PDF). Vancouver Historical Society Newsletter, March 2010. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
- "History of Flight in BC". Canadian Museum of Flight.
- "Hamilton Flies for the Times to Philadelphia and Back in a Day". The New York Times. 14 June 1910.
- "Charles Keeny Hamilton Biography". earlyaviators.com. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
- "New Britain Hails Aviator Hamilton" (PDF). The New York Times. June 16, 1910.
- "Charles K. Hamilton". Historical Marker Database. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
- Richard DeLuca. "Airborne Pioneers: Connecticut Takes Flight". connecticuthistory.org. Retrieved August 19, 2012.
- Larry C. Bowers. "Aviation first introduced in Cleveland in 1911". Cleveland Daily Banner. Archived from the original on 2013-01-19.
- "Hamilton Spent Quarter Million: New Britain Aviator Made Big Sums by Flights, but Died Very Nearly Broke". The Day. January 28, 1914.
External links
- Seated in airplane, c. 1910, photograph in the Library of Congress
- The New York Times article, June 12, 1910: "Charles K. Hamilton Tells How To Run An Aeroplane"
- Charlie Hamilton riding as a passenger in a Wright B piloted by friend Harry Atwood
- Charles K. Hamilton at Find a Grave