Atlantic City Weekly

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On Wednesday, Aug. 20, at 10am, Atlantic City's sixth annual Airshow will begin. It is anticipated that the show will draw 500,000 spectators to the beach and Boardwalk of Atlantic City and its neighboring communities. The Airshow will have 36 units starting at 10am and ending before 4pm (see schedule, p. 68). The entire show will be broadcast on WOND 1400 AM. You are urged to bring your radio to wherever you are watching the show so that you can hear what is coming and from whence it is coming, information about the pilots and the planes, and what they will do. It will make the Airshow so much more enlightening if you have a radio to hear the broadcast.

The following is from a "Pinky's Corner" column written on Aug. 14, 2003. It will give you a good insight into the first Atlantic City Airshow:

Atlantic City played a major role in the very early history of aviation. Meets were held on the beach attracting the leading aviators of the day, including Glenn Curtiss and Orville and Wilbur Wright. Many postcards and newspaper articles illustrated these events. A series of Atlantic City Press stories revealed the following facts about Atlantic City's first air show.

"Business and hotel men met and planned an aviation meet, the equal of which had never been attempted. It is planned for July 3-10, 1910, with prizes amounting to $35,000 being offered. It is to be held under the auspices of the Atlantic City Aero Club, one of the first ever formed in this country. The planned course is two-and-a-half miles lying directly off the end of the piers and over the ocean. Five hundred thousand spectators are expected to attend. John White, of the Marlboro Blenheim Hotel, and Albert Bell, of the Chalfonte Hotel, returned from New York City after interviewing Glenn Curtiss and Charles Hamilton, daring aviators who have been setting the world agog with their aerial exploits. They, as well as other famous aviators, are likely to come here for the meet. Something entirely new is expected. An airship starts from land, make a flight descent and lands upon the ocean. This had never been attempted anywhere before."

A June 21 [1910] story said: "Aero Club president White communicated with the War Department about staging a fake battle between aeroplanes and airships with the world's greatest aviators Curtiss, Hamilton and Brookins. They will attack the battleships with oranges and sandbags, and the battleship's weapons will be three-inch rapid-fire guns, each fitted with a telescopic camera securely attached to the barrel of a gun and adjusted so the act of firing the gun will shut the shutter and take a picture of the exact center of the plane, which will be the spot where the shot had fired instead of a blank cartridge."

A July 2 [1910] story said: "During the meet, Glenn Curtiss will attempt to make a landing directly on the ocean and then try to take off from the water. He had fitted his plane with watertight air pontoons (the beginning of the seaplanes). Brooking, a protege of the Wright brothers, is planning a flight several miles over the city, where he will drop messages to the decks of ocean liners passing by."

As to the actual meet, a Press story on July 5 [1910] stated: "Handicapped by unfavorable breezes and a blockade of humanity, Curtiss made one flight yesterday, but it was the most dangerous of his career. He flew only 30 feet above the heads of 100,000 people from Young's Pier to the Million Dollar Pier, covering the distance of one mile in less than a minute. He landed after skillfully maneuvering the plane to avoid running down a little girl and a foolhardy bather." The July 6 [1910] Press story reporting on the meet said: "Glenn Curtiss made his first successful flight of the aviation carnival last night at 6:30pm. He took off on the uptown side of the Million Dollar Pier, soared out over the ocean at a height of about 500 feet, and flew straight as an arrow over the end of the Young's Ocean Pier, Steel Pier and Heinz Pier. He then described an arc and returned down the beach far into Chelsea, described another arc and landed perfectly in the exact spot where he took off. The flight lasted eight minutes and the crowd cheered itself hoarse."

The July 11 [1910] Press story reported. "The height of the aviation carnival was reached Saturday night when Walter Brookins shattered the world's 4,939-foot altitude record with a height of 6,175 feet. The final Press report on the air carnival stated: "Glenn Curtiss demonstrated how airplanes could be used in wartime. Curtiss was planning to drop his bombs on the decks of the yacht, but he didn't have the heart to dirty the white costumes of the ladies on the yachts. Going at a pace of 60 miles-per-hour, he dropped his shots around the yachts and on the beach. The impact reduced them to pulp. Also yesterday, the crowd watched young Brookins dart about the sky for about 20 minutes putting on a daring show. City officials were immensely pleased with the meet."

Join the crowd (and don't forget to bring your radio) on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008 for Atlantic City's sixth annual Airshow, affectionately known as "Thunder Over The Boardwalk."

Pinky's Corner airs Monday through Friday from 4 to 6pm on News Talk WOND-AM 1400. His TV show, WMGM Presents Pinky, airs Saturday at 7:30pm on TV40. Pinky's e-mail address is: pinky@atlanticcityweekly.com.