Aeronautics: No. 1 Flyer Flayed

Twenty-five years ago the U. S. Army Air Corps consisted of one plane and one pilot. He was a keen-eyed, pipe-smoking bantam named Lieut. Benjamin Delahauf ("Benny") Foulois. Up from the ranks of infantry, he joined the Signal Corps in 1908, learned to fly balloons, went to Fort Myer, Va. where Orville Wright was trying to sell the Army its first airplane. He laid out the test course—the amazing distance of ten miles—and was chosen official passenger by Orville Wright for two reasons. First, he weighed only 126 Ib. Second, as Orville...