Flight Fact: Taking Flight Since 1909
27 minutes ago
1 min read
College Park Airport (CGS) in Maryland has an unusual origin story: the site was selected after U.S. Army Lt. Frank Lahm surveyed the area from a balloon in 1909. That October, Wilbur Wright began training Army pilots there. Today, it remains the world’s oldest continuously operating airport.
Known as the “Field of Firsts,” College Park became home to the Army’s first aviation school in 1911. It also hosted the first woman to fly as an airplane passenger in the United States in 1909.
Today, the College Park Aviation Museum preserves that pioneering history with ten aircraft, including reproductions of early airplanes and the experimental 1924 Berliner helicopter.
Learn more:
