"In the early 1930's, airline pilot Shelly Charles operated an open primary glider from auto-tow at the old Washington-Hoover Airport (where the Pentagon stands today). His flights were usually of short duration before an appreciative Sunday afternoon crowd."
"5-7-00- Air show delighted crowds in 1929
A crowd estimated at more than 20,000 filled all available parking and standing room at Gettysburg. Automobiles lined every highway and at one time the Lincoln highway was jammed with motor vehicles. Dozens of state troopers and highway patrolmen were directing traffic during the two-day program.
Sunday's crowd was the peak crowd of the demonstration.
These lines could describe one of the annual Civil War reenactments held during Gettysburg's Heritage Days, which commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. But in this case, those words appeared on the front page of the Monday, Oct. 21, 1929, Gettysburg Times, and described a two-day "Aerial Demonstration" held at the Gettysburg Airport that weekend.
The Gettysburg Airport was operated by the Gettysburg Flying Service, and opened in August 1927 by businessmen from Washington, D.C., including Henry Berliner, an aircraft manufacturer. It was located on the Forney Farm, south of the Mummasburg Road in the shadow of Oak Hill on the first day's battlefield.
The manager of the flying service was Howard C. Mittinger and his staff included a young pilot and flight instructor,
Paul D. Charles, and a mechanic, Charles Doersom.
The festivities during the two-day air show included stunt flying, two air races, "dead stick" (engine off) landing competition, parachute jumping, a night flying demonstration, and the dedication of a second hanger at the field.
"The honors for the two-day program (went) to J. Shelly Charles (Paul's older brother), of Richmond, Va., and Henry Little of Norristown, who each won two large silver loving cups.
"Charles won for stunt flying... putting his ship through every trick, twist and turn imaginable and (winning) the plaudits of the large crowd - and his dead stick landing expertise. Little won one each in racing competitions."
Thunderbolt Knight, of Baltimore, thrilled the crowds with his daring parachute jumps.
"The most thrilling performance was the delayed jump. Knight (leaped) from his ship at an altitude of 3,000 feet. After dropping several hundred feet he opens one chute. A few hundred feet farther down, he (cut) one parachute loose and (dropped) two hundred feet before opening his second chute."
Apparently, the star of the show, one of the rising stars in the aviation field, was 23-year-old pilot Paul Charles, who "thrilled the large crowd Sunday afternoon with a series of rolls, wing-overs, nose-dives, falling leafs, upside-down flying, and other aerobatics" in his Whirlwind biplane.
Other participants included A.C. Pottorf of Chambersburg and S.B. Slyder of Chambersburg. Notable visitors to the field included Gen. James E. Fechet, chief of the Army Air Corps; E. C. Brauer, chief photographer and "Chief Aviation Pilot Insley" of the Navy; J. Morgan Harding, of Hadley Field, N.J.; R.W. Thaw of Norristown; and Earl Steinhauer of Hoover Field, Washington, D.C. (now the site of the Pentagon).
Nonetheless, a young army pilot was also present. His first claim to fame was piloting the "Question Mark," a- large biplane (now in the Air & Space Museum collections), that broke a record for endurance flight. But this aviator was destined for greater things. His name, Captain Ira C. Eaker, who, as the commander of the Army's Eight Air Force in Europe during World War II, helped bring Hitler's Third Reich to its knees through daylight bombing raids."
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Excerpt from the Bowlus BA-100 Baby Albatross Display at the Smithsonian.
"Factory records suggest that Bowlus produced parts for about 90 aircraft. Pilot and historian, Jeff Byard, has attempted to trace the histories of each known Baby Albatross serial number. His work has shown that enthusiasts probably built and flew from 50 to 60. Among the group were pilots who accomplished significant flights at the controls of their Baby Albatrosses. Eastern Airlines Captain J. Shelly Charles of Atlanta made a number of impressive flights. He flew 423 km (263 miles) on one occasion and later soared to an altitude of more than 3,040 m (10,000 ft)."
![Image](http://www.steedagt.net/CharlesFlying/ShellyCharles8SpokesManReviewDec271941.jpg)