It's Fun Facts Friday AirSho Fans! Did you know that the first-ever global 'flying meet' was held in 1909 in Reims, France and dubbed “Great Aviation Week”? While the Wright Brothers weren't in attendance, great aviators like Louis Blériot wowed over 200,000 awestruck spectators. Fast-forward to after World War I, the U.S. government had a surplus of airplanes, such as especially easy to fly trainers like the Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplane.
Having no use for the aircraft, the government sold them to ex-military pilots and adventurous civilians who traveled the country to perform aerial demonstrations before a paying audience. These “barnstorming” pilots are often considered the first aerial stunt performers. With little regulation, barnstormers pulled off risky moves like loops, barrel rolls, and even flying under bridges or through barns. Stunts like wing walking, parachute jumps, and midair plane swaps were aplenty. One group even played tennis on airplane wings!
Today near 12 million Americans attend air shows every year according to the International Council of Air Shows and the Fargo AirSho is proud to be part of those statistics. Join us on July 27 & 28 for some amazing aerobatic performances… although we have to issue a statement to not expect any sky tennis, we're all about safety here people!
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