George Thompson (aviator)
George W. Thompson (b. April 3, 1888 - d. August 21, 1912) was a self-taught aviator, and is one of the first Coloradan flyers.[1] He was born near Sharon Springs, Kansas.[2] Thompson built a Matthewson biplane, a Curtiss design, and soloed it on January 4, 1911.
History
His early career was working for the Mathewson Auto Company, Denver, Colorado. The company name later became the Mathewson Aeroplane Company.[3][4] Thompson made several flights on his first flying day, and in the first year, about 100 flights during 1911. He was known to travel with his aircraft throughout Colorado and also in Wyoming, especially at county fairs with aerial shows.
In his short life, he built and flew nine "headless biplanes". He also helped to organize the American Federation of Aviators, and served as president in 1911-1912.
Thompson's primary flights took place at the Sable airstrip, a primitive airfield and auto racing track, located between the Fitzsimmons Hospital and the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, the area of the old Stapleton Airport. For some of his Colorado travels, he disassembled his aircraft and shipped it in a boxcar to his destination.
George Thompson made a number of early contributions to Colorado aviation, but his 24-year life was cut short by a crash at the Prowers County Fair at Lamar, Colorado on August 21, 1912. During a flight he hit a treetop which threw him out, to fall about 40 feet to the ground, with the aircraft falling upon him.
George Thompson's headstone at Olinger Crown Hill Cemetery in Wheatridge are engraved with the words "George W. Thompson, Colorado's First Aviator". He was inducted into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame in its first ceremony of 1969.
References
- ^ Colorado Aviation Historical Society: George Thompson History
- ^ Some records indicate he was born in Denver, Colorado
- ^ EarlyAviators.org: George Thompson, reprint from the Denver Post
- ^ Aeronautics: the American magazine of aerial locomotion, Volume 8
- Further reading
- Holmes, Charles W., Editor, Honoree Album of the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame, The Colorado Aviation Historical Society, 1999, Audubon Media Corp., Audobon, IA.