First Public Air Trips In Vermont – 1919

First Public Air Trips In Vermont -1919

     The following newspaper article appeared in the Middlebury Register, of Middlebury, Vermont, on August 8, 1919. 

FIRST PUBLIC AIR TRIPS TO BE A FEATURE OF COUNTY FAIR 

     Interest in aviation in this section has been developing at rapid strides but the best exhibition yet seen is expected to be afforded at the Addison County Fair when Lieut. John J. Lynch of Rutland will qualify here as the first public carrier of air passengers.

     Mr. Lynch, who for a month past has been making almost daily flights from Rutland and carrying a number of passengers on short trips which are said to have cost a dollar a minute, is the foremost aviator now in Vermont, and he has a particular interest in providing a good exhibition here as just prior to his enlistment in the army he was a student at Middlebury College.

     Secretary F. C. Dyer of the Fair management announced with a great deal of elation this week that he had succeeded in procuring Mr. Lynch and that if conditions are favorable he would do “all the stunt flying” that he learned in the army, and in addition would take up passengers.  It will be the first appearance of an army aviator at any Vermont fair, and added to the other entertainment attractions will doubtless bring out a large crowd for the four days of fair week.

     The rapid multiplication of automobiles in the country will make it possible for a larger number of farmers to attend than ever before and from the talk at the big farm meeting at the Government Farm last Tuesday it appeared that practically everyone in the county as well as many outsiders were planning on fair week as their next holiday.  The presence of Lynch and his plane will make it possible for any farmer to stay at the fair up to within about two minutes of milking time and then speed home in the air, if he has a dollar a minute to spare.

     Hortonia Man Will Buy Airplane   

     Lieut. Lynch made a number of flights at Meehan’s Park, Lake Dunmore, last Sunday and had a narrow escape from injuring himself and the machine while making one of his landings at the field.  Because of the size of the field, Lynch was obliged to have five men assist him in stopping the machine.  On this occasion two of the men fell, while another missed his hold on the fast moving plane, and the other two were able to do little toward holding it as it swung around toward the pavilion.  It was diverted, however, so that it did not strike the building, but ran into a fence where, however, there was little damage. 

     One of Lynch’s passengers on Sunday was Edward C. McGoff of Rutland, construction foreman for the Hortonia Power Company, who is planning on a purchase of a small flying machine to take him around to the various plants of the Hortonia Company, covering practically the entire state. This probably will constitute the first commercial use of a flying machine in Vermont.      

 

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