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The Mile-High Flight:
Aviation was still in its infancy in 1911 and nearly every flight at the College Park Aviation School made the news. No one caught the attention of the media like Henry "Hap" Arnold. In the summer of 1911, he set one record breaking altitude flight after another and in June of 1912, flew over a mile high, reaching a staggering height of 6,540 feet -- a world record at the time. Shown here is Hap Arnold as a young lieutenant at the College Park Airfield.
How High Is That?
Imagine you placed 9-1/2 Washington monuments, which are 555 feet tall, on top of each other. This will show you why reports of Arnold's altitude records made front-page headlines and described him as "benumbed by cold at high altitudes" and "near death in his aero." |