Most Americans had never seen the newfangled machines that soared in the skies at America’s first international air meet in 1910. Enthusiasm for aviation grew after the first international air meet in 1909 in Rheims, France, where American aviator Glenn H. Curtiss won three prestigious speed prizes and 36,000 francs. An even more spectacular air meet, which would also invigorate the local economy, was promoted for Los Angeles. Businessman Dick Ferris, the Los Angeles Merchants and Manufacturers Association, and the Los Angeles Examiner collaborated to make it possible. Held January 10-20, 1910, on a mesa called Dominguez Hill, guests were initially skeptical, then awed, and so began America's love affair with aviation. This revolutionary air meet influenced aviation in Southern California and transportation worldwide into the 21st century.
The Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum commissioned this book to commemorate the January 1910 Air Meet. The museum worked closely with author Kenneth E. Pauley, an aviation and California history enthusiast. Many of the images in this work are courtesy of California State University, Dominguez Hills; the Los Angeles Public Library; and the Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum.