Aviation History: Cromwell Dixon Traditional Cache
Aviation History: Cromwell Dixon
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Park in the small parking lot just northwest of the coordinates. Because of business parking considerations this cache may be best found on evenings or on weekends. Permission has been obtained from the business to place this cache.
Aviation History: Cromwell Dixon
This cache is found at the site of an aviation historical marker. Here is information on the life of Cromwell Dixon.
Cromwell Dixon (1892-1911) was a true child prodigy. As a boy, he built his own roller coaster and charged the neighborhood children a penny a ride. At age 11, fascinated with flying, he constructed two motor-driven bicycles. His first invention came to him when he was just 14 years old. Powered by pedals and a propeller, steered with a rudder connected to the handlebars, the boy designed and built a human powered dirigible he called the “Sky cycle.” The balloon was cut from a huge silk bag; similar to contemporary hot air blimps, it was filled with gas, and then fastened to a wooden frame. He was dubbed “the youngest aeronaut in the world” when he won first prize for dirigibles in the 1907 International Balloons Race in St Louis, Missouri.
After experimenting with the “Sky cycle,” Dixon became an exhibition pilot. Because Cromwell wasn’t old enough to be licensed, he had to convince his mother to co-sign a contract with the Curtiss Exhibition Company of New York. On August 31, 1911, he was awarded just the forty-third pilot’s license issued in the United States. At nineteen, he was the youngest licensed aviator in the country – perhaps even the world. Dixon pushed the limits of his flying machine – not much more than a shabby wooden box enveloped by chicken wire – and soon, he perfected the “Dixon Corkscrew,” an aerial exercise in which he would circle down from 8,000 feet, pull up, and level off just before landing.
The highlight of his aviation career was his flight over the Rocky Mountains. His famous flight earned him the prize money of $10,000 (well over $200,000 today) offered by local executives as compensation to the first aviator to fly over the Continental Divide. Throngs of people gathered to see the famous boy wonder at the Montana State Fairgrounds in Helena, Montana on September 30, 1911. A clear, crisp and windless autumn morning provided the backdrop as multitudes of fans watched Dixon twist his way up to 7,000 feet. He flew west of Helena and landed successfully on the west side of Mullan Pass, in a field. By guiding his fragile Curtiss bi-wing plane over the Continental Divide, the teenager made history, becoming the first person to cross the Rocky Mountains!
On October 2, 1911, just two days after his famous crossing, Dixon was killed when his aircraft crashed while performing an aerial stunt at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds. Billed as the youngest licensed aviator in the United States, he made his first flight about 3PM, after having had some engine problems. In front of 12,000 spectators, the bi-plane encountered a strong, unexpected downwind, plunging it 100 feet toward the ground, crushing the 19-year-old pilot under the heavy engine. He died less than an hour later in the hospital.
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