MANAGEMENT IN AVIATION HISTORY BENCH MARKS
Lahm astride his Cavalry horse with a Wright aircraft in background, location and date unknown. Photo courtesy of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
Lahm was born in Ohio where he went through early schooling until his mother died. His father, Frank S. Lahm, was an international businessman who brought his young son to France where he fi nished his preparatory education and learned French. Returning to the U.S., Lahm graduated from West Point in 1901, as a second lieutenant in the Sixth Cavalry. From then on Lahm was either riding a horse, or piloting a balloon, often assigned to a foreign country where French was spoken. The elder Lahm was an accredited balloon pilot who had passed on his passion for fl ight to his son as early as 1904. From that date forward, Lt. Lahm accepted every opportunity the military off ered him to go aloft. He was the right person in the right place at the right time to make aviation history.
THE FIRST GORDON BENNETT INTERNATIONAL BALLOON RACE OF 1906
The fi rst “race” conceived and fi nanced by millionaire James Gordon Bennett was actually a long-distance competition of 16 balloons piloted by two-man teams from England, France, Germany, Spain, America, Italy and Belgium. Balloons infl ated with coal gas (none with hydrogen) were scheduled to depart at fi ve-minute intervals from the Tuileries Garden in Paris. Capturing the wind from east to west, pilots hoped to fl oat over the English Channel and land as far into the British Isles as possible. Native Brazilian Alberto Santos- Dumont qualifi ed to enter the race representing the U.S. and off ered the only ship with a small motor. The elder Lahm
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entered his balloon for the U.S. but as the September race date approached he was unable to compete. This left the U.S. without a second balloon, pilot or pilot assistant in the race. This all changed in the days immediately preceding the event. Lt. Lahm was assigned to a Cavalry training base in France during the summer preceding the race. Learning that his father was unable to compete, he volunteered to take his place. Just hours before the offi cial lift off , the French assistant chosen by Lahm was judged ineligible. Again it seemed the U.S. was without a second balloon in the race. By chance, and with only minutes to spare, help arrived from a fellow equestrian and balloonist. Author Cleveland Moff ett described the drama:
“Most fortunately, Major Henry B. Hersey of the Rough Riders, an associate of Walter Wellman, and just back from their fi rst Artic balloon expedition, happened to be on the grounds. Learning of Lahm’s predicament, he volunteered on the spot to fi ll the emergency. If Lieutenant Lahm had searched Europe over, he could not have found a better man.”
Stunned by his good fortune, Lahm was more than
happy to wait while Hersey ran across the street from the launching fi eld to retrieve his overcoat before he jumped into the waiting balloon basket. One aviation reporter of the day wrote, “And so started the greatest balloon race the world has thus far known.”
DOMmagazine
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