WISCONSINS FIRST AVIATOR

The nation's first commercially built "aeroplane" was assembled and flown here November 4, 1909, by Arthur P. Warner, Wisconsin's first pilot.Self~taught, Warner was the 11th American to pilot a powered aircraft and first in the US to buy an aircraft for business use.

Built by Glenn H. Curtiss, the biplane was "sister" to the aircraft in which Curtiss won the Bennett trophy race in Rheims, France, August 29, 1909. Inventor and manufacturer, Warner used the aircraft in research and to publicize his automotive products. He developed the automobile speedometer, automotive and machine tool accessories, and built the first electric power plant in Beloit. For his contributions to the aviation and automotive industries, Warner was posthumously elected to the Wisconsin Industrial Hall of Fame in 1962

Erected 1964

BELOIT WISCONSIN

AVIATION MEMORIAL

COMMEMORATING THE MAKING OF EARLY AVIATION HISTORY, IN 1909 EARLY BIRD

ARTHUR P. WARNER

OF THIS CITY, PURCHASED, ASSEMBLED AND TAUGHT HIMSELF TO FLY A CURTISS PUSHER AEROPLANE AT TURTLE RIDGE ON NEARBY HIGHWAY 15

AWARDED BY THE EARLY BIRDS OF AVIATION

AN ORGANIZATION OF PIONEERS IN AERONAUTICS

WHO FLEW SOLO BEFORE

DECEMBER 17, 1916

DEDICATED

1963

More about the "Early Birds of Aviation" can be found at this web page

http://earlybirds.org/