If You Lived Here
The World's Oldest Airport is in College Park, MD
Clip: Season 4 Episode 4 | 3m 3sVideo has Closed Captions
Explore the rich aviation history of College Park, Maryland
Explore the rich aviation history of College Park, Maryland—home to the world’s oldest continuously operating airport and America’s first military aviation school. After their historic 1903 flight, the Wright Brothers brought their innovations to College Park in 1909 to train U.S. Army pilots. Learn the fascinating stories of the early days of flight training.
If You Lived Here is a local public television program presented by WETA
If You Lived Here
The World's Oldest Airport is in College Park, MD
Clip: Season 4 Episode 4 | 3m 3sVideo has Closed Captions
Explore the rich aviation history of College Park, Maryland—home to the world’s oldest continuously operating airport and America’s first military aviation school. After their historic 1903 flight, the Wright Brothers brought their innovations to College Park in 1909 to train U.S. Army pilots. Learn the fascinating stories of the early days of flight training.
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Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipKIMBERLY: People are always surprised to hear that there's so much aviation history here in College Park.
When we think of the airplane invention, everyone of course thinks of the Wright Brothers and their first flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
After that first flight in 1903, the Wright Brothers didn't really show their airplane to many people for a few years, so they kept it very secretive until about 1909 when they finally struck a contract with the US Army Corps, and that's when they moved here to College Park.
As more and more trainees and more and more planes are acquired here at College Park, it really becomes the first ever aviation school for the military.
They were learning how to fly the Wright Model A and then Wright Model B, which later becomes one of the more commercially successful planes that they built.
The materials of this plane may look a little bit deceiving.
That silver paint is to trick you into thinking it's made out of metal, when in reality all of that silver is wood.
The engine on here is a four cylinder inline engine.
That is not gonna be strong enough to lift a plane that is completely made out of metal, so it's really, really imperative to keep those materials as light as possible.
The seats are actually bicycle seats that have been covered in red fabric to create some more traction and friction.
There are no seatbelts, so the purpose of that is to hopefully stop you from slipping.
There are so many firsts that have happened here at the College Park Airport, we call ourselves the "field of firsts."
This aircraft is the precursor to what we now know today as the helicopter.
The Berliner Model #5 is one of the first aircraft capable of vertical takeoff.
Emile Berliner tested it and demonstrated it here at our airfield to the United States Navy in 1924.
The United States Navy said, "We're not interested right now," and the design for the helicopter pretty much stopped until about the 1930s, 1940s.
So there's a huge gap in helicopter history.
The best part about working at this museum is how local the information is and spread this community pride around the history that we have here at College Park Airport.
LEE: Today, College Park Airport still exists and is very viable.
It's the oldest continuously operated airport in the world.
You start thinking about the amazing things that have happened here, the fact that Orville and Wilbur walked these same grounds and other pilots who learned how to fly back when aviation was in its fledgling days.
INTERCOM OPERATOR: College Park Intercom.
Winds are 330 at 14, gusting 21.
LEE: We have people that come in from all over the United States and they park their plane and they can walk over to the Metro system, so it's really nice.
The city of College Park is very supportive of the airport.
It's a wonderful area to be.
It's a small urban airport, but, boy, I tell you it's active and we're pressing on to the next 100 years.
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Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipIf You Lived Here is a local public television program presented by WETA