In one month, the historic event that brought fame to Petaluma and Sonoma County, will be celebrated with a variety of local activities. Here are some of the Wiseman commemorative events that have been scheduled, to date. (For an updated calendar of other SonomaCounty events, go to http://fredwiseman.org Jan. 27 [...]
Although the controversy of whether or not Fed J. Wiseman's air mail flight on February 17-18, 1911 was "official," continues to this day and will probably be debated for some time; however, the facts remain - as stated on his monument, now located in Petaluma's Wiseman Park - "It was [...]
In his July 15, 1997 column titled, :"Wiseman history found," Bill Soberanes wrote, I've been searching for the plaque and time capsule that was put into a monument in memory of Fred J. Wiseman's historic airmail flight.... a number of years ago the monument, which was at the Petaluma Fairgrounds, [...]
One of the reasons why many Petalumans are so knowledgeable about Fred Wiseman's first airmail flight in 1911, and dedicated to seeing that its Centennial Anniversary is properly acknowledged is due to the various columns written by Bill Soberanes over the years. Today's blog will remember Bill Soberanes' promotional efforts [...]
Last week, I spent over six hours at the Petaluma Airport, meeting with other members of the Petaluma Fred Wiseman Centennial Celebration Planning Committee, in a session that also reflected on the historical significance of his airmail flight from Petaluma to Santa Rosa on February 17-18, 1911. It doesn't make [...]
Our last two posts contained more detailed information, including discrepancies, about Fred Wise3man's 1911 historic flight than most readers needed to know; however, we wanted to be historically correct as much as possible during our Centennial Celebration of the first air mail flight in the USA. We had planned [...]
On May 31, 1968, Dr. Paul Edward Garber, Assistant Direct for Aeronautics, National Air and Space Museum, wrote a paper titled "The Wiseman Airplane and its significance in the history of Airmail, based on its flight of February 17, 1911." (Posted, below, are a few selected paragraphs from his cover [...]
As we have stated in an earlier post about Fred Wiseman's airmail flight from February 17-18, 1911, "what is your definition of "first?" If you are concerned about who made the first "official" airmail flight, then it can be argued that the answer is: The first official experiment at flying [...]
Anyone who has been interested in history knows that everything you read about an event may or may not be true. Quite often we read two or more versions of the same episode. The stories and articles pertaining to the first air mail flight in the U.S. are not an [...]
As we approach the Centennial Anniversary of the first air mail flight in the U.S. (2011), the question of who gets credit for making the initial flight continues to be asked by both professional and amateur historians. As announced in my last Petaluma360 blog ("Start your engine," posted 11/7/10), several [...]