Viewing page 17 of 21

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

At Minneapolis, Minnesota, he met "Buffalo Bill" Cody who urged him to make a foreign tour. As a result the following year he took his jumping act to Europe, where he was a sensation and was presented with a gold medal by the Balloon Society of Great Britain. 

In 1892, Baldwin attempted his first airship, a combination balloon, bicycle and propeller, but soon found he was unable to pedal it with his own power. That year he also toured Mexico and Central America with his balloon and parachute act. During this time Baldwin had established a balloon factory and shop in Quincy, Illinois where he made his home. He continued his ballooning and chute work about the country, then in 1900 gave up the shop in Illinois and moved to San Francisco where he continued his operations, at times using captive balloons to give people a ride up and down for $1.00.

In 1903-1904, Baldwin negotiated with Professor J.J. Montgomery, hoping as an added attraction to get[[acquire]] a glider that could be dropped from a balloon to glide to a landing, carrying a man, but this did not work out. The success of the Santos-Dumont airships in Europe from 1900 on, inspired Baldwin to build another one at San Jose, California, late that year. Called the "California Arrow," it was 52 feet long, 17 feet in diameter and had a light spruce framework underneath that carried a second-hand 7 H.P., 2 cylinder [[ Curtiss motorcycle]]engine driving an 8 foot propeller at 150. R.P.M.

He first attempted to fly this airship at Idora Park, Oakland, California, on August 2d, 1904, but it was too small to take him up as he then weighed over 200 pounds. The following month Baldwin took the airship to the St. Louis, Missouri, Balloon Exposition where again it refused to carry his weight. A young balloonist, Roy Knabenshue, volunteered to fly for him and succeeded in making seven flights with the "California Arrow," at St. Louis during late October and early November. He [[but]] had several harrowing experiences due to inexperience and a balky engine. After that [[the]] event Baldwin returned to Los Angeles where Knabenshue made seven more flights in the ship beginning December 25th.

At that time Baldwin was building a new and somewhat larger airship, using a new Curtiss 2 cylinder motorcycle engine. This ship, called the "City of Portland,"
2