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[[stamped]] FROM THE FLYING PIONEERS BIOGRAPHIES OF HAROLD E. MOREHOUSE [[/STAMPED]]

Daugherty School of Aviation at Chateau Thierry Flying Field. This venture was essentially a flying school, however he still planned to carry passengers and do exhibition work. His business grew rapidly and by March, 1920 he was called "King of Aviation" in Long Beach, was kept busy with passenger work and had already carried 3,400 people since he had started. It was soon necessary to get more planes and hire additional pilots to take care of the business. He put on stunt flying exhibitions to call the crowds and soon engaged Clarence Bragunier and Wesley May to do wing walking. He continued his classes of instruction and also started dealing in used planes. In August he acquired 24 acres of land to establish his private flying field. For a formal opening of this new field Daugherty held the Long Beach Air Tournament on December 25th to 27th. His program was designed to further promote public interest in flying, combining air races, stunt flying, ground display of planes and the commercial ability of aircraft demonstrations. It was a gala affair and an estimated 165,000 people attended the three day event.

In October, 1921 Daugherty increased the scope of his business when he and Erving Diess organized the California Curtiss Company to operate on his flying field. This venture made them Sales Distributors for Curtiss planes and engines in Southern California and Arizona, and they planned and Air Rodeo at Daugherty Field on November 12th to give the public an opportunity to see the complete new line of Curtiss products.

His passenger business continued to grow and through 1922 and 1923 he kept seven to ten planes busy. In addition to this Daugherty could be relied upon to compete in all southern California aviation events, where he was always a hard man to beat. On September 7, 1923 Daugherty and Miss Catherine Hall were married in a flight over Long Beach, following which they reportedly took an aerial honeymoon trip. During this period Daugherty was often engaged by the various motion picture companies to fly in feature motion pictures and he gained national renown in this work.  

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