Viewing page 24 of 26

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

Biplane for exhibition work. They contacted the United Fairs Booking Company in Chicago to arrange for flying dates, and Messer made his first solo flight and public exhibition at Streator, Illinois on May 13th, 1911. This was then followed by other exhibitions that year in Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas.

That Fall he started Engineering School at the University of Illinois, continuing to do some flying by taking the train to his engagements, then back to school. In this way he financed and completed his engineering education.

In 1912 Messer bought a Curtiss-type biplane at a Sheriff Sale in Kansas City, Missouri, powered by a Kemp engine. With this plane he flew some exhibition dates that year but had considerable engine trouble, so he installed a Gnome rotary engine. He did some exhibition flying through 1912-1915 and during that period installed a Curtiss OX-2 engine.

Out of College in 1916 Messer joined the Royal Flying Corps and served there until 1917 when he accepted a commission in the Aviation Section, Signal Corps and served as an instructor at Camp Kelly, Texas, along with Edward Stinson and several other early pilots. Soon Messer was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps mission to the United States to instal the Gosport system of the instruction at the various flight training fields, where he remained until the summer of 1919. He then returned to Kelly Field until he was discharged from the Service later that year.

About this time Messer was assigned to make one of the newly inaugurated air mail flights from Protomac Park, Washington, D.C. to Belmont Park, Long Island, New York, flying a Curtiss R-4 mail plane.

Following this Messer and Edward Stinson formed a partnership to operate a new flying field at Birmingham, Alabama. Leaving Stinson to manage the field Messer soon formed the Messer Flying Circus to engage in more advanced exhibition stunt work consisting of acrobatic flying, wing walking, parachuting, and similar feats. Later he took in Phoebe Fairgraves as an active partner and changed the name to the Messer-Fairgraves Flying Circus. Being athletic and somewhat of a natural acrobat, Messer soon developed an all-new phase of Post World War I