Born:
12/07/1882
Died: 02/07/1927
Inducted:
10/10/1998
Born in Wausau, Wisconsin in
1882 John Schwister was the first Wisconsinite to build an airplane
capable of sustained, powered flight. Working in St. Paul, Minnesota
and in Wausau he completed his "Minnesota - Badger"
biplane during the spring of 1911. After teaching himself how to
pilot the craft he made his first flight on June 23, 1911.
Schwister
made many more flights that year, including an exhibition at the
Langlade County Fair in Antigo, Wisconsin and an extraordinary
twenty-seven mile cross-country flight during which he climbed to an
altitude of 2,000 feet.
John
Schwister continued to build and fly his own aeroplanes even though
he had been seriously injured in a crash at Minneapolis in June,
1912. He was Wisconsin aviation's first successful "home
builder."
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John Schwister in his Minnesota
Badger, 1911
(Photo courtesy Bob Wylie)
Schwister at the controls of the
Minnesota Badger
(Photo courtesy Bob Wylie)
Wisconsin State Historical Marker
celebrating Schwister's flight
(WAHF photo by Rose Dorcey)
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