Born:
05/25/1891
Died: 05/15/1976
Inducted:
10/14/2000
In the spring of 1913 Vilas
decided that he would own a flying boat. He visited Glenn Curtiss in
Hammondsport, NY and paid a down payment on his Hydro-Aeroplane and
enrolled in the flight school.
He watched his
plane being built while learning to fly and graduated in four weeks
becoming a certificated pilot, holding U.S. Hydro-License No. 6,
Aero Club of America.
A Chicago native,
Vilas became the first person to fly across Lake Michigan when he
completed a 64 mile over-the-water flight from St. Joseph, Michigan
to downtown Chicago on July 1, 1913.
In
1914, Vilas flew in Milwaukee with the Wisconsin Aero Club and,
in the summer of 1915, he and his flying boat were hired by the
Wisconsin Conservation Commission to fly fire patrol over the
Northwoods. A conservation landmark, the Vilas flights were the
first use of an airplane for forest fire control in the world.
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Vilas takes delivery of his Curtiss
Hydro-Aeroplane, ca 1913
(Photo courtesy Glenn Curtiss Museum)
Plaque commemorating Vilas' flight
across Lake Michigan
(WAHF photo)
Vilas and his Curtiss Hydro-Aeroplane
at Trout Lake Wisconsin
(Photo by Wisconsin Conservation Department)
Vilas Historical Marker, Vilas
County, WI
(WAHF photo)
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