Baltimore Aero Club

The Baltimore Aero Club was formed, most likely in jest, at an after-dinner meeting at the Baltimore Athletic Club on 29 May 1908. The dinner, a rousing affair, was a send-off in honor of Edward H. Thompson, a Baltimore banker, who had accepted a dare of Philadelphia aeronaut Arthur T. Atherholt some months ago to go ballooning. The balloon flight, which was to take place on 30 May, drew an audience of thousands but the flight itself was a failure; the gas was inadequate and when the bag was wrestled to the ground it was torn. While said club members met again that evening and reportedly discussed plans for a real ascension, no information has been found on later activities of the club.

E. H. Thomson was elected president of the Baltimore Aero Club at its organizational meeting on 29 May 1908. The 12 founders, including Atherholt and another man from Philadelphia, appear to have all been members of the athletic club. Said Baltimore Aero Club appears to have no connection to the Aero Club of Baltimore formed 30 Sept. 1909.

There was another club in Baltimore known as the Aero Club that at its inception had nothing to do with aerial navigation. It was founded by three employees of the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone company and another friend in February 1909 who were interested in wireless communication and wanted to advance the message that any one will skill and patience could buy the materials and make a machine capable of sending messages for miles. At that time one of the members was following the Atlantic ocean fleet from Hampton Roads, Virginia to Pensacola, Florida. Whether the club existed long enough to follow aeroplane traffic is not known. (See Washington Post and Christian Science Monitor, both 11 Feb. 1909.)

Sources

• 1908 Baltimore Sun 30 & 31 May

Organization names	Baltimore Aero Club
Entity type
Country	US
City	Baltimore, Maryland
Affiliated with
Scope	Local
Started aero	1908
Ended aero	1908 ?
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Key people
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