Milwaukee Aero Club

Articles of incorporation for the Milwaukee Aero Club, signed by a number of Milwaukee's business elites, were filed in Madison, Wisconsin, on 29 Feb. 1908. Objectives of the club were to own, control, and manufacture balloons, aeroplanes, and aircraft of every description; to promote the science of aeronautics; to meet in competitions; and to encourage and promote the ideals of navigation of the air. Officers and directors were elected at a meeting of the incorporators 6 Mar. 1908 in rooms of the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association. A committee was appointed at that time to formulate bylaws. The state fair park at West Allis was to be the balloon grounds of the club. (According to the New York Times of 10 Apr.1908, the club was one of the first four affiliates of the Aero Club of America; however, given information in the ACA annuals 1909 and 1910, this appears to be an incorrect statement. Instead, it appears that the fourth was the Aero Club of North Adams, Massachusetts.)

Initial officers, 1908, were elected from the 17 incorporators and included John H. Moss, president; John H. Kopmeier and Edward P. Vilas, vice presidents; Richard B. Watrous, secretary; Oliver C. Fuller, treasurer.

In July 1908, Col. Gustav Pabst gave the club funds for a balloon so Maj. Henry B. Hersey (an incorporator and board member), considered a leading balloon pilot in the USA, could instruct Milwaukee men in the handling of balloons sufficient to obtain their licenses from the Aero Club of America. Hersey procured the balloon from Albert Leo Stevens.

Officers, 1911, included William G. Bruce, president; John H. Kopmeier and A. O. Smith, vice presidents; Frank A. Cannon, secretary; and Gladstone Cherry, treasurer. The Milwaukee Aero Club was invited to enter a balloon in the August 1910 Harvard-Boston meet.

One of the incorporators was "Ruldolph A. Silverston" -- probably meaning Anthony Ridolph Silverston -- who was said to be building his own aeroplane. According to the Chicago Tribune on 18 Feb. 1909, the airship was built by the so-called "Dr." Silverston other people's money and "appeared to be a perfectly good airship and filled the bill in every way except in the matter of flying." The paper accused him of being a schemer of long-standing who had used various aliases.

Milwaukee Free Press and or Sentinel articles of 1 March 1908 needs to be be retrieved.

Affiliated with ACA in 1910 or earlier

Sources

• 1908 Milwaukee Free Press 1 Mar.; 1908 NYT, 10 Apr.; 2:6 Aeronautics (NYC) 20 (1908); 1908 Chicago Daily Tribune, 9 July; 1909 CDT 18 Feb.; 1909 Jane's All the World's Aircraft 251; 1910 Boston Daily Globe, 13, 14, & 16 Aug.; 5 Aeronautics 24 (1909); 8 Aeronautics (NYC) (US) 185 (1911); 2:11 Flying 34 (1913); 5 Flying 250 (1916); 6 Flying 498 (1917); 8 Flying 549 (1919); 9 Flying 50 (1920); ACA annuals (1910-1917, 1919); Goodyear (1919), p. 11

Organization names	Milwaukee Aero Club
Entity type
Country	US
City	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Affiliated with	ACA
Scope	Local
Started aero	1908
Ended aero	1920 or later
Keywords
Key people
Wikidata id

• Address: no fixed address (1906-1919)

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