San Antonio Aero Club
The San Antonio Aero Club was formed ca. May 1908. It was planning a balloon race during the Fair and Auto Meet in San Antonio, October 1909. In its October 1909 issue, Aeronautics reported that the club was constantly adding new members but after that there appears to be no mention of the club. It appears that the club was sometimes referred to in full as the San Antonio Aero Club of Texas or the Texas Aero Club of San Antonio and that those were sometimes shortened to Aero Club of Texas or Texas Aero Club.
The club was started by Dr. Frederick J. Fielding, M.D., who was elected president. Other initial officers included J. M. Vance, vice president, and P. A. Newman, secretary-treasurer. Fielding, an accomplished automobile and motor boat enthusiast, was having H. E. Honeywell of St. Louis build a 70,000 cubic-foot balloon for him to race. On its first flight, the Fielding-San Antonio balloon, piloted by Honeywell and with Fielding on his first ascent, won the 3-6 July 2008 Chicago to Atlantic Ocean balloon race (Chicago to Ocean Race) sponsored by the Aeronautique Club of Chicago. According to newspaper accounts, the balloon represented the Aero Club of Texas, which we now think were references to the San Antonio Aero Club of Texas, also known as the San Antonio Aero Club. By January 1909, the San Antonio Aero Club had 125 active members and was growing.
Sources
- 1908 Chicago Daily Tribune, 21 June and 3 July; 1908 St. Louis Post Dispatch, 29 June and 4 July; 1908 WP, 5 July; 1908 Baltimore Sun, 5 July; 1908 Manchester Guardian, 7 July; 2:6 Aeronautics, 56 (June 1908); 3:1 Aeronautics 28 (July 1908); 3:2 Aeronautics 19-20 (Aug. 1908); 3:2 Aeronautics 45 (Sept. 1908); 1909 Jane's All the World's Aircraft 251; 4:1 Aeronautics 71-72 (Jan. 1909); 5 Aeronautics 161 (1909)
| Organization names | San Antonio Aero Club; appears also referred to as San Antonio Aero Club of Texas or Texas Aero Club of San Antonio or Aero Club of Texas or Texas Aero Club or Aero Club of San Antonio |
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| Entity type | |
| Country | US |
| City | San Antonio, Texas |
| Affiliated with | |
| Scope | Local |
| Started aero | 1908 |
| Ended aero | |
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