Kaua’i’s significant aviation history stands along with the other milestones of manned flight being honored today. On December 17, 1903 the Wright Brothers soared above the beach at Kitty Hawk, N.C., to make the first significant powered airplane flight in
Kaua’i’s significant aviation history stands along with the other milestones of manned flight being honored today.
On December 17, 1903 the Wright Brothers soared above the beach at Kitty Hawk, N.C., to make the first significant powered airplane flight in history.
The first airplane flights on Kaua’i were barnstorming ones, flown by pilot Tom Gunn aboard a biplane shipped aboard a steamer to Kaua’i in 1913.
His flights drew hundreds of spectators.
Charlie Fern served as the editor and publisher of The Garden Island, but first came to Kaua’i as the biplane pilot who was first to cross the Kaua’i Channel in an airplane, making the flight in 1919.
International media attention came to Kaua’i in 1925 when Commander John Rodgers’ seaplane was towed into Nawiliwili Harbor. Rodgers and his crew almost made land on their attempt to be the first to fly from the West Coast to Hawai’i. They landed off target and spent nine days sailing their seaplane using canvas ripped off the wings as sails. They made it to the coast of Kaua’i after sailing 400 miles, and were towed in by a U.S. Navy submarine.
Fern and a telegraph operator stayed on the story for almost two days without sleep to get the news out to the world.
In June 1928, Capt. Charles Edward Kingsford Smith and a crew of three flew from Barking Sands in Mana to Suva, Fiji, completing the second leg of the first trans-Pacific airplane flight. The Fokker aircraft was shipped by steamer from O’ahu to Kaua’i to bring it closer to Fiji. The Fayé family of Waimea and other Kaua’i residents gave a warm reception to the crew.
A NASA communications center was constructed at Koke’e to communicate with astronauts flying around the globe in the 1960s. Famous astronauts came to Kaua’i to man the radio connection from Koke’e, including Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, who was taught to ride a surfboard during his stay by Percy Kinimaka of the Kauai Surf.
(Please see additional flight anniversary photos on page A7.)
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