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Rotarian Paul Durban. to discuss Aiken and the Airplane
March 3 @ 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
MARCH 9, 1911
The first cross-country flight in the Southeast took place on this date in 1911 when Frank Coffyn of the Wright training school took off from a field in west Augusta and flew his biplane on a leisurely path to Aiken, a 28-mile trip that took 31 minutes.
From the aviation camp near Monte Sano Avenue, Coffyn flew across the Augusta Country Club golf course, then headed toward the Hampton Terrace hotel in North Augusta. He continued over Clearwater and then Langley, and along the flight, people came out of their houses and watched in wonder.
With a showman’s timing, he landed in front of 1,000 spectators at the Aiken polo field just as the local team concluded its championship series match with New Orleans. The mayor was there to welcome him.
Coffyn, a South Carolina native who had suggested Augusta as a training site because of its winter climate, would grow famous as an aviator. He even appeared as an actor in several silent movies.
Always looking ahead, he developed an interest in helicopters late in life. He died in California in 1960.
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