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Frank Purdy Lahm is Flight 9's namesake. Frank P. Lahm was a military aviation pioneer from the early 1900s to his last flight as a Brigadier General in the United States Air Force. Lahm was born in Mansfield, Ohio in 1877, and began his military career as a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point (Class of 1901). His first military aviation experience was as a balloonist and dirigible pilot. In 1906, Lahm won the first international balloon race and in 1908, he learned to fly Army Dirigible Number 1.
In April 1908, seventeen members of the 1st Company, Signal Corps, New York National Guard were detailed to form an Aeronautic Corps. Due to a shortage of funds, the unit was unable to acquire an airplane. They did, however, learn to assemble a gas balloon and had lectures on aviation from the two men who had been previously selected to learn how to fly once the Wright airplane was delivered to the Army. The two men were Lts Frank P. Lahm and Thomas E. Selfridge. Later that year, Lt Selfridge became the first Army officer to fly an airplane. Unfortunately, he was also the first Army officer to be fatally injured during a powered flight when the Wright Flyer crashed during the trials at Ft. Meyers, VA on 17 September 1908. In the following year, the Wright brothers taught Lt Lahm to fly the Wright Flyer (Army Airplane #1). Lahm was the first qualified dirigible and airplane pilot. In 1912, Lahm organized the Army Signal Corps Aviation School in the Philippines. In 1916, he was the Secretary of the Aviation School at San Diego, and in 1917, he commanded the balloon school at Omaha. Lahm served with the American Expeditionary Force in 1917 and 1918. He organized the Lighter-Than-Air Service, was the first Army Air Service Chief of Staff and Commander. He also organized the Second Army Air Service. He activated Duncan Field, Texas in 1926 and Randolph Field, Texas in 1930. He was Air Attaché to France in 1931, Second Corps Area Air Officer in 1935, and Army Chief of Aviation until he retired in 1941 as a Brigadier General. In honor of Lahm's contributions to military aviation heritage as an aviation pioneer and native Ohioan, a Frank P. Lahm Safety Award was established in 1961 by the Aviation Committee of the Mansfield, Ohio Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of the award is to recognize the Ohio Air National Guard Group having the best and safest tactical flying record on an annual basis. In September 1967, Lahm was further honored by the naming of Mansfield Airport and its terminal facilities the Mansfield Lahrn Airport. After his last flight in 1963, General Lahm's distinguished career culminated in his being honored by the National Aviation Hall of Fame at Dayton, Ohio. His award reads: To Frank Purdy Lahm, for outstanding contribution to aviation by his vision of the potential of aircraft for military purposes and his dedication to the task of organizing proper training facilities for the Army Air Corps which earned for him the unofficial title "Father of the West Point of the Air," this award is most solemnly and respectively dedicated. Additional Info
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