Barnstorming Above the Valley
A daredevil aerial show featuring parachute jumps and mid-air transfers lands in Yakima, showcasing the post-WWI obsession with flight.
C. L. Langdon and his airplane arrived in White Bluffs on Sunday afternoon, where he was busy until dark making passenger and stunt flights. He was piloting a Curtiss plane, recently used as a training craft in the U.S. Air Service. According to the Yakima Herald, an 'Aerial Circus' will be staged in Yakima next Sunday, February 4th. One feature will be a stunt contest between Mr. Langdon and Verne Ayres, a veteran of the Royal Air Service of Great Britain during the World War. One of Ayres's stunts will involve leaping from one moving airplane to another thousands of feet above the ground, and Mrs. Ayres will perform a parachute leap from a plane.
“One of his stunts will be the leaping from one moving airplane to another, thousands of feet above the ground.”
The 1920s saw a craze for 'barnstorming,' where WWI pilots brought the wonder of flight to small towns across the West. These displays weren't just entertainment; they were often the first time residents of rural Washington ever saw an aircraft in person.
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