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Foulois, Fort Sam Houston at the front lines developing aerial photography, reconnaissance
February 20, 2018 — Aerial photography can trace its early history to 1858, when French photographer and balloonist Gaspar Felix Tournachon took a photo of the French village of Petit-Becetre from a tethered hot-air balloon 80 meters (approximately 270 feet) above the ground. However, the roots of military aerial reconnaissance and photography are planted much closer to home, when Benjamin Foulois sowed the seeds of the idea at Fort Sam Houston in the early 20th century... MORE

Photographer James Hare (left) sits aboard the new 1910 Wright “B” aircraft purchased by R.F. Collier, owner of Collier’s magazine, who lent the U.S. Army the airplane in March 1911 after the original 1909 Wright Flyer, Signal Corps No. 1 was retired. The Collier plane, together with a Wright factory pilot, Phillip Parmalee (right), arrived in San Antonio in February 1911, and Lt. Benjamin Foulois began to learn to fly the newer type aircraft. During the next several weeks, these two men demonstrated the advantages to be derived from using the airplane for photographic reconnaissance as well as courier duties between military units.

JBSA commemorates first military flight by Foulois in 1910
February 16, 2018 — The legacy of aviation pioneer Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin D. Foulois will be remembered with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Foulois House at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston March 2, just a few hundred feet from where the man who helped usher in the dawn of military flight made his historic journey 108 years ago... MORE

The first Army aircraft made its first flight March 2, 1910, at Fort Sam Houston with Lt. Benjamin Foulois at the controls. Foulois piloted the Army's first aircraft, Signal Corps Aircraft No. 1, with his first flight lasting only 7 1/2 minutes. He made three more flights that day and on his fourth attempt, the young pilot ended up crashing the airplane.

Foulois Firsts
February 23, 2017 — While known for being the “father of U.S. military aviation” with his historic flight at Fort Sam Houston March 2, 1910, Benjamin D. Foulois was also the owner of many other aviation-related “firsts.”... MORE

March 2 marks the 107th anniversary of the first military aerial flight taken by Army Lt. Benjamin Foulois when he boarded the “Signal Corps ‘Aeroplane’ No. 1” and circled Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston’s MacArthur Parade Field.