TRURO, CAPE COD, MASSACHUSETTS
Landmarks : No. 1
Date Registered: Jun 13 1981
Ralph S. Barnaby's flight of 15 minutes, 6 seconds from Corn Hill, Truro, Cape Cod, Massachusetts on August 18, 1929, was the first flight to exceed the American record for motorless flight of 9 minutes, 45 seconds, set by Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk, N.C., October 24, 1911.
18 August 1929
Ralph Stanton Barnaby became the first American to win an international soaring certificate at Truro, Massachusetts.
Ralph Stanton Barnaby
After his successful flight at Corn Hill in the "Prufling" glider. The American Motorless Aviation Corporation (AMAC) opened the Cape Cod Glider School in March 1929. Barnaby requested information and attended the school in August 1929. The 5-minute duration flight for his C-Badge was easily done. Then he remembered Orville Wright's earlier flight and he decided to give it a try and to beat it.
29 July 1928
J.C. Penney, Jr. was interested in promoting the sport in the USA. The R.R.G. (Rhön-Rossitten-Gesellschaft) sent glider pilots in April 1928, bringing along a primary training glider (on display in the NSM main gallery), a "Prüfling" intermediate and the "Darmstadt" high-performance sailplane. A glider camp was set up at Truro. On 29 July 1928, Peter Hesselbach set a new duration record of 4 hours 5 minutes. This picture shows Paul Laubenthal, Paul-Franz Röhre and Peter Hesselbach on the way to the USA.
Jon Mead
Jon Mead carried souvenir mail in his "ASW-15" from Provinceton to the beach at Truro, the site of the very first National Landmark of Soaring dedication.