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 Master Birdman With the air travel industry at full bloom today, and our own Niagara County Airport undergoing a resurgence, it is a little difficult to imagine a day and age when airplanes first entered the scene. Such was the case on August 29, 1911, when Tod “Slim” Schriver went down in history as the first dare-devil aviator to entertain county crowds with his death-defying stunts of aviation. The Union-Sun described the events of the day. “The enterprise of the Niagara County Fair officials in bringing Schriver to Lockport at great expense will find its compensation in the appreciation of the people, for Schriver will give Lockportians their first glimpse of an aero-plane.” Schriver was hired to make two flights each day for the better part of a week. He started his flights at the track at the Fair Grounds and also finished his flights there. His route took him over the Farmers and Mechanics Bank and the Hodge Opera House. The paper reported that Slim and his Curtiss bi-plane did all of the dangerous tricks made famous by the “Master Birdman,” Lincoln Beachey, and is the only aviator who would make a flight after dark, hence his moniker, “The Moonlight Aviator.” The news accounts note, “The most interesting and wonderful part of the exhibition is the starting and finishing of a trip to the air. The way in which the machine skims along the ground, its motor making a noise that is almost deafening, its pilot sitting securely in his seat with steady hand and daring nerve, and the rise, bird-like, from the earth, should be seen by all.” The paper went on to record that “Schriver is perhaps one of the most daring of the living aviators. He is one of the few stars who have not met death at this fascinating game.”
Douglas Farley, Director |
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