Episode 5: The Flying Circus Disaster
Rutland, Vermont in the early 1900s was a prominent location of aviation development and entertainment. At the Rutland fairgrounds, people traveled from all over to enjoy a yearly extravaganza that involved everyone’s favorite parts of the fair: good food, fun activities, and crazy events for everyone’s interest. In these days, aviation was very new, still developing, and SO exciting! Watching planes, which are nothing like the modern day aircrafts today, was an absolute spectacle, involving loop-de-loops, hot air balloon stunts, and parachuting acts.
On a September day in 1922, Lt. Belvin Maynard and 2 passengers were performing for a crowd of over 30,000 people over the Rutland fairgrounds. Their act involved flying a plane and performing spins and tricks. Unfortunately, Maynard was unable to correct a tail spin, and the feeble airplane came crashing down in a corn field not too far away. This led to the immediate death of all three passengers. Even more unfortunately, the fair continued on that day, leading to the unfortunate death of another performer. Henry Smith was executing his signature parachuting act, which he did from a hot air balloon. When he was free falling, he attempted to open his parachute, but it remained closed. Henry fell to his death, making the grand total 4 people who died on this very day.
Surprisingly, this horrible day was not the only incident that happened at these fairgrounds. There were several other incidents that occurred, all involving aircrafts such as old-fashioned airplanes and hot air balloons. Despite the obvious dangers to the entertainment, and the lack of proper technology and safety surrounding aviation back then, there were several more deaths in the sky over the Rutland fairgrounds over the years.
Image sources: newenglandaviationhistory.com