Paul Peck

Paul Peck (August 10, 1889 – September 11 or 12, 1912) was an early U.S. aviator. The first aviator from the U.S. state of West Virginia, he set a number of aviation firsts and records before dying in a plane crash.

Early life

Peck was born in Ansted, West Virginia, on August 10, 1889, the son of Leonidas McFarland "Lon" Peck (1857–1934) and Alice Peck née Masters (1869–1956), of Lewisburg, West Virginia. His father was a railroad agent. The governor of West Virginia, William E. Glasscock, bestowed the honorific title of "colonel" on Peck, but this did not reflect an actual military rank. The Columbian could achieve a speed of .

In August 1911, Peck became the first person to fly an airplane over the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. He then flew down Pennsylvania Avenue and circled the Washington Monument, setting an aviation speed record in the process by covering in 25 minutes. One source specifies that this flight took place on 5 August 1911, while others imply a different date, claiming he made the flight "two weeks" after he earned his pilot's license.

In September 1911, Peck became the first pilot to carry air mail in official United States Post Office flights. His second fight, at Garden City, New York, was the first for which a U.S. Post Office was established specifically to handle air mail.

Peck's best-known achievement during his lifetime was the flight endurance record he set on May 24, 1912, when he remained aloft for four hours 33 minutes 15 seconds despite heavy winds, blinding rain, and hail. Sources disagree over whether the flight took place over Long Island, New York, or Boston, Massachusetts. One source claims that he also set a record for "landing accuracy," without describing it.

While participating in a three-day aviation meet at South Charleston, West Virginia, on June 26, 1912, Peck impressed a crowd of 5,000 onlookers when he took off in the Peck Columbian from a ball field despite an approaching thunderstorm for a round-trip flight, determined to circle the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston. Fighting heavy winds, he reached an altitude of , executed a perfect circle around the dome of the capitol, then covered the back to the ball field in 90 seconds at a speed of . His flight took 11 minutes 30 seconds. At other times during the meet, he demonstrated his "ocean roll," a spectacular maneuver for its time that required a series of short dives and climbs and required him to shut off the engine before each dive and restart it for each climb.

Death

In September 1912, Peck travelled to Chicago, Illinois, to participate in the Second Chicago International Air Meet and represent the United States in the 1912 Gordon Bennett Trophy race, scheduled to take place as part of the air meet. On September 11, the day before the race, he took off from Cicero Field in Miss Columbia to prepare for the race, despite warnings of dangerous flying conditions due to high winds and stormy conditions; he believed his biplane′s speed would allow him to overcome the weather conditions. At an altitude of between , according to different sources, he put the airplane into a steep and rapid spiraling dive. As he reached an altitude of , observers on the ground could see that he had lost control of the plane, its engine apparently having come loose in flight, probably during his ascent. The plane began to disintegrate in the air and crashed at a speed of , the engine and its whirling propeller, gasoline tank, and iron fittings passing through the cockpit on impact, breaking his neck and injuring his legs. He died in St. Anthony de Padua Hospital, sources disagreeing on whether he died on September 11, an hour after the crash, or several hours later, on September 12.

Peck's funeral in Washington, D.C., included a motor hearse, a motor wagon loaded with floral pieces, and about 30 other automobiles. It made history as the city's first funeral procession consisting entirely of motor vehicles, with no horse-drawn vehicles participating.

Personal life In 1911, Peck married Ruth Owens, a young woman from Washington, D.C., where the couple made their home. Ruth gave birth to a son and their only child, Paul Peck, Jr., on April 4, 1912, and died at the age of 19 during the night of April 5–6, 1912, due to complications from childbirth, a blood transfusion from her husband failing to save her life. When Peck was killed just over five months later, the orphaned Paul Jr. was left in the care of grandparents. Paul Jr. died of complications of influenza at the age of six on March 27, 1919, during the Spanish influenza pandemic.

Paul Peck, Ruth Peck, and Paul Peck, Jr., all are buried at Rockville Cemetery in Rockville, Maryland.

Commemoration

In 1979, Paul Peck's last living descendants presented a commemorative plaque in his memory to Greenbrier Valley Airport outside Lewisburg, West Virginia. As of 2003, it was on display in the airport's terminal.