PAGE 12, JUNE 4, 1992 THE WEEKLY SUN With Help from a Car Backyard Glider Made 1910 Flight; May Have Been Monterey's First By Iris Harris On Saturday afternoon, June 25, 1910, the Presidio's Sloat monument witnessed what may have been the first recorded flight in Monterey. In a front-page story, the Monterey Daily Cypress invited everyone interested in the historic event to observe the maiden flight of a Cuniss model glider. Standing, feet on the ground, in a square hole in the center of the double-winged craft, was the pilot, Thomas Cheney of the 8th Infantry. He had volunteered to act as aviator in place of the inventor, Monterey photographer A. C. Heidrick, who was more in the heavyweight class. The glider consisted of two wings, 5 feet apart, each 20 feet long, and a frame, all of selected white spruce, held together -by piano wire, and covered with water- proofed silk. Heidrick had built the glider in the backyard of his home and photo studio, located on the corner of Reeside and Lane Streets in New Monterey. Unfortunately, a stronger wind was nec- essary than the light south breeze gently rippling the waves of nearby Monterey Bay. The plan was for the aviator to run on - the ground, assisted by a number of men running ahead with a rope fastened to the glider. Without a strong, supporting wind, however, it was impossible to raise the glider into the air. But help was at hand in the form of a chauffeured party of sightseers from Del Monte Hotel. At the invitation of the chauffeur, the glider was hitched to the Del Monte car. The newspaper reported "a start was made at a moderate pace and the glider sneaked upward, carrying Deputy Aviator Cheney with iL" Fifty yards of wobbly flight to the because he did not recognize a barrier when cheers of the onlookers was abruptly ended he saw one." when some guy wires snapped, "and the The author' s father was an Austrian-born whole contraption came to the ground in a former cavalryman who came to Monterey hurry and broke in two in the middle. with the Ist Cavalry, playing cornet in the I Deputy Aviator Cheney, who carried his regimental band. For nearlyfour decades, he O grit with him all the time, escaped uithurt photographed life on the Peninsula and left land came up smiling, standing amid the ru- behind an extraordinary pictorial record of ins." what it was like. He died in 1955 at age 79. If -+LI--4, '144rL r L F In that triumphant posture, he was pho- tographed by Heidrick. The crowd, at the invitation of the inventors helped them- selves to souvenirs of the glider, tearing at the pieces and carrying them off. Undaunted, "Heidrick declared he will profit by the experience and will turn out an im- provedmodel" There is no record of further attempts, , however. Heidrick soon found other, less flighty outlets for his creative genius, in- cluding directing a dance band at what is now the Dream Theater, giving lectures on ..¥- photography, livened by comet solos, and 1 even forming a short-lived motion picture + company. C His recording of Monterey life in photographs on permanent exhibition at the Eureka Federal Saving building in Monterey is the only record of this vital , and charismatic man. Except perhaps for one more enduring monument-after every violent storm that beached boats on the - T- _ rocks, Heidrick could be seen running down 4 n '11 the hill from his Reeside home. toting his panoramic camera to the waterfront, a few ' , =1 1 blocks from his residence. His photo- --.. graphic records of the storm damage helped - 1 , 14 - 1 -_ convince Congress to approve Monterey's , , „ 4 -1 first breakwater. le·fl r. "My father was not an easy man to live 4-1-#41,- -1 with," concludes Iris Harris, a daughter. "It -14 -1 1. is only in newspaper records that I have discovered the man. So many children see 1 I their parents as bigger than life, not as the i vulnerable human beings they are, until it is too late. Some have said he was a largely w untutored genius, except in photography and in the comet, who kept testing and breaking himself against barriers, perhaps --- -------c, ---------- -0----- --------i r----r- A.C. HEIDRICK, a musician who came to Monterey with the 1 st Cavalry band, poses with his cornet. In his backyard, he built a glider that may have made the first flight in Monterey-aided by a car from Del Monte Hotel. , OCR Text: PAGE 12, JUNE 4, 1992 THE WEEKLY SUN With Help from a Car Backyard Glider Made 1910 Flight; May Have Been Monterey's First By Iris Harris On Saturday afternoon, June 25, 1910, the Presidio's Sloat monument witnessed what may have been the first recorded flight in Monterey. In a front-page story, the Monterey Daily Cypress invited everyone interested in the historic event to observe the maiden flight of a Cuniss model glider. Standing, feet on the ground, in a square hole in the center of the double-winged craft, was the pilot, Thomas Cheney of the 8th Infantry. He had volunteered to act as aviator in place of the inventor, Monterey photographer A. C. Heidrick, who was more in the heavyweight class. The glider consisted of two wings, 5 feet apart, each 20 feet long, and a frame, all of selected white spruce, held together -by piano wire, and covered with water- proofed silk. Heidrick had built the glider in the backyard of his home and photo studio, located on the corner of Reeside and Lane Streets in New Monterey. Unfortunately, a stronger wind was nec- essary than the light south breeze gently rippling the waves of nearby Monterey Bay. The plan was for the aviator to run on - the ground, assisted by a number of men running ahead with a rope fastened to the glider. Without a strong, supporting wind, however, it was impossible to raise the glider into the air. But help was at hand in the form of a chauffeured party of sightseers from Del Monte Hotel. At the invitation of the chauffeur, the glider was hitched to the Del Monte car. The newspaper reported "a start was made at a moderate pace and the glider sneaked upward, carrying Deputy Aviator Cheney with iL" Fifty yards of wobbly flight to the because he did not recognize a barrier when cheers of the onlookers was abruptly ended he saw one." when some guy wires snapped, "and the The author' s father was an Austrian-born whole contraption came to the ground in a former cavalryman who came to Monterey hurry and broke in two in the middle. with the Ist Cavalry, playing cornet in the I Deputy Aviator Cheney, who carried his regimental band. For nearlyfour decades, he O grit with him all the time, escaped uithurt photographed life on the Peninsula and left land came up smiling, standing amid the ru- behind an extraordinary pictorial record of ins." what it was like. He died in 1955 at age 79. If - LI--4, '144rL r L F In that triumphant posture, he was pho- tographed by Heidrick. The crowd, at the invitation of the inventors helped them- selves to souvenirs of the glider, tearing at the pieces and carrying them off. Undaunted, "Heidrick declared he will profit by the experience and will turn out an im- provedmodel" There is no record of further attempts, , however. Heidrick soon found other, less flighty outlets for his creative genius, in- cluding directing a dance band at what is now the Dream Theater, giving lectures on ..¥- photography, livened by comet solos, and 1 even forming a short-lived motion picture company. C His recording of Monterey life in photographs on permanent exhibition at the Eureka Federal Saving building in Monterey is the only record of this vital , and charismatic man. Except perhaps for one more enduring monument-after every violent storm that beached boats on the - T- _ rocks, Heidrick could be seen running down 4 n '11 the hill from his Reeside home. toting his panoramic camera to the waterfront, a few ' , =1 1 blocks from his residence. His photo- --.. graphic records of the storm damage helped - 1 , 14 - 1 -_ convince Congress to approve Monterey's , , „ 4 -1 first breakwater. le·fl r. "My father was not an easy man to live 4-1-#41,- -1 with," concludes Iris Harris, a daughter. "It -14 -1 1. is only in newspaper records that I have discovered the man. So many children see 1 I their parents as bigger than life, not as the i vulnerable human beings they are, until it is too late. Some have said he was a largely w untutored genius, except in photography and in the comet, who kept testing and breaking himself against barriers, perhaps --- -------c, ---------- -0----- --------i r----r- A.C. HEIDRICK, a musician who came to Monterey with the 1 st Cavalry band, poses with his cornet. In his backyard, he built a glider that may have made the first flight in Monterey-aided by a car from Del Monte Hotel. , Heritage Society of Pacific Grove,Historical Collections,Names of People about town,G through H File names,Heidrick,HEIDRICK_012.pdf,HEIDRICK_012.pdf 1 Page 1, Tags: HEIDRICK_012.PDF, HEIDRICK_012.pdf 1 Page 1