Take Flight at the Fair! The First Plane comes to Sauk County
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A presentation on the first flight in Sauk County and early aviation will be given at the Sauk County Fair on Wednesday, July 9 at 5 pm and again on Friday, July 11 at 5 pm on the F.A.M.E Stage in the Commercial Building.
On Tuesday, September 26, 1911 the crowd at the Sauk County Fairgrounds witnessed something for the first time that they had only read about, the flight of an actual aeroplane. That evening, it took seven strong young men to hold the machine in place as another brave man walked up to the propeller, grabbed one of the blades, and spun it around to get the engine to roar to life. The young man in the cockpit was Nels J. Nelson who was employed by Mills Aviators out of Chicago. That evening he gave the first ever demonstration of flight in Sauk County as he circled the fairgrounds at a height of about 600 feet. He returned successfully and gave two more demonstrations of flight during the Fair that year. It was a thrilling and dangerous exhibition. Many in the crowd would have read about the death of another aviator just a few days before at a fair in Ohio.
On Tuesday, September 26, 1911 the crowd at the Sauk County Fairgrounds witnessed something for the first time that they had only read about, the flight of an actual aeroplane. That evening, it took seven strong young men to hold the machine in place as another brave man walked up to the propeller, grabbed one of the blades, and spun it around to get the engine to roar to life. The young man in the cockpit was Nels J. Nelson who was employed by Mills Aviators out of Chicago. That evening he gave the first ever demonstration of flight in Sauk County as he circled the fairgrounds at a height of about 600 feet. He returned successfully and gave two more demonstrations of flight during the Fair that year. It was a thrilling and dangerous exhibition. Many in the crowd would have read about the death of another aviator just a few days before at a fair in Ohio.
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