Have you ever wondered where the term “hangar” originated, or perhaps who invented the first aircraft simulator for instruction, or who filed the first official complaint to the U.S. government involving aircraft noise? Who tagged the term “FBO” (Fixed Base Operator) and which FBO in the US claims to have been the “first?” Aviation historians don't need much encouragement to turn a statistic into a research quest. This became mine.

The earliest words used to describe all things aviation were often rooted in the French language, and/or originated in equestrian and nautical terminology. An “aerodrome” became an “airport,” a “mechanician” became a “mechanic,” and an “aviator” is now commonly referred to as a “pilot.” “Sheds” became “hangars.” The term “hangar,” is derived from the French word meaning animal hay shed.

During the Aviation Exhibition Era (~1908-1915) I'd define a “fixed based operator” as a business at an aerodrome which sold fuel, rented shed space, or a tie-down area; a place for an aviator to relax; and maybe with an aviation school and an on-call mechanician - similar services of contemporary FBOs.

In 1910, most Americans had not yet seen an aeroplane, much less watched an air show. But entrepreneur Alfred J. Moisant and his brother, John, saw big business in the future of aviation, banking $250,000 on a grand scheme to sell “air-mindedness” to the general public.

Moving to New York from their extensive holdings in San Salvador, the Moisant family was “air-minded” directly due to the experiences of John, who made headlines in 1910 as the first to fly a passenger across the English Channel in a two-seat Bleriot. With John was his mechanician, Albert Fileux, plus a stray cat. The Moisants successfully sold shares in “The Hempstead Plains Aviation Company,” with corporate offices in downtown Manhattan. Alfred handled the finances and public relations and John was to have organized “the Moisant International Aviators” exhibition flying team and hired instructors for their “Moisant School of Aviation.”

Alfred purchased 1600 acres of Long Island’s flat Hempstead Plains near Garden City (Mineola)
and offered a grand scheme to potential investors. It included a flight school, an aerodrome for exhibitions and air meets, rented covered sheds for aircraft (out-houses included,) fuel sales, mechanical repairs, and a manufacturing plant for their monoplanes. (A proposed restaurant overlooking the airfield never materialized.)

On December 31, 1910, John fell to his death attempting to break an altitude record near New Orleans, Louisiana. (The current airport designator “MSY” originates from its first name, “Moisant Field”). Continuing without John, Alfred’s traveling “air circus” team included his sister Matilde Moisant, Harriet Quimby, and other American and foreign fliers. In the USA, Cuba and Mexico the team was famous. Back in New York, Alfred fought legal battles with disgruntled exhibition team stars, and fended off creditors after ticket sales failed to cover tour expenses.

Beleaguered by financial and legal losses, Alfred finally dissolved his businesses and dropped out of the aviation game entirely by 1913.

I still don't know who first used the term “FBO” nor do I know who claims to be the “first” in the USA. Until one of my colleagues unearths a better answer, my money is on Alfred Moisant as the first to own and operate a fixed based operation in the United States.

In “Aviation Firsts” a book by Joshua Stoff, I discovered that the first simulator was built by the Wrights, with a motor, propeller and a “stick,” mounted on a wooden trestle. Used between 1911-1912 at their Huffman Prairie flying school, one of their first students, Henry H. “Hap” Arnold (later, General Arnold) described it as a balancing act with “jolts and teetering. . .so violent that the student was kept busy just moving the lever back and forth to keep on a level keel.”

And finally, according to aviation-fact guru Stoff, the first aircraft noise complaint was not from residents who built their homes next to an airport as you might have guessed. In 1928, the owner of the Cackle Corner Poultry Farm, in Garrettsville, Ohio complained that National Air Transport's low-flying planes frightened his hens, causing them to produce fewer eggs. The Commerce Department [today it would be the FAA] “suggested” to the airmail carrier that its pilots fly higher while over Garrettsville.

Now you know why I love aviation history. You can't make up stories like this.

None but the biggest and richest of organizations can afford to undertake aviation from a business standpoint.

Alfred J. Moisant, President,
Hempstead Plains Aviation Company
Billboard Magazine
March 2, 1911

Harriet Quimby flies a Moisant monoplane over the Hempstead Plains, NY (1911). Photo from author's Scrapbook.