Images of Old Hawaiʻi

  • Home
  • About
  • Categories
    • Ali’i / Chiefs / Governance
    • American Protestant Mission
    • Buildings
    • Collections
    • Economy
    • Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings
    • General
    • Hawaiian Traditions
    • Other Summaries
    • Mayflower Summaries
    • Mayflower Full Summaries
    • Military
    • Place Names
    • Prominent People
    • Schools
    • Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks
    • Voyage of the Thaddeus
  • Collections
  • Contact
  • Follow
You are here: Home / General / First Flight

October 23, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

First Flight

Elbert Tuttle would often say that the segregation cases were “the easiest cases I ever decided. The constitutional rights were so compelling, and the wrongs were so enormous.”

Tuttle, a Republican, was nominated on July 7, 1954, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to a new Fifth Circuit seat; he was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 3, 1954 and received commission the next day.

It was Tuttle who, as chief judge of the federal appeals court covering the Deep South, ensured that the promise of the Supreme Court’s desegregation rulings became a reality. (Emanual)

By the time Tuttle became chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, he had already led an exceptional life.

He had cofounded a prestigious law firm, earned a Purple Heart in the battle for Okinawa in World War II, and led Republican Party efforts in the early 1950s to establish a viable presence in the South. But it was the inter­section of Tuttle’s judicial career with the civil rights movement that thrust him onto history’s stage.

When Tuttle assumed the mantle of chief judge of the Fifth Circuit in 1960, six years had passed since Brown v. Board of Education had been decided but little had changed for black southerners.

In landmark cases relating to voter registration, school desegregation, access to public transportation, and other basic civil liberties, Tuttle’s determination to render justice and his swift, decisive rulings …

… neutralized the delaying tactics of diehard segregationists – including voter registrars, school board members, and governors – who were determined to preserve Jim Crow laws throughout the South. (Emanual)

But this story is about the teenage Tuttle and his brother Malcolm …

Bud Mars is credited as the first man to fly an airplane in Hawaii on December 31, 1910. But it was the Tuttle brothers who were the first to lift off the ground in a homemade glider.

Malcolm and Elbert Tuttle arrived in Honolulu on the SS Sierra, on September 23, 1907. They came with their father and mother, Guy and Margaret Tuttle. Before the boys were born, Guy Tuttle had worked in Washington, D.C. as a clerk in the War Department.

When an opportunity came for him to be transferred to California, to the Los Angeles area, he took it, and he worked there for the U.S. Immigration Service. The Tuttles lived in Pasadena where Malcolm was born on March 20, 1896 and Elbert on July 17, 1897. (Hylton)

The boys entered Punahou School, Elbert in the fifth and Malcolm in the sixth grades. That first year at Punahou gave Elbert a chance to prove how excellent a student he was and earned him the right to skip the sixth grade. Malcolm and Elbert were then to be in the same class through the rest of their school years.

After school let out that first summer, the Tuttle brothers learned how to surf. Their favorite place was Waikiki Beach. In the fall of 1909 the boys turned their attention from the water to the air.

Punahou allowed students to choose and area of study, and Malcolm and Elbert chose aviation. Using silk, bamboo, wire and an electric motor, they constructed a scale model of the Wright Brothers’ 1903 biplane.

Later, following a 1-page ‘How to Build a Practical Glider’ article in their mother’s ‘Woman’s Home Companion’ magazine, they built a forty-pound glider, fifteen feet long and eighteen feet across. Wooden supports separated two overlaid wings, and the lower wing had an opening with arm rests.

On Sunday, October 23, 1910, Elbert and Malcolm Tuttle, ages 13 and 14, carried their glider seven blocks up the street to the Kaimuki Crater, where along Reservoir Avenue the hills sloped into the wind.

Malcolm was ready to try out the new glider, Elbert took hold of the tail and held it up off the ground. Then Malcolm lifted the wings over his head and ran down the hill.

They thought that a long run would be necessary before the glider would fly, but they were wrong. After two or three steps, the aircraft jerked upwards, Elbert let go of the tail, and Malcolm lifted off the ground.

Malcolm’s first attempt to control the glider brought it down quickly. On Malcolm’s third try, he flew the glider ten feet into the air and 40 feet along the ground.

‘Honolulu’s First Bird-Men Take To The Air,’ announced a headline in the Pacific Commercial Advertiser on October 30, 1910. The first page article stated…

“The Tuttle brothers of Honolulu have become the contemporaries of the Wright Brothers of Dayton, Ohio, and their names will be perpetuated in history as the first aviators of the Hawaiian Islands.” (Hylton)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook 

Follow Peter T Young on Google+ 

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn  

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

© 2018 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Tuttles-MalcolmTuttleTakesToTheAir-First Flight
Tuttles-MalcolmTuttleTakesToTheAir-First Flight
Tuttle Brothers with Scale Model of 1903 Wright Brothers Biplane-Hylton
Tuttle Brothers with Scale Model of 1903 Wright Brothers Biplane-Hylton

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Filed Under: General, Prominent People, Economy Tagged With: Elbert Tuttle, Hawaii, Flight, Aviation, Malcolm Tuttle

Leave your comment here:Cancel reply

Images of Old Hawaiʻi

People, places, and events in Hawaiʻi’s past come alive through text and media in “Images of Old Hawaiʻi.” These posts are informal historic summaries presented for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes.

Info@Hookuleana.com

Connect with Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • Okino Hotel
  • John Howard Midkiff Sr
  • Kalihi
  • Hawaii and Arkansas
  • Barefoot Football
  • Arthur Akinaka
  • Food Administration

Categories

  • Economy
  • Voyage of the Thaddeus
  • Mayflower Summaries
  • American Revolution
  • General
  • Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance
  • Buildings
  • Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings
  • Hawaiian Traditions
  • Military
  • Place Names
  • Prominent People
  • Schools
  • Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks

Tags

Albatross Al Capone Ane Keohokalole Archibald Campbell Bernice Pauahi Bishop Charles Reed Bishop Downtown Honolulu Eruption Founder's Day George Patton Great Wall of Kuakini Green Sea Turtle Hawaii Hawaii Island Hermes Hilo Holoikauaua Honolulu Isaac Davis James Robinson Kamae Kamaeokalani Kamanawa Kameeiamoku Kamehameha Schools Lalani Village Lava Flow Lelia Byrd Liliuokalani Mao Math Mauna Loa Midway Monk Seal Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Oahu Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument Pearl Pualani Mossman Queen Liliuokalani Thomas Jaggar Volcano Waikiki Wake Wisdom

Hoʻokuleana LLC

Hoʻokuleana LLC is a Planning and Consulting firm assisting property owners with Land Use Planning efforts, including Environmental Review, Entitlement Process, Permitting, Community Outreach, etc. We are uniquely positioned to assist you in a variety of needs.

Info@Hookuleana.com

Copyright © 2012-2024 Peter T Young, Hoʻokuleana LLC

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d