Wright Brothers at First IMS Air Show

Did you know the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's first air show was the week of June 17, 1910? The team from the Wright Brothers dominated and their star pilot was Walter Brookins who set a new world's altitude record of over a mile in the sky. Can you imagine soaring that high lying flat on your belly with seven horsepower, chain-driven engine and a plane frame made of lightweight tubing with silk cloth stretched over it? Heck, that's just about a motorized kite...
 
Of the two Wrights, it was Orville who also starred as a pilot. At one point during the week he carried Speedway Founder Carl Fisher for a ride at dusk. The two said they sought to peer over the horizon to see the setting sun after only the orange remnants of its brilliance remained visible from the ground.
 

The wonder, agility and speed of today's aerobatic performance planes is self-evident - and thrilling. Consider though, that even by today's standards to ascend into the atmosphere in the fragile crafts of the early airplanes and soar to such lofty heights among the clouds while being buffeted about like choppy waves on the seas is fraught with risk. That show today would amaze but no sanctioning body could tolerate that level of risk.
 
What those pioneering pilots did - and achieved - was astonishing. Check out this rare photo of the Wright brothers conducting top-secret practice in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield weeks in advance of the big event.