In 1920 those who dealt with aerodynamics declared that a flight by an 'aeroplane' into the depths of Grand Canyon would be impossible. They knew this to be a fact for they had checked it out with all the scientific instruments they possessed. They had released balloons at the bottom of the canyon and watched them rise on the air currents to the rim. Before they reached the top the rocks tore them to shreds -- an 'aeroplane' thus would be torn asunder in the same manner. Soaring into Grand Canyon would have to remain the undisputed domain of the ravens and eagles. Ellsworth Kolb contacted R. V. Thomas, a daredevil stunt pilot from Kansas and made a deal. He paid Thomas one-hundred dollars to attempt the daring exploit with him in the cockpit to make motion pictures of the flight. The last of July 1922, the two adventurers studied the canyon. Thomas checked the updrafts and the wind currents. From an aviator's point of view he saw no reason why the trip could not be made. Everything ready, Kolb met Thomas in Williams early in the morning August 8, 1922. While Thomas warmed up the plane Kolb began taking pictures. The plane idled so long the spark plugs filled with oil and needed changing before takeoff. Even with the delay the plane traveled down the runway at 9:10 A.M. and at ten minutes to ten flew over the edge of Grand Canyon near the El Tovar Hotel.

Ellsworth Kolb and R. V. Thomas stand by the first airplane to land in the Grand Canyon, August 8, 1922.

Crowds of people lined the South Rim waving and shouting as Thomas circled above the gorge, dropping gradually lower. Down and down until a few hundred feet above the landing site that the National Parks Service had cleared for a runway, trouble raised its head. The wind changed 60 degrees making landing difficult. Thomas had specified the amount of space he needed to make the landing and from the air it looked adequate, but the closer he got the more he doubted he could set the plane down. He called to Kolb and advised him to loosen his seat belt and prepare to jump. Kolb, engrossed in taking pictures had failed to notice any problem. Thomas said his prayers and hoped. He throttled the plane, circled over the 1500 foot chasm and set her down on the 500 foot-long strip. The plane rolled to within ten feet of the edge of the plateau and stopped.

The wind prohibited takeoff the same day so Thomas chocked the wheels and the two men headed up Bright Angel Trail. As they left, a gust of wind caught the aircraft and spun it around breaking the tail skid and damaging a wing. This Thomas repaired with a piece of bailing wire and an old auto spring.

The following morning the plane took off at 10:22. Thomas circled the field until he gained altitude and then worked his way up and over the rim. The impossible had been accomplished. The superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park telegraphed Washington advising them of the feat. The wire was dated August 8, 1922.

Ten days later Fred Harvey Co. hired Thomas to repeat the flight this time with a Fox News photographer to take the pictures. The film Fox made appeared in all the theaters in the country, headlined as the first flight in Grand Canyon. The Santa Fe used the pictures as a railroad and Southwest promotion. Ellsworth Kolb's achievement was soon forgotten.

Used by permission of the Grand Canyon Pioneers Society.

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