Charles K. Hamilton

Charles Keeney Hamilton (1881 or June 1885 – January 22, 1914) was an American pioneer aviator nicknamed the "crazy man of the air". He was, in the words of the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, "known for his dangerous dives, spectacular crashes, extensive reconstructive surgeries, and ever present cigarette" and was "frequently drunk". He survived over 60 crashes.

Hamilton was born in New Britain, Connecticut. He was a hot air balloonist and parachute jumper at fairs and circuses at the age of 18. Three years later, he became friends with aeronautical engineer and aviator A. Roy Knabenshue and began piloting dirigibles. On the day Louis Bleriot flew the English Channel, July 25, 1909, Hamilton was sailing his own airship across the Bay of Osaka in Japan.

In late 1909, he started taking flying lessons from Glenn Curtiss. He joined Curtiss's exhibition team and quickly acquired fame and a nationwide reputation as a daredevil flyer. In December, he flew at St. Joseph and outside St. Louis, Missouri, before participating in the 1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet at Dominguez Field, the first major airshow in the United States, which ran from January 10–20, 1910. He then embarked on an 11-city, two-month exhibition tour across the American Southwest, starting at Phoenix, Arizona and ending in San Diego, California. On February 19, Hamilton became the first to fly an airplane in Tucson, Arizona. In San Diego, he became just the third American flier to remain aloft for at least an hour, crossing the ocean to Mexico and back.

Hamilton became the first to fly in the state of Washington, when he piloted the Reims Racer over Seattle on March 11. The very next day, he went up again, drunk, and "Swooping like a rapacious bird from a height of 500 feet [150 m], the Curtiss biplane, with Charles K. Hamilton, dived into the newly formed lake at The Meadows". He had to be fished out of the lake, but suffered only minor injuries.

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