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Landing in the Canyon was piece of cake for pilot
Aug. 8, 2006 12:00 AM
The buzz of airplanes flying tourists over the Grand Canyon is a common sound, especially at this time of year.
But imagine seeing a plane actually landing down in the gorge somewhere.
Most people probably don't know it, but it happened twice in the same month 84 years ago.
In his history of Grand Canyon National Park, historian Michael Anderson reports that on Aug. 8, 1922, pilot R.V. Thomas flew a biplane into the Canyon and landed near Plateau Point overlooking the inner gorge.
That is a relatively flat area of the Canyon on the Tonto Plateau. But anyone who has ever hiked to the Indian Garden campground and beyond knows that it would be a death-defying landing.
Thomas' passenger was Canyon pioneer and cameraman Ellsworth Kolb. Ten days later, the fearless pilot repeated the feat with a cameraman for the Fox Weekly motion-picture company.
That is one film clip we'd like to see show up on YouTube.com.
