The great quest to pilot an aircraft has been accomplished, proclaimed the New York World newspaper on August 4, 1895. “A World reporter has succeeded in flying for hours here and there, backward and forward, up and down in the air,” wrote the unnamed reporter who had just flown Carl Myers’ airship in the skies over New York and lived to tell about his thrilling adventure.
Years before the Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk, “Professor” Myers was piloting his pedal-powered balloon, amazing the crowds below at county fairs and amusement parks in airships variously dubbed.