New Canaan There & Then: The Town Takes Flight—1920 Aviation Exhibition

‘New Canaan There & Then’ is sponsored by Brown Harris Stevens Realtors Bettina Hegel, Joanne Santulli, Dawn Sterner and Pam Stutz.

In 1920, three veteran pilots brought a new perspective to the people of New Canaan. 

Captains Bob Gordon and Dean Lamb, along with Lieutenant M. Lee came to New Canaan to share the joy of flying with the townspeople. The trio were decorated aviators who had flown missions in WWI and stayed in New Canaan for three weeks doing exhibition flights, taking passengers up to 1,000 feet at a cost of $10 for 10 minutes.

Gordon and Lamb served with the Canadian Flying Corps before the United States joined the war. Both Lamb and Gordon were shot down in flames five times in pursuit of the Germans. According to a 1920 Advertiser article, Gordon took down six German planes and Lamb seven. Lamb also had the distinguished honor of shooting down the first German Gotha over London.

During this era, commercial air travel was an expensive and exclusive pursuit, typically reserved for the wealthy and business clientele. Still a novel luxury, flying was often characterized by noisy and cold conditions as airliners operated at lower altitudes with unpressurized cabins.

The pilots landed in 1920 at what was known as Charles P. Fish’s field (a 10-acre field south of the present YMCA). These quick trips were carried out by an airplane nicknamed “The Jenny,” known as the Model T Ford of airplanes. Generations of pilots learned to fly in this two-seat, open cockpit biplane with a 90-horsepower engine. 

During that fall of 1920, hundreds of New Canaanites enjoyed rides. Gordon, the owner of the Jenny, met with the Superintendent of the schools and made arrangements to give free rides to students who earned the highest grades in their exams. He also extended invitations to Stephen Hoyt, who flew over his nurseries, Advertiser editor John E. Hersam, and the Chief of Police O. E. Schmidt. 

An Advertiser article published Sept. 23, 1920, details how Captain Lee, with over 3,000 flight hours in his career, took editor Hersam’s son up on a flight. Lee let young Donald Hersam fly the plane himself over the field. He kept his hands off the controls and extended out the sides of the aircraft for all to see, proving his assertion that “it is as natural to fly a ship as it is to walk.”

L.F. Griebel, one of the more daring passengers, went up with Captain Lee requesting something exciting. As Lee approached 2,000 feet over the Congregational Church, he began to tumble down into a tailspin while on-lookers gasped. Reportedly, Griebel was “in all smiles and showed every indication that he enjoyed the trip.”

With Veterans Day this week, as we honor those who have served, the story of Captains Gordon and Lamb, and Lieutenant Lee reminds us that our veterans’ contributions extend far beyond the battlefield. These decorated WWI aviators didn’t just defend our freedom, they returned home to share wonder, possibility, and new perspectives with their communities. 

Flying before air traffic control, security clearances, and even instruments engaged the imagination and inspired awe. As Mr. Hersam wrote after his flight in 1920, “No one really knows what a beautiful world we live in until you fly through space 1,000 feet above the world.”