Humor was a virtue not greatly lacking among the test pilots at McCook Field and, later Wright Field. Although the pilots assigned to the Flying Section approached their jobs in a most diligent and professional manner, they still possessed that habit so common among those who fly -- jocularity.
A blunder trophy was created for presentation to a pilot who had made some kind of ridiculous or inexcusable mistake while flying, such as taxiing into a parked airplane or taking off without sufficient fuel and being forced down "out-of-gas."
In this museum display are many of the blunder trophies from the 1920s and early 1930s presented at McCook and Wright Fields. Since the program was not of an official nature, no records were preserved to indicate which pilot won what trophy when and why.
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Early Years Gallery.