1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet at Dominguez Field

"[3] While it is well documented that Wilbur and Orville Wright first flew on December 17, 1903, the early 1900s saw several competing claims to have made the first practical airplane.

[4] They moved their flying north east of Dayton to a 100-acre field called Huffman Prairie and continued to develop their aircraft design.

In a first demonstration lasting only one minute 45 seconds, Wilbur Wright's effortless banking turns and ability to fly in a circle amazed[5] and stunned[6] onlookers, including several French aviation pioneers, among them Louis Blériot.

The Frankfurt airshow, which began in July 1909 (now named Internationale Luft- und Raumfahrtausstellung (ILA)) claims to be the world's first such multi-participant show.

Shortly after the Reims airshow, Charles Willard and A. Roy Knabenshue resolved to stage the first such show in the United States, targeting the winter of 1909 - 1910 for its occurrence.

After receiving a promise of participation from Glenn Curtiss, Knabenshue contacted Los Angeles promoter Dick Ferris, who in turn mobilized local businesses and formed an organizing committee.

The passenger platform at the local Pacific Electric Railway station was expanded to accommodate visitors to the rural site who might travel from downtown Los Angeles.

A $1500 prize for a locally designed and built machine that successfully flew helped to ensure a high turn-out from California inventors and would-be aviators.

Some of these were close copies or modifications on already successful designs, like the Bleriot monoplane or Curtiss biplane, but some were truly original creations in every sense of the word.

One of the more unusual was Los Angeles resident James Slough Zerbe's so-called "Multi-plane,"[10] a construction which boasted five separate "planes" of wings attached to an elaborate chassis.

Unfortunately for Zerbe, his creation hit a hole in the field and collapsed during take-off, ruining several of the wings and making flight impossible.

[10] Mueller believed that by creating such a heavy machine he would be able to avoid "the necessity of delicate balancing in light wind currents.

[2] During the time the meet was running, streetcars ran to Dominguez Fields every 2 minutes from the Pacific Electric station in Los Angeles.

[15] The great crowd turn-out, averaging more than 20,000 spectators per day, made it possible to return $1.25 to "the subscribers to the aviation fund for every dollar advanced".

The commemorative plaque near the site reads:[21] About one half mile southeast of this spot, on Dominguez Hill in historic Rancho San Pedro, the first air meet in the United States was held during January 10–20, 1910.