Found in the Archives

First President to Fly in/Steer a Blimp?

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first sitting president to ride in an airplane, an occasion marked by a very long overseas flight to attend the 1943 Casablanca conference. FDR’s distant cousin, Theodore, was the first president ever to fly, a trip that took place back in 1910 shortly after he had left the presidency.

FDR may have set an additional aviation first – we think he may have been the first president to fly on-board a dirigible airship (also known as a blimp or zeppelin)!

During World War I, serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, FDR traveled to Europe to inspect US Navy facilities. Several weeks into his trip, on August 17^th, 1918 he visited a base in Paimboeuf, Western France where he was offered a ride aboard a French-built airship.

Here is FDR’s own account of his visit to Paimboeuf, France:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I tried my hand at running the lateral stearing[sic] gear and also the elevating and depressing gear. The sensation is distinctly curious, less noise than an areo.[sic] and far more feeling of drifting at the mercy of the wind.”

Here is a photograph showing FDR aboard what we believe to be the deck of the French dirigible:

Considered too vulnerable for use on the front, airships were primarily used for scouting missions and mine clearance throughout Western Europe during the war. The use of airships later declined as airplane technology advanced and after several high profile accidents. FDR was serving his second term as president when the infamous Hindenburg crashed in New Jersey in 1937.

Do you know of an occasion in which a sitting, former, or future president traveled aboard such an aircraft before 1918?