First Airplane Built In Vermont – 1910

     The following article appeared on page 7 in the Barre Daily Times, August 30, 1910.  

Vermont’s First Aeroplane

     C. C. Bonnette’s  aeroplane, the first to be constructed in this state, is nearly ready for trial at his home in Passumpsic.  The ship is one of the Curtis type of biplanes, 24 feet overall and is equipped with a 40-60-horse-power engine.  Total weight of the machine and driver is a little over 600 pounds, and Mr. Bonnette is confident that he will succeed.  Mr. Bonnette built the aeroplane last winter, and it has been examined by experts from different parts of the country, who have pronounced it the best model they have ever seen.  Because it was the first airship constructed in the state, Mr. Bonnette names it “Vermont No. 1”.  Since he was a young man he has made over 1,500 balloon ascensions, frequently giving exhibitions at fairs.  In Rochester, N.Y. a few years ago, he fell 100 feet, breaking one leg, one arm, and suffering a concussion of the brain.  His wife, who used to accompany him on his ascensions, is now an invalid as a result of a fall from the balloon 14 years ago at Malone, N. Y., when her back was broken.  She is much interested in her husband’s plans for his new invention.        

     Clarence C. Bonnette, aka Bonette, was born in Victory, Vermont in 1872, and died in Concord, new Hampshire in 1947.  For more information about him, see www.earlyaviators.com

     The following two items were found in the August 26, 1911 edition of Aero magazine, on page 461, under “The Diary of Flight”.

     Saturday, August 12

     Atlantic, Mass. – C. C. Bonette of Pasumpsic, VT. made several short flights in his Curtis-type biplane.  

    Thursday, August 17

     Atlantic, Mass. – Dr. Percy L. Reynolds broke wood in a Burgess-Wright biplane.  Reynolds unhurt. C.C. Bonette, in his Curtis-type biplane met with similar mishap.