Did You Know: The Third American to Fly an Airplane Did it in Fairfax Station

We all know about Kitty Hawk N.C., and those famous first flights by the Wright brothers in 1903. But did you know that the third American to fly did it in Fairfax Station?

It was in March 1908, and Dr. William Christmas flew his "aeroplane" in secret before crashing into a tree and burning the wreckage to keep anyone from copying his designs.

Christmas, a physician who worked in the District, spent the winter of 1907-08 building his bi-plane at the Fairfax Station home of engineer Robert Ions. Christmas' vessel, like the Wright Brothers' model, had twin propellers that were run by an engine behind the pilot. The whole thing weighed 850 pounds and was made of steel and wood, with fabric stretched along the wings. 

The 160-acre Ions property is located off Fairfax Station Road near St. Mary's Catholic Church, and Christmas was aided by Ions and two farmhands. Christmas was also a lifelong kite enthusiast, and modeled his craft after careful studies of bird anatomy. 

"My first plane wasn't ready to fly until 1908," said Christmas in a 1929 Popular Mechanics interview. "All I wanted to know was whether it would get off the ground or not. The only thing that made it possible for me to keep up even that long (five or six feet in the air and several hundred feet) was the ailerons, the first to be used on any airship." 

Christmas, who was 43 at the time, made several attempts before crash landing. 

"(The plane) got away from me. One wing went into a tree. I was only about six feet up, going perhaps thirty-five miles an hour. Of course the plane smashed, and I slithered out along the ground." 

The Rest of the Story

It took Springfield historian Mary Lipsey three years to put together Christmas' life story in her newest book: "A Christmas Flight: Aviation Pioneer Dr. William Christmas." 

"Christmas was definitely a self promoter," said Lipsey to Patch. "He had the vision of flight in his mind and he found people who would have followed him to the moon, if possible." 

Lipsey also found that during the period that Christmas took flight the nearby Town of Clifton was abuzz over an automobile that was parked in town. The car was a Studebaker, and the driver was participating in a cross-country race from Pennsylvania to Georgia when he got stuck in the mud in Centreville. 

"As the residents were marveling at the car, Dr. Christmas and Robert Ions were conducting air flights just a few miles away," wrote Lipsey in the book.  

Christmas also designed a flying hotel and an underground airport. He was an advisor to Presidents and died at the age of 95 in 1960. 

Mary Lipsey is also the co-author of "Braddock's True Gold: 20th-Century Life in the Heart of Fairfax County."

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