History
Aviation History in San Diego
Courtesy of Kevin Burns (originally published as AIAA Paper 2019-0124)
From the earliest period of aviation, San Diego has been a center of development and production for the aerospace profession and industry. Today that industry flourishes and both of the major universities in San Diego (San Diego State University and the University of California San Diego) have internationally recognized Aerospace Engineering programs and vibrant AIAA Student Branches.
In 1883, John Montgomery would glide from the coastal hills of San Diego to become the first person in North America to make a controlled flight in a heavier than air structure. In 1911, Glenn Curtiss would open his flying school and establish San Diego as the birthplace of Naval Aviation. In 1927, Ryan Aircraft would build the Spirit of St. Louis which would take Charles Lindbergh on his historic New York to Paris flight. San Diego would see the many first minority and women pilots as they all trained in the Curtiss Flying School. As World War II (WWII) broke out, San Diego became an aviation production center. In the 1950s it became the center of rotary-wing helicopter operations. By the Cold War, San Diego was making the nation’s ballistic missiles. Today, the aviation industry in San Diego is thriving, and it has become the capital of America’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) industry. The San Diego Air and Space Museum is one of the greatest in the nation, and without the online archives this research would not have been possible.
The following pages will relate the highlights of 150 years of aerospace in San Diego as we approach the centennial of the AIAA.