The U.S. Army accepted its first airplane from the Wright Brothers on July 31, 1909.   After further training flights at College Park, Maryland, the airplane was placed under the control of Lt Benjamin D. Foulois and shipped to Fort Sam Houston, Texas (The USAF Academy Library, undated).  Fort Sam Houston was thus the first U.S. Military base to host an assigned, government-owned aircraft (The College Park location was leased for the contract training flights).  Lt Foulois, later to be promoted to Major General and serve as the Chief of the Air Service, was for a period of time the only aviator in the Heavier Than-Air Division, Signal Corps, U.S. Army (The USAF Academy Library, undated).  During this time, Lt Foulois broke new ground on a daily basis, and literally wrote the book on U.S. military aviation, Provisional Aeroplane Regulations for the Signal Corps, United States Army, 1911.  During this brief period, January, 1910, to July, 1911, Lt Foulois commanded the first three aircraft owned by the Army (The USAF Academy Library, undated). Even without a formal program, it is evident that safety was a great concern to Lt Foulois.

Ground handling of a modern military aircraft is done with motorized tractors, or tugs.   Only very light aircraft are moved by hand. As seen in Foulois (1911), things were very different in 1910.  The pilot was in charge of all movement of the airplane, whether in the air or on the ground.  The personnel under his control consisted of an assistant pilot, a mechanic, and six enlisted men, who were numbered one through six.   Ground handling was referred to as movement "by hand," and each enlisted man had an assigned post around the airplane.  For example, Foulois (1911) explains the following procedure to move an aircraft:

"PREPARE TO MOVE OUT.

At the last word of the command, Nos. 1 and 2 grasp their struts, No. 1 with the left hand and No. 2 with the right hand. No. 3 steps upon the front left skid, with his right foot close to the diagonal brace and left foot on cross brace, steadying himself against the diagonal brace.

In all commands for moving the aeroplane, No. 1 to 5 will execute the preparatory commands as prescribed in this paragraph.

Nos. 4 and 5 will grasp the bottom horizontal tail pieces with their left and right hands respectively, raising the tail until the skids are approximately level.

No. 6 will fall out and remain in the vicinity of the hangar.

MOVE OUT.

At the command "Out", move the aeroplane directly to the front, or rear, according to which way if faces the entrance of the hangar. The mechanic will supervise the proper handling of the machine. The pilot will direct the march and select the best route. The aeroplane, if possible, should always be placed in the hangar, with its front facing the entrance, to simplify its removal." (p. 10)

This is just a sample; other commands include moving forward, to the rear, right (or left) turns, right (or left) half turns, and prepare for flight.  The significance to these movements is everything is done in a prescribed manner; every person around the airplane is in a specified place with a specified task to accomplish at any given command.   The person giving the commands is clearly in charge, and the persons following the commands are acting in unison to carry them out.  This prevents confusion and keeps people out of each others' (or the airplane's) way.

Foulois (1911) devotes three pages to the pre-flight inspection, to be made by the Pilot and Mechanic. An example:

"WARPING CONTROLS. 

(a) Warping wires. See that warping wires are in same relative position with respect to each other.

(b) Chains. See that all chains are intact and well oiled.

(c) Pulleys. See that all pulleys are in good working order, and all pulley bolts and nuts are tight

(d) Bolts & Nuts.

(e) Turnbuckles. See that turnbuckles are wired." (p. 4)

Similar instructions cover inspection of the tail, propellers, struts, levers, engine, wheels, and skids.  These inspection procedures ensure the airplane is ready to fly.   The word "safety" is not mentioned, but is certainly implied.  This section appears to be the ancestor of our modern system of Technical Orders.   Conducting the pre-flight inspection was also done in a drill-and-ceremonies fashion:

"As soon as the aeroplane is ready for inspection, the Pilot will command "Prepare for Inspection."  The Aero Section, under the supervision of the senior non-commissioned officer, will "Fall In" 3 paces in front of the center of aeroplane. The Mechanic will take his post 6 paces in rear of the center of machine.

INSPECTION, AEROPLANE.

At the command Aeroplane, the Aero. Section will face to the right about, and, moving at double time, take post as prescribed for moving the Aeroplane "by hand", standing at ease, and without touching the machine. The Pilot and Mechanic, independently of each other, will then proceed to make the inspection as prescribed before each flight. Upon the completion of the inspection the Mechanic will salute with the right hand and report as follows: "Aeroplane No. ___, in order, Sir"; and after reporting will proceed to his post, as prescribed in moving "by hand".

If any faults or defects are discovered during the inspections, they will be remedied at once, before any report is made.

The Pilot, upon the satisfactory completion of both inspections, will salute and report as prescribed for the Mechanic, making his report to the senior officer present, or to the Instructor, as directed under INSPECTIONS.  The person receiving the report, will return the salute and command; "Proceed with your flight, Sir."  (Foulois, 1911, p. 9)

The significance is again, an orderly method of performing each task so nothing is overlooked.

The Provisional Regulations (Foulois, 1911) only devote two pages to Flying Rules.   However, they are extremely safety-oriented, as these samples show:

"FLYING RULES. 

Never land with the wind blowing from behind the machine, as one is liable to underestimate the additional speed, and be carried into obstructions on the ground, which generally results in a wreck. 

Learn to know when the engine sounds right.

Never attempt sensational or dangerous evolutions with the machine while in flight.

Never fly in column with other machines at distances less than 400 yards between machines.

Never fly over towns, villages or cities unless at an altitude sufficiently high to enable the machine to glide clear of the houses. It is much safer to make a detour and avoid the above, and in case the motor stops, the Pilot will have a much better chance of making a safe landing.

In making altitude flights of more than 2000 feet, ascend slowly, and descend slowly. The change of air pressure incident to increasing or decreasing altitudes should be overcome gradually, otherwise a Pilot who is not in good physical condition may become faint, or overcome to such a degree as to lose control of his machine."  (p. 20)

Clearly, staying in control and staying safe (and keeping people and property on the ground safe) were the guiding factors behind these rules.

No pilot today would contemplate operating an aircraft without a seat belt.  Lt Foulois first operated Signal Corps No. 1 as built -- without restraints of any type. After nearly being thrown from the plane on a landing approach (Shiner, 1983), he decided there had to be a better way to fly.  He was the first pilot to use a seat belt; a leather strap built and installed by a Fort Sam Houston saddler (Bilstein & Miller, 1985).

Another modification was to the airplane's elevators.  Lt Foulois moved one of them from the front to the rear of the aircraft (after consulting with the Wrights).   This was intended to improve the handling of the aircraft, which had a bucking tendency (Miller, 1994).  Clearly, Lt Foulois intended to limit his risk to an acceptable level.

In his quest to prove the value of the airplane, Lt Foulois did some things to get attention which might be considered to be unsafe (Shiner, 1983):

"In 1910-11 Foulois sought to awaken a reluctant Army to the "value" of the airplane through such actions as flying "over the tents occupied by sleeping officers of the division headquarters staff at about ten feet" and executing "a power dive over the headquarters latrine." However these activities did not seem to noticeably improve the outlook of ground officers toward military aviation." (p. 6)

Evidently, Lt Foulois judged the risk to be acceptable (both to his safety and his career) in these actions. 

The operation at Fort Sam Houston also gave us the first example of "Blood Priority" in U.S. military aviation safety.  During a flight on May 10, 1911, Lt George Kelly was fatally injured in a crash of Signal Corps No. 2.  Responding to this, the commander of the Maneuver Division prohibited any further flying from the drill grounds; effectively shutting down Lt Foulois' operation.  The two aircraft were shipped back to College Park, Maryland.  The accident investigation determined a structural failure caused a loss of control (Bilstein and Miller, 1985).

Lt Foulois was, by his actions, a strong force in the development of military aviation safety.  He outlined safety procedures, looked for innovations, and formalized his concepts in the Provisional Aeroplane Regulations (Foulois, 1911).  Safety was also the reason his operation at Fort Sam Houston was shut down less than a year into its operation.  In my opinion, his program was effective.  As we have learned in class, flying is inherently risky and accidents are inevitable.  However, Lt Foulois clearly took steps to keep that risk in check, while still meeting his mission.

Bilstein, R. and Miller, J. (1985).  Aviation in Texas.  San Antonio, TX: Texas Monthly Press.

Foulois, B.D. (1911).  Provisional Aeroplane Regulations for the Signal Corps, United States Army, 1911.  San Antonio, TX: Maneuver Division, United States Army.

Miller, R.J. (1994).  Signal Corps No. 1, Purchasing and Supporting the Army's First Airplane.  Air Power History, Fall 1994. Washington, DC: Air Force History Support Office.

Shiner, J.F. (1983).  Foulois and the U.S. Army Air Corps 1931-1935.   Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force.

The USAF Academy Library (Undated).  Manuscript Record and Biographical Sketch: Foulois, Benjamin Delahauf, 1879-1967; Papers, 1880-1968.  Colorado Springs, CO: Author.