Lewis Earle Sandt is known regionally as a suburb aviator and an aeronautics pioneer, but he did not begin his life with an interest in aviation. Born May 18, 1888, in Brookville, Pennsylvania, Sandt moved to Erie in 1908 with his brother, Walter. The two brothers purchased a storage garage at 609-613 French Street, where they repaired automobiles and motorcycles. Sandt developed an interest in the mechanics of aviation through his work on automobile and motorcycle engines, and his interest in flying led him to attend a flight-training course in Hammondsport, New York, in September 1911.
After a difficult start, Sandt’s flying career truly took off. Once receiving six weeks of training from Glenn Curtiss, an aviation pioneer known for having produced and sold the first private aircraft in the United States and instructing Blanche Stuart Scott — the first American female pilot, Sandt purchased his first airplane from the Curtiss factory for $4,500. His first public flight in Erie occurred the day before Thanksgiving in 1911, when he successfully traveled 45 feet along the Erie lakefront before crashing. This was just the first in a series of public flying demonstrations. In the years following this initial disastrous public flight (1911-1912), Sandt flew many public exhibitions in Erie, including his historic flight across Lake Erie.
Hailed by the press as the first American to land an airplane in a foreign country, Earle Sandt is best known for making the first flight across Lake Erie on February 20, 1912. Sandt made arrangements to fly 36 miles across the lake to Long Point, Ontario, in the winter of 1911/1912. At 2:30 in the afternoon his plane took off from the frozen bay at the foot of State Street. Sandt’s plane ran out of fuel during his return trip to Erie even though he carried onboard two full motorcycle gas tanks, and was forced to make an emergency landing on the ice five miles out from North East Township, Erie county. Sandt walked to shore safely, however, when he returned to where his plane was left, he discovered it had slipped under the ice and sank to the bottom of Lake Erie. Newspapers around the world praised Sandt for his amazing feat, and the citizens of Erie gave him a grand celebration — he was paraded up and down State Street with a large brass band.
Although best known for his flight across Lake Erie, Sandt had several other great achievements. Sandt achieved another first just four months later on June 15th, when he became the first person to fly over the city of Pittsburgh. In August 1912 Sandt became the first person to fly airmail in the state of Ohio.
Sandt performed publicly and continued to perfect his aviation skills until his life ended suddenly in 1913. Sandt died June 22, 1913, from lockjaw, or Tetanus. He developed lockjaw after breaking his leg in a plane crash at the Grove City, Pennsylvania’s June Festival. The world can only speculate what Sandt could have accomplished if he had lived a full life.
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| Earle Sandt. |
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| Earle Sandt posing in his airplane at the "June Festival" in Grove City, Pennsylvania. |
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| Earle Sandt is standing next to his airplane behind a gymnasium in Grove City during the "June Festival" where he flew for the last time before crashing his plane. |
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| Earle Sandt's Airplane at the Grove City "June Festival" just before it crashed. |
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| Spectators are gathered around the remains of Earl Sandt's airplane after it crashed during an air show at the "June Festival" in Grove City. |
