Kathy, a non-pilot navigator from Texas, asks: Who founded the “Mile High Club?”
Embarrassing true story (but probably not the one you’re expecting): When I was first learning to fly at age 17, I really, really, really wanted a set of pilot’s wings. All pilots have wings, right?
Of course, then as now, most wings are military issue. There are no official GA Pilot wings. Anyway, looking through the latest issue of the Sporty’s Pilot Shop catalog at the flight school, I found a handsome set of pilot’s wings that said “Mile High Club” on them.
The accompanying descriptive text in the catalog was somewhat vague. It said something like “show your membership in this exclusive club.” Remember, this was before the Internet, so getting the real skinny on something mysterious wasn’t as easy as it is now.
Even though the pin said “club” on it, there was no membership requirement to buy the wings, so I assumed any pilot who flew more than a mile high above sea level was eligible to wear the wings. Easy for me, training in Colorado. I ordered a pair at once and wore them proudly on my new flight jacket.
Thank God my mother didn’t know what the Mile High Club really was.
Because, as most people know, the Mile High Club is slang for having had sex in an airplane. Well, sex in a plane in flight. It doesn’t count if you’re on the apron or in the hangar.
That’s just plane sex.
The official honor of being the first members of the Mile High Club, becoming its founders, goes to playboy inventor Lawrence Sperry, of Sperry Gyroscope fame, and Cynthia Polk, a New York socialite. In 1916, while Mr. Polk was off serving his country in World War I, Sperry was giving flying lessons to Mrs. Polk. Well, some sort of lessons, anyway. One fine November day, Sperry and Mrs. Polk were in a Curtiss flying boat that had been equipped with Sperry’s latest invention: The autopilot, a device that left Sperry’s hands free to do something other than fly the plane.
Apparently, one thing naturally led to another, something went wrong, and at an inauspicious moment, the plane took a nose drive and crash-landed in the drink. The two were rescued from the wreckage by a pair of duck hunters, who were surprised — to say the least — to find the pair buck naked. This would be even more fun, as a writer, if they had been deer hunters.
Anyway, Sperry claimed that the force of the impact “divested” them of their clothing. The headline in the tabloid press was: “Aerial Petting Ends in Wetting.”
Possibly to avoid concerns over the reliability of his autopilot, which could have made him lose his shirt (again), he let it out on the grapevine that during the couple’s maneuvering, he had bumped or thumped the gyro platform, deactivating the device.
But while Curtis and Polks’ aerial tryst is historically documented, are they really the first to get lucky in an aircraft? I doubt it.
By 1918 aviation as we know it was 15 years old. Sure, the autopilot made it easy, so long as you didn’t bump it or thump it in the process, but don’t underestimate human ingenuity, or the human knack for leveraging any new technology for carnal purposes. This thinking also ignores an older type of flying machine that provides plenty of room, lots of privacy, and the opportunity for lengthy hands-free operation.
The real founder of the Mile High Club was no doubt a wealthy Frenchman with a devilishly charming smile, a bottle of wine, and a hot air balloon.
Speaking of alcohol and aviation, next time on Questions from the Cockpit, we’re going to take a look at a high-flying highball.
Great column. Don’t recall when I’ve had such a laugh. Humor is the healer of all ills so let’s have some more of this. I tire of reading about numbskulls running out of fuel and ditching somewhere in the woods.
> Curtis and Polks’ aerial tryst is historically documented…
I call B.S.! (But I’m willing to be corrected.)
Cite your references please.
Guessing that should be “Sperry and Polk’s aerial tryst. Not to jump in here ahead of Mr. Dubois, but my curiosity got the better of me. Did a search of my personal aviation library and found my copy of GYRO! The Life and Times of Lawrence Sperry by William Davenport (1978), foreword by Jimmy Doolittle. Pages 150-157 describe the event in as much detail as can be fit for public consumption.
Plan on reading the the book soon, Sperry’s life was short but he accomplished a lot. Wonder how much more he would have contributed had he lived longer?
I remember Peter Bowers thought about building a replica of the Sperry Messenger at one time….
I should have done my homework. Thanks.
Try that IFR, no autopilot, maintain resonable alitude, and look respectable at the next fueling stop.
Dumb story. Contributes to the rep that aviation is a bad boys club. Not professional.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Come on gbigs lighten up, loosen up, and get rid of that stiff upper lip. My goodness…If articles like this can give you a bad reputation, reckon what it takes to get a good reputation? – Only articles about correct control wire tension, or torque value for engine case bolts? ? – My word, how boring would that be. Besides this is an historical article, and all true.
I have no shame! Took my high school sweetheart a mile-high in a Piper Clipper shortly after receiving my Private license in 1951 (from the CAA, the FAA didn’t stick it’s nose into A/Cs ‘tiill ’58) and she couldn’t wait to tell her girlfriends. I’ve been flying ever since with never a violation or damage for 70 years to an A/C,… crop-dusters, Pitts, gliders or 747s.
don draper ATP #1212754
I would have guessed that Donald Draper was a pseudonym (the Don Draper from the show Mad Men seems like it would fit into this mile-high discussion) but now I just realized you are a real person. Congrats on nearly 70 years of flying!
Gosh, I think I just found my new hero! 😉 Wow – in a Piper Clipper – really?!? Those who are about to fly salute you!!!
So, Mr. Draper, sir, what’s your chosen beverage tonight? Old Fashioned? Canadian Club?
Anyway, I think that we all are so glad that both, you and your high school sweetheart, survived to braggingly recount the tale, for such frivolities are not always engaged in without involvement of some serious risks!
Decades ago, I had a boss who had previously been an accident investigator for our Aerospace OEM employer. One of the crash scenes that he was sent to investigate involved an aircraft that was reportedly on a mission to shuttle some “working girls” from a legal brothel in Nevada to a not-so-legal establishment in Texas. Enroute to the next worksite, the aircraft’s PIC was evidently invited to join the passengers in some carnal recreational activities. Unfortunately for all aboard, Mr. Sperry’s invention was either not properly engaged by the pilot before being summoned to the passenger compartment, or the device was deactivated during all the maneuvering, bumping, and thumping going on in the cabin. As a result, the aircraft slowly descended from its cruising altitude with the joyride ending as a fatal CFIT (if a crash without a pilot in the cockpit can be called “controlled”) statistic on the desert floor.
One of those tales that is darkly humorous, yet tragic, in my opinion. So, let’s be careful out there!
Thanks to Mr. Dubois for the informative and entertaining article, and to Mr. Draper for the adventurous tale!
Old Overholt rye, or Zinfandel, which will be no surprise to you!
Congratulations. I am still trying to earn my membership 28 years after getting my initial PPL.
Oh so your not a member…
Please don’t become a Commercial pilot until you are a Club member,… you’d be an embarrassment to the rest of us! don draper, ATP# 1212754
News Flash!….even professionals can have a sense of humor.