On February 10, 1910, Lt. Benjamin Foulois, eight enlisted men, one civilian mechanic, and one badly damaged aeroplane moved onto the mounted drill field on the northwest section of Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

The aircraft was a biplane purchased from the Wright Brothers in 1908.  It was more of a contraption of bamboo poles and canvas fitted around a gasoline engine--a wheel-less, push-type stick and ginny, swung off the ground from a monorail--than it was an airplane.

Foulois and his "flying soldiers" had a mission of operational test and evaluation in Texas.  "My experiments will cover a wide range and will continue at Fort Sam Houston for some time to come," stated Foulois, following his history-making first military flight in the State of Texas.