Barnstormers, Wing-Walking and Flying Circuses

While large numbers of airplanes had been produced in America for the war effort overseas at the Western Front, it was found that that the British, French and Germans were far ahead of them when it came to flight technology, which led to a huge surplus of airplanes in the United States. The government’s solution to recover some of the money was to sell the surplus stock off for as little as $200 dollars each.

With no license being required to fly a plane, the offer attracted many ex—fighter ...