page_title: George William Beatty
section_title: Early aviation career
hierarchical_section_title: George William Beatty / Early aviation career
caption_attribution_description: English: Gwendolin Pates, from An Aeroplane Love Affair (1912), from a 1913 book
context_page_description: George William Beatty was a pioneer aviator who set early altitude and distance records, including one record set on the same day that he flew his first solo flight.
context_section_description: Beatty became involved in a gliding club in New York City, and in 1909–10 helped build a homemade Santos-Dumont Demoiselle using a three cylinder engine from Anzani.
  In 1911, he attended the Wright Flying School on Long Island, where he was taught by Arthur L. Welsh. He had his first lesson on June 24, 1911 and soloed on July 23, 1911. That same day, he flew as a passenger with Welsh to establish a new American two-man flight altitude record of 1,860 feet (570 m). On August 5, 1911, Beatty broke his own record, flying to 3,080 feet (940 m) with Percy Reynolds as his passenger. On the same flight, he won a cup given by the Farman Company for flight duration.
  On August 6, 1911, he flew for his license and was awarded Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) pilot certificate number 41.
  At the 1911 Chicago International Aviation Meet at Grant Park, he set the new three-man endurance world record of 1 hour and 18 minutes on the August 13, 1911. He also set the American two-man endurance record of 2 hours and four minutes on the August 12, 1911, which he surpassed with a time of 3 hours and 19 minutes on August 19, 1911. His total flight time at the meet of 24 hours and 21 minutes.
  Beatty created a flying school on Long Island in early 1912. From this site, he became the first person to land in Manhattan when he flew into New York City and landed in Central Park on February 13, 1912. He returned to his Nassau County, New York base the next day. After the June 11, 1912, death of Al Welsh, he moved to College Park, Maryland, where he served as the chief test pilot and instructor at the United States Army Aviation School. Although not an actor, in 1912 he appeared alongside Gwendolyn Pates in a film, An Aeroplane Love Affair.
caption: Beatty (right) with Gwendolyn Pates in the film An Aeroplane Love Affair (1912)
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