On September 9, 2006, and at the Rohnerville Airport in Fortuna, Avi8cando, Rotary Club of Fortuna Sunrise, Humboldt County Department of Public Works Division of Aviation in cooperation with Eureka Chapter 101 of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus dedicated a plaque in the memory of John Joseph Montgomery (1858 - 1911). The ceremony included the Scotia Band and participation from state, county and Fortuna city officials.
Montgomery
is recognized as one of the country’s foremost aviation pioneers, credited with
making the world’s first manned-controlled flight in a heavier-than-air glider,
including several test flights from a bluff overlooking the Eel River Valley.
While on the staff at
Mount Saint Joseph’s College, Montgomery continued his
construction and testing of flying machines in the Rohnerville area in the
mid-1890s.The plaque recognized Montgomery for his work as a faculty member at Mount Saint Joseph’s, for his achievements in Rohnerville and for making the world’s first manned flight in a heavier-than-air glider at Otay Mesa in San Diego in August 1883. Montgomery’s 600-foot flight preceded the engine-driven flight of Orville Wright by 20 years.
Montgomery taught mathematics at Mount Saint Joseph’s, which was located about 1,500 feet from the current Rohnerville Airport runway, 10 years later, from 1893-1895. There, Montgomery continued his studies in the laws of aeronautics, developed four-foot and eight-foot wingspread model aeroplanes and built a wind tunnel to assist in various experiments.
