Fay and the Thomas Brothers made history prior to World War I
From the Steuben County Historical Society,
Charles L. Fay pilots a Thomas Brothers “aeroplane” in Bath. (Some of the Thomas personnel, including one of the brothers, had earlier worked for Curtiss, and carried over a lot of his design.) Charlie Fay trained at the Thomas flight school in Bath, and first soloed on Christmas Day in 1913.
Thomas hired him for test flights and air shows. In 1916 he went to Italy to instruct their naval aviators, then became a U.S. naval aviator once we declared war. After the Armistice he went into greyhounds, newspaper work, liquor sales, bar accessories, and other “feet-on-the-ground” activities, enabling him… unlike many of his fellow pioneer birdmen… to live until 1961.
Background and history of Thomas Brothers from Smithsonian Institute:
“Thomas Brothers Corporation was formed in 1909 by William T. and Oliver W. Thomas in Hammondsport, New York. In 1913, the brothers incorporated the Thomas Brothers Aeroplane Corporation in in Bath, NY, where they manufactured their early aircraft. At the end of 1914, they moved the company to Ithaca, NY, where they built aircraft for the Royal Naval Air Service and the United States Navy and Army Signal Corps. In 1917 the Thomas Brothers merged with the Morse Chain Company resulting in the formation of Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation. Thomas-Morse became a Consolidated Aircraft Corporation subsidiary in 1929, and was dissolved in 1935.”
More reading on Thomas Brothers from the Smithsonian
