Wisconsin’s First Home-Built Flying Machine
Rothschild Park, at the jct. of Grand Ave., Park St. and Kort St., Rothschild, Marathon County
On June 23, 1911, near this location, Wausau native John Schwister became a pioneer of Wisconsin aviation. Research indicates that on this date Schwister flew the state's first home built airplane capable of sustained, powered flight. Constructed of wooden ribs covered with light cotton cloth and powered by an early-model air-craft engine, Schwister's biplane flew for several hundred feet at a maximum altitude of twenty feet. Calling his plane the Minnesota-Badger, Schwister began the design and construction of his "flying machine" in St. Paul, Minnesota, but finished it in Rothschild, Wisconsin. Initially, Schwister flight-tested his biplane as a glider, towing it behind an automobile like a kite. He also built his own airplane hangar here. Schwister made many flights in 1911, including a 27-mile flight in which he soared to 2,000 feet, higher than nearby Rib Mountain. In 1912, Schwister was seriously injured in a plane crash, yet he continued to construct and fly his own airplanes making him Wisconsin's first successful "home-builder."
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[Source: McBride, Sarah Davis. History Just Ahead (Madison:WHS, 1999).]