BEAST Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 In 1916, the last Indianapolis 500 was ran until after the end of WWI. In 1917,the infield was converted to Aviation Repair Depot, Speedway, Indiana and the 821st Aero Repair Squadron was assigned there. As the name states, it was a repair facility, but also aircraft were tested there. Aviation isn't anything new to the speedway. the first race conducted there was a balloon race and the Indianapolis municipal air field was located on the infield before the war. So as your watching the race this weekend, just image biplanes taking off and landing in middle of the oval. Below is a yard long photo of the 821st taken in December 1918. The photo shown below is from the Indiana State Library digital archives. This photo is one of my great white whales that I am hunting for. I have seen a few of them, but have not been able to "harpoon" one yet. " We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. " View my website honoring the men and women of Indiana: http://indianavets.wix.com/indiana-at-war and follow my updates on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/IndianaModernAgeofWar/ Interested in US uniforms? Join the Association of American Military Uniform Collectors! http://aamuc.org/or find us on Facebook! facebook.com/AAMUC.ORG Link to post Share on other sites
nix284 Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Interesting tidbit of history. Thanks for sharing. Link to post Share on other sites
38Driver Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Tough not to find a WW1 connection to Indy since Eddie Rickenbacker raced in 4 500s before WW1 and then owned the speedway for 10 years after the war. Fascinating stuff Link to post Share on other sites
BEAST Posted May 23, 2015 Author Share Posted May 23, 2015 Tough not to find a WW1 connection to Indy since Eddie Rickenbacker raced in 4 500s before WW1 and then owned the speedway for 10 years after the war. Fascinating stuff Very true about Rickenbacker. However the 500 has been an international race. In 1914 the winning driver was French with Belgium in second. Many of these racers were also aviators and many were called to duty during the war. Here are the results of the top 10 for the 1914 500. " We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. " View my website honoring the men and women of Indiana: http://indianavets.wix.com/indiana-at-war and follow my updates on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/IndianaModernAgeofWar/ Interested in US uniforms? Join the Association of American Military Uniform Collectors! http://aamuc.org/or find us on Facebook! facebook.com/AAMUC.ORG Link to post Share on other sites
hink441 Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 Somewhat related, here is a piston I have that is believed to be from a Liberty motor. Link to post Share on other sites
BEAST Posted May 29, 2016 Author Share Posted May 29, 2016 Back to the top for the 100th running of the Indy 500! " We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. " View my website honoring the men and women of Indiana: http://indianavets.wix.com/indiana-at-war and follow my updates on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/IndianaModernAgeofWar/ Interested in US uniforms? Join the Association of American Military Uniform Collectors! http://aamuc.org/or find us on Facebook! facebook.com/AAMUC.ORG Link to post Share on other sites
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