From Beachey’s 1911 Daredevil Flight to Today’s Rainbow Helicopter Rides: Niagara’s Aerial Legend
Lincoln Beachey Dives Beneath the Honeymoon Bridge, 1911
On June 27, 1911, Lincoln Beachey — a wiry young daredevil with a Curtiss D biplane — aimed his wooden wings at Niagara Falls and changed aviation history. First he climbed high above the cataract, circling until he skimmed so close to the river that his wings sliced through the mist. Then, with the roar of the gorge in his ears, he dropped beneath the great steel arch of the Falls View “Honeymoon” Bridge and shot down the gorge like a bullet.
The crowd — 150,000 strong — roared his name. “Beachey! Beachey!” they shouted, their voices nearly drowned by the thunder of the falls.
The stunt was no idle thrill. The U.S.–Canadian Carnival had offered $1,000 for the first pilot to fly over the Falls and another $1,000 for anyone daring enough to pass beneath the bridge — a fortune in 1911.
A contemporary newspaper captured the moment:
“Down along the line of the gorge, high over the upper steel arch, Beachey soared… then, turning back… dipped his machine… sped like lightning under the arch of the great steel bridge.”
Beachey’s own account was even more visceral:
“It was the most exciting trip of my life. I shut my eyes as I flew toward the arch… the spray cloud of the waterfall was driven as I descended into the gorge… I am glad not to have disappointed such an appreciative crowd.”
Lincoln Beachey
There were no radios, no safety harnesses, no backup engines — only a man, a machine of wood and wire, and a river that could swallow him in seconds. Orville Wright himself would later call him “poetry in the sky,” a fitting tribute for a pilot whose skill bordered on artistry. Only eight years earlier, the Wright brothers had made history at Kitty Hawk, and now Beachey was pushing that newborn invention to its absolute limits over the roar of Niagara.
The bridge itself — an 840-foot steel span completed in 1898 — would collapse in 1938 under the crush of an ice jam. Beachey’s flight under its arch remains a feat no one will repeat.
Today, you can still see Niagara Falls from the air — but in the smooth comfort of a Rainbow Air helicopter. The pilot speaks over a headset, the ride lasts 12 minutes, and the biggest danger is dropping your phone while snapping a selfie. In 1911, there was no comfort, no script — just the hum of an engine, the scent of oil and rain, and the edge of human daring.
#NiagaraFalls #LincolnBeachey #AviationHistory #HoneymoonBridge #CurtissBiplane #HistoricFlights #DaredevilPilot #1911History #NiagaraFallsHistory #FlyingIntoLegend #AviationLegends #NiagaraFallsAerial #EarlyAviation #NiagaraFallsStories #GoNiagaraTours #GNT #GoNiagara
A Young Lincoln Beachey Piloting a Dirigible
