Re-enactment of first flight to mark 100 years of commercial aviation

Singapore

ONE hundred years ago, the first commercial flight took to the skies with just one passenger for the 23-minute journey across Tampa Bay, Florida.

Today, that flight is being re-enacted (10am US Eastern Standard Time) from St Petersburg, Florida, to Tampa using a Hoffman X-4 "Mullet Skiff" amphibious flying boat, similar to the original Benoist airboat (or seaplane) which operated the first flight. Today's flight, part of celebrations marking the centennial of commercial aviation, will be piloted by Eddie Hoffman Jr, whose father built the aircraft.