Wald, Charles

Charles Wald was an early American aviator trained at the Wright School of Aviation in Dayton, Ohio. In 1905, while stationed with the U.S. Custom Service in the Philippines, he learned about Wilbur and Orville Wright's achievements in flying. In 1906 he returned to the United States and visited the Wrights with the desire to learn to fly. The Wright brothers advised him to first learn engineering, so he began taking night courses at Pratt Institute in New York following his daytime work at the New York Custom House.

In 1911 Charles Wald secured employment with the Wright Company in Dayton. Following a brief return to the New York Custom House, he began flight training at Huffman Prairie Flying Field (Simms Station) on April 12, 1912 under the instruction of A.L. Welsh. His primary training was considered complete on April 23 with fourteen flights and a total of two hours and forty-six minutes in the air. During this time he also worked in the shop on engines and repairs. Wald returned to employment with the Wright Company in June following the tragic death of A.L. Welsh in a plane crash. He made his first solo flight on June 27. By August 6 he flew seventy-four additional flights, accompanied most of the time by a fellow student, William Kabitzki.

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