Quick Plane: Madison County’s first in flight

MADISON COUNTY – The Wright brothers are known for being first in flight, but right here in Madison County lived another early aviator, William Lafayette Quick. Quick operated a farm with a cotton gin, blacksmith shop, grist mill, sawmill, and cabinet shop in New Market. Before moving to North Alabama in 1894, he earned a patent for a plow specialized for the hills of Tennessee. He applied his mechanical experience and resources to create a monoplane between 1900 and 1908.

“He was reared in the country, but managed to get enough education to enable him to read all the books he could find on natural philosophy. He studied all kinds of birds and flying insects, going over the tiny wings in minute detail. Of particular interest were the dragonflies and buzzards,” recorded descendant Evelyn Quick Clark in “Heritage of Madison County, Alabama”.

Quick’s monoplane took flight on April 17, 1908, over four years after the Wright brothers’ first flight, with Quick’s teenage son, William Massey Quick, as the pilot. The plane featured large bat-like wings, tricycle landing gear, and a propeller and engine at the front of the plane.

“His design, which was a monoplane rather than the bi-plane arrangement of most designs at the time, included several innovations. His craft featured a fuselage rather than the usual exposed seating area, which allowed the operator to sit in an upright position. The design also included a harness-type mechanism worn by the operator to control the Up and Down movement of the machine,” notes the Southern Museum of Flight.

The first flight took place between New Market and Hazel Green near the Flint River. An historical marker now marks the area.

“Quick’s mid-wing monoplane was made of wood harvested on the homeplace and cut in his sawmill and metal forged in his blacksmith shop,” reads the marker. “On its only flight it sustained damage to its right wing and gear upon landing. Quick learned from this experience and designed an “Improved Flying Machine” which he patented in 1912. It included other unique features such as retractable landing gear, folding wings, ornithopter method of thrust propulsion, wing warp, and pitch control.”

Evelyn Quick Clark notes the plane was damaged when William Massey leaned forward to look down. The plane was built such that the plane moved downward when the pilot leaned forward and moved upward when the pilot leaned backward.

“The young pilot became very excited and leaned forward for a better view of how high he was from the ground. That was the wrong thing to do. The plane did what it was designed to do – it went down. The wing was damaged and the propeller and landing gear were broken,” wrote Evelyn.

William Lafayette Quick was inducted into the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame in 1988. His descendants went on to become supporters of aviation in Madison County. Another of Quick’s sons, Joe Quick, became a pilot and served as County Commissioner of District 1 from 1936-1960. In that role, Joe backed the Huntsville-Madison County Airport.

The youngest Quick daughter, Cady, became the first female to fly solo in Alabama, and three Quick sons held aviation- related patents.

Quick’s brother-in-law, Terah Maroney, who helped develop the Quick Plane, even went on to inspire early Boeing aircraft.

The original Quick Plane is on public display today in the Davidson Center lobby at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.