Paulhan's Historic Flight
Paulham flew his Farman biplane over the grandstands, skirted the Palos Verdes hills, crossing the shoreline west of Point Ferman and then flew a long arc around the Point Ferman lighthouse, over the waters of the Pacific Ocean and then east to the breakwater before returning to Dominguez Air Field. Only the day before, headlines had announced that the U.S. Army had signed a contract to purchase 99 acres of land (now known as Fort MacArthur Upper Reservation) at Point Fermin for new fortifications to be  built to protect Los Angeles Harbor from enemy sea attack.  Unknown to Paulhan, however, this unscheduled flight over the city of San Pedro and around the fortifications site of Point Fermin would be food for thought for future builders of forts.
To the surprise of some 45,000 spectators, on the morning of January 14, 1910, after having set a new altitude record earlier in the meet, French aviator, Louis Paulhan, ignored the programmed agenda of the day and to the amazement of the crowd headed straight for the town of San Pedro and the Pacific Ocean. 

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(c) Copyright 1997 (Rev. 2007)
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Mark J. Denger
California Center for Military History
Louis Paulhan
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Paulhan not only set a new altitude (4164 ft.) record but a new endurance record of 1 hour 49 minutes. 40 seconds.