The First Air Force One? - By Daniel J. Demers

Later reflecting on the day's events, Hoxsey told reporters the President had shouted "war, army, aeroplane and bomb." He also admitted that he was scared fearing any mishap could have cost TR's life and that when the plane finally stopped, "I felt as though someone had cut off the high pressure on my heart valve and I was never so glad of anything in my life when we came to a stop.

"The Wright brothers were not at all amused by the flight. They were horrified by Hoxsey's impetuous action taking the President aloft-envisioning the publicity that could have been if the plane had wrecked. They nearly fired Hoxsey from their team. Punctuating their fears-eleven weeks later, Hoxsey died in Los Angeles, when he literally fell out of the cockpit of his airplane. He was attempting to set a new altitude record and climbed to 7,000 feet when the mishap occurred. It is believed he passed out from the altitude. He had been a pilot for ten months. During those ten months, Hoxsey had set a new long distance record of 10 miles, was the first pilot to make a nighttime flight, flew the first flight in the state of North Dakota and, of course, took the first president to fly aloft-becoming the de facto first pilot of what would one day become Air Force One-an acronym that wouldn't be coined until 1953.

Sources:

Archibald Hoxsey, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_Hoxsey

Wright brothers, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers#Flights

Air Force One, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_force_one

Hoxsey, Roosevelt’s Pilot in First Sky Trip, Mile a Minute Flight Enjoyed by Passenger, San Francisco Examiner, January 1, 1911, 56.

Hoxsey’s Tale of Flight, Roosevelt Was Excited, San Francisco Examiner, January 1, 1911, 56.