Pikes Peak RV Park

Imagine waiting on top of Pikes Peak for the perfect weather so you can launch yourself off the mountain with bamboo-and-silk wings.

That’s exactly what inventor William Felts planned to do in August of 1897. He built a 36-foot launch track near the Cog Railway and hoped to glide all the way down to Colorado Springs below.

But after days of waiting for clear skies, Felts mysteriously disappeared on August 13th. He never made the jump.

Even stranger? Two Cog Railway employees later claimed they took Felts’ abandoned flying machine for a spin off Manitou Mountain and actually made short, successful flights.

Photo courtesy of: Pikes Peak Library District