Laird was one of the original aviation pioneers that helped Wichita claim to the title of “The Air Capital of the World.” By the age of 15, he had taught himself to fly in his first series of self-designed and constructed airplanes. In late 1919, he moved his E.M. Laird Company from Chicago to Wichita and designed a sleek new airplane that “flew like a swallow”. Forty-three Laird Swallows were produced in Wichita over the next four years. In 1923, Laird returned to Chicago where he produced a series of workhorse biplanes known as Laird Commercials. The “Solution,” a racing plane of his design, won the first Bendix Air Race and set a transcontinental speed record in 1930. His four years in Wichita spawned two-dozen aircraft manufacturing companies in the 1920’s and 30’s in Wichita.