Belgian aviator George Mestach sits in his Morane-Borel monoplane during the 1911 or 1912 International Aviation Meet in Chicago's Grant Park. I think he has an inner tube wrapped around himself to serve as a flotation device in case he comes down in the lake. I like his expression. He died in 1920.
The photo comes from the Library of Congress' wonderful American Memory site (http://memory.loc.gov/). DN-0057562, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society.