Curtiss, motor expert In 1904, Curtiss became a supplier of engines for the California "aeronaut"
Tom Baldwin, who inspired Curtiss to pursue aviation. In that same year, Baldwin's
California Arrow, powered by a Curtiss 9 HP V-twin motorcycle engine, became the first successful
dirigible in America. In 1907,
Alexander Graham Bell invited Curtiss to develop a suitable engine (
Curtiss B-8) for heavier-than-air flight experimentation. Bell regarded Curtiss as "the greatest motor expert in the country" and invited Curtiss to join his
Aerial Experiment Association (AEA).
AEA aircraft experiments Between 1908 and 1910, the AEA produced four aircraft, each one an improvement over the last. Curtiss primarily designed the AEA's third aircraft, Aerodrome #3, the famous
June Bug, and became its test pilot, undertaking most of the proving flights. On July 4, 1908, he flew to win the
Scientific American Trophy and its $2,500 prize. This is considered to be the first pre-announced public flight of a heavier-than-air flying machine in America. The flight of the
June Bug propelled Curtiss and aviation firmly into public awareness. On June 8, 1911, Curtiss received U.S. Pilot's License #1 from the
Aero Club of America, because the first batch of licenses were issued in alphabetical order;
Wilbur Wright received license #5. At the culmination of the Aerial Experiment Association's experiments, Curtiss offered to purchase the rights to Aerodrome #3, essentially using it as the basis of his
Curtiss No. 1, the first of his production series of pusher aircraft.
The pre-war years Aviation competitions After a 1909 fall-out with the AEA, Curtiss joined with
A. M. Herring (and backers from the
Aero Club of America) to found the
Herring-Curtiss Company in Hammondsport. During the 1909–1910 period, Curtiss employed a number of demonstration pilots, including
Eugene Ely,
Charles K. Hamilton,
J.A.D. McCurdy,
Augustus Post, and
Hugh Robinson. Another pilot,
Tod Shriver, was employed by Curtiss in his factory as early as 1906. Shriver played a similar role for Curtiss that
Charlie Taylor had served for the Wright Brothers, seeing to the factory and being all around shop foreman; he later went with Curtiss to France where the latter won the speed competitions. Aerial competitions and demonstration flights across North America helped to introduce aviation to a curious public; Curtiss took full advantage of these occasions to promote his products. This was a busy period for him. of the ''Grande Semaine d'Aviation'', 1909 In August 1909, Curtiss took part in the ''
Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne'' aviation meeting at
Reims,
France, organized by the
Aéro-Club de France, and sponsored by
Gordon Bennett, publisher of the
New York Herald. The
Wrights, who were selling their machines to customers in Germany at the time, decided not to compete in person. Several
Wright Model A customer aircraft (modified with a landing gear) were at the meet, but they did not win any events. On August 28, 1909, flying his
No. 2 biplane, Curtiss won the overall speed event, the
Gordon Bennett Cup, completing the 20-km (12.5-mile) course in just under 16 minutes at a speed of , six seconds faster than runner-up
Louis Blériot. On May 29, 1910, Curtiss flew from Albany to New York City to make the first long-distance flight between two major cities in the U.S. For this flight, which he completed in just under four hours including one stop to refuel, he won a $10,000 prize offered by publisher
Joseph Pulitzer and was awarded permanent possession of the Scientific American Trophy. In June 1910, Curtiss provided a simulated bombing demonstration to naval officers at Hammondsport. Two months later, Lt. Jacob E. Fickel demonstrated the feasibility of shooting at targets on the ground from an aircraft with Curtiss serving as pilot. One month later, in September, he trained
Blanche Stuart Scott, who was possibly the first American woman pilot. The fictional character
Tom Swift, who first appeared in 1910 in
Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle and
Tom Swift and His Airship, has been said to have been based on Glenn Curtiss. The Tom Swift books are set in a small town on a lake in upstate New York.
Patent dispute A patent lawsuit by the Wright Brothers against Curtiss in 1909 continued until it was resolved during World War I. Since the last Wright aircraft, the Wright Model L, was a single prototype of a "scouting" aircraft, made in 1916, the
U.S. government, desperately short of combat aircraft, pressured both firms to resolve the dispute. Of nine suits Wright brought against Curtiss and others and the three suits brought against them, the Wright Brothers eventually won every case in courts in the United States.
Naval aviation On November 14, 1910, Curtiss demonstration pilot
Eugene Ely took off from a temporary platform mounted on the forward deck of the cruiser
USS Birmingham. His successful takeoff and ensuing flight to shore marked the beginning of a relationship between Curtiss and the Navy that remained significant for decades. At the end of 1910, Curtiss established a winter encampment at San Diego to teach flying to Army and Naval personnel, effectively the first military aviation school. His trainees included Lt.
Theodore Ellyson, who became U.S. Naval Aviator #1, and three Army officers, 1st Lt.
Paul W. Beck, 2nd Lt.
George E. M. Kelly, and 2nd Lt. John C. Walker Jr., and 1912 graduate
Chikuhei Nakajima, founder of
Nakajima Aircraft Company. The original site of this winter encampment is now part of
Naval Air Station North Island and is referred to by the Navy as "The Birthplace of Naval Aviation". Demonstrations of this advanced design were of great interest to the Navy, but more significant, as far as the Navy was concerned, was Eugene Ely successfully landing his Curtiss pusher (the same aircraft used to take off from the
Birmingham) on a makeshift platform mounted on the rear deck of the
armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania. This was the first
arrester-cable landing on a ship and the precursor of modern-day carrier operations. On January 28, 1911, Ellyson took off in a Curtiss "grass cutter" to become the first Naval aviator. being tested on
Keuka Lake, New York (c. 1910-1915) Curtiss custom built floats and adapted them onto a
Model D so it could take off and land on water to prove the concept. On February 24, 1911, Curtiss made his first amphibious demonstration at North Island by taking off and alighting on both land and water. Back in Hammondsport, six months later in July 1911, Curtiss sold the U.S. Navy their first aircraft, the A-1
Triad (
Curtiss Model E). The A-1, which was primarily a seaplane, was equipped with retractable wheels, also making it the first amphibious aircraft. Curtiss trained the Navy's first pilots and built their first aircraft. For this, he is considered in the US to be "The Father of Naval Aviation". The Triad was immediately recognized as so obviously useful, it was purchased by the U.S. Navy, Russia, Japan, Germany, and Britain. Curtiss won the
Collier Trophy for designing this aircraft. Henry Kleckler, considered Curtiss' "right hand man", and a "master innovator and mechanic", was also a native of Hammondsport and worked with Curtiss in developing more efficient engines for the "flying boats" pioneered and developed by Curtiss. Around this time, Curtiss met retired British naval officer
John Cyril Porte, who was looking for a partner to produce an aircraft with him to win the
Daily Mail prize for the first
transatlantic crossing. In 1912, Curtiss produced the two-seat
Flying Fish, a larger craft that became classified as a
flying boat because the hull sat in the water; it featured an innovative notch (known as a "step") in the hull that Porte recommended for breaking clear of the water at
takeoff. Curtiss correctly surmised that this configuration was more suited to building a larger long-distance craft that could operate from water, and was also more stable when operating from a choppy surface. With the backing of
Rodman Wanamaker, Porte and Curtiss produced the
America in 1914, a larger flying boat with two engines, for the transatlantic crossing.
Langley deception Curtiss, working with the head of the Smithsonian Institution Charles Walcott, sought to discredit the Wrights and rehabilitate the reputation of
Samuel Langley, a former head of the Smithsonian, who failed in his attempt at powered flight. Secretly, Curtiss extensively modified Langley's 1903 aerodrome (aircraft) then demonstrated in 1914 that it could fly. In turn, the Smithsonian endorsed the false statement that "Professor Samuel P. Langley had actually designed and built the first man-carrying flying machine capable of sustained flight." Walcott ordered the plane modified by Curtiss to be returned to its original 1903 condition before going on display at the Smithsonian to cover up the deception. In 1928, the Smithsonian Board of Regents reversed its position and acknowledged that the Wright Brothers deserved the credit for the first flight. ==World War I and later==