Glenn Curtiss appears to have driven early American naval aviation by bringing political backing and Navy support to his company's experiments. Eugene Ely then flew the landmark takeoff and landing demonstrations associated with USS Birmingham and USS Pennsylvania in 1910 and 1911. Those trials proved that fixed-wing aircraft could interact with ships under controlled conditions. The larger challenge was turning spectacular demonstrations into an operational system that a navy could organize, fund, and employ repeatedly.
Chapter · 20:12-21:54
Curtiss, Ely, and early American shipboard flying
Glenn Curtiss's advocacy and Eugene Ely's demonstrations helped the US Navy prove that fixed-wing aircraft could take off from and land on ships.