Glenn Curtiss’s immense contribution to aviation, like that of many other pilots of the period, tends to be overshadowed by the legend of the Wright Brothers. However, he will be specially remembered as the father of naval aviation and the founder of the American aircraft industry

Glenn Curtiss was a towering figure in American aviation at the dawn of the powered flight era. His expertise in designing and building aircraft led to the formation of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, now part of Curtiss-Wright Corporation, which built aircraft for the US military for use in both World Wars. Curtiss was also responsible for many significant firsts in naval aviation. Born on May 21, 1878, in Hammondsport, New York, Glenn Hammond Curtiss had a strong mechanical streak as a teenager. He set up a business—designing, building and repairing bicycles. Then he moved up the ladder, adding engines to his bicycles. He also enjoyed racing them. In January 1907, he was dubbed the “Fastest Man on Earth” when he set an unofficial speed record of 219.45 kmh on a V-8 motorcycle of his own design and construction. This record remained unbroken till 1930. So light and powerful were his motorcycle engines that the balloonist Thomas Baldwin commissioned him to build an engine for his airship. This became the first powered dirigible in the USA. A Curtiss engine even powered the first US Army aircraft—the dirigible SC-1.

In June 1907, Glenn Curtiss had his first taste of flying aboard a dirigible and was hooked for life. Alexander Graham Bell, who called Curtiss “the greatest motor expert in the country,” invited him to join his Aerial Experiment Association (AEA). Curtiss became its test pilot, undertaking many experimental flights. On July 4, 1908, he flew a distance of 5,090 feet in the first plane that he built called the ‘June Bug’. This was the first pre-announced and publicly demonstrated flight of a heavier-thanair aircraft in America. For this feat, he won the Scientific American Trophy, which specified an unassisted take-off and straight flight of at least one kilometre, to be demonstrated in public. Curtiss was also awarded US pilot’s licence #1 from the Aero Club of America, since the first batch of licences was issued in alphabetical order.

In August 1909, the world’s first aviation rally—La Grande Semaine d’Aviation—was held at Rheims, France. Curtiss won the James Gordon Bennett Cup for completing the fastest flight over a 20-kilometre closed course. He flew at an average speed of 74.8 km/hour. In May 1910, he flew from Albany to New York City, a distance of 219 kms. It was the first long-distance flight between two major cities in the US which won him a prize offered by publisher Joseph Pulitzer. He was also given permanent possession of the Scientific American Trophy. Curtiss was alert to the possibilities of using aircraft as weapons of war. In 1910, he made a simulated bombing demonstration to naval officers at Hammondsport. Two months later, a naval officer, operating from an aircraft piloted by Curtiss, demonstrated the technique of shooting at targets on the ground. Curtiss also established a flying school at San Diego, California, to teach army and naval personnel. The original site of this facility is recognised by the US Navy as “The Birthplace of Naval Aviation”. On January 18, 1911, Eugene Ely, in a Curtiss pusher biplane specially equipped with arresting hooks on its axle, landed on the cruiser USS Pennsylvania. On February 24, 1911, Curtiss made his first amphibian demonstration by taking off and alighting on both land and water. Back in Hammondsport six months later, in July 1911, Curtiss sold the US Navy their first aircraft, the A-1 Triad. The A-1, which was primarily a seaplane, was equipped with retractable wheels, also making it the first amphibian. He won the Collier Trophy for designing this marvel.