Today
in Technology History
(To
receive "Today in Technology History"
by e-mail, click
here. To read past
issues click
here.)
November
14
On November 14, 1910, an airplane took off from a ship for the first time.
The plane's pilot, Eugene Burton Ely, was born in Iowa in 1886. His enthusiasm for automobiles led him to become a race car driver, and later, a car salesman. Mistakenly believing that flying was as easy as driving a car, he crashed a friend's airplane in 1909. He compensated his friend, rebuilt the plane, and taught himself how to fly in early 1910.
A few months later, Ely met aviation pioneer Glenn Hammond Curtiss (1878-1930) who was then assembling a team of pilots to tour the country making exhibition flights. Ely joined the group.
In October 1910, the International Aviation Tournament opened at Belmont Park in New York. Ely and Curtiss met with U.S. Navy Captain Washington Irving
Chambers
, the first naval officer to be dedicated full-time to investigating the value of aviation. Chambers wanted to demonstrate that airplanes could take off from ships, and with Curtiss and Ely he arranged a series of experiments.
The first test took place near the naval yards at Norfolk, Virginia. A wooden platform was added to the naval cruiser
Birmingham, and on the cloudy afternoon of November 14, Ely flew his 50-horsepower Hudson Flyer off the ship. The runway was so short that the plane plunged toward the water, damaging its propeller, but Ely managed to bring it safely to land.
The age of naval aviation had begun. Two months later, Ely also became the first pilot to land on a ship -- but he didn't have long to enjoy his fame: he died in a crash in October 1911.
Related
links:
-
Click here for a brief biography of
Ely.
-
Click here for a longer account of Ely's historic
take-off.
-
Click here to read more about Glenn
Curtiss.
-
Click here the read about the first landing on a ship, which Ely made
in 1911.
-
Click here to read about the aircraft carriers of the U.S. Navy.
| Biotechnology
| Convergence
| Creativity
| Culture
| E-conomics
| Education
|
| Equity
|
Gov't
& Politics | Innovation
| National
Security | Personal
Security |
For
errors, broken links, questions or comments,
contact webmaster@tecsoc.org.
