more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Curtiss
Born
Glenn Hammond Curtiss
May 21, 1878
Hammondsport, New York
Died
July 23, 1930 (aged 52)
Buffalo, New York
Occupation
Aviator
Company director
Known for
Cycle racing
Motorcycle racing
Air racing
Naval aviation
Flying boats
Transatlantic flight
Spouse(s)
Children
2 children
Parent(s)
Lua Andrews
Frank Richmond Curtiss
pioneer and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a
bicycle racer and builder before moving on to motorcycles. As early as 1904, he
began to manufacture engines for airships. In 1908 Curtiss joined the Aerial
Experiment Association (AEA), a pioneering research group, founded by Alexander
Graham Bell at Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia to build flying machines.
Curtiss made the first officially witnessed flight in North America, won a race
at the world's first international air meet in France, and made the first
long-distance flight in the United States. His contributions in designing and
building aircraft led to the formation of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor
Company, now part of Curtiss-Wright Corporation. His company built aircraft for
the U.S. Army and Navy, and, during the years leading up to World War I, his
experiments with seaplanes led to advances in naval aviation. Curtiss civil and
military aircraft were predominant in the inter-war and World War II eras.
Bicycles and motorcycles
Curtiss began his career as a Western Union bicycle messenger, a bicycle racer,
and bicycle shop owner. In 1901, he developed an interest in motorcycles when
internal combustion engines became more available. In 1902, Curtiss began
manufacturing motorcycles with his own single-cylinder engines. His first
motorcycle's carburetor was adapted from a tomato soup can containing a gauze
screen to pull the gasoline up via capillary action.[2][3][4] In 1903, he set a
motorcycle land speed record at 64 miles per hour (103 km/h) for one mile (1.6
km). When E.H. Corson of the Hendee Mfg Co (manufacturers of Indian motorcycles)
visited Hammondsport in July 1904, he was amazed that the entire Curtiss
motorcycle enterprise was located in the back room of the modest "shop".
Corson's motorcycles had just been trounced the week before by "Hell Rider"
Curtiss in an endurance race from New York to Cambridge, Maryland.
In 1907, Curtiss set an unofficial world record of 136.36 miles per hour (219.45
km/h), on a 40 horsepower (30 kW) 269 cu in (4,410 cc) V8-powered motorcycle of
his own design and construction in Ormond Beach, Florida. The air-cooled F-head
engine was intended for use in aircraft. He would remain "the fastest man in the
world," the title the newspapers gave him, until 1911,[7] and his motorcycle
record was not broken until 1930. This motorcycle is now in the Smithsonian
Institution. Curtiss's success at racing strengthened his reputation as a
leading maker of high-performance motorcycles and engines
Aviation competitions
including Eugene Ely, Charles K. Hamilton and Hugh Robinson. 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.[14] This was a busy period for Glenn Curtiss.
In August 1909, Curtiss took part in the Grande Semaine d'Aviation aviation
were selling their machines to customers in Germany at the time, decided not to
compete in person. There were two Wright aircraft (modified with a landing gear)
at the meet but they did not win any events. 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 46.5 mph (74.8 km/h), six
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. It was here that he trained Lt.
Theodore Ellyson, who was to become 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., in the first military aviation school. (Chikuhei Nakajima, founder
of Nakajima Aircraft Company, was a 1912 graduate.) 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".
As 1916 approached, it was feared that the United States would be drawn into the
conflict. The Army's Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps ordered the development
of a simple, easy-to-fly-and-maintain two-seat trainer. Curtiss created the JN-4
"Jenny" for the Army, and the N-9 seaplane version for the Navy. It is one of
the most famous products of the Curtiss company, and thousands were sold to the
militaries of the United States, Canada and Britain. Civilian and military
aircraft demand boomed, and the company grew to employ 18,000 workers in Buffalo
and 3,000 workers in Hammondsport.
In 1917, the U.S. Navy commissioned Curtiss to design a long-range, four-engined
flying boat large enough to hold a crew of five, which became known as the
Curtiss NC. The four NC flying boats attempted a transatlantic crossing in 1919,
and the NC-4 successfully crossed. It is now on permanent display in the
National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida.
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. In 1917, the U.S. government offered a large and profitable
contract to Curtiss to build aircraft for the U.S. Army.
The Wright Aeronautical Corporation, a successor to the original Wright Company,
ultimately merged with the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company on July 5, 1929,
forming the Curtiss-Wright company, shortly before Curtiss's death.
Traveling to Rochester, New York to contest a lawsuit brought by former business
partner August Herring, Curtiss suffered an attack of appendicitis in court. He
died on July 23, 1930, in Buffalo, New York,[23] of complications from an
appendectomy. His funeral service was held at St. James Episcopal Church in his
home town, Hammondsport, New York, with interment in the family plot at Pleasant
Valley Cemetery in Hammondsport.
By an act of Congress on March 1, 1933, Curtiss was posthumously awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross, which now resides in the Smithsonian. Curtiss was
inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1964, the Motorsports Hall
of Fame of America in 1990, the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998,[26] and the
National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2003. The Smithsonian's National Air and
Space Museum has a collection of Curtiss's original documents[27] as well as a
collection of airplanes, motorcycles and motors.[28] LaGuardia Airport was
originally called Glenn H. Curtiss Airport when it began operation in 1929.
The Glenn H. Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, New York is dedicated to Curtiss's
life and work.
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