{"id":13671,"date":"2018-01-18T16:42:14","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T16:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/01\/18\/how-do-you-land-a-plane-on-a-navy-ship-in-1911-carefully\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:04:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:04:06","slug":"how-do-you-land-a-plane-on-a-navy-ship-in-1911-carefully","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2018\/01\/18\/how-do-you-land-a-plane-on-a-navy-ship-in-1911-carefully\/","title":{"rendered":"How do you land a plane on a Navy ship in 1911? Carefully"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor\u2019s note: Jan. 18, 2018 marks the 107th anniversary of the first landing of an aircraft on a Navy ship in 1911. This article was originally published in the July 2011 edition of Aviation History Magazine<\/a>. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naval aviation certainly has come a long way in the 100 years since the U.S. Navy committed to purchasing its first aircraft, a Curtiss A-1 Triad (so named because it could operate on land, water and in the air), on May 8, 1911. That first Navy amphibian sported a 75-hp V-8 engine capable of pushing it to a maximum speed of 60 mph. Today Navy F\/A-18s boasting twin turbofans max out at nearly 1,200 mph.
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On November 14, 1910, Eugene Ely demonstrated that an airplane could be launched from a ship when he flew a Curtiss Model D pusher off a platform built onto the cruiser Birmingham as it lay at anchor in Hampton Roads, Va. The demonstration nearly ended in disaster when Ely plunged to within feet of the water after clearing the deck, damaging his propeller but remaining aloft. (Ely, who couldn\u2019t swim, wore inflated bicycle inner tubes, just in case.) Two months later, on January 18, 1911, he landed the Curtiss biplane on a deck erected on the cruiser Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay. His landing was aided by a tailhook\u2014the first ever\u2014and arrestor cables attached to sandbags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Ely\u2019s successful demonstrations, the Navy remained unconvinced of the airplane\u2019s utility until Glenn Curtiss himself demonstrated his \u201chydroaeroplane\u201d on February 17, 1911, in San Diego Harbor. Curtiss flew the floatplane out to Pennsylvania, and was lifted aboard with a crane. Following lunch with the ship\u2019s officers, the aviator and his hydroaeroplane were hoisted back into the water, and he returned to North Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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More from HistoryNet.com<\/span>
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  • Milestones: Celebrating the Birth of Carrier Aviation<\/a><\/li> \t
  • Interview with Retired Brig. General Robert L. Scott \u2013 American World War II Ace Pilot and Hero<\/a><\/li> \t <\/div>\n\n\n\n

    As an article on the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum website observes<\/a>, \u201cThese three significant demonstrations involving the U.S. naval warships pointed the way to future progress in seaplane aviation, anticipating battleships carrying seaplane \u2018spotter\u2019 aircraft and, ultimately, carrier-based air operations.\u201d Ironically for Curtiss, whom the museum considers \u201cthe father of naval aviation,\u201d the aircraft with which he became most identified\u2014the floatplane and the flying boat\u2014would eventually outlive their usefulness, phased out by the Navy in 1967 in favor of helicopters and special-purpose airplanes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Lieutenant Eugene B Ely, flying a Curtiss biplane, takes off from a launching platform fitted to the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania to return to an airfield, after the first ever shore to ship aircraft landing off San Francisco. (Hulton Archive\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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    How's this for a #TBThursday<\/a> ? On January 18, 1911, pilot Eugene Ely became the first to land on a ship when he touched down on the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay! He then flew back to Tanforan Field in San Francisco. #wehavebeendoingthisawhile<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/rI6TE5tNtD<\/a><\/p>— flynavy (@flynavy) January 18, 2018<\/a><\/blockquote>