Eugene Burton Ely

[5] Ely was living in San Francisco at the time of the great earthquake and fire of 1906[6] and was active there in the early days of the sales and racing of automobiles.[7] He flew it in the Portland area, then headed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in June 1910 to participate in an exhibition, where he met Curtiss and started working for him.[7] After an unsuccessful attempt in Sioux City, Iowa,[11] Ely's first reported exhibition on behalf of Curtiss was in Winnipeg in July 1910.[7][nb 1] The airplane plunged downward as soon as it cleared the 83-foot platform runway; and the aircraft wheels dipped into the water before rising.[14] Two months later, on January 18, 1911, Ely landed his Curtiss Pusher airplane on a platform on the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania anchored in San Francisco Bay."[7] To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the flight, navy commander Bob Coolbaugh flew a personally built replica of Ely's Curtiss from the runway at NAS Norfolk on November 12, 2010.
Ely takes off from the USS Birmingham , Hampton Roads, Virginia, November 14, 1910.
First fixed-wing aircraft landing on a warship: Ely landing his plane on board the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay, January 18, 1911.
Williamsburg, IowaMacon, GeorgiaUnited States Navyaviation pioneertakeofflandingDavenport, IowaIowa State UniversityCosgrove, IowaFranklingreat earthquake and fire of 1906racingNevada City, CaliforniaPortland, OregonE. Henry WemmeSoon afterGlenn CurtissbiplanesfranchisePacific NorthwestCurtiss biplaneMinneapolis, MinnesotaSioux City, IowaWinnipegAero Club of AmericaUSS BirminghamWashington Irving ChambersGeorge von Lengerke MeyerSecretary of the Navyaviation within the NavyCurtiss Pusherlight cruiserNorfolk Navy YardUSS Pennsylvaniaarmored cruiserSan Francisco BayTanforan RacetrackSan Bruno, CaliforniatailhookHugh RobinsonNAS NorfolkNational Aviation Hall of FameDistinguished Flying CrossNaval Air Station NorfolkNewport News, VirginiaList of fatalities from aviation accidentsList of firsts in aviationCharles Rumney SamsonEdwin Harris DunningHarry AtwoodWayback MachineFind a GraveAbu Nasr al-JawhariOtto LilienthalPercy PilcherDaniel J. MaloneyThomas SelfridgeEugène LefebvreFerdinand FerberAntonio Fernández SantillanaLéon DelagrangeHubert Le BlonCharles RollsNicolas KinetJorge ChávezRalph JohnstoneArchibald HoxseyJohn MoisantEdvard RusjanGiuseppe CeiRené VallonGeorge E. M. KellyLéon LemartinDenise MooreWilliam R. BadgerSt. Croix JohnstoneÉdouard NieuportReginald Archibald CammellJohn MontgomeryTod ShriverGraham GilmourSuzanne BernardCalbraith RogersJohn VerreptHarriet QuimbyEustace LorainePaul PeckLewis C. RockwellFrank S. ScottWilfred ParkeDesmond ArthurSamuel Franklin CodyAurel VlaicuBertram DicksonLéon Letort