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Curtiss A-1

(Reproduction)

Curtiss A-1	Reproduction
In the early 1900s, aviation pioneer Glenn H. Curtiss was a key contributor to the development of the US Navy's initial aviation program, including the first aircraft to launch from a ship. Much of his time and effort was invested in seaplanes (aircraft fitted with floats instead of wheels or skids for landing gear) and his first seaplane designs, light, fast and maneuverable, were destined to become the most widely-built aircraft in the United States prior to the First World War. Curtiss introduced the Triad, the world's first successful amphibian aircraft, in 1911. He took the Triad on its first flight on February 26, 1911, from North Island, San Diego, flying at an altitude of about 800 feet. That day, with Navy observers present, he took off and landed on the beaches of Coronado and waters of San Diego Bay. The Navy took notice and ordered Curtiss' A-1, a virtually identical derivative of the Triad and the United States Navy's first aircraft. Delivered to the Navy that summer, it made its first flight with the Navy's first pilot, Lt. Theodore Ellyson, at the controls on July 1, 1911. Due to the success of the aircraft, Curtiss was awarded the 1912 Collier Trophy. The Triad/A-1 series later sold to the navies of Great Britain, Germany, Russia and Japan in 1912.

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