Glenn Hammond Curtiss

	GLENN HAMMOND CURTISS Aviation Pioneer - Inventor - Pilot
	Born Hammondsport, N.Y. May 21, 1887. At the turn of the century began to design and build engines for balloons and dirigibles. In 1908 constructed a successful heavier-than-air craft in which he established several records. Curtiss demonstrated the value of aeroplanes to the U.S. Navy in 1911 when one of his aircraft successfully landed and launched from the deck of the battleship PENNSYLVANIA. That same year, he also developed a catapult for launching aircraft from naval vessels. In 1912 Curtiss built the first successful amphibian aircraft. The first aerial crossing of the Atlantic Ocean was made by a Curtiss-designed NC-4 Navy Flying Boat in May 1919. His genius produced many history-making aircraft. The Curtiss name lives on in the aircraft company he established.
	Elected to the International Aerospace Hall of Fame 1965