C is for Curtiss

Continuing our tradition of naming new releases of Smart Logbook after famous pilots (in alphabetical order), we named the 1.2 release in May after the esteemed Glenn Curtiss (check out my earlier posts on Armstrong and Blériot if you missed them).

Curtiss was in a class of his own among aviation’s early pioneers. It’s hard to believe just how productive he was. Here are five of his most interesting and impressive achievements:

1. Before Curtiss became involved in aviation his passion was motorcycles, both building and racing world-class bikes. In 1907, he hit 136.3 MPH on a clocked run at Ormond Beach, Florida, earning him the title “Fastest Man on Earth.”
2. Curtiss’s obsession with high performance carried over into his aeronautical pursuits. He won the Scientific American Trophy in 1908 for a demonstration flight that covered 5,080 feet. The next year, Curtiss competed in the Grande Semaine d’Aviation at Reims, France and took home the Gordon Bennett Cup for completing the 12.5 mile course at an average speed of 46.5 MPH. Less than a year later, he flew from Albany to New York City (with two stops to refuel) in less than 4 hours, and consequently won a $10,000 prize from publisher Joseph Pulitzer and another Scientific American trophy!
3. When the Aero Club of America issued the very first batch of pilot licenses in 1911, they assigned numbers in alphabetical order. Glenn Curtiss officially became U.S. Pilot #1. Wilbur Wright had to settle for being #5.
4. Curtiss is regarded as the Father of Naval Aviation. He designed many early seaplanes and flying boats, and worked closely with the U.S. Navy. Curtiss’s planes and demonstration pilots were the first to takeoff from (1910) and land aboard (1911) a ship, laying the foundation for modern carrier operations. He also built the Navy’s NC-4 Flying Boat, which in 1919 became the first aircraft to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean.
5. In 1915, the Curtiss Aeroplane Company introduced the JN-4 “Jenny” biplane, which quickly became one of early aviation’s most successful and ubiquitous designs. Originally sold to the U.S. military as a trainer during WWI, it’s estimated that 95% of all American trainees learned to fly in a Jenny. After the war, it helped jumpstart the civilian aviation industry, with thousands sold off at bargain prices. Among the buyers: a newly-minted pilot named Charles Lindbergh, who paid $500 for his Curtiss JN-4 in 1923.