Photo #: NH 77588
Aviator Eugene B. Ely
Stands by his Curtiss pusher biplane, just before taking off
from USS Pennsylvania (Armored Cruiser # 4) to return
to land, 18 January 1911.
Earlier in the day he landed on the ship's deck, the first time
an airplane had alighted on a warship.
Pennsylvania was then at anchor in San Francisco Bay,
California.
Note the light emergency floats under the plane's lower wings
and Ely's flying attire, including rubber inner tubes worn around
his shoulders as a life preserver. The hooks on the bottom of
the plane's undercarriage were used to catch lines placed across
the ship's landing platform in order to bring the aircraft to
a stop.
Photograph from the Eugene B. Ely scrapbooks.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
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