Photo #: NH 77507
First airplane landing on a warship, 18 January 1911
Eugene B. Ely's Curtiss pusher biplane about to touch down on
the landing platform on USS Pennsylvania (Armored Cruiser
# 4), during the morning of 18 January 1911. The ship was then
anchored in San Francisco Bay, California.
Note the arresting system, consisting of lines stretched across
the platform, with sandbag weights at each end. The lines, which
were to be engaged by hooks on the airplane, were held above
the deck by two rows of boards laid fore and aft. Canvas awnings
were erected on both sides of the platform to catch the plane
(and pilot) if it veered over the edge.
Photograph from the Eugene B. Ely scrapbooks.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
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