Posts Tagged ‘Aviation’

For the first time in the history of aviation, Glenn H. Curtiss yesterday performed the feat of launching his hydro-aeroplane from the water into the air, and after remaining in the air one minute and 21 seconds, alighted upon the water. He repeated his performance at will, skipping about Spanish Bight, off North Island, and circling around the craft in the harbor, with the ease and grace of the ordinary sea-bird. –San Diego Union, January 27, 1911.

The early months of 1911 would be a remarkable time in the history of aviation, particularly for pioneer flyer Glenn Curtiss. The 33-year-old former motorcycle racer was America’s most accomplished aviator: winner of prestigious speed races, a successful aircraft builder, a respected consultant to the military, and the first aviator to fly and land a plane on water. The story of The Aviator.

The Curtiss airplane on Spanish Bight at Coronado.

New feats in aviation were treasured news stories in the early 20th century. In San Diego, the self-proclaimed “Air Capitol of the West,” aviation heroes were followed eagerly—and few more closely than a young aviator named Ruth Alexander.

Here’s the story of San Diego’s famed Ruth Alexander.

Aeronautical genius or scam artist? Charles Toliver excited San Diegans in 1911 with his plans to build a gas-filled dirigible. Investors eagerly bought shares in the Toliver Aerial Navigation Company. But the project did not turn out as expected . . .

Read the complete story of the San Diego Airship.

Charles Toliver.