{"id":1044,"date":"2010-11-09T15:14:40","date_gmt":"2010-11-09T20:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joeclarksblog.wordpress.com\/?p=1044"},"modified":"2011-06-24T16:29:56","modified_gmt":"2011-06-24T20:29:56","slug":"it-was-easy-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/?p=1044","title":{"rendered":"It Was Easy Enough"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

First Shipboard Takeoff<\/p><\/div>\n

Eugene Ely was a pioneer aviator in the very early days of aviation.\u00a0 Ely was born in Williamsburg, IA on October 21, 1879 and was only 31 years old when he became the first pilot to take off from the deck of a United States Naval vessel.<\/p>\n

After graduating from college, Ely moved to San Francisco where he started working in the new automotive industry.\u00a0 He was in sales and he also raced automobiles.\u00a0 He became interested in flying after the man for whom he worked purchased a Curtiss biplane.\u00a0 Ely believed flying was as easy as driving a car and offered to fly the biplane for his boss.\u00a0 After crashing it, Ely was inclined to purchase the wreck out of a sense of guilt.<\/p>\n

He repaired the damaged Curtiss biplane and actually learned how to fly properly.\u00a0 He became active in demonstration flights in the Pacific Northwest.\u00a0 Then in the summer of 1910, he and his wife, Mabel, moved to Minneapolis, MN.<\/p>\n

It was in Minneapolis Ely met Glenn Curtiss.\u00a0 Shortly afterward, Ely began working for Curtiss and then received Federal pilot\u2019s license number 17 in October 1910.<\/p>\n

It was about this time Ely and Curtiss met Captain Washington Chambers of the United States Navy.\u00a0 The Navy\u00a0tasked Chambers with investigating the possibility of\u00a0military use of\u00a0airplanes within the Department of the Navy.\u00a0 This led to discussions of shipboard operations for aircraft with Ely and Curtiss.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Eugene B. Ely<\/p><\/div>\n

On November 14, 1910, Ely became the first pilot to fly an aircraft off a ship.\u00a0 Sailors constructed a temporary elevated platform on the foredeck of the USS Birmingham <\/em>enabling Ely to fly the Curtiss Pusher off the deck. \u00a0The plan called for a takeoff and then landing at the Navy Yard in Norfolk.<\/p>\n

Following the launch, the Curtiss Pusher and Ely nearly ended up in the bay.\u00a0 Although the wheels skimmed the water, Ely manage to climb away safely.\u00a0 Consequently,\u00a0he decided to land the Curtiss Pusher on the beach rather than fly to the Navy Yard.<\/p>\n

A little over two months later, Ely flew his Curtiss Pusher out to the USS Pennsylvania<\/em>, anchored in San Francisco Bay.\u00a0 The landing, which took place on January 18, 1911, was the first ever to use a \u201ctailhook.\u201d\u00a0 From the very beginning, all aircraft landing aboard ships would use a similar tailhook system, originally designed by Hugh Robinson, an aviator who also worked as a circus performer.<\/p>\n

After the landing, Ely spoke to the press.\u00a0 His statement?\u00a0 \u201cIt was easy enough. I think the trick could be successfully turned nine times out of ten.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thank goodness that over the last 100 years, United States Navy has done a much better job than \u201cnine times out of ten.\u201d<\/p>\n

-30-<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2010 J. Clark<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eugene Ely was a pioneer aviator in the very early days of aviation.\u00a0 Ely was born in Williamsburg, IA on October 21, 1879 and was only 31 years old when he became the first pilot to take off from the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[54,777,1073,1309,1660,1766,1887,2001,2022,2513,2580,2603,2799,3136,3441,3667,4127,4136],"class_list":["post-1044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aviation","category-aviation-history","tag-54","tag-captain-washington-chambers","tag-curtiss-pusher","tag-eugene-ely","tag-glenn-curtiss","tag-hampton-bay","tag-hugh-robinson","tag-it-was-easy-enough","tag-january-18-1911","tag-navy-yard","tag-norfolk","tag-november-14","tag-pioneer-aviator","tag-san-francisco-bay","tag-tailhook","tag-the-first-pilot-take-off-from-a-ship","tag-uss-birmingham","tag-uss-pennsylvania"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t