Glenn Curtiss
Prior to coming to North Island, Glenn Curtiss had experimented with putting floats on planes. The first such experiment was while Curtiss was a member of the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA) with Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Baldwin, J. A. D. McCurdy and Lt. Selfridge. The third plane built by the AEA was called, "June Bug." It was later equipped with floats and called, "Loon." Curtiss tested Loon in November of 1908 and did not get off the water. Much was learned, however, from this experiment.
At North Island, Curtiss tried tandem short pontoons replacing the wheels on a land plane. The rear pontoon was six feet wide and five feet long. The front one was narrower. During taxi experiments, the water flowed over the front pontoon. One of the many modifications was a canvas deflector rigged to the front float to stop this. Curtiss succeeded in rising from the water with this plane on January 26, 1911.
This picture was taken on February 26, 1911 just one month after the first flight.
Let's rewrite history
In 1911 my father lived in San Diego and had a little tamale stand at the the ferry landing [now Seaport Village] on the San Diego side of the bay. He developed a friendship with one of the men who worked for Glenn Curtiss at his airfield on North Island. Curtiss was trying to create the first pontoon airplane and take off from San Diego Bay. The first flight was schedule for January 26, 1911, but my dad's friend told him that they was going to attempt a take off the day before. On January 25th.my father, his friend and two other men, got in a small boat and went out into the bay and watched as Curtiss successfully took off from the water. The next day January 26, Glenn Curtiss, in front of the media and hundreds of people, made his history making flight.
The history books say Glenn Curtiss made his first flight on January 26, while you now know the real story. It was January 25th.
My dad Cutis Nichols
1911 at the ferry landing.
