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30-502: Essentially a refined and enlarged version of the later "headless" Model D , variants of the Model E made important steps in pioneering the development of seaplanes and flying boats in America. Like its predecessor, the Model E was an open-framework biplane with two-bay unstaggered wings of equal span. In landplane configuration, it was fitted with tricycle undercarriage, and as a seaplane with

60-422: A large central pontoon and outriggers under the wings. Most examples of the Model E followed the pattern of the "headless" Model Ds, with elevators and horizontal stabilizer carried together in the cruciform tail unit. The large ailerons were mounted in the interplane gap, their span continuing past the wings themselves, and as before were controlled by a shoulder yoke accommodating sideways "leaning" movements by

90-416: A ship (flown by Eugene B. Ely off the deck of USS  Birmingham on November 14, 1910, near Hampton Roads, Virginia) and made the first landing aboard a ship ( USS  Pennsylvania ) on January 18, 1911, near San Francisco, California. It was originally fitted with a foreplane for pitch control, but this was dispensed with when it was accidentally discovered to be unnecessary. The new version without

120-400: Is an early United States pusher aircraft with the engine and propeller behind the pilot's seat. It was among the first aircraft in the world to be built in any quantity, during an era of trial-and-error development and equally important parallel technical development in internal combustion engine technologies. It was also the aircraft type which made the first takeoff from the deck of

150-574: Is located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin , United States, adjacent to Wittman Regional Airport , home of the museum's sponsoring organization, the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), and the organization's EAA AirVenture Oshkosh event (the world's biggest fly-in and airshow) that takes place in late July/early August. With over 200 aircraft, indoors and outdoors, and other exhibits and activities (including occasional aircraft rides nearby),

180-552: The Aluminum Overcast , sells rides occasionally at adjoining Wittman Field when not on tour. Helicopter rides, typically in Bell 47 ("MASH") helicopters are available occasionally at adjacent Pioneer Airport, or from adjoining Wittman Field. The museum includes a children's section which provides extensive hands-on aviation-related exhibits and activities, most notably, a 1/2 scale F-22 Raptor model, numerous flight simulators, and

210-568: The AH-1 to AH-18 block of serials. These aircraft achieved a number of firsts for the Navy, including the first cross-country flight in a seaplane, a world seaplane altitude record of 900 ft (274 m) a much later national seaplane altitude record of 6,200 ft (1,890 m), and, significantly for later naval operations, the first catapult launch of a seaplane. The aircraft originally designated A-2 had an especially interesting career. Purchased by

240-462: The June Bug's "wing-tip" aileron configuration, but instead used between-the-wing-panels "inter-plane" ailerons , instead, as directly derived from his earlier Curtiss No. 1 and Curtiss No. 2 pushers. In the end, this proved to be a superior solution. Both the interplane and trailing-edge ailerons on these early aircraft did not use a hand or foot-operated mechanism to operate them, but very much like

270-620: The Model E-4 (Signal Corps numbers S.C. 6 and 8), built a third entirely from spare parts (S.C. 23), and later acquired one of the Navy's seaplanes (AH-8). Poor safety and reliability records of pusher aircraft led to all examples being grounded on February 24, 1914, although the AH-8 was flown briefly in 1928 following a refurbishment. An original Model E-8-75 is preserved at the EAA AirVenture Museum and flew as recently as 1984. A replica of

300-607: The Russian Navy . On November 14, 1910, Eugene Ely took off from USS Birmingham in a Model D. This was the first time an aircraft had taken off from a ship. On January 18, 1911, Ely landed a Model D aboard USS Pennsylvania . This was the first aircraft to land on a ship. Upon his election in November 1915, Congressman Orrin Dubbs Bleakley became the first government official to fly from his home state to Washington, D.C. The trip

330-692: The A-1 was started in 1956, and built by employees of Convair, Ryan and Rohr for the San Diego Air & Space Museum . It flew a number of times in 1984 before being retired for static display. Another replica was built by the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum and flown in 2004, notable for its use of Curtiss' original flight control system. Data from Aerofiles : Curtiss General characteristics Performance Related development Curtiss Model D The 1911 Curtiss Model D (or frequently " Curtiss Pusher ")

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360-691: The AirVenture Museum is a key tourist attraction in Oshkosh and is a center of activity throughout the AirVenture fly-in and airshow each summer. The museum is open year-round with the exception of a few holidays. EAA founder Paul Poberezny proposed the idea of the EAA Air Museum-Air Education center in August 1958. In the late 1970s, his son, EAA president Tom Poberezny , led the campaign to build

390-408: The Navy in landplane configuration on 13 July 1911, by August it was fitted with two long, cigar-shaped sheet metal cylinder pontoons beneath the bottom frame, about four feet from each aviator. A-2 was converted into a floatplane the following June. In this configuration it set a seaplane flight endurance record of 6 hours 10 minutes on 6 October 1912. Later that month, it was extensively rebuilt along

420-590: The Navy's first aircraft when ordered by Captain Washington Irving Chambers on 8 May 1911 and received the designation A-1 , as well as the nickname "Triad" hydroaeroplane since it could operate from land and sea and in the air. Theodore Ellyson became the Navy's first pilot when he took off from Keuka Lake near Hammondsport, New York on 30 June. In all, the Navy was to purchase some 14 Model Es, designating their earliest examples from A-1 to A-4 , then redesignating these together with new purchases in

450-415: The connection between the pilot and aileron control cabling. Almost all Model Ds were constructed with a pusher configuration , with the propeller behind the pilot. Because of this configuration, they were often referred to as the "Curtiss Pusher". Early examples were built in a canard configuration, with elevators mounted on struts at the front of the aircraft in addition to a horizontal stabilizer at

480-550: The current updated EAA museum and headquarters, which was officially opened in 1983. The EAA library has been open to EAA members since 1985. The museum opened an Education Center in July 2022. The new building includes a Pilot Proficiency Center. The museum's collection displays more than 200 aircraft and 20,000 artifacts, including civilian and military aircraft of historic importance, and aircraft popular with aviation hobbyists—vintage, homebuilt, racing and stunt aircraft. Some of

510-464: The earlier Santos-Dumont 14-bis had adopted in November 1906, required the pilot to "lean-into" the turn to operate the ailerons — on the Curtiss pushers, a transverse-rocking, metal framework "shoulder cradle", hinged longitudinally on either side of the pilot's seat - initially as straight metal tubes resting against the pilot's upper arms; and later achieved with "armrests" in a similar location; achieved

540-523: The foreplane was known as the Headless Pusher. Like all Curtiss designs, the aircraft used ailerons , which first existed on a Curtiss-designed airframe as quadruple "wing-tip" ailerons on the 1908 June Bug to control rolling in flight, thus avoiding use of the Wright brothers' patented wing warping technology. The Model D was a biplane fitted with a wheeled tricycle undercarriage . The construction

570-639: The lines of the Curtiss Tadpole hull, thus becoming the Navy's first flying boat . Later still, retractable wheels were added to create an amphibian that became known as the OWL (standing for "Over Water and Land"). This machine was redesignated E-1 and then AX-1 by the Navy and was finally destroyed on 27 November 1915. In addition to their naval service, the type was operated by the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps , which purchased two examples of

600-583: The more historic and unusual planes include a Curtiss Pusher , Bleriot XI , Curtiss Jenny , Pitcairn PCA-2 autogyro, Sikorsky S-38 amphibian flying boat, and the Taylor Aerocar flying car, as well various warbirds and Golden Age aircraft. Other exhibits include functional replicas of the Wright Flyer and its predecessor, Octave Chanute 's hang glider, French and German World War I fighters, Lindbergh's Ryan NYP " Spirit of St. Louis " replica (flown in

630-550: The movements of the Triad to conform to the seas. The increased weight and drag of the “amphibian” gear cost the Triad 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) of airspeed, so the more powerful 75 horsepower (56 kW) v8 was required to maintain the speed of the land plane configuration. Altitude was unaffected. The Model E achieved fame through examples purchased by the United States Navy. A $ 4,400 Model E-8-75 floatplane became

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660-521: The movie), and a replica of the historic Laird Super Solution 1931 racer. A large section on Burt Rutan 's aircraft includes a portion of his homebuilts, replicas of his globe-circling Rutan Voyager and the first private spacecraft, Space Ship One , crafted by Rutan's own shop. The museum has a variety of donated aircraft, including the Church Midwing , Funk B , Monnett Moni , and many homebuilt and kitplane aircraft (some foreign)—many built by

690-490: The museum's Pioneer Airport, or at the adjoining Wittman Field, especially during AirVenture Fly-In and Airshow, typically in late summer. A 1920s/1930s vintage Ford Tri-Motor airliner sells rides occasionally at adjoining Wittman Field. A particular program is the Fall Colors Flights, short flights to view colorful fall foliage in the area. The EAA's 1940s-vintage Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress World War II bomber,

720-464: The original aircraft was in production, mostly built by private parties. Data from General characteristics Performance Related development Related lists EAA AirVenture Museum The EAA Aviation Museum , formerly the EAA AirVenture Museum (or Air Adventure Museum ), is a museum dedicated to the preservation and display of historic and experimental aircraft as well as antiques, classics, and warbirds. The museum

750-543: The original designers. Notable homebuilts on display consist of Van's Aircraft 's Van's RV-3 , designed by Richard VanGrunsven , Christen Industries ' Christen Eagle II , designed by Frank Christensen, and Cirrus Aircraft 's first model, the Cirrus VK-30 , designed by the Klapmeier brothers . Pioneer Airport is an old grass airstrip immediately behind the museum. Aircraft rides are offered through various EAA programs at

780-536: The pilot to operate them. The Model E was designed and built as a two-seater, although in practice some of the lower-powered versions were converted to single-seaters. Black pontoons on the wingtips of A-1 slanted diagonally backward toward the water to reduce friction on water and serve to balance aircraft on water. On the bottom of each pontoon is a little hydroplane of wood measuring 3-inch wide (76 mm) by 1 ⁄ 4 -inch thick (6.4 mm) to further aid in balance and reduce friction. The front elevator on A-1

810-566: The rear. Later, the elevators were incorporated into the tail unit, and the canard surface arrangement dispensed with, resulting in what became called the Curtiss "Headless" Pushers. In addition to amateur aviators, a Model D was purchased in April 1911 by the Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a trainer (S.C. No. 2), and by the Navy as an airborne observation platform. A number of them were exported to foreign militaries, as well, including

840-416: Was at the aviators feet. Triad could skim the water at 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) and had an endurance of 150 miles (240 km). Glenn Curtiss demonstrated a capability to skim along the surface in two-foot (0.61 m) seas. CAPT Washington Irving Chambers expressed confidence in landing in “moderate seas”, but stated he would not attempt to land in them and further added that they could adapt

870-526: Was made in a 75 hp (56 kW) Curtiss biplane from Philadelphia, piloted by Sergeant William C. Ocker, on leave from the United States Aviation Corps at the time. The trip took 3 hours, 15 minutes, including an unscheduled stop in a wheat field in Maryland. A number of Curtiss Pusher original and reproduction aircraft exist, and reproductions of the design date as far back to the era when

900-518: Was primarily of spruce , with ash used in parts of the engine bearers and undercarriage beams, with doped linen stretched over it. The outrigger beams were made of bamboo. Prevented by patents from using the Wright Brothers ' wing warping technique to provide lateral control, and with neither the Wrights nor himself likely to have known about its prior patenting in 1868 England , Curtiss did not use

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