history · 14 November 1910 · 114 years ago
The civilian pilot Eugene Ely, in a Curtiss aircraft powered by a 50-hp pusher engine, made the first take off from a ship, the cruiser USS Birmingham, which was at anchor in Hampton Roads, Virginia, United States; she was provided with a wooden ramp at the bow. Ely took off safely and landed at nearby Willoughby Spit; in time this promotional stunt would lead to the emergence of the US Naval Aviation service.
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