Glenn H. Curtiss was a member of Alexander Graham Bell's Aerial Experiment Association (1907-9). In 1908 he made the first public flights in the United States, and in 1909 he established the first flying school there. His greatest triumph was his then daring and spectacular flight from Albany to New York City in 1910 - with a refueling stop in Poughkeepsie at Camelot, near the present IBM site on NY Route 9.

Click HERE to see Glenn H. Curtiss' firsts.

Curtiss developed the Curtiss JN-4D called the "Jenny." Such pilots as Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart learned to fly in a Jenny. In WWI, 95% of American and Canadian pilots learned to fly in a Jenny.

The Curtiss "America" flying boat

The twin-engine "America" weighed 1 3/4 tons, had a 72-foot wingspan, and took off and landed on water. Its top cruising speed: A mere 65 mph. It was created by the Wright brothers' bitter rival, Glenn H. Curtiss, with one mission in mind: to leap the Atlantic. It was edging toward attempting the first transoceanic crossing in 1914 when World War I intervened. Curtiss, who would eventually rack up 500 inventions, built hundreds of flying boats. Many of them were used for military patrols during World War I, when his business shifted into high gear.

Glenn Curtiss home in Miami Springs, FL

The Glenn Curtiss House, at 500 Deer Run in Miami Springs, Florida, is one block off Curtiss Parkway. It is currently not open to the public while it is being restored to serve as a museum honoring the life of Glenn Curtiss. The museum plans to open in 2005 or 2006. The Glenn Curtiss House is one of the largest and most architecturally distinguished of the Pueblo Revival residences associated with Curtiss' Miami Springs development.

Curtiss Parkway in Miami Springs, FL

Museum of the history of Miami Springs, Hialeah and Opa-Locka(The Curtiss Bright Cities). Also includes early airline history of Miami and the story of early aircraft inventor and engineer Glenn Hammond Curtiss. Curtiss has many inventions to his credit and is known as the "father of naval aviation".

When Curtiss left the aircraft industry and became a land developer, building the cities of Opa-locka, Miami Springs and Hialeah, he was estimated to be worth $35 million dollars.

The Felixstowe F series flying boats were a joint British and American development during the First World War. They were an outgrowth of a prewar projet led by Glenn Curtiss to build a flying boat capable of a transatlantic flight.

CLICK HERE to see this page at the Smithsonian

When Curtiss was 30 years old on May 21, 1908, he made his first flight in a plane nick-named White Wing. White Wing was designed by the Aerial Experiment Association, a group led by Alexander Graham Bell. It was the first plane in America to be controlled by ailerons instead of the wing-warping used by the Wright brothers. Although the Wrights are credited with making the first powered flights, the achievements of Curtiss spanned several decades and progressed the airplane from wood, fabric, and wire beginnings to the forerunners of today's transport aircraft.

Curtiss Rheims Flyer

Glenn Hammond Curtiss, as the lone American entrant at the First International Aviation Meet held at Rheims, France, in August 1909, had won world-wide fame by winning the Gordon Bennett Cup Race and the Prix de la Vitesse. Following the Rheams Meet, Albert Bond Lambert, a leading industrialist and aviation enthusiast, offered Glenn Curtiss a guarantee of $5000 to fly his record-making biplane, the "Golden Flyer" at St. Louis, Missouri, in October 1909. Glenn Curtiss, the following year, achieved the greatest reputation as an aviator on the European Continent as a result of the International Aviation meet at Rheaims, France.

Curtiss Parkway sign in Miami Springs, FL

Miami Springs was founded by an aviation pioneer, and thus, the fate of the city has always been intertwined with the aviation industry, particularly since Miami International Airport (MIA) is located just south of the city on the sourthern border of NW 36th Street. The airline industry brought many residents from airline crew bases, as well as employment opportunities at the airport, which brought much prosperity to the city.

Glenn Curtiss home in Deer Park, Hialeah, FL

In partnership with James Bright, Curtiss used $1 million to capitalize the Curtiss-Bright Ranch Company, and another million for the Florida Ranch & Dairy Corporation. Bright's is also known for the development of Hialeah Race Park for thoroughbred horse racing. These two versatile men developed the Towns of Hialeah Country Club Estates (now Miami Springs), and Opa-locka during the famous "land boom" of the 1920's. When Hialeah was sold out, Curtiss purchased land on the south side of the Miami canal across from Hialeah, an area used as an aerial training "bombing range" by the U.S. pilots during World War I. Here Curtiss began to develop his well-planned residential community, Country Club Estates, using the City of Coral Gables as a model.

Founded by Glenn Curtiss in 1927. Once the world's busiest airport, in 1967, with over 650,000 flight operations. Part of the U.S. Navy training command during WWII and the hub of 6 Naval training bases. Amelia Earhart took off on her ill-fated round the world flight attempt in 1937 from the former Miami Municipal Airport, located near the airport's main entrance. Numerous historic aircraft and buildings are still on the site. The U.S. Navy dirigible "Akron" crashed in a thunderstorm on it's 1933 return flight north after leaving Opa-locka.