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14 CURTISS 1916 AVIATION SCHOOL PHOTOS NEWPORT NEWS VA
An important group of fourteen photographs c1916 showing various planes, flyers, & scenes at the CURTISS AVIATION SCHOOL or ATLANTIC COAST AERONAUTICAL STATION, in Newport News, Virginia.
This school for pioneer aviators was set up by GLENN H. CURTISS in the fall of 1915 on a 20-acre tract along the shore of Hampton Roads, VA just east of Newport News at a point known as the little Boat harbor.
To manage this aviation school, Curtiss chose a “grand old man of the air” CAPTAIN THOMAS SCOTT BALDWIN. Baldwin (1854-1923) was a true pioneer designer, inventor, builder and flyer in the field of both American BALLOONING and EARLY AVIATION. In 1885 he was the first man in the US to descend from a balloon in a parachute (of his own design). In 1907 Baldwin’s Curtis-engine powered dirigible became the US Army Signal Corps SC-1 which became the FIRST AMERICAN ARMY AIRSHIP on which all early military aeronauts were trained. Baldwin designed the first steel framework “Red Devil” airplane and organized aeronautical exhibitions to tour the world in 1913.
After WW1 began in Europe, BALDWIN TOOK OVER THE CURTISS AVIATION SCHOOL to fill the pressing demand for trained fliers. Many civilian students including Canadians, later became famed World War I flyers. The first group of U.S. National Guardsmen to take to the air received training at Newport News before going on to active duty in the U.S. Army Air Corp. Victor Carlstrom, Vernon Castle, Eddie Stinson, EDDIE RICKENBACKER, and GENERAL BILLY MITCHELL trained at or were associated with the school. Other early aviation instructors at the school included Vic Vernon, Jimmy Johnson, Carl Batts, Steve McGordon, Ted Hequembourg, Lawrence Leon, Bert Acosta, Stew Cogswell, and Walter Lees. These aviators often visited the nearby Chamberlain Hotel at Old Point Comfort. The school was disbanded in 1922.
This lot consists of 14 HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS, all in good condition and backed with OLD LINEN. One photo measures a larger 7.5 x 9.5”, while all thirteen other photos measure about 5 x 7". The images are as follows:
--The one larger photo shows a group of 11 pilots in front of an early Biplane. They wear heavy clothing to temper the cold & exposure of open cockpit flying. Some wear pilot’s leather hats and goggles.
--Captain Thomas Scott Baldwin stands wearing a hat & medal in front of the long bi-wings of some aircraft. The photo is identified “Tom Baldwin” on the reverse in pencil.
--A close-up photograph of a group of people (including women) who sit & stand around a shady porch. Two men stride past the building. The man in the darker hat is likely Captain Baldwin. The man in the lighter hat could possibly be Glenn Curtiss.
--A more distant view of several biplanes near the distinctive hanger building of the Atlantic Coast Aeronautical Station c1916.
--A view taken from an airplane showing another flying bi-plane and quite an interesting airplane / birds-eye view of the Atlantic Coast Aeronautical Station and the shoreline of Hampton Roads, Virginia far below.
--An interesting photo of several men working on an early seaplane. Glenn H. Curtiss is remembered as the inventor of the "Hydroaeroplane" (or seaplane) (or “Flying Boat”) and as the “Father of Naval Aviation” in the years prior to the First World War.
--Another quite interesting photograph of several men working on an early biplane housed it its canvas “hanger.”
--A photograph showing two early biplanes in flight, taken from another companion airplane whose wing-tip shows in the lower right corner of the photograph.
--SIX various photographs of student or instructor pilots sitting in or standing beside their early aircraft. At least one of these men (wearing a large fur(?) hat) is also visible in the larger group photograph described above.
Probably many of the pilots could be identified with further research. Some of the photos are marked F. J. Conway (or F.J.C.) in the negative who was apparently the photographer.
Glenn Hammond Curtiss started as a successful motorcycle manufacturer, in direct competition with firms such as Harley Davidson and Indian, which he defeated regularly in races. After seeing a Curtiss motorcycle in 1903, Thomas Baldwin ordered a V-Twin engine from the G. H. Curtiss Manufacturing Company, and mounted it on his "California Arrow" which, in 1904, became the first successful dirigible in the United States. Baldwin traveled to meet Curtiss and began an excellent working relationship and a lifelong friendship.
This is a HARD-TO-FIND GROUP OF PHOTOGRAPHS of important significance to the early history of Aviation in America.
TO VIEW ENLARGED DETAILS OF THE FIRST THREE PHOTOS: click here
TO VIEW ENLARGED DETAILS OF THE NEXT FOUR PHOTOS: click here
TO VIEW ENLARGED DETAILS OF THE NEXT THREE PHOTOS: click here
TO VIEW ENLARGED DETAILS OF REMAINING PHOTOS: click here
Price= $595.00
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