Curtiss’ Seaplane that Attempted the First Flight from California to Hawaii

CURTISS, GLENN H. (1878-1930). Aviation pioneer, aircraft manufacturer and father of U.S. naval aviation. SP. (“G.H. Curtiss”). 1p. Oblong small 4to. N.p. (San Diego), N.d. (August 20, 1925). A rare signed black and white photograph of Curtiss’s U.S. Navy PN-9, model number A6799, the first seaplane refitted with an aluminum hull and used in the historic 1925 attempt to fly non-stop from the U.S. west coast to Hawaii. Curtiss started his career as a lowly Western Union bicycle messenger who eventually owned his own bicycle shop before his interests turned to motorcycles and aviation. He supplied engines for the first successful dirigible in the country, and so impressed Alexander Graham Bell that he earned an invitation to his Aerial Experiment Association. The AEA produced several aircraft including the June Bug,whichCurtiss famously piloted to win the Scientific American Trophy in 1908. Among his many historic “firsts” were his receipt of Aero Club of America’s first U.S. Pilot’s license No.1 (the Wrights were Nos. 4 and 5) and flying the first long distance flight (between Albany and New York). Prior to and during World War I, Curtiss worked with the military to train aviators and designed and manufactured some of the navy’s first aircraft. On August 31, 1925, the seaplane in our photograph attempted the first flight between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii, but an oil leak forced the plane to ditch. Badly damaged, the craft was towed back to California but could not be repaired. Nonetheless, the flight still created a new world distance record for a non-stop flight by a seaplane. On the verso, our photograph bears the “International Newsreel” stamp and a pencil notation identifying the photograph as the “last practice flight at San Diego for Trans Pacific flight 8/20/25.” Darkly signed in the upper right corner of the image, with very light creasing to three corners. Uncommon in this form.

Item #488