A History of United States Naval Aviation

The Navy first investigated the possibilities of aviation for naval purposes in 1908 when Lieut. G. C. Sweet and Naval Constructor McIntee were detailed as observers for the test of the Wright plane at Fort Myer, Va. Lieutenant Sweet endeavored to stimulate interest in the subject of aviation and suggested the use of pontoons in this report to the Navy Department, but no action was taken thereon. In 1910, Capt. W. I. Chambers, United States Navy, who was assistant to the aid for material in the Bureau of Equipment attended the aviation meets at Belmont Park, N.Y., and at Halethorpe, near Baltimore, as an official observer. Appreciating the potential value of the airplane in naval warfare, Captain Chambers endeavored to interest the Wright Co. In arranging for a flight off of a United States man-of-war. Wilbur Wright declined to make the attempt. The Curtiss Co. was then approached and they agreed to try it. The necessary arrangements were thereupon made by Captain Chambers and on November 14, 1910, the Curtiss representative, Eugene Ely, successfully flew a 50-horsepower Curtiss land-plane from a platform hastily built on the bow of the U. S. S. Birmingham at Hampton Roads, Va.