USS Birmingham (CL-2)
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USS Birmingham, named for the city of Birmingham, Alabama, was a Chester-class scout cruiser, reclassified a light cruiser in 1920. Entering service in 1908, the ship became known for the first airpla
USS Birmingham (CS-2), 1908
Pilot Eugene Ely takes off from USS Birmingham, Hampton Roads, Virginia, 14 November 1910
Curtiss Model D
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The 1911 Curtiss Model D is an early United States pusher aircraft with the engine and propeller behind the pilot's seat. It was among the first aircraft in the world to be built in any quantity, duri
USS Birmingham (CL-2)
…drowning on 4 January 1910. From Birmingham's deck, civilian pilot Eugene Ely made the first airplane take-off from a warship on 14 November 1910 in a Curtiss Model D biplane designed by Glenn Curtiss. Recommissioned on 15 December 1911, she made a short cruise to the West Indies and then reverted to the Atlantic…
A "headed" Curtiss Model D (Curtiss photo 1916) pusher; later "headless" models incorporated elevators around the rudder in the tail (like most aircraft since).
Glenn Curtiss at the controls of the Curtiss Reims Racer, which used the "shoulder cradle" apparatus shown (as his later Model D did) to operate the ailerons' control cables
"Headed" Model D at the College Park Air Museum
"Headless" Model D replica at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport