Eugene B. Ely (1886-1911). US aviator Eugene Burton Ely (centre-left) with his wife Mabel (left) and Captain Charles F. Pond (centre-right), Commanding Officer of the USS Pennsylvania. Ely is best known for performing the first take off from a ship on 14th November 1910, and then the first landing on a ship when he landed on the USS Pennsylvania two months later on 18th January 1911. His flying career began in 1910 by crashing a friend's aeroplane. He bought and repaired the wreck, and ended up working for the plane's designer, Glenn Curtiss. Ely died on 19th October 1911, in a plane crash while flying at an exhibition in Georgia, USA. Photographed shortly after landing on the USS Pennsylvania, in San Francisco Bay, California, USA, on 18th January 1911. |