johncyrilporte

Glenn Hammond Curtiss (May 21, 1878 – July 23, 1930) was an American aviation pioneer and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle then motorcycle builder and racer, later also manufacturing engines for airships as early as 1906. In 1908 Curtiss joined the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA), a pioneering research group founded by Alexander Graham Bell at Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia to build flying machines. Curtiss rose to fame by making the country's first officially witnessed flight, winning a race at the world's first international air meet in France, and making the first long-distance flight in the U.S. His contributions in designing and building aircraft led to the formation of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, now part of Curtiss-Wright Corporation. His company built aircraft for the U.S. Army and Navy, and during the years leading up to World War I, his experiments with seaplanes led to advances in naval aviation. Curtiss civil and military aircraft were predominant in the inter-war and World War II eras. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Curtiss Lieutenant Commander John Cyril Porte CMG, DSM, Royal Navy (26 February 1884 - 22 October 1919) was a flying boat pioneer associated with the World War I Seaplane Experimental Station at Felixstowe. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cyril_Porte

John Cyril Porte, a retired Briish aviator, and George Hallett, were pilot and co-pilot on a project to attempt a non-stop Atlantic crossing by air. They were to fly the Rodman Wanamaker airship, America, from Newfoundland to Ireland in the summer of 1914. The original plan had been to fly in June, but problems with the plane's design led to postponement well into July. Porte insisted on flying at night during the full moon so that he could navigate by the stars. By the time the America was ready to fly, the next avialable date that met Porte's criteria was in August 1914. Unfortunately, the outbreak of The Great War that month caused the ocean crossing to be cancelled.

Other Bain/LOC photos of the flying boat, "America": and another Curtiss boatplane:

I started an entry for Hallett: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eustace_Amyot_Hallett

puzzlemaster, Wystan and Richard Arthur Norton, Thanks to all for both bringing more information to these photographs as well as gathering related images. We will be adding new information to quite a few photographs related to the 'America' when we update our records.

"The bottle was wired tightly between two horseshoes to facilitate its breakage while also symbolizing good luck." After four failed swings (two by Masson, two by Porte) the bottle slipped out of its horseshoe sling and rolled on the ground..."As a last resort, the bottle was trussed to the prow and Porte grimly assaulted it with a sledgehammer. Both the hull and Porte's wearing apparel were doused with foaming champagne, to the 'considerable merriment' of the onlookers." from "Glenn Curtiss, Pioneer of Flight," by C.R. Roseberry. Syracuse University Press, 1972. p.373-74

In contrast to Porte's overkill sledgehammer, Glenn Curtiss appears to be holding a small ball-peen hammer. The right tool for the job, as always.