+ Larger Font | - Smaller Font

(1878-1930)

 

Inventor

 

 The July 4th, 1908 public demonstration of the June Bug had been put on hold several hours due to the weather. The crowd was frustrated and so was Curtiss. When a pessimistic photographer set up his camera short of the kilometer mark it was the final straw for Curtiss. He climbed aboard the machine and "flew like a real June bug," weaving to avoid obstructions, passing the one-kilometer flag, and continuing on. "Just on account of (the unidentified photographer)," Curtiss wrote, "who was standing at the finish with a camera to photograph the machine in case I fell short on the distance, I flew the machine as far as the field would permit, regardless of fences, ditches, etc."

• Credited with the development of ailerons, which resulted in a lawsuit by the Wright Brothers who claimed ailerons infringed on their wing warping concept.

• Curtiss started building lightweight engines used in flights.

• In 1907, he joined the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA) headed by Alexander Graham Bell.

• In 1908, 1909 and 1910 he won the Scientific American Trophy with planes built by Alexander Graham Bell’s Aerial Experiment Association

 

Biography

1878 – 1930

Click on Picture to enlarge

Curtiss Hydroplane San Diego, Cal. 1911

Born in Hammondsport, New York in 1878, Curtiss’s father died when he was only four years old, leaving young Glenn to grow up under the direction of his grandmother. Fostering his need for speed, she purchased Curtiss his first bicycle and he repaid his grandmother by dropping out of school. With no formal education, Curtiss became a Western Union delivery boy, but his bike-riding abilities grew beyond delivering messages and he became a champion rider at county fairs throughout the state.

Curtiss did not only race bikes, he also opened a cycle repair shop and manufactured some of his own bicycles. His designs were extremely popular, and to manage the demand, he opened branch shops. With the advent of motorized engines making its presence in the United States, Curtiss, fascinated by the possibilities, added an engine to his bicycle. Remarking on his first attempt to build a motorcycle, Curtiss explained, "…it almost tore itself loose from the frame."

In 1902 friends and bankers backed the new company, G.H. Curtiss Manufacturing Company, which began producing the Hercules motorcycle. His lightweight air cooled engines were masterpieces, and then, the best available in the United States.

Curtiss and his dare-devil attitude produced motorcycles, and he continued to race them. In 1903 Curtiss was the first American Motorcycle Champion, establishing a world record mile at 56.4 seconds. In 1904 he set a ten mile speed record and that same year he invented the handlebar throttle. Curtiss was nicknamed the “fastest man in the world” when he drove one of his V-8 engine powered motorcycles at a speed of 136.36 miles an hour, a record which stood for almost a quarter century.

With the success of his engines, it was not long before he was contacted by early aviators to supply engines for their new aircrafts. The first to meet with Curtiss was Captain Thomas Scott Baldwin, early aviation daredevil and showman. Baldwin ordered a two-cylinder air-cooled motor of 5 horsepower for his airship, the California Arrow. The California Arrow’s first flight is considered the first successful dirigible flight in America.

Click on Picture to enlarge

Glenn Curtiss Launching Hydroplane at North Island, San Diego, Cal.

Now, well on his way to entering the aviation business; Curtiss attracted the attention of Alexander Graham Bell, the telephone inventor, in 1908. Interested in developing powered aircraft, Curtiss joined the Aerial Experiment Association, AEA, with Dr. Bell, Casey, Baldwin, J.A.D. McCurdy and Lt. Tom Selfridge. With his skill and genius Curtiss designed the June Bug, providing it with wing flaps, later called ailerons, for lateral control and one of his lightweight V-8 engines. Curtiss entered the June Bug, the AEA’s third aircraft, into the first Scientific American Trophy Competition of 1908, this required the plane to fly one kilometer. Succeeding in the flight, the plane flew farther than required and became the first officially observed and recognized flight in America on July 4th, 1908.

Competing in the International Meet in Rheims, France, in August 1909, Curtiss was the lone American entry. Using his newly designed airplane, the Golden Flyer, Curtiss competed against 40 of Europe’s top planes and pilots. he won the first Gordon Bennett Trophy with an average speed of 46 miles per hour.

Click on Picture to enlarge

Launching Curtiss Hydro-plane preparatory to first flight from water Jan 25th 1911 San Diego Cal

Curtiss courted the Navy for years before he finally convinced them of the potential of naval aviation. In the early discussions, Curtiss took Army Lt. Fickel aloft to prove that guns could be fired from an airplane. Lt. Fickel put two 30 caliber bullets into a ground target from 100 feet away. These shots were the first tests of aerial marksmanship. Eugene Ely, who was a test pilot for Curtiss, successfully launched his plane from a makeshift wooden deck on the USS Birmingham on November 14th, 1910. Two months later, Ely was the first person to land a plane and took off from the deck of the battleship Pennsylvania on January 18th, 1911. The Navy, however, had other ideas for naval airplanes. The plane, thought the Navy, must be able to take off and land on water as not to interfere with the combat capabilities of the ship. Curtiss completed a hydroplane and on February 17th, 1911 he flew it out close to the USS Pennsylvania and was then hoisted onto the ship. To return to land, Curtiss was lowered to the water where he took off.

He continued the development of his land type airplane and in 1914 delivered his Model J, the forerunner of the most famous American plane of World War I, the Jenny. Curtiss’ manufacturing plants were inundated with wartime requests for Jennies and at its peak, the company opened an additional plant and employed 10,000 people.

Tragically, in 1930, while having surgery for an appendicitis, Curtiss suffered a small blood clot, and his life ended at the age of 52. Glenn Curtiss made innumerable contributions to early aviation, including: producing and selling the first private airplane, receiving pilot’s license #1, design and construction of the first successful pontoon aircraft in America, invention of dual pilot control, and finally the design of retractable landing gear.

 

Founder of The American Aviation Industry

 

Glenn Curtiss, the "fastest man alive," on his V-8-powered motorcycle

Glenn Curtiss was an aviation pioneer who went on to form his own aircraft company. He was born in Hammondsport, New York, on May 21, 1878. As a teenager, he enjoyed building gasoline engines for the motorcycles that he raced. In 1907, he became known as the "Fastest Man on Earth" when he set a motorcycle speed record of 136.3 miles per hour (219.4 kilometers per hour).

Curtiss' motorcycle engines were so light and powerful that the balloonist Thomas Baldwin, asked Curtiss to build an engine for use on Baldwin's airship. This airship became the first powered dirigible in the United States. Other balloonists soon followed Baldwin's lead and turned to Curtiss for engines for their airships. One of his engines powered the first U.S. Army aircraft—the dirigible SC-1.

Curtiss and Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, founded the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA) in 1907, which designed and built several aircraft. One of the aircraft built by the AEA was the first American aircraft to be equipped with ailerons, the White Wing. The invention of the aileron led to a protracted patent fight between Curtiss and the Wright brothers. The AEA also built the first seaplane to be flown in the United States.

In 1908, Curtiss won the Scientific American Trophy in the first plane that he built and flew, the June Bug, when it made the first public flight of more than one kilometer (0.6 mile) in the United States.

Click on Picture to enlarge

Glenn Curtiss won the Gordon-Bennett Cup at Rheims, France.

In 1909, Curtiss and his Golden Flyer won the Gordon Bennett Trophy, plus a $5,000 prize, at the Rheims Air Meet in France. He had the best speed in a two-lap triangular 6.2-mile (10-kilometer) course, averaging 47 miles per hour (75.6 kilometers per hour).

A Curtiss plane was used to make the first takeoff and landing on the deck of a ship in 1911. Another Curtiss plane, the NC-4, made the first transatlantic crossing in 1919. Curtiss also built the first U.S. Navy aircraft, called the Triad and trained the first two naval pilots. He received the prestigious Collier Trophy and the Aero Club Gold Medal in 1911.

The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company was the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world during World War I. When it went public in 1916, it was the world's largest aviation company. During World War I, it produced 10,000 aircraft, more than 100 in a single week.

The Curtiss-Wright Corporation was established on July 5, 1929, with the merger of twelve Wright and Curtiss-affiliated companies. The company still exists.

Curtiss made his last flight as a pilot in May 1930 when he flew a Curtiss Condor over the Albany-New York route. He died two months later.

Click on Picture to enlarge

Henry Ford, 50, visiting Glenn Curtiss, 35, Hammondsport, N.Y., 1913. "Mr. Henry Ford of Detroit - the manufacturer of the Ford car - paid us a visit. He wanted to go up but said, 'My wife won't let me.'"

Three of mankind's greatest inventions occurred in the years beginning this story: The telephone, the automobile, and the airplane - with all engulfed in momentous patent battles. The victors of two, Alexander Graham Bell and Henry Ford, then played crucial roles in the third, the epic fight between the Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss.

In 1953, Briton Charles G. Grey (1875-1953), arguably the world's most knowledgeable person on flight's early days (founder and editor, The Aeroplane, 1911-1939; editor, Jane's All The World's Aircraft, 1916-1941), wrote (see "Letters, Documents, Exhibits"):

    "Strange thing isn't it that the U.S.A. has never recognized Glenn Curtiss as by far the greatest man America (both North & South) has ever produced in Aviation? - Think of the early Hammondsport products. Then the Jenny...Then the first flight onto & off a ship. Then the first flying boats. Then the big & little Americas (of 1916-18) & their descendants, the F boats of Felixstowe, from which descend all…trans-Atlantic boats...Then the N.C. boats, first across the Atlantic, & the string of Curtiss record-breakers, & Schneider winners. And the D-12 engine, from which the Rolls Falcon, & ultimately the Merlin are descended...So far as I know there is nobody in the World who has claim to have influenced aircraft design & production as he did, or had done. But the capitalists who bought the bogus Wright patents ganged up on Curtiss & `slapped him down,' as they say in the States, & he was too proud to fight back on propaganda. He left his products to fight for him."

Click on Picture to enlarge

"Strange thing isn't it that the U.S.A. has never recognized Glenn Curtiss as by far the greatest man America has ever produced in Aviation?" - Charles G. Grey (1875-1953) founder and editor, The Aeroplane, 1911-1939; editor, Jane's All The World's Aircraft, 1916-1941

           In the United States,

            to design, manufacture and sell airplanes:

              before Wright, there was Curtiss...

                before Boeing...before Martin...

                  before Consolidated...before Douglas...

                    before Lockheed...before Sikorsky...

                      before Grumman...before Northrop...

                        before North American...before ConVair...

                          before McDonnell...before Republic...

                            before Vought...before Curtiss-Wright,

                               there was Curtiss.

 

"While the Wright Brothers may be more well-known in some circles, any fair assessment of Glenn Curtiss' contributions must conclude that he is of equal stature with the Wright Brothers in his role in aviation history."

- Michael J. Denton
Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Curtiss Wright Corporation
 

 

Glenn Curtiss, San Diego Aviation Pioneer

 

Click on Picture to enlarge

Curtiss Aviation School, North Island, 1912

The achievements of Curtiss spanned several decades and took the airplane from its wood, fabric and wire beginnings to the forerunners of modern transport aircraft. Curtiss made his first flight on his 30th birthday -- May 21, 1908 -- in White Wing, a design of the Aerial Experiment Association, a group led by Alexander Graham Bell. White Wing was the first plane in America to be controlled by ailerons instead of the wing-warping used by the Wrights. It was also the first plane on wheels this side of the Atlantic.

The first plane Curtiss built and flew was June Bug. In 1908, Curtiss won the first leg of the three-legged Scientific American magazine competition for being first to fly in a straight line for more than a kilometer. He won the next leg of the competition in 1909, for establishing a distance record. He then won the Gordon Bennett Trophy, plus the $5,000 prize, in the world's first international air meet at Reims, France, in 1909. When the New York World newspaper offered $10,000 for the first successful flight between Albany and New York City, Curtiss won the prize money and nationwide recognition. He also won the third leg of the competition and permanent possession of the Scientific American trophy in 1910.

One of the major contributions to flight progress during this period was the invention of ailerons, which was the basis for the litigious rift between the Wrights and Curtiss. But Curtiss had more significant "firsts." He deserves credit for pioneering the design of the floatplane and the flying boat. It was a Curtiss plane flown by Eugene Ely, a company exhibition pilot, that made the first successful takeoff from a Navy ship in 1910. Another Curtiss plane, the NC-4, made the first crossing of the Atlantic in 1919. Curtiss built the first U.S. Navy aircraft, called the Triad, and also trained the first two naval pilots. He received the Collier Trophy and the Aero Club Gold Medal for the greatest accomplishment in aviation during 1911.

Click on Picture to enlarge

Only Authentic Photograph of Curtiss in Hydro-plane on the first flight from water Jan. 25th San Diego, Cal. 1911.

The success of the first flights of many new aircraft in those beginning days is also associated with the OX series of engines that Curtiss designed. About 12,600 of the series were built--most were installed in British, Canadian and American aircraft during World War I. It is the last of the series, the OX-5, that is best known. There was such a surplus of engines after World War I that they were sold at bargain prices by the government to many postwar aircraft manufacturers. Among those using OX-5 engines were the Laird Swallow, Travel Air 2000, Waco 9 and 10, the American Eagle, and some models of the ubiquitous Curtiss JN-4 Jenny.

Curtiss made his last flight as a pilot in May 1930, when he flew a Curtiss Condor over the Albany­New York route. He died two months later and is buried in the Pleasant Valley Cemetery, near the scene of his first aviation triumphs.

Curtiss established an Aviation School in San Diego on North Island, Coronado, and accomplished some of his "aviation firsts" here. He made the first takeoff from water and landing on water Jan 25, 1911, in a Hydro, seen in postcards below. Three days later, on Jan 28, 1911, Lt. T. G. Ellyson, flying a Curtiss pusher at San Diego, became the first U.S. Naval aviator.

 

 

Glenn H. Curtiss

 

The first aeroplane: To make a previously announced flight in public, July 4, 1908, by Glenn H. Curtiss at Haminondsport, NY. To win a prize in open competition in America, Scientific American trophy, July 4, 1908, won by Glenn H. Curtiss at Haminondsport, NY. To win the Gordon Bennett International trophy, August, 1909, won by Glenn H. Curtiss atRheims, France. To make a city-to-city flight, May 29, 1910,  Glenn H. Curtiss, Albany to New York. To use a river as an aerial highway, May 29, 1910, Glenn H. Curtiss, Albany to New York down the Hudson. To carry a message from one official to another, May 29, 1910, by Glenn H. Curtiss, Governor Hughes, Albany, to Mayor Gaynor, New York. To successfully alight on the water, June, 1910, Glenn H. Curtiss on Lake Kenka, Hammondsport, NY. To demonstrate bomb dropping possibilities, June, 1910, Glenn H.Curtiss, at Hammondsport, NY., auspices New York World. To make an over-the-ocean flight, fifty miles, July, 1910, Glenn H. Curtiss, Atlantic City, NJ. To demonstrate aerial sharpshooting with an army officer, Lieutenant T. E. Fickel, USA, marksman, August, 1910, Sheepshead Bay, New York.

The first aeroplane: To send and receive wireless messages from an aeroplane in flight, August, 1910, by J. A. D. McCurdy, at Sheepshead Bay, New York, and in February, 1911, McCurdy at Palm Beach, FL. To alight on and fly from the deck of a battleship, January 18, 1911, Eugene Ely at San Francisco. To fly from the water, January 26, 1911, Glenn H. Curtiss, on San Diego Bay, San Diego, California. Click on Picture to enlarge Curtiss D-III Tractor Hydro being hoisted aboard the U.S.S. Pennsylvania 2/17/1911 Curtiss Biplane San Diego Aviation Field Chief Iodine of San Diego at the Wheel of Curtiss Biplane

The first aeroplane: To alight alongside and be hoisted aboard a warship, Glenn H. Curtiss, February 17, 1911, at San Diego, CA. To fly from land to water and from water to land, Glenn H. Curtiss, February 23, 1911, San Diego, CA. To arise from the water with passenger, Glenn H. Curtiss with Lieutenant Theodore G. Ellyson U. S. Navy, passenger, at San Diego, CA., February 27, 1911. To be adopted by the United States Navy as practical air and ivater craft, April, 1911. To be equipped with dual control, allowing two aviators to shift the control while in flight. To be used by Navy officers in over-water flight, Lieutenant T. 0. Ellyson and Lieutenant J. H. Towers, Annapolis, Md., to Buckroe Beach, VA., 143 miles, October 25, 1911. To be used in carrying U. S. mail in long over-water flight, Hugh Robinson down the Mississippi River, Minneapolis, MN. to Rock Island, IL, 375 miles. To ascend to the height of 11,642 feet (world’s record), Lincoln Beachey, at Chicago, August 20, 1911. To win inter-city race in the United States, Lincoln Beachey, New York to Philadelphia, August 5, 1911.

 

Glenn Hammond Curtiss

 

Of all the famous aviation pioneers who have been honored for their dedication to the dream of manned flight and their genius for making that dream come true, few can match the creativity and determination of Glenn Hammond Curtiss.

Click on Picture to enlarge

Born in Hammondsport, NY, in 1878, his insatiable curiosity, mechanical ability and ambition soon became evident. By the time he reached his teens, bicycles and speed had become a near-obsession with the young Curtiss. He was a champion bicycle racer for years and naturally progressed to designing and building his own machines. By 1902, Curtiss, with three employees, was manufacturing his own motorcycles under the trade name, "Hercules". In a measured-mile run at Ormond Beach, Florida, on Jan. 23, 1907, Curtiss's V8 powered motorcycle was officially clocked at 136.3 mph. On that day, and for years afterward, Glenn Curtiss carried the title, "Fastest Man on Earth".

Curtiss's first experience with aviation came when famed balloonist, Thomas Scott Baldwin, ordered a V-twin motorcycle engine to power a lighter-than-air ship. Curtiss's engine was a success. In 1904, using this early engine, Baldwin's "California Arrow" became the first successful American dirigible. In 1907, Glenn Curtiss began his aviation career in earnest as a member of the Aerial Experiment Association, a group of men focused on getting a man into the air. In addition to Curtiss, this group included famous inventor, Alexander Graham Bell, F.W. "Casey" Baldwin, J.A.D. McCurdy and U.S. Army Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge.

By this time, the Wright Brothers had already made the first successful controlled flight of a manned aircraft. The Wright Brothers, however, had not allowed public viewing of the flight, and their tendency toward secrecy and continued distrust of the press had resulted in little public notice of the event. It was a mistake that would cost them dearly. On March 12, 1908, the A.E.A. "Red Wing" made the first public flight in America of a heavier-than-air machine with Casey Baldwin at the controls. The craft took off from the frozen surface of Keuka Lake and remained aloft for 20 seconds, covering a distance of 318 feet, 11 inches, before it went down on one wing and crashed. Two months later, the "White Wing" with Curtiss flying it, covered a distance of 1,017 feet in controlled flight. This success was made possible by the addition of "horizontal rudders" (Bell's term) to the wingtips, a precursor of the aileron.

Click on Picture to enlarge

Using knowledge gained from the Red Wing and the White Wing, Curtiss built the "June Bug", outfitted with additional improvements. This aeroplane responded so well in testing, that Curtiss determined to enter it in competition for the Scientific American trophy. Winning the first leg in the 1908 competition involved flying in a straight line for a distance of one kilometer. On July 4, Curtiss piloted the "June Bug" across Pleasant Valley for a distance of 5,090 feet - 1,810 feet farther than required. No less important, it was the first officially-recognized, pre-announced and publicly-observed flight in America. It won Curtiss the first leg of the trophy and established him as America's foremost aviation pioneer. In 1909, he flew his "Golden Flyer" a distance of 24.7 miles to establish a new world distance record and win the second leg of the Scientific American trophy. Later that same year, in Rheims, France, competing against Europe's top aviators, he won the Gordon Bennet Cup speed race, averaging 46 mph. In 1910, when the New York World Newspaper offered a $10,000 prize for the first successful flight between Albany and NYC, following the Hudson River, Curtiss again determined to be first, and did so in a craft he had named the "Hudson Flyer". He won the prize money, nationwide recognition, and in the process, won the third leg of the Scientific American Competition and permanent possession of the coveted trophy. It was his much-publicized Albany to New York flight that established the aeroplane as having some practical value. It was even suggested that it might have a wartime use. Some months later, Curtiss gave the first demonstration of aerial bombing to Army and Navy representatives at Keuka Lake. In addition to making the aeroplane a practical reality, he pioneered in the design of seaplanes and flying boats. His interest in water-flying led to an association with the U.S.Navy that was to form a basis for Naval aviation as we know it today. Naval seaplane, flying boat, and aircraft carrier operations are all a direct result of Curtiss's influence. A final high point in Curtiss's aviation career came in 1919, when the U.S.Navy Curtiss NC-4 Flying Boat became the first aircraft to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean.

Click on Picture to enlarge

Curtiss's interests were not restricted just to vehicles of transportation. In 1921, he essentially left the aviation business and moved to Florida to become a highly-successful land developer. With friends, he developed the Florida cities of Hialeah, Miami Springs, and Opa-Locka. Opa-Locka was intended to be his crowning achievement, a planned community resembling something from the Arabian Nights. In the spring of 1930, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Miami for his many contributions to the development of the Miami area.

Curtiss's amazing career was tragically cut short on July 23, 1930. At age 52, while undergoing surgery for appendicitis in Buffalo, NY, he developed a blood clot that ended his life. Glenn Hammond Curtiss was returned to his home town where he rests today in a quiet spot in the Pleasant Valley Cemetery, not far from the site of his historic flight in the "June Bug".

Curtiss is remembered today as the Father of Naval Aviation and the founder of the American Aircraft Industry.

 

 

 

1	The Curtiss Aviation Book	2	The Curtiss Aircraft Company
3	The Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny"	4	The Curtiss - Wright Corporation
5	Glenn Curtiss And The Wright Patent Battles	6	The Aerial Experiment Association
7	Yesterdays Flight Of The Curtiss Aeroplane	8
9		10

 

Time Line
1911	A leading early stunt flyer, Lincoln Beachy, has been taught to to fly by Glenn Curtiss and demonstrates his talent in June on the Niagara Frontier in a Curtiss biplane. He roars off the field at the old Driving Park at East Ferry and Humboldt Parkway, thrilling 20,000 enthusiasts at the Buffalo Aviation Meet, then heads over for Niagara Falls where he wins a $1000 prize for flying into the gorge, passing over the "Maid of the Mist" boat and under the Honeymoon Bridge. (Driving Park is bounded by E. Ferry, Jefferson, Northland, and Humboldt Parkway. Later it will be named the Buffalo Fair Grounds, and then as the Hamlin Park neighborhood.)
1915	Glenn H. Curtiss comes to Buffalo to build flying boats for Great Britain (a $15 million order). He comes to Buffalo for a work force and plant facilities. Curtiss rents the Thomas Flyer Automobile Manufacturing Plant on Niagara Street. This is where he develops the R-model airplane which will be the forerunner of the famous Curtiss "Jenny." Curtiss soon moves to a plant he builds on Churchill Street. He also rents several other facilities.
1916	The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company becomes the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world during World War I and goes public in 1916 with Curtiss as president. Curtiss employs 18,000 at its Buffalo facility and 3,000 at its Hammondsport, New York location. They produce 10,000 aircraft during World War I, more than 100 in a single week. The Curtiss "Jenny," America's most famous World War I airplane, is developed by combining the best features of the Curtiss "J" and "N" models. The JN-3 is modified in 1916 to improve its performance and redesignated the JN-4. With America's entry into WW1 on April 6, 1917, the Signal Corps began ordering large quantities of JN-4s, and by the time production is terminated after the Armistice, more than 6,000 have been delivered, the majority of them JN-4Ds. The Jenny is generally used for primary flight training, but some are equipped with machine guns and bomb racks for advanced training. After World War I, hundreds are sold on the civilian market.
1917	Glenn Curtiss opens a 31-acre factory at 2050 Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo. This is the world's largest airplane plant. It closes at the end of the war (in 2002, it houses the M. Wile Clothing Co. and Home Depot). At the close of World War 1, Curtiss will build four flying boats capable of trans-ocean flight. These boats will be the first NC series, and the NC-4, in 1919, will be the first airplane to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean.
1929	Curtiss and Wright interests are merged and the new Curtiss-Wright Corporation moves to Buffalo, erecting a new factory (Plant 1) at Kenmore and Vulcan Sts. in the town of Tonawanda (in 2002, the Western Electric building) dedicated to building military aircraft. Buffalo Plant 1 will manufacture a variety of military and naval planes, including Owl observation biplane Helldiver naval dive bomber biplane P-36 Hawk (an export model bought by both the French and Dutch), and P-40 Warhawk fighter planes. The P-40 is a redesigned P-36 with an Allison engine. These planes are flown at night from the parking lot to the Buffalo Airport in Cheektowaga to be flight tested.
1930	Lack of orders because of the Depression forces the closing of the Churchill St. plant. The only Buffalo-area Curtiss plant that continues operation after WW1 is the Tonawanda plant. Glenn Curtiss dies in Buffalo, from complications after appendix surgery.
1940	The Curtiss-Wright plant employs 5,300 in 1940 and 43,000 three years later.
1941	Curtiss-Wright Corporation opens Buffalo Plant 2 on Genesee Street in Cheektowaga (adjacent to the airport). That huge plant will produce more than 16,000 P-40s and over 300 C-46 transport planes for U.S. involvement in WW2 (1941-45). Before the American entry into the war, P-40s are exported to North Africa for the British Air Force (RAF). They are especially useful in desert fighting because of their reliable, large radiators. The P-40, developed from the P-36, is America's foremost fighter in service when WW2 began. P-40s engage Japanese aircraft during the attack on Pearl Harbor and the invasion of the Philippines in December 1941. They also are flown in China early in 1942 by the famed Flying Tigers and in North Africa in 1943 by the first AAF all-black unit, the 99th Fighter Squadron.
1943	Curtiss-Wright Corporation develops a research laboratory across the road from the Buffalo airport. It has a pioneer high velocity wind tunnel and a large altitude chamber. Dr. Clifford C. Furnas is the first director. The laboratory will be donated to Cornell University after the war and named Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory (later Calspan). Cornell invents in-flight simulators, specially modified aircraft that can be programmed to feel like other aircraft that may not even exist. Wind tunnels are developed to test scale model planes in development. There are over 40,000 people (a strong percentage being women) working at Curtiss-Wright.
1945	By September 1945 the 40,000 people working at Curtiss-Wright has been reduced to 5,500 and the ripple is felt throughout the whole economy. By Christmas,1946 there are over 80,000 people, close to fifteen percent of the area work force, without work.
1946	In early 1946, after the war, Curtiss-Wright announces that it is closing almost all of its Buffalo operations. They are moving to Columbus, Ohio. The company claims it has nothing against Buffalo itself. It is simply a matter of space; the company doesn't need as much of it any more. The Tonawanda Plant 1 is sold to Western Electric and Plant 2 on Genesee St. to Westinghouse.