Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
You’ve come a long way, baby.
There is a Wright B-1 hanging in Dahlgren Hall at the Academy. Not to quibble about which came first, this is from a write up regarding that aircraft,
“Overhead, the white shape of a small airplane graced the ceiling. The airplane was a reproduction of the B-1 flyer, the first Naval airplane, assembled inside of Dahlgren Hall after the Wright Brothers won the commission to produce it. With determination and a fighting spirit, Lieutenant John Rodgers flew the B-1 for 15 minutes on September 7, 1911, taking off from a field next to Dahlgren Hall. Later that same day he flew the B-1 to Washington D.C.”
Somehow I never made the connections about that mistake – the first plane was definitely the Triad, ordered on May 8, 1911. From my United States Naval Aviation 1910-60 (NAVWEPS 00-80P-1), under May 8, 1911: “CAPT W.I. Chambers prepared requisitions for two Curtiss biplanes. One, the Triad, was to be equipped for arising from or alighting on land or water; with a metal tipped propeller designed for a speed of at least 45 miles per hour; with provisions for carrying a passenger alongside the pilot; and with controls that could be operated by either the pilot or the passenger. The machine thus described, later became the Navy’s first airplane, the A-1. Although these requisitions lacked the signature of the Chief of the Bureau of Naviation, necessary to direct the General Storekeeper to enter into a contract with the Curtiss Company, they did indicate Captain Chambers’ decision as to which airplanes the Navy should purchase. From this May 8 has come to be considered the date upon which the Navy ordered its first airplane and thus has been officially proclaimed to be the birthday of naval aviation.” First A-1 flight was then on July 1.
As for the Academy’s early connections to Naval Aviation, the officers on flighty duty reported to “Engineering Experiment Station, Naval Academy ‘in connection with the test of gasoline motors and other experimental work in the development of aviation, including instruction at the aviation School’ being set up on Greenbury Point” on 23 August, 1910. This school lasted until 20 January, 1914, when everyone moved to Pensacola.
The B-1 certainly was the first Wright plane flown by the Navy (the earlier planes were Curtiss), and that could be what the Academy intended by the display. Either way, the Academy did deserve some sort of display on its role in the birth of Naval Aviation.
Happy Birthday NA!
Ditto QM & Ditto RN FAA 100th Birfdy: “Fly Navy 100 celebrations begin… This year’s centenary of naval aviation marks the decision by the Admiralty on 7 May 1909 to place an order for its first aircraft, His Majesty’s Airship 1…” http://mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/HistoryAndHonour/FlyNavy100CelebrationsBegin.htm
Happy Birthday To us!
What caught my eye was the caption under the photo. They were going to “attempt” to fly about 20 miles. Says a lot about how far we’ve come, and beggers the imagination about where we’ll be in another 100 years.
As Michener wrote…”Where do we get such men?” (The Bridges at Toko-Ri)
[...] Neptunus Lex commemorates today as being the anniversary of the first airplane ordered for naval aviation. Just to throw that curve ball in [...]
Ditto AW1 Tim!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Birthday to Us!!!!!!!!!
In the linked pics, the Argonauts are a bit different from when I was an Argonaut from 1985 to 1987.
I have actually won bar bets for drinks on this very subject!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TWIMC I have att to get someone interested in doing a story on these early USN Aviation details without success. I have notes and pics over the years. Spent 2 yrs at NAF Annapolis 1956-58 as Structures Shop CPO. The USNA Museum is totally disinterested in the history of NAF Annapolis???? The Curator at USNA especially.
I have never seen any stories,true or otherwise about the years developing aviation at NAF, North Severn,Annapolis,MD. There are official documents w/ photographs and statistical info but no personal stories of people who underwent the USNA Aviation Program. Literally hundreds of Midshipmen took this training.