Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company went public in 1916 with Glenn Curtiss as president.
It became the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world during World War I employing 18,000 in Buffalo and 3,000 in Hammondsport, New York. The company produced 10,000 aircraft during World War I, more than 100 in a single week. It is particularly famous for the Curtiss JN4 two-seat biplane, one of the most popular planes of all time.
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.
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.
Curtiss D-III Tractor Hydro being hoisted aboard the U.S.S. Pennsylvania 2/17/1911
Curtiss married Lena Pearl Neff, daughter of Guy L. Neff, in Hammondsport on on March 7, 1898.
Because Curtiss made America's finest lightweight motors, Alexander Graham Bell persuaded him to join his Aerial Experiment Association in 1907 to build aircraft, succeeding with America's first public and official airplane flight on July 4, 1908.
Curtiss received the first U.S. pilot's license in 1911, the Wrights were Nos.
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