Home > Eugene Ely

Ely was born in Davenport, Iowa and raised near Williamsburg, Iowa. He attended Iowa State University, graduating in 1904. Following graduation, he moved to San Francisco, California, where he was active in the early days of the sales and racing of automobiles.

He relocated to Portland, Oregon in early 1910, where he got a job as a salesman, working for E. Henry WemmeHenry Wemme (died late 1910s) was an immigrant from Germany who became a wealthy Portland, Oregon businessman. He was an active business investor during the pioneering era of automobiles and aviation. According to an account published in 1932 by August We. Soon afterThis is a list of aviation-related events from 1910: Events First night flights. Races between aeroplanes and cars are only won by racing cars. Hugo Junkers gets a patent for his thick wing/all-wing type aeroplane. Harriet Quimby, the first licensed femal, Wemme purchased one of Glenn CurtissGlenn Hammond Curtiss ( May 21, 1878 July 23, 1930) was an aviation pioneer and founder of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, now part of Curtiss-Wright Corporation. As a bicycle racer, Western Union bicycle messenger and bicycle shop owner Curtis b' first four-cylinder biplaneA biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings of similar spans, normally one mounted above, and the other level with, the underside of the fuselage. The upper wing normally overlaps the lower wing, and vertical or slightly raked slender struts ars and acquired the franchiseFranchise agreement Franchising from the French for 'Free', franchising is a method of doing business wherein a franchisor licenses trademarks and methods of doing business to a franchisee in exchange for a recurring royalty fee. The term is commonly used for the Pacific NorthwestThe northwestern part of the United States is known as the Pacific Northwest . Its boundaries are imprecise: the Pacific coast states of Washington and Oregon are always included, with Idaho a common addition. Extreme western Montana, near Missoula, is al. Wemme was unable to fly the Curtiss biplane , but Ely, believing that flying was as easy as driving a car, offered to fly it. He ended up crashing it instead, and feeling responsible, bought the wreck from Wemme. Within a few months he had repaired the aircraft and learned to fly. He flew it extensively in the Portland area, then headed to Winnipeg to participate in an exhibition, moving to Minneapolis, MinnesotaThis article is about the city in Minnesota. There is also Minneapolis, Kansas. Minneapolis is the county seat of Hennepin County, Minnesota. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 382,618 making it the largest city in Minnesota. It is in June 1910, where he met Curtiss and started working for him.

In October, Ely and Curtiss met Captain Washington Chambers , who had been appointed by George von Lengerke Meyer, the Secretary of the Navy, to investigate military uses for aviation within the Navy. This led to two experiments. On November 14, Ely took off from a temporary platform erected over the bow of the light cruiser USS Birmingham. Two months later, on January 18, 1911, Ely landed his plane on a platform on the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania, anchored in San Francisco Bay.

Ely continued flying in exhibitions. On October 19, 1911, while flying at an exhibition in Macon, Georgia, his plane crashed and Ely was killed. His body was returned to his birthplace for burial.

In 1933 he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross posthumously, in recognition of his contribution to naval aviation.