National Air and Space Museum Image Detail

First Airplane Landing on a Ship

View aft over the stern of the U.S. Navy ship USS Pennsylvania, anchored in San Francisco Bay, Cal. This head-on view shows pilot Eugene B. Ely guiding his Curtiss Model D biplane for an imminent landing on a platform constructed on the stern of the ship, January 18, 1911. Note the sandbags on either side of the platform. This was the first time an airplane landed on a ship.

Image Number: WEB10642-2006
Credit: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
For print or commercial use, please contact: Smithsonian Institution
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