Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

Glenn Hammond Curtiss built an experimental airplane, the "June Bug", that responded so well to testing that he decided to enter it into a competition for the Scientific American trophy. Curtiss won the first leg in the 1908 competition, which 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. 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.

 Display Status

This object is on display in Early Flight at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

Early Flight
Object Details
Date 1908 Country of Origin United States of America Type AWARDS-Trophies Physical Description A spread eagle is sitting on top of a globe with a Langley airplane model on forward side, and the North and South American continents on the rear surface. The globe is suspended by clouds on top of a pillar, with three winged horses on each side of base. The base is onyx. Plaque on base has engraved text reading: "July 4, 1908 5090 feet Aerial Experiment Association, Glenn H. Curtiss, pilot Hammondsport, N.Y.; July 17, 1909 25 miles (40.25 km) 52 min. 30 sec., Glenn H. Curtiss Mineola, N.Y.; May 29, 1910 Glenn H. Curtis Albany to Camelot, N.Y. 71 ½ miles, 1 hr. 24 min." On bottom: "Sterling Reed and Barton." Dimensions 3-D: 47 × 36 × 78.7cm (18 1/2 × 14 3/16 × 31 in.)
 Materials Silver with onyx base.
 Inventory Number A19730589000 Credit Line Bequest of the Estate of Glenn H. Curtiss Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
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