First Flight Ship to Shore

Norfolk County · dedicated 1982 · 9401 4th View Street

On 14 November, 1910, Eugene Ely in a Curtiss built "Hudson Flyer," utilizing a specially constructed platform with an uptilt at the end, took off from the cruiser Birmingham anchored off Fort Monroe and landed at Willoughby Spit, 2 1/2 miles distant, thus completing the first flight from ship to shore and the first flight to utilize the "Ski Jump" deck. This was the birth of Naval aviation.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

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