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Birthplace of Naval Aviation KV3 |
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 Picture courtesy of John Musgrove
 Picture courtesy of John Musgrove
On 14 Nov. 1910, off Old Point Comfort across the harbor from here, the U. S. Navy demonstrated that airplanes could be launched from ships. Flying a Curtiss biplane, Eugene Ely took off from a wooden ramp constructed atop the deck of the cruiser USS Birmingham. Aided by the five-degree slope of the ramp, a close-to-40-foot drop to the water, and an airplane engine that was powerful for the time. Ely gained enough speed to get the craft airborne and keep it aloft for the two-and-a-half-mile flight to Willoughby Spit. Ely's historic flight left to the founding of naval aviation in 1911.
Department of Historic Resources, 2000
Moffett Ave, Norfolk Naval Base Norfolk City Virginia.
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Virginia 