Curtiss, Glenn Hammond (1878-1930)

US aeronautical inventor, pioneer aviator, and aircraft designer. In 1908 he made the first public flights in the USA, including the one-mile flight. He belonged to Alexander Graham Bell's Aerial Experiment Association 1907-1909 and established the first flying school 1909. In 1910 Curtiss staged his sensational flight down the Hudson River from Albany to New York City.

In 1916 he founded the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Corp, based on his invention of ailerons, which he designed for the first seaplanes 1911. He designed and constructed many planes for the Allied nations during World War I. After the end of the war 1918 he continued to improve plane and motor designs.