The Curtiss Aviation Book (1912);

Glenn Hammond Curtiss (1878 – 1930) was an American aviation pioneer and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle racer and builder before moving on to motorcycles. As early as 1904, he began to manufacture engines for airships. In 1908 Curtiss joined the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA), a pioneering research group, founded by Alexander Graham Bell at Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia to build flying machines.

Curtiss made the first officially witnessed flight in North America, won a race at the world's first international air meet in France, and made the first long-distance flight in the United States. His contributions in designing and building aircraft led to the formation of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, now part of Curtiss-Wright Corporation. His company built aircraft for the U.S. Army and Navy, and, during the years leading up to World War I, his experiments with seaplanes led to advances in naval aviation. Curtiss civil and military aircraft were predominant in the inter-war and World War II eras.

In "The Curtiss Aviation Book," Curtiss tells how he changed from a boy working as a messenger for the Eastman Kodak Works to a pioneer aeronaut, in a few years; how, with Lieutenant “Tom” Selfridge, Alexander Graham Bell, and J. A. D. McCurdy, he was making public flights before the Wrights had finished their secret experiments; how it feels to win an international cup, or to drop into a “hole in the air” over the Hudson.

CONTENTS
PART I
BOYHOOD AND EARLY EXPERIMENTS—Augustus Post
I The Coming Airmen—An Introductory Chapter
II Boyhood Days
III Building Motors And Motorcycle Racing
IV Baldwin's Balloon
PART II
MY FIRST FLIGHTS—Glenn H. Curtiss
I Beginning To Fly
II First Flights
III The "june Bug"—First Flights For The Scientific American Trophy And First Experiments With The Hydroaeroplane
IV First Flights In New York City
PART III
MY CHIEF FLIGHTS AND THE WORK OF TO-DAY—Glenn H. Curtiss
I The Rheims Meet—First International Aero-
Plane Contest
II Hudson-fulton Celebration—First American International Meet, Los Angeles
III Flight Down The Hudson River From Albany To New York City
IV The Beginning Op The Hydroaeroplane
V Developing The Hydroaeroplane At San Diego —The Hydro Of The Summer Of 1912
PART IV
THE REAL FUTURE OF THE AEROPLANE—Glenn H. Curtiss, Capt. Beck, Lieut. Ellyson and Augustus Post
I Aeroplane Speed Of The Future
II Future Surprises Of The Aeroplane—Hunting, Travel, Mail, Wireless, Life-saving, And Other Special Uses
III The Future Of The Hydro
IV Future Problems Of Aviation
V The Aeroplane As Applied To The Army—Capt. Paul W. Beck, U. S. A
VI The Aeroplane For The Navy—Lieut. Theodore O. Ellyson, U. S. N
VII Gliding And Cycle-sailing—A Future Sport For Boys, The Airmen Of To-morrow—Augustus Post
PART V
EVERY-DAY FLYING FOR PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR—Glenn E. Curtiss, Augustus Post and Hugh Robinson
I Teaching Aviators—How An Aviator Flies
II Aviation For Amateurs
III How It Feels TO Fly—Augustus Post
IV Operating A Hydroaeroplane—Hugh Robinson
PART VI
THE CURTISS PUPILS AND A DESCRIPTION OF THE CURTISS AEROPLANE AND MOTOR—Augustus Post
I Pupils
II A Description Op The Curtiss Biplane
III The Curtiss Motor And Factory

Originally published in 1912; reformatted for the Kindle; may contain an occasional imperfection.