Existing comment:
Naval Air Station North Island:
In 1911, Glenn Curtiss invited the Army and Navy to provide the first students to his flying school on North Island. Lieutenant Theodore G. "Spuds" Ellyson, USN, was Curtiss's first student in San Diego and the first naval officer to learn to fly. Designated Naval Aviator Number 1, Ellyson made and broke many early aviation records for speed, distance, altitude and duration while on North Island.
The Navy did not return to North Island until July 1917, when the need for aviation training became apparent due to American involvement in World War I. By January 1918, air operations by military personnel began and continued to grow until the end of the war. At this point, the stations' future was secure because it was directed to repair and service flight squadrons.
Between 1919 and 1939, many aviation milestones occurred on North Island, including the first nonstop coast-to-coast flight, which terminated there in 1923 after 23 hours and 50 minutes; the first successful in-flight refueling in 1923; the first successful night launch from a battleship, the USS California, in 1924; and the first night carrier landing aboard the USS Langley (1925). The most significant historic event at North Island on May 9, 1927, when he began the first leg of his journey, heading from North Island for St. Louis.
The Army and Navy competed for space at North Island until 1935, when the Army closed Rockwell Field, relinquishing the territory to the Naval Air Station. On August 15, 1963, it was officially recognized as the "Birthplace of Naval Aviation" by the House Armed Services Committee. |