Curtiss Aviation School offers flying lessons for everyone
Aviation legend Glenn Curtiss tests the waters (and more) in Florida
Though a native of Hammondsport, New York, aviation legend Glenn Curtiss had an outsized impact on the development of aviation in the Greater Miami area. Born in May 1878, and often called the “Father of Naval Aviation” for his development of flying boats used in pioneering navy flight training, Curtiss turned his sights on Miami in 1911.
Winter lessons at the Royal Palm Hotel
Miamians got their first shot at learning how to fly when Charles Witmer, a representative of the Curtiss Aviation School, set himself and his Curtiss “hydro-aeroplane” up at the Royal Palm Hotel for the winter season of 1911-1912. The plane took off from a sandy strip across from the hotel and was flown as far as the Cape Florida lighthouse before returning to the Royal Palm. In addition to giving flying lessons, Mr. Witmer conducted numerous aerial exhibitions, introducing residents to “the most novel and sensational experience” of flying and paving the way for Miami to become a subsequent permanent base for year-round Curtiss Aviation Schools.
At left: Miami News, February 17, 1912. One of Witmer’s students during his first season at the Royal Palm was Augustin Parla, who in 1913 became the second person to cross the Florida Straits between Key West and Havana by air. Miami News, February 17, 1912
Move to Miami Beach & Hialeah
After a few more successful winter seasons at the Royal Palm, in November of 1916, with war looming, a Curtiss Aviation School was built on Miami Beach to train Army and Navy aviators.
By January of 1917, the school was bustling. According to newspaper reports, its hangars and shops housed nine aircraft (including a hydroplane) with more on the way. Five instructors awaited the arrival of government trainees. That same month, responding to the urging of the military for more facilities, Curtiss leased an additional 20 acres of land on what were then still spacious prairie lands adjacent to the Miami Canal, just south of the locks (in today’s Hialeah). Over the course of the year instruction was given in hydroplanes, flying boats and landplanes.
In early 1918, Curtiss announced that the Hialeah camp would begin to accept civilian trainees but shortly thereafter, it was taken over by the Marine Corps. A Marine recruitment office was opened on-site, and from that time forward the facility became known as the Marine Aviation Camp.
It wasn’t until 1924 that a civilian Curtiss Flying School was again able to be established, albeit at a location further inland.
Above images courtesy “The Curtiss Flying School and U.S. Marine Flying Field,” by Donald C. Cody, South Florida History magazine, Summer 1991, courtesy HistoryMiami Museum Digital Publications: sfh-1991-3.pdf
Additional reading:
Stories: Glenn H. Curtiss – Pioneer of the Air, Godfather of Miami Aviation
- https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald-herald-28-march-1912/157680555/
- https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald-herald-9-dec-1916-cur/157683460/
- https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald-ng-field/157684352/