Could Don Mazzone, our own most famous motorcycle policeman ever catch speedster Glenn Curtiss? That’s a question without an answer, but I wouldn’t bet on Mazzone. Curtiss was tooooo fast!
Was it getting too cold in Buffalo New York for Glenn Curtiss? In September 1920, when WWI was over, the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, which produced thousands of ‘aero planes’ for the war effort, underwent a financial reorganization. Glenn Curtiss cashed out his stock in the company for $32 million and retired to Florida. Don’t we all wish that when we moved here, we enjoyed that much of a cushion? He didn’t want a 2/1 on a cul de sac, so he built a 14,700 square foot mansion which became one of the signature historic homes in South Florida. If you haven’t taken the tour, go to http://wwwcurtissmansion.org and sign up for a historical tour.
He was a restless inventor, and they called him ‘The Yankee Tinker’ (Tinkerer?) because of his wide-ranging efforts at invention and innovation. He started out as a young man working for Smellie’s Bicycle Shop in Hammondsport, New York and also worked as a bicycle messenger for Western Union. Note to those not born in the twentieth century, a Western Union telegram (a fast text message sent over electrical wires, printed on yellow paper, and hand-delivered to a person’s door. It used short words, cost money for each word, and was used for important news.) NOT INSTANT KIDS….we had to wait to get the message! It could have even taken a day or so to be delivered based on distance and maybe the weather.
Curtiss created the JN-4 “Jenny” for the Army, and the N-9 seaplane version for the Navy. They were some of the most famous products of the Curtiss company, and thousands were sold to the militaries of the United States, Canada, and Britain. Civilian and military aircraft demand boomed, and the company grew to employ 18,000 workers in Buffalo and 3,000 workers in Hammondsport. His NC-4 was the first plane to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
Glenn was by far the fastest bicycle messenger and won tons of races. His need for speed had him add a small engine to a bicycle. Where could it go from there? An even larger engine could get there faster.
The ingenious inventor took a heavy-duty bicycle, added an eight-cylinder engine to it and hustled off to Ormond Beach, Florida where the hard packed sand was perfect to test auto speed. The organizers called it the Florida Speed Carnival and in 1907 timed some of those automobiles. Prior to this feat, Curtiss designed and built the lightweight engines that powered the California Arrow, the first successful American dirigible built by Captain Thomas Scott Baldwin in 1904 so he was already a certified engine genius.
He asked to be timed and here’s what happened. Glenn produced a 40-horsepower, 269 cubic-inch air-cooled V-8 engine, originally intended for aircraft use, mounted onto a heavy-duty direct-drive motorcycle. No brakes! In 1907 there were no racing oval tracks or even long stretches of straight highway so the hard packed sand would be perfect.
Curtiss covered a measured mile in 26.4 seconds. Phew!! He accomplished the fastest speed a human had ever traveled under their own power and it remained the motorcycle speed record until 1930. He was now the holder of the title ‘World’s fastest Man’
Today, the famous V-8 machine resides in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
As we approach August 22nd when the Glenn Curtiss and June Bug legacy Memorial at the foot of Curtiss parkway will be unveiled. We will herald our connection to this world class inventor and feature an immersive, walk-through installation inspired by Curtiss’s historic 1908 aircraft—the June Bug—which achieved the first officially observed flight over one kilometer in the United States.
We wish to thank the artist Natalie Plasencia Calvo, a local resident and noted sculptor, for her perseverance and dedication to our history. She has helped tell the story of Glenn Curtiss from unsung hero to dominant factor in our history and growth.
