Miami Springs Councilman Jorge Santin just came back from an epic trip to Hammondsport, New York. Hammondsport has a special connection to Miami Springs as it’s the birthplace to the founder of Miami Springs, Glenn Hammond Curtiss. It’s also home to the national Glenn H. Curtiss Museum.
Santin was able to meet with the curator of the museum, Rick Leisenring, along with the owners of the new Curtiss Bar & Grill set to open up on Canal Street.
While at the museum, Councilman Santin was able to get a personalized tour from the curator. He was able to see some of the many artifacts, but more importantly, hear about some of the many stories of the legendary pioneer. Of course, it always conjures up the great rivalry between Curtiss and the Wright Brothers and the never ending debate about who was truly first in flight. As a reminder, Glenn Curtiss was the first to fly over 5,000 feet at a publicly held event. Watch the video below:
While at the museum, Santin took this picture from a display at the museum. It features Agustin Parla, the first Cuban Aviator. According to the museum display, Parla started is training in Miami in 1912 and later transferred to Hammondsport. He took his first solo flight in a Curtiss Model D Pusher aircraft and became Cuba’s first aviator.
Of course, Santin shared this wonderful picture of a Curtiss JN-D Jenny. This plane is credited as training the largest portion of American aviators during the World War I era. After the war it was heavily used for agricultural crop dusting. The Jenny was also commonly used for paid flights allowing where Americans could pay a few dollars to get a quick flight or what we might call today a “joy ride.” It allowed thousands of Americans to experience the thrills of flight for the first time.
The museum is also home to the burial site of Glenn Curtiss. Curtiss accomplished so much in just 52 years. He died in 1930 due to complications from an emergency surgery for appendicitis.
We want to thank Councilman Jorge Santin for sharing his story with us. We’re adding Hammondsport to our bucket list of places to go.
