On the morning of November 14, 1910, civilian pilot Eugene Ely (1886—1911) took off in a Curtiss pusher from a temporary platform erected over the bow of the light cruiser USS Birmingham.
At 3:16 PM he gunned his engine, gave the release signal, rolled down the ramp and was airborne, almost.
The aeroplane plunged downward as soon as it cleared the 83-foot platform runway.
