Early ship flight attempt. Early Curtiss pusher-type biplane on a take-off ramp on the SS Pennsylvania (of the Hamburg America Line). US and Canadian aviators Glenn Curtiss and John McCurdy were attempting to win a prize offered for delivering mail by aircraft from a liner at sea to New York. The aircraft was damaged in an accident, the flight was cancelled, and the ship sailed on 12 November 1910. The first successful ship flights did use Curtiss planes, taking off from the USS Birmingham (14 November 1910) and landing on the USS Pennsylvania (18 January 1911). This photograph is from the Bain News Service.