Hero of the Air by Trimble William;

Author:Trimble, William; [Trimble, William F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Naval Institute Press

Faced with the prospects of continued poor weather at Annapolis, Chambers had two choices about where to send his fledgling aviation detachment for the winter: the fliers could go to the big Navy base at Guantánamo, Cuba; or they could head back to North Island in San Diego. Guantánamo was attractive because it would allow the aviators to work with the fleet on a day-to-day basis, demonstrating how the airplane could be useful for scouting and gunfire spotting and affording non-flying officers the opportunity to get to know and work with their flying counterparts. Chambers also considered splitting the team up, sending half to Cuba and half to California. Ellyson objected both to Guantánamo and to dividing up the detachment. “I think all the aviators should go to San Diego,” he told Chambers. “We can work with the ships there, and they always have the time, and have shown interest in the work, whereas the Atlantic Fleet is always busy and rushed.” Moreover, he pointed out, there was no source of aircraft spares and supplies at Guantánamo and that it would take weeks to ship them in case there was an accident and damage to the airplanes. Ellyson also opposed breaking up the teams that had bonded over the summer. “Any aeroplane for effective work must be a two man machine. Again it takes some little time and experience to work up a two man team. Towers and I both have confidence in each other, and that is something I fear I would not have in four out of five men in the air. . . . It seems to me that San Diego is the logical place for all machines.”37

Chambers rightly concluded that the men and their equipment were not yet ready for extensive practical operations with the fleet. Rather than risk embarrassment or failure for everyone to see, he acceded to Ellyson’s importunities to send the aviators to North Island. He telegraphed Curtiss on 23 December to tell him that he was authorizing that all of the personnel be sent to San Diego, where he expected them to arrive sometime after the first of the year. Curtiss immediately replied that “I am delighted to receive your message today that the Navy Detachment will start for North Island January 1st. We will make all necessary arrangements to receive them and render any assistance within our power.” Curtiss had been on the West Coast for nearly a month. He and Lena had left Hammondsport on the night of 24 November, a little earlier than expected after he had been notified that San Diego was planning aviation events at North Island as part of a celebration in association with the ground-breaking for the city’s grand Panama-California Exposition. Upon arriving in San Diego a few days later he took up residence on Fourth Street in the city. His mother, Lua, was already there, having stayed behind in Coronado with her son Carl Adams when Curtiss had returned to Hammondsport in the spring.38

Curtiss

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