The success of the first flights of many new aircraft in those beginning days is also associated with the OX series of engines that Curtiss designed. About 12,600 of the series were built–most were installed in British, Canadian and American aircraft during World War I. It is the last of the series, the OX-5, that is best known. There was such a surplus of engines after World War I that they were sold at bargain prices by the government to many postwar aircraft manufacturers. Among those using OX-5 engines were the Laird Swallow, Travel Air 2000, Waco 9 and 10, the American Eagle, and some models of the ubiquitous Curtiss JN-4 Jenny.

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In addition to a Jenny, other major aircraft on view in the Curtiss museum include precise replicas of the June Bug and Curtiss Pusher, plus an original 1919 Curtiss Oriole and 1927 Curtiss Robin. A 1907 glider is on display, as are OX engines. Also on hand is an Ohm Special, a racing plane built in 1949 by Dick Ohm and Jamie Kraph; a 1929 Mercury Chic; and a 1931 Mercury S-1 Racer.

One of the “firsts” by Curtiss that is relatively unknown was his invention of the travel trailer. An avid outdoorsman, he developed a folding tent-type trailer in 1917. A very streamlined fifth-wheel trailer was developed from this in 1919, called the Aerocar. The Curtiss four-wheeled Aerocar Motor Bungalow, or Land Yacht, evolved, which was 19 feet long, 12 feet wide and more than 7 feet high. One of these, in excellent condition, is on view and represents the forerunner of today’s house trailers.

Some of the museum space is devoted to early Hammondsport history as it relates to the inventive times in which Curtiss lived. There are collections of china dolls, cameras, radios, woodworking tools and many other antiques from the turn of the century. For restless children, there is a half-scale model of a Curtiss Pusher that they can “fly” and sit in to have their pictures taken.

The village of Hammondsport, which today still boasts a population of only about 1,000, is about five miles northeast of Bath, N.Y., and just west of the two largest Finger Lakes–Seneca and Cayuga. The town site is where Keuka Lake meets what the original settlers called Pleasant Valley. Helping to keep things pleasant today are a dozen wineries and the Greyton H. Taylor Wine Museum.

Curtiss made his last flight as a pilot in May 1930, when he flew a Curtiss Condor over the Albany­New York route. He died two months later and is buried in the Pleasant Valley Cemetery, near the scene of his first aviation triumphs.

It was not until 1928 that anyone suggested a museum be established to honor the area’s most famous resident. A local newspaper was first to suggest it; then, when Curtiss died in 1930, the idea again emerged, only to fade once more.

In 1958, local resident Otto Kohl began collecting Curtiss memorabilia. Kohl, who had been an employee of the Curtiss Aeroplane & Motor Co. in Hammondsport, began to look for a place to house the collection and was instrumental in establishing a museum in an old school building downtown. Although financial support was slow in coming, Curtiss memorabilia began to accumulate.

The Glenn H. Curtiss Museum was formally dedicated on May 18, 1963. A library and archives were established, and a request for donations of authentic Curtiss artifacts led to the acquisition of additional items for display.

Before the national bicentennial celebration in 1976, the museum underwent many changes and improvements. Exhibits were cleaned and many items in the collection were restored. A replica of the 1908 June Bug was built by volunteers and flown. When the U.S. Navy celebrated the 75th anniversary of naval aviation in 1986, a half-scale model of the A-1 Triad was dedicated, and a full-size model of a Curtiss hydro-floatplane was flown from Keuka Lake. An original 1919 Curtiss Oriole and Curtiss motorcycles (manufactured under the name Hercules) were acquired, as well as many items of local history. It was clear that new quarters had to be found to house the growing collection.

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