On January 11, 1911, an important aviation milestone occurred when Eugene B. Ely successfully landed an airplane, a Curtiss Pusher, on the deck of the United States Navy’s USS Pennsylvania in the San Francisco Bay.

Not only was this the first arrested landing of an aircraft on a floating vessel, the US Navy also considers it the birth of naval aviation. Plans are currently being made to celebrate the Centennial of Naval Aviation (CONA) with a series of special events throughout 2011, including EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

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