For a detailed biography of Eugene Ely’s flying career, visit this site:
Below is a selection of our favorite historical images of Eugene Ely and the Ely-Curtiss Pusher during the early years. Several of these images came from the Navy History and Heritage resource center, which also contains more information and photos from the beginnings of Naval Aviation in 1911. (Click image to see a larger version.)
Wayne Harrington at OSH 2011 - a direct Eugene Ely Descendant - note the striking resemblence!
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- Newsman/CurtissPilot, Augustus Post
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- Wayne Harrington at OSH 2011 – a direct Eugene Ely Descendant – note the striking resemblence!
One key missing link in this fascinating story is the current Ely family-tree. Eugene B Ely married Mabel and then “flew west” in 1911 after a brief and glorious flying career. He left no known direct descendants. If there are members of his extended family who are willing to share their memories, recollections and photos, we would welcome their comments. Our efforts often are muddied by the veil of time, while the family stories are generally passed on with a better degree of accuracy. Are there any willing Ely descendants out there?
Eugene Ely’s father, ‘attorney N. D. Ely’ was obviously not a big influence in his son’s
adventurous and dare-devil life. But in his own right, Nathan Ely (my uncle) was well
respected in the U. S. Army as an aide to General Pershing during World War I. My
information about him is sparse. My father was his youngest brother, and eventually joined him on Gen. Pershing’s staff. I would like to know more about Nate and his
relationship to his son.
Dorothy: Thank you for checking in with your link to the Ely legacy. If you have a picture of your Uncle Nathan in WWI, we would appreciate your posting it here. Question: does anyone in your family tree have any follow up on Mabel Ely after the accident in Georgia? An idea I am working on is to have as many Ely family descendants as are willing meet us at Oshkosh, WI the last week in July as part of the Centennial of Naval Aviation celebration. Are there any who would be willing to come to AirVenture 2011 at Oshkosh? Best to you! Bob Coolbaugh