Ever give in to your imagination, maybe as a child, and climb onto a picnic table in the backyard, or the bed of a pickup, or some other sturdy object rising from the ground, then leap, hurling your body upward, hands cupped slightly, arms pushing down at your sides, flapping as furiously as you can, only to fail at defying gravity (again and again)?

Today, at any given moment, simply glance skyward and you’re likely to find evidence of human ingenuity and the calling to fly. A calling that has been around for centuries, from ill-fated mythical Icarus who soared too close to the sun, to myriad intrepid inventors down through the ages. The machines and mechanical enhancements crafted over the centuries ranged from simple to absurd, yet little by little flight became more than the imagined fancy of youth, more than an abstract dream of eccentric inventors. And the world was forever changed.

In 1907, Glenn Curtiss, a young cyclist from the small town of Hammondsport, built an engine as an experiment to power airplanes, which he mounted onto an altered bicycle frame and barreled across a firm sandy Florida beach becoming the “fastest man on earth.” Suddenly he found himself surrounded by tinkerers and aeronautical enthusiasts like Alexander Graham Bell with whom he founded the Aerial Experiment Association, a Canadian-American collaboration dedicated to the construction of a practical flying machine.

While some aeronauts thought dirigibles (think steampunk airships) would be the next big thing in travel, the AEA worked on a series of early biplanes. John Newton Williams, however, believed what would later be known as a helicopter (there was no name for them because they did not exist) was the answer to powered flight, and he built smaller models which he was able to make hover before creating a full-scale model which he brought to Hammondsport in January 1908. It seems Curtiss had offered the use of his V-8 engine, the very same engine the AEA was using in their airplane experiments. That May, less than two months before Curtiss would fly the June Bug over a kilometer and win America’s first aeronautical prize, Williams would use the same engine to power his helicopter and make history for the first vertical flight in the country.

“They have a Curtiss V-8 aeronautical engine as their power plant,” states Finger Lakes historian Kirk House. “The aircraft was successful,” he adds, “in that it lifted itself and the assistant into the air. They had to do so with a short tether, because while they could get airborne, they had not yet solved the problems of stability and steering. These are very tricky with helicopters, as the rotation creates severe problems with torque.”

In 2017, Boeing began development of an all-electric CV2 Cargo Air Vehicle (drone) designed to carry 500 pounds of cargo. The CV2, which uses the same principles for vertical lift as those employed by Williams in 1908, became, according to Boeing, the first remotely piloted large electrical vertical takeoff and landing aircraft “to be flown in support of commercial operation in the United States.” A total of twelve CV2s were made. The National Air and Space Museum has Drone #10 (modeled after the Star Wars X-wing) on display, while the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport has Drone #1, making the two museums the only places you can see a CV2 in person. Open year round, the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum at 8419 NY-54 celebrates the accomplishments of aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and the legacy of early experimentation which continues to impact the world today.

The Boeing CV2 (Drone #1), which is already on display, is the inspiration for a new exhibit being created at the Curtiss Museum dedicated to the evolution of Vertical Flight. “The intention,” says Carol Anne Adams, executive director for the museum, “is to provide awareness of the significance that the local area played in early experimental aircraft.”

A special event to officially reveal the new exhibit is slated for June 28, and will include a plaque dedication ceremony, dinner, and lecture connected to the exhibition.

Not only will the new exhibit focus on the evolution of vertical flight and its impact on history from the past to today, but it will also explore what made vertical aviation different from regular aviation experiments in 1908. “We will use STEM learning to explain the challenges that Williams had to face,” adds Carol Anne, “what Boeing had to face today, and the complexities of vertical lift that NASA navigated on Mars.”

According to NASA’s website, “On April 19, 2021, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter made history when it completed the first powered, controlled flight on the Red Planet….Designed to be a technology demonstration that would make no more than five test flights in thirty days, the helicopter eventually completed seventy-two flights in just under three years, soaring higher and faster than previously imagined.”

The new exhibition, says Carol Anne, will bring “the past to the present and demonstrates how Curtiss’ legacy is still relevant. In 1908, going to Mars was not a concept, and I love to think about what Curtiss might say today if he knew that an experimental aircraft that he helped with would evolve into what we know today as drones, and then eventually successfully fly on Mars a little over 100 years later. He and Williams were experimenters with the world in front of them, but in no way could they have imagined what their experiments would lead to. I hope this exhibition inspires future generations to have fun, experiment, and keep exploring. Because who knows where it may lead!”

The museum is open over the winter from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, with planes, vintage motorcycles, and automobiles to tell the story of Hammondsport’s role in early aviation. In May, hours expand to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Get more information at glennhcurtissmuseum.org or call (607) 569-2160.