CURTISS JN-4, THE "JENNY"
GLENN CURTISS
WAS ANOTHER AVIATION PIONEER. LIKE
THE WRIGHT BROTHERS, HE STARTED WITH BICYCLES.
HE BUILT THEM AND RACED THEM, THEN SWITCHED
TO MOTORCYCLES AND FINALLY TO AIRPLANES.
He won a race at the world's first international air meet, held in France in 1909. The following year he made the first long-distance flight in the United States, from Albany, New York, to New York City. In 1911, Curtiss received U.S. pilot's license number 1 from the Aero Club of America. (Because the first licenses were issued in alphabetical order, Orville Wright received license number 5.) That same year Curtiss started the Curtiss Aeroplane Company, which built one of the most beloved U.S. airplanes of all time.
It was the first airplane that many Americans saw close-up, and it was affectionately called the "Jenny" because of its model number, JN-4. ("JN," followed by an open-topped 4 that looked like a Y). The Curtiss Aeroplane Company originally built the Jenny as a training airplane for the U.S. Army. During World War I (1914–18) it produced more than 6,000 of them. More than 90 percent of the American pilots who flew in the war learned to fly in this basic but sturdy airplane. After the war the Jenny appeared in Hollywood movies and in air circuses (called "barnstorming shows") all around the country. Often a person's first ride in an airplane was in a Jenny.
Even though the first Jenny flew in 1916, its popularity extended into the 1930s. After World War I ended in 1918, the plane became the foundation of postwar civil aviation. The military sold thousands of surplus planes at bargain prices to private owners. One option for former military pilots who were still eager to fly was joining a circus—an air circus. These traveling air shows featured daring airplane stunts, including wing walking. The Jenny was the perfect plane for this, because it was slow and steady. But when needed, it could also fly up to 75 miles per hour.
One of the most famous pilots in the world—Charles Lindbergh, the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean—flew a Jenny. He purchased one for $500 in 1923 after he'd taken some flying lessons. It was the first plane he ever owned. He soon began flying his Jenny solo and then joined a barnstorming group and flew as "Daredevil Lindbergh." Lindbergh eventually sold his Jenny to a student in Iowa. Almost fifty years later the plane was found stored in a pig barn. Because of Lindbergh's fame, it was restored and is now on display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, New York.
Many other famous pilots flew these planes. Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, learned to fly in a Jenny, and Bessie Coleman, the first African American to earn an international pilot's license, flew one in air shows.
People across the United States witnessed barnstorming shows, but the Jenny gained even more exposure through Hollywood movies. Americans flocked to see the thrilling cinematic air stunts. The Jenny helped make aviation popular and introduced an entire country to flying.
And the Jenny had one more important role to play: It ushered in the age of airmail. On the morning of May 15, 1918, two airmail pilots in Jennys took off, one from Washington, D.C., and the other from the Belmont Park racetrack on Long Island, New York. In Philadelphia, the halfway point, they were expected to meet, exchange mailbags, and then return to their starting points. At least that was the plan. The pilot from Washington, however, promptly got lost. Navigating with a road map and a faulty compass, he went in the opposite direction, ending up in Waldorf, Maryland, south of Washington. On landing, he flipped his Jenny, damaging it and ending his flight. But the mail arrived from New York, and the age of flying the mail had begun.
The Post Office Department printed a stamp to honor the inauguration of airmail delivery. The stamp featured a Jenny, but one sheet of the stamps was printed upside down by mistake. The "inverted Jenny" has become one of the most valuable of all stamps. Today a few of these mistakes still exist, and they are worth a lot of money!