The place of First water-to-water flight was designated a
California Historic Landmark (No.775) on September 25, 1962. On May 10, 1912, 26 year old
Glenn L. Martin (January 17, 1886 – December 5, 1955) flew a self-built seaplane from
Balboa Bay at
Newport Bay, California to
Avalon
Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...
Harbor on
Catalina Island, then back across the channel. His amphibian biplane, the ''Avalon Zipper'', broke the earlier English Channel record for over-water flight. Martin's total distance was , with the Newport-Avalon leg taking 37 minutes. ''Avalon Zipper'' had a 15-horsepower Model V Ford gasoline engine donated by
Henry Ford
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...
. He picked up a bag of mail on the island on the way, and was presented with $100 ($ in 2011) prize for his achievement. The trip made headline news around the world. Soon regular seaplane passenger and freight services started between Catalina and the ports of Balboa, Long Beach, Wilmington and San Diego, like:
Catalina Air Lines. Jim Watson, an aviation historian made a television documentary ''Wings Across the Channel, the Golden Age of Seaplanes on Catalina.'', starting with Glenn L. Martin trip.
Markers
Marker at the site reads:
*''On May 10, 1912, Glenn L. Martin flew his own plane, built in Santa Ana, from the waters of the Pacific Ocean at Balboa to Catalina Island. This was the first water-to-water flight, and the longest and fastest overwater flight, to that date. On his return to the mainland, Martin carried the day's mail from Catalina-another first.''
californiahistoricallandmarks.com CHL No.775
/ref>
See also
*California Historical Landmarks in Orange County, California
List table of the properties and districts — listed on the California Historical Landmarks — within Orange County, California.
*Note: ''Click the "Map of all coordinates" link to the right to view a Google map of all properties and districts ...
* Amphibious aircraft
An amphibious aircraft or amphibian is an aircraft (typically fixed-wing) that can take off and land on both solid ground and water, though amphibious helicopters do exist as well. Fixed-wing amphibious aircraft are seaplanes ( flying boats ...
* Floatplane
A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...
* Flying boat
A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...
* List of seaplanes and amphibious aircraft
The following is a list of seaplanes, which includes floatplanes and flying boats. A seaplane is any airplane that has the capability of landing and taking off from water, while an amphibian is a seaplane which can also operate from land. (They d ...
* List of seaplane operators
References
{{reflist
1912 in California
California Historical Landmarks
Aviation records