The Curtiss Aviation School had officially opened on January 17, 1911. The beaches on both the ocean and the bay sides are good, affording level stretches for starting or landing an airplane. Besides, the beaches are necessary for the water experiments I wish to make.
North Island is uninhabitated except by hundreds of jackrabbits, cottontails, snipe and quail.
The first class consisted of Lt. Theodore G. Ellyson and five other students. Later, he became U.S. Naval Aviator Number One. Walter arrived at the flying school on North Island in the Spring of 1914. Shortly after he arrived in Buffalo, Glenn Curtiss had several of the pilots for dinner.