Curtiss Model D The 1911 Curtiss Model D ( or " frequently , " the Curtiss pusher " " ) was an early United States pusher aircraft with the engine and propeller behind the pilot ' s seat . It was among the very first aircraft in the world to be built in any quantity — all of which were produced during an era of trial and error development and equally important parallel technical development in internal combustion engine technologies . It was also the type of aircraft to make the first take - off from the deck of a ship , the USS " Birmingham " , and the first landing , on the USS " Pennsylvania " several days apart . Originally it was fitted with a foreplane for pitch control , however this was dispensed with when it was accidentally discovered to be unnecessary . The new version without the foreplane was known as the " Headless Pusher " . Like all Curtiss designs , the aircraft utilized ailerons to control rolling in flight instead of the Wright brothers ' patented wing warping technology , derived from the 1908 June Bug . Development . The Model D was a biplane fitted with a wheeled tricycle undercarriage . The construction was primarily of spruce , with ash used in parts of the engine bearers and undercarriage beams , with doped linen stretched over it . The outrigger beams were made of bamboo . Prevented by patents from using the Wright brothers ' wing warping technique to provide lateral control , Curtiss used ailerons instead . In the end , this proved to be a superior solution . Almost all Model Ds were constructed with a pusher configuration , with the propeller behind the pilot . Because of this configuration , they were often referred to as a " Curtiss pusher " . Early examples were built in a canard configuration , with elevators mounted on struts at the front of the aircraft in addition to a horizontal stabilizer at the rear . Later , the elevators were incorporated into the tail unit , and the canard surface arrangement dispensed with , resulting in what became called the Curtiss " headless " pushers . In addition to amateur aviators , a Model D was purchased in April 1911 by the Aeronautical Division of the U . S . Army Signal Corps as a trainer ( S . C . No . 2 ) , and by the Navy as an airborne observation platform . A number of them were exported to foreign militaries as well , including the Russian Navy . On November 14 , 1910 , Eugene Ely took off from the in a Model D . This was the first time an aircraft had taken off from a ship . On January 18 , 1911 , Eugene Ely landed a Model D aboard the . This was the first aircraft to land on a ship . Upon his election to Congress in November 1915 , Orrin Dubbs Bleakley became the first government official to fly from his home state to DC . The trip was made in a 75 hp ( 56 kW ) Curtiss biplane from Philadelphia , piloted by Sergeant William C . Ocker , on leave from the United States Aviation Corps at the time . The trip took 3¼ hours , including an unscheduled stop in a wheat field in Maryland . Existing aircraft and reproductions . A number of Curtiss Pusher original and reproduction aircraft exist , and reproductions of the design date as far back to the era when the original aircraft was in production , mostly built by private parties . The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome has had a flyable reproduction Model D pusher in their collection since 1976 , and has been powered with a Hall - Scott V8 engine earlier in its weekend air show appearances , and most recently has been powered with a Curtiss OX - 5 V8 engine . The College Park Aviation Museum built a replica of the Curtiss Model D once flown in 1911 at College Park Airport in Maryland . There is a Model D with an O - 300 ( 145 hp ) Cont . Engine at the Owls Head Maine Transportation Museum also . A Model D replica is exhibited at Minneapolis - St . Paul International Airport . 1910 & 1912 headless Curtiss Pusher ( Replicas ) are at the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum located at Hood River Oregon A replica based on the Curtiss Pusher , considered the oldest aircraft made in Connecticut , on display at The New England Air Museum , Windsor Locks , Connecticut .