Theodore G. Ellyson

THEODORE GORDON ELLYSON
1885-1928
AKA Spuds Ellyson

Lieutenant Theodore G. Ellyson,
the first Navy Officer to learn to fly,
was taught by Curtiss at North Island in 1911
From Jackrabbits to Jets

NATIONAL AVIATION HALL OF FAME
To visit his entry on this site, first click on National Aviation Hall of Fame to go to the homepage. Next, highlight and click on "Enshrinees List" at the lower left corner of the page. You will find an alphabetical listing of all enshrinees on this page. Then highlight and click on his name.
Use your "BACK" button to return to this site.

John Walker, Spuds Ellyson and Eugene Ely - January 29, 1911
(Ely was killed October 9, 1911)
US Naval Historical Center, collections of T.G. Ellyson and J. L. Callan
From WALDO: Pioneer Aviator

ELLYSON SOLOS, 1911 To introduce his activities to San Diegans (and probably to help out the bank account as well) Curtiss held an exhibition at the Coronado polo field on January 28th and 29th under the auspices of the Aero Club of San Diego. Several thousand spectators watched as he and Ely showed how the fledgling pilots were instructed. The Curtiss method was termed "grasscutting because the student was put in an aeroplane that had its throttle blocked to preclude its taking off, permitting only the repetitious whizzing back and forth across the field. After some time, when the student became accustomed to the plane and its controls, he would be permitted to try fllying by releasing the blocked throttle.
Spuds Ellyson, a red-haired, freckle-faced 25-year-old Virginian, was Curtiss' star pupil, and was doing very well showing the crowd how grasscutting was done. But on the second day of the exhibition the throttle block must have loosened, for he was suddenly airborne. He wasn't yet proficient enough to cope with that situation, and slewed off left, cracking up the plane somewhat by making a wing-first landing. Ellyson wasn't injured, but from then on he was considered to have made his "first flight.
From WALDO: Pioneer Aviator

Lieutenant T. G. Ellyson in the "Grass Cutter". This was the four-cylinder "pusher" used by Glenn Curtiss for primary training of aviators. No dual controls were in the plane so the instructor talked to the student from the ground.
From Jackrabbits to Jets

Lt.Theodore G. Ellyson, USN
Testing seaplane on the Potomac, 1911
From Library of Congress, 9-25-09

ONLINE RESOURCES If you search for "Theodore G. Ellyson", using the Google search engine, (9-25-09), you will find about 14,200 links!! Perhaps the most helpful is the following.

Theodore Gordon Ellyson This article on Wikipedia is a very good place to start. It summarizes his life and career very completely and does offer a number of relevant links.

Recommended Further Reading:

WALDO: Pioneer Aviator
A Personal History of American Aviation, 1910-1944
by Waldo Dean Waterman
with Jack Carpenter
Arsdalen, Bosch & Co.

JACKRABBITS TO JETS: The History of North Island, San Diego, California
by Elretta Sudsbury
Hall & Ojena Publications

Recommended Links:
Walter E. Lees on North Island, 1915

Theodore Gordon Ellyson
died Feb. 27, 1928 in Virginia, USA
Courtesy of Find A Grave

Back