Curtiss was at the time a member of the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA), headed by Alexander Graham Bell, where in 1908 he had helped reinvent wingtip ailerons for their Aerodrome No. 2, known as the AEA White Wing (the AEA's other members became dismayed when Curtiss unexpectedly dropped out of their organization; they later came to believe he had sold the rights to their joint innovation to the United States Government).
Curtiss era pe atunci membru al Aerial Experiment Association⁠(d) (AEA), condusă de Alexander Graham Bell, unde ajutase în 1908 la reinventarea eleroanelor de vârf de aripă pentru Aerodrome No. 2, cunoscut sub numele de White Wing⁠(d) (ceilalți membri ai AEA au fost consternați când Curtiss a ieșit pe neașteptate din organizația lor; mai târziu au ajuns să creadă că el vânduse drepturile asupra inovației lor comune Guvernului Statelor Unite).