On Oct. 17, 1922, Lt. Virgil Griffin flew a VE-7 off USS Langley, the first plane launched from the converted collier that became the Navy’s first aircraft carrier
Anchored in Virginia’s York River on Oct. 17, 1922, a former Navy coal ship launched its first airplane. Lt. Virgil C. Griffin flew the aircraft, a Vought VE-7-SF, from USS Langley, the ship the Navy had rebuilt from the collier Jupiter…