 In 1911 "The Detroit News" reported that the company had designed and built the fastest step bottom hydroplane in the United States, named Kitty Hawk II.That same year the company gained attention after designing and building the first successful pontoons for Russell Alger's Wright Brothers Model B plane.Frank Trenholm Coffyn used the hydroplane in 1912 to take off and land on the Hudson River, enabling him to capture aerial video of the New York skyline for the first time in history.