The battleship USS Pennsylvania was the selected ship. A wooden platform 130 feet long and 32 feet wide was built on her fantail. A ramp-like extension hung down over the stern of the ship and at the other end of the platform there was a canvas barrier to prevent Ely's plane from plowing into the ships massive steel mast.

Throughout the planning stages for the landing, one seemingly insurmountable problem had been how to stop the plane in just 130 feet. It had no brakes. A cleaver but suspect system was devised just days before the landing. A set of rails, about 20 feet wide, was built the length of the deck. Lines were stretched across the rails and sandbags were tied to the ends of the lines. It was hoped that the lines would catch on the plane's wheels and stop it.

It took three tries, but on the third attempt Ely set the plane down on the deck. It rolled over the rows of lines without slowing. Fortunately the last rope caught the wheels and held fast. The plane stopped just a few feet from the canvas barrier.

Ely was actually blue from the bitter cold air that had buffeted him for nearly an hour. He was carried to the ship's wardroom and revived with several cups of hot coffee.

But when newspaper reporters questioned him about the landing, Ely claimed, "It was easy. I could do it every day".