3 Aviation

Chanute first became interested in aviation during a visit to Europe in 1875. When he retired from his engineering business in 1889, he decided to devote his time to furthering the new science of aviation.

Following his systematic engineering background, Chanute first collected all the data that he could find from flight experimenters around the world. He published this as a series of articles first published in the The Railroad and Engineering Journal from 1891 to 1893, and collected together in Progress in Flying Machine in 1894. This was the first organised, written collection of aviation research.

At the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, Chanute organised a highly successful International Conference on Aerial Navigation.

Chanute was too old to attempt to fly himself. However, he worked in partnership with younger experimenters, including Augustus Herring and William Avery. In 1896 and 1897 Chanute, Herring and Avery tested gliders based on designs by German aviator Otto Lilienthal, as well as gliders of their own design, on the shores of Lake Michigan not far from Chicago.

These experiments convinced Chanute that the best way to achieve extra lift without a prohibitive increase in weight was to stack several wings one above the other. Chanute invented the "strut-wire" braced structure that would be used in all biplanes of the future.

Chanute corresponded with many early aviators, including Louis Mouillard , Gabriel Voisin, and Louis Blériot. In 1897 Chanute started a correspondence with British aviator Percy Pilcher. Following Chanute's ideas, Pilcher designed a triplane, but he was killed in a glider crash before he could build it.

Chanute was in contact with the Wright brothers from 1900, when Wilbur Wright wrote to him after reading Progress in Flying Machines. Chanute helped to publicise the Wright brothers' work, and provided practical help and advice, making several visits to their camp near Kitty Hawk.

Chanute freely shared his knowledge about aviation with anyone who was interested and expected others to do the same. This led to some friction with the Wright brothers, who wanted to protect their invention through patents. However, they were reconciled before Chanute's death in 1910, and Wilbur Wright delivered the eulogy at Chanute's funeral.

4 Quotes

"Let us hope that the advent of a successful flying machine, now only dimly foreseen and nevertheless thought to be possible, will bring nothing but good into the world; that it shall abridge distance, make all parts of the globe accessible, bring men into closer relation with each other, advance civilization, and hasten the promised era in which there shall be nothing but peace and goodwill among all men." Octave Chanute Progress in Flying Machines

5 References

Chanute, Octave (1894, reprinted 1998) Progress in Flying Machines Dover BooksEnthsiast.com

Chanute, Octave Chanute, Octave

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