INTRO Chicago The World’s Flying Capital
Chicago Tribune, August 2, 1893
A conference on aerial navigation was held in the afternoon at which O. Chanute presided. In his opening address he said the conference was not looking for new schemes but had met to consider facts demonstrated by experiments. While the commercial success of the flying machine is not yet to be discerned the elements of eventual success have accumulated in the last half century. The conditions as to resistance, lifting power, propellers, and motors are pretty well known. A number of papers were read and illustrated by diagrams.
Inter Ocean, August 3, 1893
At the Aerial Navigation Congress eighteen papers were presented bearing on the subject of soaring of birds and theories in explanation thereof. One very important paper was presented from Australia, prepared by Mr. Hargraves, one of the most eminent authorities on the subjeet of aerial science, and who is is now building his eighteenth successful flying machine. The other papers were from experimenters in aerial travel in all parts of the world, conpicuous among which was one from Egypt.
Progress in Flying Machines, Octave Chanute, Chicago, January, 1894
The above mentioned book consist of a series of articles on Progress in Flying Machines, as distinguished from balloons, which have been published in The Railroad and Engineering Journal (now redesignated as The American Engineer), of New York City.
The writer’s object in preparing these articles was threefold:
- ① To satisfy himself whether, with our present mechanical knowledge and appliances, more particularly the light motors recently developed, men might reasonably hope eventually to fly through the air.” Chanute wrote that he “now thinks that this question can be answered in the affirmative
② To save the waste of effort on the part of experimenters, involved in trying again devices which have already failed.” – and to point out the reasons for such failures
③ To furnish an account of those recent achievements which render it less chimerical than it was a few years ago to experiment with a flying machine…” – and to suggest how a promising design might be distinguished from a poor design
Chicago Tribune, June 24, 1896
If a lake steamer had passed by the beach opposite Miller’s, Ind., yesterday, the passengers would have had a good opportunity to see a man flying through the air, borne not exclusively on the wings of the wind, but apparently sustained by twelve gigantic white swans. Octave Chanute, No. 412 Huron street, ex-President of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and three companies were practising aerial navigation with a Lilienthal aeroplane.
Mr. Chanute, who is regarded as an authority on aerodynamics, has closely followed the experiments of Otto Lilienthal of Berlin, Germany, and he recently determined to duplicate them and go ahead on the same lines in the hope of evolving a machine which be able to sustain a man safely in the air and which would be under perfect control. Temporarily the question of the automotive power is left out of consideration.
Monday morning Mr. Chanute, A. M. Herring, William Paul, and William Avery all of Chicago took an early Lake Shore train for Miller’s, thirty miles south of the city. The natives had their curiosity highly excited by the enormous amount and queer shape of the luggage of the party. Mr. Chanute and his friends went to a little hotel and left their personal belongings, but had the other things conveyed over to the beach, about a mile east of the station.
Curiosity of Natives.
Some of the natives could not resist the temptation to follow and saw a tent erected under the protection of the highest of the hills near the lake shore. Soon the other bundles were unwrapped and what looked like a three-mast schooner’s rigging was erected with sails set, on the sand. The natives walked patiently for the boat to be brought out, thinking a sail on the lake was in prospect. A panic struck them when they saw Mr. Herring mount the odd-shaped affair and sail through the air.
“Jess watch,” tittered one of the natives. “I’ll be bound it won’t be long afore he’ll come down that ‘ar high hoss.”
Mr. Herring disappointed this prophet, and fulfilled every expectation of himself and Mr. Chanute. He succeeded in floating quite a distance in the air. The wind was not favorable, and the experiments were resumed yesterday. This time a number of comparatively long rides were made by all the younger members of the party. Mr. Herring sailed over eighty feet, measured horizontally, while falling only twenty feet. This was in the face of the wind, as none of the experimenters are yet willing to turn themselves loose before a breeze as stiff as that blowing yesterday in the neighborhood of the lake.
Two Devices Are Used.
Mr. Chanute has two machines, one very nearly like the Lilienthal machine (right) and another designed on different lines by himself. The Lilienthal machine is in appearance like six pairs of birds superposed. It consists of twelve wings of oiled nainsook silk stretched tightly over a spruce and willow frame. Each upper pair of wings is connected with a lower pair by a fin of the same material about three feet long and a foot wide. The wings are a little less than seven feet long and are in a measure diamond-shaped. The machine is about 15 feet long and 14 feet wide, and weighs 32 pounds and has a spread of 180 square feet. It is curved about as much as a birch canoe.
Mr. Chanute’s own machine, which has not yet been fully tested, is formed of two large wings stretched on curved spruce sticks eight feet each way, with a fin nine feet long and four feet high in the rear, and a kite shaped tail hinged on. Its weight is also thirty-two pounds. It has a spread of 167 square feet, and is spoon shaped, being nineteen feet from tip to tip. It will be tried today if the wind is not too unfavorable.
Lilienthal Machine’s Test.
The Lilienthal machine is apparently easy to operate. It was carried yesterday to the brow of the smooth, sandy hill, and Mr. Herring, who had the most experience of any of Mr. Chanute’s assistants in work of this kind, placed his arms over the two parallel bars made for the purpose, and while the others balanced it in the air started on a run down the sleep slope. Within ten yards Mr. Herring’s feet were lifted off the ground and he went sailing over the valley.
With every gust of the wind he would have to shift his weight to keep the machine going straight. The greatest difficulty is right there. The wind shifts so suddenly at times that no one can move fast enough to keep up with it.
On this account both Mr. Herring and the others who essayed the wings of Pegasus came to grief. However, they met with no harm, as the machine falls right side up and descends quite gradually.
Chanute-Herring Bi-Plane Glider
1896
On the Plan of a Kite.
A small model with a spread of 7.2 square feet was also operated. It was sailed as a kite without a tail. There isn’t a small boy in the country that would not be proud to own a kite like this, for it can be made to rise from a valley while the operator stands on a hill.
Mr. Chanute was desirous of making the experiments without the knowledge of the press and sought Miller’s on that account.
“The trouble with most men that have experimented on this subject is that they have bitten off to much at once,” he said. “This is only one phase of the subject. After a man is able to guid and control a machine in the air, it may, perhaps, be found less difficult than has been feared to secure a motor that will not consume too much fuel for its lifting power.”
Lilienthal’s experiments began in 1888 and have been continued ever since. Some of his machines have found their way to almost every country in Europe and to the United States, but few except the inventor have been able to master the problems of their manipulation.
First page of the first letter letter from the Wright Brothers to Mr. Chanute, May 13, 1900.
Mr. Chanute responded , “I have your very interesting letter of 13th, and am quite in sympathy with your proposal to experiment; especially as I believe like yourself that no financial profit is to be expected from such investigations for a long time to come.”
L’Aerophile, April, 1903
ORIGINAL ARTICLE IS IN FRENCH. PARTIAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION FOLLOWS.
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DINER-CONFÉRENCE DU 2 AVRIL 1903
M. Chanute à l’Aéro-Club
Le dîner-conférence, présidé par M. H. de La Vaulx, auquel avait été invité M. O. Chanute, l’éminent aviateur américain, a réuni une nombreuse assistance, dans laquelle nous avons reconnu:
MM. le colonel Ch. Renard, Deutsch de la Meurthe, de fonvielle, Leys, Léon Barthou, E. Janets, Archdeacon, Peccatte, Maurice Guffroy, M. Mallet, J. de Villethiou, de Gorostiago, Lahm, de Etchevarria, le comte de Castillon, le commandant Renard, V. Tatin, François Peyrey, Chanteaud, Ed. Surcouf, G. Besançon, V. Bacon, Haendel, Malfait, Nocquet, Balzon, Barbotte, Bordé, Contour, Tissandier, Saunière, Georges Blanchet, G. Le Brun, André Le Brun, de Littinière, Lachambre, Sénécal, André Legrand.
Le comte H. de La Vaulx, président de la réunion, a donné la parole à M.Chanute, qui a relaté ses mémorables travaux remontant, à 1896 et décrit avec humour les expériences de vol plané exécutées par lui ou par les frères Wright avec ses appareils modifiés.
M. Chanute raconte qu’il a été amené tout fortuitement à s’occuper d’aviation. Il avait écrit quelques articles dans lesquels il déclarait que les expériences d’Otto Lilienthal constituaient un grand progrès et conseillait de l’imiter, ,mais avec précaution. On lui fit observer le danger de ces expériences, en insinuant qu’il était plus facile d’engager à en faire l’essai que de les répéter.
M. Chanute se décida alors à faire taire toutes les objections en expérimentant luimême des appareils d’aviation.
Pour aller du connu à l’inconnu, il fit d’abord construire un appareil analogue à celui de Lilienthal, mais au bout de peu de temps, huit jours avant la fin tragique de l’aviateur allemand, il l’avait condamné comme trop dangereux et de résultats trop incertains.
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M. Chanute essaya alors un deuxième appareil, celui-là de son invention, consistant en ailes articulées à l’épaule et munies d’un ressort de rappel, auxquelles on pouvait imprimer un mouvement horizontal. La pression de l’air repoussait en arrière l’aile qui était ramenée par le ressort à sa position initiale.
Malgré des résultats assez encourageants, M. Chanute ne futpas encore satisfait de ce dernier type et créa alors son modele d’aéroplane à deux surfaces horizontales. En sa qualité d’ingénieur spécialement adonné à la construction de ponts, M. Chanute utilisa, pour maintenir ces surfaces, une ferme analogue aux fermes de ponts, à la fois très légère (10 kilog.) et très solide, pouvant supporter le poids d’un homme. L’air exerce sur ces plans, animés déjà d’une certaine vitesse par une impulsion donnée à l’appareil, une pression dont la direction fait, avec les surfaces, un certain angle. Quand cet angle d’incidence varie, le centre de pression doit se déplacer aussi de manière que l’équilibre soit maintenu, nous dirons plus loin par quels moyens.
Publiés en 1897, les plans et les photographies des appareils et des expériences de M. Chanute furent reproduits par les journaux et les revues d’Angleterre et d’Allemagné et complètement passés sous silence en France.
Voici maintenant comment M. Chanute est entré en relation avec les frères Wright, ses dévoués collaborateurs actuels. En 1900, les frères Wright,constructeurs de bicyclettes, à Dayton (Ohio), écrivirent à M. Chanute pour lui demander des détails sur ses expériences. Ils voulaient les renouveler dans un but purement sportif. M. Chanute leur fournit bien volontiers les renseignements qu’ils désiraient et MM. Wright frères firent alors construire, sur ses données, des appareils semblables à ceux de M. Chanute qu’ils expérimentèrent aussitôt avec un réel succès.
En 1901, de nouvelles expériences de MM. Wright, auxquelles assistait M.Chanute, donnèrent un résultat meilleur qui fut consigné dans un mémoire transmis à la Société des Ingénieurs civils de Chicago, dont M. Chanute était, à cette époque, le président.
Enfin, en 1902, les frères Wright réussirentmieux encore.Leur appareil était beaucoup plus grand que l’appareil primitif de M. Chanute ; il mesurait 9 mètres d’envergure, 1 m. 50 de largeur et les deux surfaces étaient écartées de 1 m. 42. Les frères Wright avaient en outre apporté deux importantes modifications aux conditions des expériences antérieures. D’abord, ils avaient placé un gouvernail à l’avant, organe qui agissait beaucoup plus efficacement pour la direction en hauteur que l’ancien gouvernail d’arrière. Ce dernier gouvernail ou queue-pennon d’arrière était remplacé luimême par un gouvernail vertical. De plus, et c’est là le point essentiel, l’expérimentateur était placé couché au lieu d’être debout, ce qui réduit des 4/5 la résistance qu’il oppose à l’air. M. Chanute avait très bien vu l’avantage de cette position de l’avia-
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eur, mais, par prudence, il n’avait pas osé la conseiller. L’appareil actuel de MM. Wright pèse environ 53 kilog. La surface portante totale est d’environ 28 m2, la flèche de la courbure de l’aile d’environ 1/20 de sa largeur, le point le plus haut de la courbe étant au 1/3 de la largeur à partir de l’avant.
Les plus récentes expériences des frères Wright ont eu lieu dans la Caroline du Nord, sur une langue de terre qui s’avance dans l’Atlantique et qui présente un mamelon sablonneux de 30 mètres de hauteur, dominant un vaste terrain entièrement nu et formé, comme la petite colline, de sable fin. L’appareil supportant l’expérimentateur est soulevé par deux hommes qui se mettent à courir contre le vent jusqu’à ce que la pression sur les surfaces devienne suffisante pour permettre à l’aéroplane de continuer librement et sans aide sa course. L’expérimentateur tâche, autant que possible, de ne pas trop s’écarter du plan incliné formé par la déclivité de la colline, pour diminuer la hauteur de chute en cas d’accident.
Dans ces conditions et avec les modifications signalées, MM. Wright ont pu faire des glissades aériennes à 6° ou 7° de chute, alors que M. Chanute n’avait pu glisser qu’à 7° à 8°. Plusieurs fois, en cours de route, l’appareil s’est élevé au-dessus du niveau du point de départ. Les plus longues glissades ont atteint 200 mètres environ.
MM. Wright vont renouveler bientôt leurs expériences et espèrent arriver à tenter le vol à voile. Le vol des oiseaux voiliers exige une ascendance du vent de 3° à 4°.
Si, comme il l’espère, ces expériences donnent un bon résultat, M. Chanute dit qu’il sera temps alors de charger l’appareil d’un moteur mécanique actionnant un propulseur qui renouvellera à chaque instant l’impulsion nécessaire au planement, au lieu d’utiliser l’impulsion unique et limitée donnée à bras d’homme simplement continuée et prolongée par l’action de la pesanteur sur le système. On aura alors un appareil vraiment digne de toute l’attention de ceux qui s’intéressent à la locomotion aérienne.
Il faut remarquer toutefois que, dans ces nouvelles conditions, les données du problème changent. En effet, d’après M. Chanute, la difficulté consiste surtout à maintenir l’équilibre. On s’imagine trop volontiers et à tort, par une sorte de duperie des mots, que les courants aériens sont semblables au courant régulier d’une rivière, alors qu’ils se composent, au contraire, d’un chaos d’ondulations, de vagues irrégulières, tumultueuses et de remous tourbillonnants qui compromettent à chaque instant l’équilibre de l’appareil d’aviation. Cet équilibre ne peut être maintenu que si le centre de pression et le centre de gravité restent constamment sur la même verticale. C’est là une condition absolument nécessaire.
Pour obtenir ce dernier résultat, Lilienthal faisait varier la position du centre de gravité en déplaçant son corps. Comme il était debout, cela exigeait des contorsions et une acrobatie continuelles, à la portée de peu d’expérimentateurs.
Au contraire, avec les appareils de M. Chanute, modifiés par MM. Wright, l’aviateur
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règle la direction dans le plan horizontal en agissant sur deux cordelettes qui opèrent par gauchissement sur le côté droit ou gauche de l’aile et en même temps par le déplacement du gouvernail vertical d’arrière. La direction en hauteur est obtenue par la manœuvre du gouvernail horizontal d’avant.
De plus, l’homme, étant couché, doit aider l’action des organes de direction par de très minimes déplacements, que l’on tend même toujours à exagérer au début, et qui sont beaucoup plus faciles à exécuter que les tours de force et d’adresse véritables de Lilienthal. Il suffit d’une semaine d’essais pour permettre à un expérimentateur quelconque, pourvu qu’il soit doué de sang-froid, de faire à propos, et avec la très grande promptitude nécessaire, ces légers mouvements qui rétablissent constamment l’équilibre et qui sont tout instinctifs chez l’oiseau. L’homme, en effet, a à faire son apprentissage d’animal volant. Cette facilité plus grande dans la conduite de l’aéroplane n’en constitue pas moins un sérieux progrès.
Mais, lorsque l’appareil sera actionné par des propulseurs mécaniques qui seront fixes par définition, on ne pourra plus conserver l’équilibre par les moyens sus-indiqués. Ce seront les surfaces, et non l’opérateur, qui devront alors se déplacer et s’orienter de manière à maintenir la stabilité de l’ensemble, en ramenant le centre de gravité dans la verticale. On le voit, c’est un problème nouveau qui surgira.
Pour conclure, M. Chanute recommande à ceux qui seraient tentés de renouveler ces expériences, de s’entourer de toutes les précautions qu’il a détaillées plus haut. On ne court presque aucun risque, si l’on est prudent.
Tout en admirant les résultats des expériences de M. le capitaine Ferber, il trouve son terrain mal choisi à cause du sol rocheux qui le constitue et des précipices qui l’entourent. Il conseille un emplacement analogue àcelui qu’utilisent les frères Wright.
Quant à l’aérodrome du même expérimentateur, il est très bien conçu et fort commode, mais la corde fausse peut-être les résultats.
Bien avoir soin aussi de s’assurer de l’état de l’appareil entre chaque volée. C’est pour avoir négligé cette précaution si simple que Lilienthal est mort. Un jour qu’il répétait ses glissades aériennes devant M. Cleys, celui-ci lui fit remarquer qu’une de ses surfaces était mal attachée; Lilienthal répondit qu’il ne l’ignorait pas, mais qu’un autre appareil lui serait livré très prochainement et, qu’en attendant, il pensait pouvoir utiliser celui qu’il expérimentait. Quelque temps après, se servant encore du même appareil sans l’avoir réparé, la surface supérieure se détachait en partie en se retournant et. l’aéroplane chavirait, causant la mort du téméraire aviateur.
En somme, dit M. Chanute, je n’ai eu d’autre mérite que de prendre les expériences de Lilienthal là où la mort l’avait surpris et de les perfectionner de mon mieux, jusqu’à ce que d’autres, plus heureux, reprennent mes travaux à leur tour et les amènent peu à peu au résultat parfait. Le progrès dans les sciences, et surtout en aéronau-
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tique, se fait, en effet, par étapes successives. Je serai trop heureux si j’ai pu contribuer, si peu que ce soit, à faire avancer la question, à hâter la solution de ce grand et difficile problème qui passionne toute notre époque (1).
A la suite de la communication de M. Chanute, une très intéressante discussion sur l’aviation en général s’est engagée entre MM. Chanute, Tatin, le colonel Renard et Guffroy. Malheureusement, le défaut de place nous oblige à en ajourner provisoirement le compte rendu.
Sur l’invitation de M. le comte Henry de La Vaulx, président de la réunion, M. Chanute donne ensuite des renseignements sur les concours d’aérostation qui auront lieu à l’Exposition de Saint-Louis, en 1904, et prie les membres de l’Aéro-Club de vouloir bien lui faire part de leurs observations à ce sujet.
Le commandant Renard donne lecture des règlements de ce concours (voir YAérophile, numéro d’août 1902). Il trouve que les droits d’inscription sont trop élevés. Les frais de voyage et de transport de matériel, trop considérables, pourront aussi, dit-il, écarter certains concurrents. A ces frais viendraient d’ailleurs s’ajouter ceux que nécessitera la construction de hangars pour dirigeables, etc.
M. Surcouf appelle ensuite l’attention de M. Chanute sur l’écart excessif et disproportionné qui existe entre.le montant des prix principaux et celui des prix secondaires.
Le colonel Renard insiste sur l’nstallation de l’aérodrome de Saint-Louis, qui devra fournir aux compétiteurs tous les appareils et toutes les commodités nécessaires,
tels que : conduites de gaz, personnel suffisant et expérimenté, etc.; il serait même utile, à son avis, d’essayer les appareils à gaz et les installations diverses avant l’ouverture du concours, de façon à être certain de leur parfait fonctionnement.
M. de La Vaulx fait remarquer que les organisateurs agiraient sagement en s’assurant le concours d’un constructeur d’une notoriété et d’une coin-
pétence indiscutables, chargé de réparer les avaries qui peuvent survenir aux ballons et de se tenir à la disposition des concurrents pour les divers travaux qu’ils voudraient faire exécuter.
M. de Fonvielle appuie cette motion et rappelle que, pendant la récente guerre contre l’Espagne, le gouvernement américain a eu recours à un constructeur français pour la création de son matériel aéronautique militaire.
Comme sanction de ces diverses observations, l’assemblée émet le vœu que les organisateurs du concours de ballons de Saint-Louis accordent aux concurrents une indemnité de déplacement ou, tout au moins, leur fassent obtenir d’importantes réductions sur les prix de voyage et de transport du matériel et, si c’est possible, fournissent gratuitement le gaz aux
(1) Nous avons la bonne fortune d’annoncer à nos lecteurs que M. Chanute a bien voulu nous promettre d’écrire pour l’Aérophile le compte rendu détaillé de ses expériences et de celles des frères Wright, illustré de dessins d’appareils et de photographies. Cet intéressant article paraîtra très probablement dans notre numéro de juin.
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concurrents, comme cela s’est fait pendant l’Exposition de Paris, en 1900, au concours de Vincennes.
L’assemblée est aussi d’avis qu’il serait bon de supprimer le concours d’altitude, cause possible d’un danger qui n’est pas justifié par un réel intérêt scientifique.
M. Chanute se charge d’être auprès des organisateurs le fidèle interprète de l’AéroClub de France. Il demande, toutefois, qu’il soit procédé à la nomination d’une commission chargée d’exposer directement les desiderata de l’assemblée à M. Michel Lagrave, commissaire général de la section française, qui les transmettra au Comité général de l’Exposition de Saint-Louis.
Il est probable qu’il sera déféré au désir de M. Chanute et qu’une commission élue par l’Aéro-Club rédigera un projet de modifications aux règlements du concours de Saint-Louis. Ce projet sera soumis aux autorités américaines.
The following is a translation of the pertinent passages of the Diner Conference” reported in L’Aerophile, April 1903:
Mr. Chanute . . . related his memorable works dating back to 1896, and whimsically described the experiments in gliding flight carried out by him or by the brothers Wright with his modified apparatus. . . .
Now here is how Mr. Chanute entered into relations with the Wright brothers, his present devoted collaborators. In 1900, the Wright brothers, bicycle manufacturers, at Dayton (Ohio), wrote to Mr. Chanute to ask him for some details about his experiments. They desired to renew them but with sport only as an object. Mr. Chanute very willingly furnished them the information they wanted, and Messrs. Wright brothers then had constructed, on his data, machines similar to those of Mr. Chanute, with which they thereupon experimented with real success.
In 1901, new experiments of Messrs. Wright, witnessed by Mr. Chanute, produced better results, which were incorporated in an address delivered to the Society of Civil Engineers of Chicago, of which Mr. Chanute was, at that period, president.
Then, in 1902, the brothers Wright had still better success. Their machine was much larger than the early machine of Mr. Chanute; it measured 9 meters in span, 1.5 in. in chord, and the two surfaces were 1.42 in. apart. The Wright brothers had, in addition, brought about two important modifications of the conditions of prior experiments. First, they had placed a rudder at the front, a member which acted much more efficiently for vertical control than the old rear rudder. This latter rudder, or rear ‘tail flag,’ was itself replaced by a vertical rudder. Further, and this was the essential point, the experimenter was placed prone rather than standing, which reduced by h the resistance which he presented to the air. Mr. Chanute had seen very clearly the advantage of this position of the aviator, but out of prudence he had not dared to recommend it. . . .
. . . Messrs. Wright are soon going to renew their experiments and hope to get to the point of attempting soaring flight. The flight of soaring birds requires an ascending wind of 3* to 4*.
If, as he hopes, these experiments give good results, Mr. Chanute said that it will then be time to equip the machine with a mechanical motor driving a propeller which will continually renew the impulsion necessary for flight, instead of utilizing the single, limited impulsion given by a man’s arm and simply continued and prolonged by the action of gravity on the system. . . .
. . . In order to obtain this last result [maintenance of equilibrium], Lilienthal caused the center of gravity to be altered by shifting the position of his body. As he was upright this required continual contortiong and acrobatics within the skill of few experimenters.
On the contrary, with the machines of Mr. Chanute, modified by Messrs. Wright, the aviator controls direction in the horizontal plane by operating two cords which act by warping the right or left side of the wing and by deflecting at the same time the rear vertical rudder. Vertical direction is obtained by the movement of the front horizontal rudder. . . .
. . . In conclusion, said Mr. Chanute, I have had no other merit than that of taking up the experiments of Lilienthal at the point where death overtook him and of perfecting them as best I could, until others, more fortunate, take up my work in turn and carry it little by little to the perfect result. Progress in the sciences, and above all in aeronautics, is made, in fact, by successive stages. I shall be too happy if I have been able to contribute, however little, to advance the question, to hasten the solution of this great and difficult problem which impassions our whole era.
Journal of the Western Society of Engineers
May, 1911
IN MEMORIAM: OCTAVE CHANUTE
Died November 23, 1910.
This memoir records the professional career of an Engineer closely identified for the last sixty years with the development of transportation on land and in the air.
Octave Chanute was born in Paris, France,February 18th, 1832. His father was Professor of History in the Royal College of France, in Paris, and in the year 1838 accepted the appointment of Vice-President of Jefferson College in the State of Louisiana; he was a resident of Louisiana until 1844, when he removed to New York City and engaged in literary pursuits. His son, Octave, who was six years old when the family came to this country, completed his education in New York, and became, to use his own expression, thoroughly Americanized.
Mr. Chanute began work at the age of seventeen in 1849, on the Hudson River Railroad. This beginning was made, as was usual at that day, at the very foot of the ladder. Young Chanute introduced himself to the Resident Engineer at Sing-Sing and asked for employment. When told that there was no vacancy, he asked for permission to serve without pay as a volunteer chainman. This was somewhat reluctantly granted, with the result that within two months the young man was put on the pay-roll at $1.12½ per day, and thought his fortune made. Nor was he far wrong, for Mr. Chanute has often said that this was the only position he ever applied for and that he had been continuouslv engaged since that time without having to solicit employment.
He remained with the Hudson River Railroad for four years, until the completion of construction, when he became Division Engineer at Albany, in charge of terminal facilities and of maintenance of way.
In 1853 immigrants were pouring into Illinois to buy government lands at $1.25 an acre which are now selling at more than $50.00 an acre, and railroad construction was proceeding rapidly. Mr Chanute came west with Mr. H. A. Gardner, his former Chief Engineer on the Hudson River Railroad, and was engaged on the surveys and construction of what is now a portion of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, between Joliet and Bloomington. Before this was quite completed he became Chief Engineer of the eastern portion of what is now the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad, and built that Road from Peoria to the Indiana State Line, a distance of 112 miles. Upon its completion in 1857 he remained in charge of maintenance of way until 1861, when, the Road having gone into the hands of a Receiver, he accepted the position of Division Engineer of Maintenance of Way of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad between Chicago and Fort Wayne. This appointment was given him by his old friend and Chief, Mr. Gardner, who one year later recommended him for the position of Chief Engineer of the reconstruction and maintenance of the Western Division of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, from St. Louis to Vincennes. This he accepted, but six months later the Road changed hands, by one of those sudden vicissitudes not uncommon in those days, and Mr. Chanute, having by that time attained a reputation for industry, efficiency, and fidelity, received simultaneously several offers of employment. He accepted that of the Railroad which he had first served in the west and became the Chief Engineer of the Chicago & Alton Railroad in 1863, and as such took charge of the reconstruction which, by that time, had been found necessary, for these early American railroads were cheaply built. His duties included the maintenance of way and the building of an extension of the line from Alton to St. Louis.
During this connection, which lasted until 1867, Mr. Chanute submitted a competitive design for the Union Stock Yards of Chicago, and this having been selected in preference to a score of other designs, he was made Chief Engineer of the Yards, and supervised their construction in addition to his railroad duties.
The Union Stock Yards
Chicago Illustrated
September 1866
These various engagements brought him in contact with prominent railroad men, and he was next offered the design and construction of the pioneer bridge over the Missouri River at Kansas City. This offer was accepted, and he tendered his resignation as Chief Engineer of the Chicago & Alton Railroad. The Board of Directors of that Railroad, accepting his resignation, passed a resolution of regret at the severence of his connection with that company. The construction of the Kansas City bridge, across a stream so rapid, shifting, and ill-reputed as the Missouri River, involved what were, at that time, a number of novel engineering problems. It was successfully completed in July, 1869, and attracted general interest as the first bridge built over the Missouri River. A book, giving an account of the construction of the Kansas City bridge, was written by Mr. Chanute and Mr. George S. Morison, his principal assistant Engineer, and published in 1870.
While engaged in completing the Kansas City bridge, Mr. Chanute was placed in charge of the building of several railroad lines, extending into Kansas, planned to secure a portion of the cattle trade coming overland from Texas: first that of the Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Memphis Railroad, from Kansas City to the line of the Indian Territory, then of a parallel line, now known as the Southern Kansas division of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, then of a connecting line between these two, and lastly of a line from Atchison northward, the whole comprising the construction of about 400i miles of railroad, and incidentally thereto the design and construction of the Union Stock Yards of Kansas City. These various works were completed in 1871, and Mr. Chanute then became the General Superintendent of the Southern Kansas Railroad.
In 1873, when the Erie Railroad was reorganized, Mr. Chanute was made Chief Engineer of that Railroad. It was then proposed to double-track this road, to standardize its 6-foot gauge, to extend the line to New England and to Chicago, and generally expend about $50,000,000 in improvements. This promised well for the Engineer, but the financial panic of 1873 upset the arrangements made in England for funds. Less than $5,000,000 was expended on the Road, which served, however, to double-track the main line, change the gauge to standard and to improve the gradients so that during the ten years which Mr. Chanute spent on the Erie the average freight train could be increased from 18 cars to 35 cars. For a time he was in charge of the motive power of the Railroad so as to readjust the distribution of locomotives.
The Hannibal Bridge
Kansas City
1870
Upon his return to New York in 1873 he observed that “Rapid Transit” in that city had been under discussion for nearly twenty years without any definite results. The necessity for more rapid communication was evident; many projects for superceding horse cars had been proposed but none was recognized as solving the problem and the public seemed to be completely at sea. After some unsatisfactory inquiries as to the reasons for this condition of affairs, Mr. Chanute concluded that the question would be best settled by investigation through a committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and having been made Chairman of such a committee, consisting of W. N. Forney. Ashbel Welch, Chas. K. Graham, and Francis Collingwood, they undertook to collect all the data and facts. These were chiefly contained in pamphlets aggregating about 4,000 pages octavo, and after this literature had been digested communications were invited by circular. Five public meetings were held to give hearings to all who chose to appear, interviews were had with organized bodies and with citizens who were likely to possess information, and a canvass was made of property owners and tenants upon the proposed routes.
The resulting report was made public in 1875. It recommended substantially the plan subsequently carried out. i e., the building of four lines of Elevated Railroads along the Avenues, to be operated by steam locomotives, and stated that such lines would be profitable, which was not generally believed by moneyed men at that time. The report was, at first, vigorously assailed by men interested in other projects, but the public accepted it and it was almost immediately followed by the requisite legislation and the building of the Roads. In this investigation, the laboring oars were wielded by Mr. Chanute and Mr. Forney, then Editor of the Railroad Gazette, and they wrote the reports and appendices. The former, indeed, had done all of his work at night, so as not to interfere with his Railroad duties, and he found himself so prostrated upon its completion that he had to take a vacation, and he went to Europe for four months to recruit.
In 1880, Mr. Chanute was appointed Chairman of a committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers to report upon wood preservation. The investigation occupied five years, and resulted in the publication of a report of great value, which was the authority on the subject for many years. In 1885, a number of American Railroads called on the Chairman to build plants for wood preservation, and he after that became interested in
wood preservation as a business.
In 1883, he resigned from the Erie Railroad and removed to Kansas City, opening an office as Consulting Engineer. In this capacity he had charge of the design and construction of the iron bridges of the Chicago, Burlington & Northern Railroad, between Chicago and St. Paul, and later he performed similar work for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad on the extension of its line from Kansas City to Chicago, involving, besides a number of minor streams, the bridging of the Missouri River at Sibley and of the Mississippi River at Fort Madison.
As long ago as 1874, Mr. Chanute had become interested in Aviation, but it was not until 1889, when he moved to Chicago and thenceforth made that city his home, that he could find the time to devote himself seriously to the solution of this “Problem of the Ages.” With characteristic industry and thoroughness he engaged in an extensive correspondence with men all over the world interested in this subject and gathered and systematized all information of importance which he could find, investigating the records of experiments of the past two or three hundred years. The fruit of these labors appeared in a series of articles entitled “Progress in Flying Machines.” first published in the American Engineer and Railroad Journal, New York (October 1. 1891, and following issues), and republished in book form in 1894. This publication was of the greatest importance to the advancement of the art. for not only were all experiments of any importance described in detail and the principles elucidated, but the opinion of the author on the causes of the failure and the probable direction in which improvement might be expected, were stated.
About this time Otto Lilienthal had been making successful gliding experiments near Rerlin, and these induced Mr. Chanute to build a Lilienthal glider and attempt experiments with man- carrying models in continuation of his previous experiments with small models. The site chosen was Dune Park, near the present town of Gary, on the sand dunes of Indiana. His purpose was mainly to attain equilibrium in the air, and he hoped to accomplish this by adjustments that should be largely automatic. Un- like unfortunate Lilienthal, who met his death in August, 1896, while making one of his gliding experiments, Mr. Chanute’s many experiments—upwards of 200 flights—were free from any misadventure to life or limb. The Lilienthal glider was an unwieldy monoplane requiring great skill in management. It was soon abandoned and a multiplane glider substituted, and this in turn was replaced by the much simpler and more efficient biplane, the prototype of the present Wright aeroplane. These experiments were described by Mr. Chanute in a paper read October 20th, 1897, before the Western Society of Engineers and published in its Journal.
All these experiments and investigations were made in a genuinely scientific spirit and at his own expense, free to all who were interested, and conducted without any thought of pecuniary or other benefit to himself. He had at an earlier time described his efforts with characteristic modesty as “Giving much of his leisure to the investigation of the chances of success in the possible solution of the problem of Aerial Navigation, not with the expectancy of solving it himself, for he held this would be the work of many men by a gradual process of evolution, but with the hope of advancing the question a little, and making the process easier for those who came after him, by eliminating some of the causes of past failures and laying down the principles which will have to be observed.”
On October 20th, 1909, just twelve years after the reading of his first paper on Aviation to the Western Society of Engineers, he read his last paper, entitled Recent Progress in Aviation, in which he described the bewildering record of successful flights that had been achieved, giving a complete chronology of Aviation from December 17th, 1903, when the Wrights made the first successful man-flight in history, to October, 1909.
After Mr. Chanute’s death, the Aero Club of Washington said of him:
- Lilienthal, Chanute, Langley, and Maxim are the four names that will ever be inseparably linked with the early stages of flying-machine development, the stages that preceded the successful invention of the first man-carrying machine by the Wright Brothers. These four men elevated an inquiry, which for years had been classed with such absurdities as the finding of perpetual motion and the squaring of the circle, to the dignity of a legitimate engineering pursuit.
Mr. Wilbur Wright in Aeronautics paid him the following tribute:
- If he had not lived, the entire history of progress in flying would have been other than it has been, for he encouraged not only the Wright Brothers to persevere in their experiments, but it was due to his missionary trip to France in 1903, that the Voisins, Bleriot, Farman, De Lagrange, and Archdeacon were led to undertake a revival of aviation studies in that country, after the failure of the efforts of Ader and the French government in 1897 had left everyone in idle despair. Although his experiments in automatic stability did not yield results which the world has yet been able to utilize, his labors had vast influence in bringing about the era of human flight. His ‘double-deck’ modification of the old Wenham and Stringfellow machines will influence flying machine design as long as flying machines are made. His writings were so lucid as to provide an intelligent understanding of the nature of the problems of flight to a vast number of persons who would probably never have given the matter study otherwise, and not only by published articles, but by personal correspondence and visitation, he inspired and encouraged to the limits of his ability all who were devoted to the work. His private correspondence with experimenters in all parts of the world was of great volume. No one was too humble tu receive a share of his time. In patience and goodness of heart he has rarely been surpassed. Few men were more universally respected and loved.
Mr. Chanute became a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers on February 19th, 1868; served as a Director for four years, Vice-President for two years, was President in 1891, and for the five succeeding years was ex-officio a member of the Board of Directors.
He was elected an Active Member of the Western Society of Engineers July 12th, 1869; was President in 1901, and was elected an Honorary Member January 5th, 1909. Some years ago he presented to that Society a fund of $1,000.00, the interest of which was to provide bronze medals to be awarded annually for the best papers on Civil, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering subjects. It is noteworthy that the committee to award prizes for papers read to the Society in 1909 reported, after Mr. Chanute’s death, that his paper of October 20th, 1909, on Recent Progress in Aviation, was the first in merit of all the papers submitted during that year and the Society presented the medal to his family.
He was elected an Honorary Member of the British Institution of Civil Engineers May 2.1st, 1895.
He was an Honorary Member of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, a Corresponding Member of the French Society of Civil Engineers and also of the Chilean Society of Engineers.
He was a Member of the American Railway Engineering Association, the American Institute of Mining Engineers, the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
He was a Fellow of the American Aeronautical Society, an Honorary Member of the Aero Club of America, and was President of the Illinois Aero Club. He was also honored by foreign Aero Clubs. The Aeronautical Society of Great Britain awarded him a gold medal in recognition of his distinguished services in promoting the art of aviation.
Mr. Chanute held the degree of Doctor of Engineering from the University of Illinois.
Mr. Chanute was Chairman of the Executive Committee of Engineering Societies which had charge of the International Engineering Congress at the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in 1893.
He was a frequent contributor to the publications of Scientific Societies and to the various technical journals.
A list of the various contributions to Engineering literature, prepared by the deceased, begins with a paper on Pneumatic Bridge Foundation, published in the Journal of the Franklin Institute in 1868, and ends with a paper on The Present Status of Aerial Navigation. This last paper was published in Science, on December 29th, 1910. This list contains 60 titles, the two principal ones being his books on The Kansas City Bridge and Progress in Flying Machines, which have been referred to. In his relations to his fellow men it is sufficient to record that he was unselfish, just, and kind. The present generation needs no eulogy of him, and for posterity it may be simply stated that he possessed the qualities of mind and heart which endeared him to his friends, caused those with whom he came in contact to respect and admire him, and which, ripened and chastened by the hard school of experience, produced in him one of our foremost Engineers, whose busy life was rich in works and achievement, and kindly and generous acts, commanding our admiration and prompting our love.
Mr. Chanute was traveling with his daughters in Europe in the Summer of 1910, when he was taken ill with pneumonia. For a time his illness was of so serious a nature that a fatal termination was expected, but he recovered sufficiently to return to America, and, after a lingering illness, died at his home in Chicago, November 23rd, 1910. His remains were interred at his old home in Peoria, Illinois.
Mr. Chanute was married in 1857 to Miss Anne Riddell James of Peoria, Illinois, who died in 1902. He is survived by a son and three daughters.
Onward Bates,
Robert W. Hunt,
Charles F. Loweth,
Charles L. Strobel,
Committee.
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