ILLINOIS HTSTORTCAL SURVEY Oc+ LIBRARY UNiVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA ave AVIATION PIONEER THt ltt5»V\KT ur iht OCT 13 1941 UNIVERSITV OF HUNOiS CHANUTE FIELD, ILLINOIS L'.SRAkY UNiVERSilY CF iLLirjOii URBANA C^SfSw FOREWORD The Personnel of Chanute Field and the Army Air Corps are deeply grateful to lir, W, H. ■Jra.lliaiasoa, author, and Mr. Cvirtis D. IfcioDougall, State Super- ^ risor, Illinois Writers Project, Works Progress Administration, for their splendid research and oom- ^ pilation of the material contained in this paB5>hlet. 5 To Mr. Hal O'FlsJierety, Managing Editor, Chicago Daily Hews, our sincere appreciation for the excellent photograph of Octave Chanute, Aviation Pioneer, in nhose honor this station "was named* ^ JAMES E. DUKE, JR., / Major, Air Corps, Public Relations Officer. O"^' ^ Chanute Field, .^ Rantoul, Illinois. ro April 5, 1914.0. ■sN ! i 56204 (§ctuxft (Elianulje THE LIBRAKy OF THE UHIVERSIIY OF lUtlltS OCTAVE CHANDTE - AVIATION PIONEER "Onoe in a blue moan" the -world is blessed with an Octave Chanute. Though he beloogs to the ages, Chloeigo has an espeoiaJ. olaim, beoause the last twenty-one years of his life TTere spent in this oity. Here it was that he made his most intensive stu- dies; oooutructed experimental maohines^ and developed the great principles itfiioh are fundamental in the soienoe of flying in hoavier-than^dr maohinos. Ootave Chanute and Samuel Pierpont Langley, "who was Super- intendent of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, Jointly own the honor of being the true pioneers of aviation in the United States, and the first praotioable pioneers in the world. Both began their intensive studies smd experiments in the late '30b. Both devised and utilized the wing warping and ail- eron principles for lateral stabilization of airplanes. Both gave freely of their findings for the sake of advancing the soienoe of air navigation, smd the Wright brothers were es- pecially indebted to Chanubo. Chanute Field at Rantoul, Illinois, and Langley Field, near Washington - great military flying fields - are named for them. Neither profited one penny from their great work, euad Chanute unquestionably spent thousands of dollars of his own money without asking or reoeiving anything in return. He was one of those si^erb oharaoters who have left "footprints on the sands of time." Born in Paris, Franoe, in I832, Ootave Chanute oaiae to the United States at six years of age, when his father aooepted the post of Vioe President of Jefferson College, in Louisiana. There he remained until I3l4i4. when his father moved to New York, in iihioh oity Chanute completed his oooBaon school education, and - to ^xae his own words - "beoams thoroughly Americanized." When seventeen years old, in 18I(.9« he seciured a position with the Hudson River Railroad, and continued with that oos^az^y toxtil its line was completed to Albany, in 1353* During those years he was studying various phases of engineering as he worked. Bear in vdrA the fact that facilities for teohnioal study and re- sesLToh Tiere then oomparatively meagre. It must be obvious that Octave Chanute was largely self taught, and learned much from actual work along vdth his studies. During the next quarter century of his life he beoaiae world famous as a civil engineer, construction engineer, architect, designer and builder of great bridges, and was also the great pioneer in chemical methods for preserving railroad ties by im- pregnation. Not until he was past sixty did he begin his inten- sive studies in aviation. Coaaing "West in 1853» Chanute held responsible positions with the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad; Pittsbtirg, Fort Wayne & CMoago; Ohio & Ifi.ssissippi; Eiansas, Fort Scott & Memphis, and the southern division of the Atchison, Topeka. & Semta Fe roads. This covered a period of ten years, and in I863 Chanute was em- ployed as chief engineer for construction and maintenance for the Chicago & Alton railroad, iMs position he held until 1867. Winning an open ooispetition, in I867 he designed and super- vised the consti^ction of the Union Stock Tards in Chicago, and in 1871 designed aiki sv^ervised construction of the Union Stock Yards in Kansas City, Mo. Daring this period, though actively engaged in splendid engineering and oonstruotion work, Ootave Chanute also designed the great Kansas City bridge over the Missouri River, a pio- neer structure which attracted world wide attention for its strength and beauty. Returning to the East in 1873 « ^ spent the next ten ysars of his life as Chief Engineer for the Erie Railroad, and was sdso ohainnan of the engineering committee whidi reported on the need for \nrban rapid transit in Bow Tork City* Back to Kansas City in I883, Chanute opened offices as a oonsultant on bridge design. Here he designed and had charge of the construction of iron bridges over the lJi830iu>i and Mis- sissippi Rivers, for the Chioagc, Burlington & Horthom, and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe roads. Chanute for years had observed the disintegration of rail- road ties, and had been seeking a method for arresting it. From 1380 until 1883 he was chairman of a Committee of the .American Society of Civil Engineers, which prepared a report which was standard and authorltatiTe for many years. Fundamentally this ooaitaaplated the impregnation of rail- roeui ties with chemioal compounds which would resist dampness and the boring of insects. Following this line, he designed and supervised construction of plants for various railroads, for treating the timber to be used as railroad ties. Impregnation with creosote was the method strongly ad- vanced by Chanute, All the world today knows that that nothod has been successfully used for many years for the preservation of railroad ties, telephone smd telegraph polos, and for vaader- ground tiifcer construction of all kli^s. Octave Chanute had two great principles in mind - the preservation of timber, and the conservation of forests. As late as the sumcier of 19IO - the year of his passing - he jotjmeyed to Berne, Switzerland, to attend a world conference of railroad men. There his address on creosote ia^regnation was outstanding. Joining the Western Society of Engineers in I869, the year of its organitation, Chanute was elected president in I90I, and in 1909 "was elected Honorary Life Member, For more than forty years an honored member of the Society of Civil Engineers, ha was president of that body in I89I. For more than half a cen- tury, he was one of the world's most distingtiished engineers. Though aviation is scarcely mentioned in the foregoing, oonaon honesty would seem to demand that the facts be presented - the background of the man who generously devoted the later years of his life to the study of aviation, and gave to the wx)rld facts and findings ^ich were priceless. Now - to aviationl Indicative of the intense applioation, the boundless capacity for detail, the tireless energy of the man, it is only fair to recite the fact that Ootare Chanute »s studies ranged all the Tray from the wlngspread and sustaining surface of the butterfly to tbe calculvis of higher mathenatios. How in the world he ever found time to make the studies which he subsequently applied, is amazing and almost bewilder- ing. TThlle he was very actively engaged in construction on the ground. Octave Chanute «s thoughts were soaring. One IF re- mlnded of the conment of Confus'ius regarding Lao-Tse:- "Though his feet are on the ground, his head is in the clouds." Records of the Western Society of Engineers show that Octave Chsmute went baok in his researoh to I4OO B.C., to Arohytas of Smyrna, credited with being the inventor of the kite. Through the centuries, ■whenever and "wherever there tiaa definite record, he studied the histoiry of Chinese and Japanese kites. Leonardo da Vinci, in 1500, made numerous experiments rela- tive to flying. Chanute stxjdied his findings. Space forbids mention of all — for that matter ~ of more than a few of the experiments which he studied. And one is hard put to figure how he even learned of them. Yet the records of the Western Society of Engineers shew that Octavo Chanute studied "L'Empire de I'air," published in 1881 by L. P. Moxiillard, Paris, France. Mouillard's studies had embraced sixty-f otur birds, ranging from the sparrow to lAd vulture. He weighed and measured them, settirig down the sur- face area in square feet per poxmd, 6ind the poimds per square feet foot of surface area. Several very early exjierimenters were intrigued with the promise of "negative gravity," the theoiy that birds possessed in their feathers a negative force of magnetiam ^rtiich pushed them from the earth — just the reverse of actueil gravity, or the lodestone. Chanute studied them all. Let it here be mentioned that as Chanute progressed in his studies, he wrote his findings, and "held fast to that which was good." Much of his studies must have been made dur- ing the later years of his intense construction and engineering activity. Tftien past sixty, having aocvonulated considerable money by good works, 1» devoted all of his time and energy to aviation. He had established his home in Chicago in 1389. Late in 1891 the Railroad and Engineering Jovtmal printed the first of a series of articles by Chanute on "Prepress in Flying Machines," in which he set forth the results of his studies. These articles were issued in book form in 189U, and constitute a source of pioneer information of extreme in- terest and importanoe. Recognized as an authority on aerial navigation, he was made chairman of the committee for the International Confereno© on Air Navigation at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chi- cago in I893. That was the first international conference held in the New World. That was the approximate time when Chanute put aside all other activities and devoted himself solely to aviation. Unfortunately there does not seem to be definite printed record for a few years. It seems obvious that Chanute -withdreTT to the privacy of his own home, for intensive study and for the oonstruotion of models of flying machines. Otto Lilienthal of Gennany had conducted a nvnoiber of ex- periments with gliders, but they were not really successful be- cause they all failed in lateral stability and eventually caused the death of that intrepid pioneer. Lilienthal and other experi- menters with gliders were using their own bodies as the sole means of establishing stability. Most of them — and this was also tme of Chanute 's first experiments — saw the operator suspended in a harness under the machine. He would run dorm a hill in the teeth of wind until the sustaining ability of his "wings" would lift him from the ground. Then, by moving his bod-y , he sought to meiintain stability. Other experimenters would lie flat in the machine ; have it dragged or pushed rapidly down a hill into the wind, and then — solely by body movement — seek to establish and maintain stabil- ity. None of those experiments was successful. Movement of the body stiff iced only vuider the most favorable conditions. Chanute oonclxided that emy method of manevrvering the ma- chine by changing the position of the body, was wrong. He be- lieved that some means must be provided for adjusting the po- sition of the wings by some definite mechanical means. He be- lieved that the siu-faces — not the man ~ must be movable. E^diaustive study convinced him that ten definite problems must be solved, and the solutions combined into one harmonious whole. These are the ten problems which he listed: 1. Supporting power and resistance of air. 2. The motor — its character and its energy. 3. The instrument for obtaining propulsion. I4.. The form and kind of the apparatus. 5. The extent of the sustaining surfaces. 6. Th9 material and textvire of the apparatus. 7. The maintenance of the equilibrium. 8. Ths guidance in any desired, direction. 9. The starting up under all conditions. 10, The alighting safely anyMsftxere, Consulting problems 2 and 9» it is obvious that Chanute did not propose nor vision the art of flying as depending solely t^on the vagaries of weather. He did not believe that man must wait for a favorable wind, nor be deterred by a violent wind. He believed that man could and would find means whereby he could fly any tiiae, any plaoe. Often in his earlier days as a rail- road, bridge, and oooastruotion engineer, he had conquered seem- ingly insuperable obstacles, and xmquestionably had boundless faith in man's engineering ability "s^ere the air would be con- cerned. Though merely an opinion of the writer of this article, it may be logio to assume that if Octave Chanute had not net and overcome tremendous obstacles of land and vfater, he would not have been so serenely confident of man's ability to meet and overooEDB the obstacles of the air* Havii^ becon» convinced of certain definite principles, Chanute was ready to start mechanical work and experiments. Referring to Page 600, Journal of the Western Society of En- gineers for December, 1597, one finds this statement, calling for explanation: "In December, 1895» Chanute sec\ired the services of Mr. A. M. Herring, a civil and mechanical engineer, who had for some years been making experiments in Aviation, this being the re- cent name given to attempts to imitate the birds." Though recent dictionaries contain many new words, a large proportion of them were formerly colloquial terms. Investigation shows that "aviation" is coii5)arativ©ly at least, a brand new word with a definite background of ptire language j with its root in Latin and its branch in French. Strangely enough, the New English Dictiomry, from the Oxford University Press, and the Dictionary of the American Language , from the Itaiversity of dhioago P^ess, do not contain ■die word. Ifebster's Unabridged, of 193U» contains the word, as does also the Hew Centvtry Dictionary of 1927» the latter giving a more complete definition than the former: "Aviation: The act, art, or science of flying by mechanioa means, especially with machines heavier than air; navigation of the air with flying machines or aeroplanes." Sub-definition says that "aviator" is "ex-French aviateTjr." And all are derived from the Latin root word "avis," bird. Dic- tionaries of 1885 in -ttie Chicago Public Librsiry do not contain either word, nor is there any mention of such word in the stan- dard French diotionary published fifteen or more years prior to 1900, Though in ooBmum use in newspapers and magazines for five or six years, the irord "aviation" does not appear to have been included in any English language dictionary prior to the turn of the century. The statement in the Journal of the Tfestem Society of Engineers is an indirect quote froDi a speech nacEe \xy Octave Chanute before the Society. Thus it is fairly obvious that Chanvtte yra.a a pioneer spon- sor of the rrordf as well as a pioneer in the science. His French birth and ancestry; his knowledge of the French language, and his close study of pioneer French experiments, establish a close contaot. Now to turn back to the experimental days : Chanute and HeiTing worked together on the construction of gliders embrac- ing various ideas, until June, I896, v^en they went to Miller Station, Indiana, on the sand dunes along Lake l£Lchigan. With them were two chief assistsints named Avery and Butosov. Though the exact dates do not appear available, it is cer- tain that they pitched caa^j and began their experimental flying about June 15, and continued until early in Jtily. They wei^ actually ei^eiged in flying for at least fourteen days. First they tested a pure Lilenthal machine, Chanute wished first to solve Problem No. 7 — • "the maintenance of equilibrium. That appeuratus was qiiickly proved unsatisfaotory. Insteswi of moving the bodily weight of the flyer to main- tain lateral stability — to control the center of gravity — Chanute believed that mechanism mxist be devised within the ap- paratus itself; to shift the surfaces so as to bring back a varying center of pressure over a fixed center of gravity; the operator not to move except to steer. Discussing this poirt; later before the Western Society of Engineers, Mr. Chanxrte said that "the results have been ex- tremely gratifying." He explained that unier the Llllenthal method it was necessary for the operator to shift his body as rapidly as a tight rope dancer, sametimes as much as fifteen or eighteen inches* Then the experiments continued with other types of gliders, one type being biplane, the other the Quinque design with five tiers of wings. The wings swung on pivots, restrained by rub- ber springs when the wind struck one side nore than the other, or chiuqged the center of pressure fore and aft. Ijechanical pressiare was applied to ell, tihen necessary. Experiments quickly proved that the five winged apparatus ■aas not an Improvement on the biplane, in either safety or ef- ficiency. It 7ms quickly rejected. Grouping, or placement of the wings, iras gradixally changed. Part of the esqwriments con- sisted of releasing feathers in front of the apparatus Tdien in flight, and watching the paths of the air currents which swept past the wings. Camp was broken in July and Chanute expressed the belief that "more had been learned during those two weeks of experi- ments wi+ii full sized machines than in seven years of theo- retical stviy." Returning to Chiosigo, -three fvll sited machines were con- stjTucted, embracing the best features indicated or developed by the fomer experiments. One was em iB5)roved mechanical control of the vrilng surfaces which came to be known as the "wing warping" device, the fundamental principle which solved the problem of lateral stability , cr Problem 7» To»mrd the end of August, I896, Chanute and his associates again went to the sand duses and for a month proceeded with more experimental flying. Due to his age — he was sixty-five — he made few flights, but directed all of them. However, he in- sisted upon making ecne of the flights for a reason Tbioh will be quickly disclosed, TOien Chanute again returned to Chicago, at least five of his problems ~ U» 5» 6, 7 «ui4iich he would not do, and do it first. Instead of taking letters patent on any of his discoveries. Octave Chanute published them openly; gave them to the world for the sake of the science of aviation. Learning that the Tftright "brothers were experimenting in llorth Carolina, he immediately proceeded to help them, Thotigh they declined financial assistance, they gladly ac- cepted his advice, and the aid of the great principles established by his experiments, Esi5ecially valuable was his solution of the problem of eqtdlibrlum, lateral stability. Site and placement of wings (planes); form and kind of apparatus; material and tex- ture of apparatus, and steering gear, both lateral and perpen- dicular, were also of vast Is^ortance, Let it be observed that Octave Chanute sought first the solution of fvtndamental problems, believing that the applica- tion of motive power could be the more easily studied when those first problems were solved. To use a phrase — he sovight to creep before he flew, Tfright brothers were using the Lilienthal method of oper- ating gliders, with the operator suspended in a harness xmder the juachine. Chantrte believed that the aviator should be seated in the machine, thus to be able to devote his close attention to s'teerlng , Applioatioai of tl» wing warping principle was effected by the Wrights, imder Chanute «s direction, by the use of levers controlling strong wires leading to the upper rear wing tips, Thtis an added strain was placed upon the tips, depressing them, and providing greater resistance to the air. Just as the hvnnan body inclines toward a c\urve when round- ing it at speed; Just as a railroad track is built on a sloping tangent as a curve, in the direction of the curve, in the same manner the wing-^rexp inclined the airplane in the direction of the curve, and stability was maintained, Eqtdllbrlum was established. Just eis soon as the curve had been rounded, or the unexpected wind pressure on one side of the laachiue l»d decreased, the wiBg-«Erp strsdn was decreased or re- moved and the nachine proceeded on an even keel. Lack of that principle caused the death of Otto Lilienthal. SocB early airplanes applied the wing-^wexp by -wires lead- ing fron. tl» aviator's seat, the anas of -which -were pivoted. ThvB a slight ncvenent to right or left, "by the aviator, would apply tl» s-train to -the wing tips and depress them. So Icaig as "wii^ sxarfaxses of airplanes vrere m ade of re- silieirt fabric, that vdng -warping de-vlce -was \ised, being an indispensable adj\inot. Nowadays -with rigid lastal or cor^josi- -tion svurfaces, it is no longer used, the result being ao- corrplished by other neans. But Oo-ta-TO Chanute established the principle, and he gave it to -the public freely, through the media of pajnphlets and personal instaruc-tion by word of mouth. Long before the Tfright brothers made -their first flight -^srith a motor dri-ren biplane, European experimenters -were using it. Consulting page 296 of Pocket-Book of Aeronautios , by Hermann TT, L. lioedeback, published in London in l^djt one finds this paragraph:- "Mr. C. Chanute of Chicago, Illinois, cane to the conclu- sion tteit equilibrium -nas the most important problem -to solve, and he thought -that it might be made autoaaatic by reversing previo\3S practice, and making -the svirfaces movable ins-tead of the man." TEright brothers maintained close secrecy regarding their appara-tus, so that the -theory ad-vanced and proved in gliders by Chanute, isid become an accooplished fact in a motor dri-ven ma- chine before the above mentioned book -was in print. During the passing years -there have been many and tremen- dous inproveiaents in hea-vier-than-air machines, bvrt the patience, engineerii^ skill, and enthiisiasm of Oc-tave Chanute -were chiefly responsible for the actual bir-th of -the airplane. Supporting that conclusion is the oocment of -the Aeronaatical Journal in June, 19Ci|.: "Chanute may fairly be considered the progenitor of the biplane, for his multiple plane gliders ***** Trere the first to be at SLll successful. He collaborated wi-th the Tfiright brothers in -their ez^riment and they owe much -to his learning and ability." Possessing the visions of a seer, Chanute said to the V/esteni Society of Engineers, esjrly in 190i4.:- "Flying laaohines promise better results as to speed, but yet •will be of limited commercial application. They may carry mails and reach inaccessible places, but they can't compete with rail- roads as carriers of passengers or freight. They Trill not fill the heavens with commerce, abolish custom houses, or revolution- ise the world, for they will be too expensive for the loads which they can carry, sind subject to too many wind contingencies. Suc- cess is, however, probable." Four years later, in I9O8, he said that airplanes would some day "meike war so terrible as to cco5)el peace." He had then reached the advanced age of 76 years, and his mind was more crystal clear than ever. Thus, in retrospect, one sees the man who for nearly three score years had devoted his life to useful, constructive work. Possessing amazing vigor and dynamic energy alike of mind and body, he was blessed with the ebullient enthusiasm of youth, and generosity that is almost beyond belief. Chicago in particular and Illinois in general are also especially indebted to Octave Chanute because he was the or- ganizer and first president of the Aero Club of Illinois, es- tablished in February, I9IO. Composed of one hvindred prominent Chicagoans who banded together for the purpose of advancing the science of aviation in Illinois, that organization led immediately to the formation of the Intenaational Aviation Meet Association. TAider the auspices of that organization, Chicago Tra.s the scene, in August, 1911# Qf the greatest aviation meet in world history. But Octave Chanute did not live to see it. To the grief and dismay of his associates, he departed this life on November 23, 1910» ^t* his home on North Dearborn Parkway. Interred at Peoria, Illinois, his memory is kept green by- giving his name to a town in Kansas, thru irtiich he built a rail- road j by a memorial in Ifcirquette Park, G&xy, Indiana, a great city that rose upon the sand dvmes of Indiana where he made his historic glider flights; and lastly by a grateful nation that honored him by naming the Air Base at Rantoul, Illinois, out of respect for his early contributions to aviation, Chanute Field is provid of the backgrovind of its illustrious namesake. The Army Air Corps salutes a distinguished gentleman. ffi^UBfrnv OF JHE OCT 13 194, UN/VERS/TrOFJLL/NOIS r ILLI jiOXS H/STO