Newspaper Articles 1896 O. Chanute

Newspaper Articles 1896

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Octave Chanute's glider experiments in the dunes of Miller beach immediately attracted a goodly number of people, locals and reporters alike. The following appeared on the front page of the Chicago Tribune on June 24, 1896, only two days after Chanute first arrived in Miller.

Reprinted from
The Chicago Tribune
June 24, 1896

MEN FLY IN MIDAIR.
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Chicago Experts Make Experiments on Indiana Soil.
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TRIALS OF TWO DEVICES.
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What Octave Chanute Has Hopes of Accomplishing.
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HE HAS AN ORIGINAL DESIGN.
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Satisfactory Use Made of the Lilienthal Aeroplane.
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HOOSIERS LOOK ON AND MARVEL :
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If a lake steamer had cruised by the beach opposite Miller's, Ind. yesterday, the passengers would have had a good opportunity to see men flying through the air, borne not exclusively on the wings of the wind but apparently sustained by twelve gigantic white swans. Octave Chanute, No. 413 Huron Street, ex President of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and three companions were practicing aerial navigation with a Lilienthal aeroplane. Mr. Chanute, who is regarded as an authority in 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 would be able to sustain a man safely in the air and which would be under perfect control. Temporarily the question of the motive power is 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 luggage of the party. Mr. Chanute and his friends went to a little hotel and left their personal belongings, but had their other things conveyed over to the beach, about one 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 for the world like a three-mast schooner's rigging was erected with sails set, on the sand. The natives waited 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 from the 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 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 . . . 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 107 square feet, and is spoon shaped, being nineteen feet from the 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 steep 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 always fulls right side up and descends quite gradually.

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 experiment 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 too much at once," he said. "This is only one phase of the subject. After a man is able to guide 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.

Reprinted from
THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE,
August 2, 1896

TO SAIL ON THE AIR
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TWO SCHEMES OF WESTERN MEN FOR AERIAL NAVIGATION
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Flying Machine of Octave Chanute on
the Principles of Bird Flight - Plan of
W.W.McEwen, the Parachutist, to Ascend
on a Mammoth Rocket - He will Go Up
Like a Bullet from a Gun - Outline of His
Theory - Wings Automatically Regulated.
________________________________
   Flying machines are the order of the day. For a number of years there has been considerable investigation along the line of aerial navigation, but until recently the great difficulty has been experienced that the flying machines would not fly. Beginning, however, with Maxim and his adaptation of the aeroplane, it would seem that a new state of affairs had come to pass, and that the right track had been hit upon at last. Of late several machines have been brought forward, most of them of the aeroplane type and nearly all of them give promise of a fair share of ultimate success. Two of the latest ideas come from the West, and have Chicago as their center of operation.
   The design of these has already been described by THE TRIBUNE. It is the airship invented by Octave Chanute, former President of the Society of Engineers. In it the principles derived from a study of the flight of birds, the line along which there seems the greatest likelihood of success in aerial navigation, have been closely followed, and Mr. Chanute believes that he has mastered and successfully applied these.
   At first glance the Chanute airship looks very much like a ship with all sails spread. There is a resemblance to a ship, too, in the details. The frame which supports a man, is of willow and spruce, shaped in a general way like a canoe, save that there is a greater curvature of deck plane and keel. Made as it is, this frame is light, though rigid to a degree, and sufficiently strong to support a man above the average weight.
   Extending from the boat shaped frame there are six pairs of wings. The ribs for these are of willow covered with a light silk, saturated in a preparation of gum cotton, sufficiently strong to prevent penetration by either water or air. Each wing is curved on a parabola of one-twelfth of its width of two feet, and each is seven feet long, thus furnishing a surface of something over fifteen feet square. The outside ends of the wings are connected with a width of prepared silk, acting as a keel to the airship.

Wings Automatically Regulated.

   The chief improvement over other airships, however, is found in the automatic regulation of the wings, by which they are kept at an angle with the plane of the air current. If upon exhaustive experiment the regulator acts as it has in the early trials it is believed that the question of navigating the air has been is settled, at least such are the claims of the inventor. The propelling of a ship through the air has never occasioned great trouble; it is the sustaining it and carrying it in the face of the wind which have bothered the inventors. Large birds will suddenly turn and sail off in the very teeth of a strong wind without a movement of the wings, and the obtaining of the same power in an airship has been the dream of inventors. This Mr. Chanute believes has been accomplished by its automatic regulator.
The experiments which have been carried out seem to show that in a great measure success has been achieved. They have also showed the weak points in the present construction, and suggested improvements in the apparatus for the better carrying out of the principles which has been proved correct. The experiments are being made on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, near Miller, Ind. Though but little more than thirty miles from Chicago, the sandy stretch chosen is almost a wilderness and no better place could be found for the avoiding of publicity. Mr. Chanute with A.M. Herring, William Paul and William Avery, all aeronauts of considerate expertise went to this place, taking with them the machine constructed for the experiments. The machine itself was 14 feet in width, 15 feet in length, and weighed 36 pounds.

Experiments a Success.

   The first experiment was made without the use of a propeller or motor of any sort, and simply for the investigation of "bird flight" as applied to airships. Mr. Avery ran along the crest of a hill with the machine, and then jumping out into the air, governed the apparatus in the wind gusts. The first flight carried the operator fifty feet, he being at the times never less than two feet above the ground. This was considered an astounding result, considering that absolutely no motive power beyond the wind was used, and it demonstrated that the idea of the automatic regulator was correct in principle.

   After that first skim the two assistants of Mr. Chanute made between 150 and 200 jumps all without the slightest accident, either to themselves ore the machine. These jumps varied in length from 50 to 100 feet, and each one proved beyond the question of a doubt that the apparatus is perfectly manageable, automatically stable, strong enough in every part and capable of aspirating, under proper conditions, in high altitudes.
   As the result of his experiments Mr. Chanute sets up the claim that he has proven that the element of safety has been secured, and he considers it almost as valuable as other proven conditions that his machine can make way against the wind and cross currents.

Up with a Rocket.

   The other flying machine, brought out be a western man is the work of W. W. McEwen of Jackson, Mich. It is the most audacious idea advanced since Mark Twain invited his friends to jump of the Alps with an open umbrella for a parachute, but it is the result, Mr. McEwen claims, of long study of existing conditions and is planned on a strictly scientific basis. It is nothing less than an ascent by rocket, sixty feet in length, Mr. McEwen proposes to go up into the clouds in a few seconds, after which, deserting the rocket for a parachute, he will descend slowly. To the average mind this latter part appears to be doubtful, but the inventor professes absolute confidence in his scheme, and declares that he will undertake the ascent without fear of a hurried drop at the end.

Reprinted from
THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE,
September 8, 1896
Article concerns itself with William Paul Butusov's ¹ 'Albatross'

FLYING MACHINES BEING TESTED
ON THE INDIANA SAND DUNES

Octave Chanute's party, now carrying on experiments with air machines on the lake shore near Dune Park, Ind., did not make any additional launches of their machines yesterday owing to unfavorable wind conditions. A steady breeze from the north, having a velocity of not more than twenty miles an hour, is wanted. This is demanded because the experiments ahead are to proceed from the end of a wooden chute facing the lake. As soon as a suitable wind blows the test of Mr. Paul's machine will be made.

   The special wind craft is shaped like an ark and differs from the other machines which Mr. Chanute and Mr. Herring are practicing with, in that the operator gets entirely inside. He has room to move forward and backward several feet, which the maker expects will give him control over the movements of the machine sufficient to guide it. The ark is made of light sticks banded together with thin wires, and is extremely light for a structure big enough to hold a man and the expansive sail surfaces which furnishes the power in the teeth of a lake wind. .

   Mr. Paul has full faith in this craft and says it is not a question of theory with him. He says he has been in the skys lots of times with it and has sailed around for half an hour at a time. He is from Mammouth Cave, Ky., and says he there successfully soared over his farm without a mishap. His plan is to adjust the ship upon the chute, then get in it and have his helpers push it off. It will strike the air at a point about thirty feet from the sand slope and if it slides into the air some yards, it will double that distance to the ground.

   The experiment with this machine is not properly a part of the scientific work being done by Mr. Chanute. The machines the engineer is concerned in are patterns of his own and Mr. Herring's invention. But Mr. Paul has such unlimited faith in his ark flyer and claims so much in the way of previous experiments, that the Chicago party is doing all it can do to help him prove his plan. But neither of the other inventors expects to take a trip in the Paul air boat.

NOTES:

¹Throughout many of the newspaper accounts of the Chanute party's experiments William Paul Butusov is referred to as "William Paul" only. No explanation is known, but one might surmise that he was tired of spelling his name for reporters.

SHIP SOARS IN AIR.

Reprinted from
THE CHICAGO CHRONICLE,
SEPTEMBER 11, 1896
pages 1 & 2 with some parts unavoidably missing.

Aeronauts Conduct a Successful Test at Millers, Ind.
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Four of the Party Take an Involuntary Ride in Space
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  Flying Apparatus Carries Heavy Weight for Some Distance.

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Monster Contrivance of Inventor Paul Is to Be Launched Today.

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Owner Expects to Navigate the Device With Ease and Precision.

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Airship Test a Success - Huge Machine Flies.

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   Octave Chanute and his party of scientists who are experimenting with machines intended to overcome the law of gravitation and to support their operators in the air, conducted gratifying experiments yesterday at their camp a few miles south of Miller's, Ind. on the lake shore. The flying machine, or, more scientifically, the aeroplane, which has been invented by Mr. Chanute proved itself perfectly capable not only of floating in the air, but also of carrying with it a weight several times as great as it was designed to support. Although the machine has carried men before, under favorable circumstances, a much greater distance then it passed over yesterday, the experiment was one of the most satisfactory which has yet been accomplished.
   The conditions under which it was made, were most unfavorable and yet the machine surpassed the most sanguine expectations of its inventor.
   For several days the scientists at Miller's have been waiting for strong wind. It came yesterday, but was exactly opposite the direction to that which was desired. It was consequently with a feeling of surprise that his assistants heard Mr. Chanute order them to prepare his seven-winged machine for a test. Profiting by experts, however, they obeyed his orders implicitly and within a few minutes of long, the unwieldy appearing machine was hanging on a tree where the wind could catch it.

CARRIES HEAVY WEIGHT.

   As the breeze was blowing from the wrong direction, Mr. Chanute did not deem it advisable for any person to risk life or man(?) by becoming entangled in its meshes and he consequently had provided a huge bag of sand, which acted as ballast. Although the wind was strong, Mr. Chanute, determined to make the experiment, ordered rapes with which the flyer was secured, to be loosed. All the ropes were fastened by running slip knots, which were easily thrown off, but as soon as they were free of their anchors a most remarkable thing happened.
   Mr. Chanute, who was holding one corner of the airship by means of a long rope, was lifted into the air and Dr. Ricketts, Mr. Herring and Mr. Paul seemed quite likely to accompany him on a flight through the air. All four were dragged from the ground and carried a slight distance as the machine rose as majestically as a huge sea gull. The combined weight of the four scientists, however, soon brought it again to the ground, when it was speedily passed under control by furling the wings weighting down the framework and otherwise disabling it.
   After they had been rescued from their unexpected and perilous positions and after the machine which was the cause of the trouble had been safely continued, they made merry over the ludicrous positions in which they had seen each other.

SHAPED LIKE A BIRD.

   All were more than satisfied with the machine and it was with light hearts that they carried the imitation albatross, which has been constructed with careful reference to the anatomy of the South American bird, back to comp. The party then sat down to dinner and concluded to wait until a favorable wind prevails before trying to elaborate the machine of Mr. Paul. This will probably be given its first trial today unless the breeze is decidedly unfavorable. All of the party expect that Mr. Paul's machine will be the most successful of the three and the greatest interest is attached to its initial trip.
   The machine is provided with four corners, which will rest upon a chute erected on a sand hill. The upper end of the chute is ninety feet from the ground, while the lower end is seventy-seven feet from the lake level. The entire structure is 450 feet from the lake and it is confidentially expected that the aeronaut who rides in it, probably Mr. Paul Himself, will secure a good bath in Lake Michigan before he comes to the end of his journey. Mr. Paul is confident of success and his trial today will be witnessed by many who are neither scientists or newspaper men.

DESCRIPTION OF MACHINES.

Three Models Used.
   The three machines which the party at Miller's is now experimenting with are the result of many years of careful study. Mr. Chanute has been greatly interested in the subject of air navigation for a considerable part of his life, and his main work since quitting railroad engineering, to which most of his professional attention has been given, has been a study of the problem as to whether a contrivance can be made which shall be supported by wind currents, without any artificial motor power. Mr. Chanute does not claim that his machine will be of any practical value, per se, however, that as soon as a device shall be successful in resisting the law of gravitation a great step toward successful air navigation will have been accomplished.
"Once let a machine be constructed," he says, "which will float in the air and the adding of the necessary motive power will be an easy matter."
   The first, and it may be added, one of the best of the machines which Mr. Chanute has constructed, is modeled closely upon the famous Lilienthal machine, by experimenting with which the well-known German aeronaut recently lost his life. For the first week that the campers have been making their outdoor experiments, the trials were confined to this machine. It is constructed on the same principle as a bat, the wings being exact imitations of the propelling instruments used by the proverbially blind animal. After several trials under more or less favorable conditions, it was determined that the machine could never be so regulated as to be safe and the second of the ideas was tried.

TRIAL IS A SUCCESS.

   This, although quite elaborate in construction, is simple in action and longer glides have been made with it than with any other air ship which modern times have produced. It may be possible that the ship would prove practical is a motor were attached to it, but Mr. Chanute is still unsatisfied.
   No person inexperienced in aeronautics would take the second airship for what it is. It is nearly, if not quite, six feet high, as many wide, and is perhaps four feet from back to front. In all it is provided with seven pairs of wings. Five of these pair are ranged above the other in perpendicular tiers at the front of the machine. The frame work upon which they are stretched is made of spruce and bamboo, is two and one-half feet long and a little more than fifteen inches wide.
   Behind the wings is an elaborately contrived frame work in which the person operating the machine is supposed to stand erect. Still farther back and a little lower than the center of the machine are the two sets of wings which act as rudders, and which may be used by cords attached to arms or legs. The entire structure weighs less than sixty pounds.
   While operating this airship, as indeed is the case with all of Mr. Chanute's inventions, the operator is expected to stand. This machine is so balanced that any considerable inclination toward the rear or front will pitch the person inside of it headlong to the front. It is this fault which Mr. Chanute is now developing his scientific resources to overcome. While no serious accidents has occurred in his experiments he is fearful that a sudden puff of wind or abatement of the breeze may cause a serious mishap, and for that reason he has been most careful about the experiments which he has so far made. Although he is too modest and cautious to say as much , it is evident that he regards this machine as the most perfect which he has invented since that of the Perugian Dante, and that he hopes in a short time to perfect it so that it will be practical to use with a motor.

INVENTOR PAUL'S DEVICE.

   The third and by far the most elaborate machine of them all is not the invention of Mr. Chanute, but was devised by a young civil engineer who has been acting as an assistant to the older aeronaut. Like the other members of the party, he is a Chicagoan, and although a much younger man than his companions, has been experimenting with aerial navigation almost as long. He is William Paul and is regarded as an expert engineer by those who have had occasion to notice his work. Mr. Paul has some reason to be confident of success as his model has soared successfully with ballast for several minutes.
   In appearance his machine resembles the common idea of an airship much more closely than do either of Mr. Chanute's inventions. The machine looks like a huge canvas boat with an immense rudder and a flat roof. The framework, as in other airships, is spruce, although bamboo will probably be used in case the ship justifies the opinion formed from the actions of the model. Bamboo is much stronger as well as considerably lighter than the other wood and a framework made of it would require much smaller sails.
   Mr. Paul's ship consists of a boat 8 to 10 feet long, 31/2 feet wide and 4 feet deep. Two immense wings are attached to it by a framework six feet high and a rudder, which consists of a single sail, four feet long and half as wide, completes the fixture. The sails, as in the case of Mr. Chanute's machine are immovable, the rudder being the only part of the contrivance the position of which is not fixed.
   Like the other machines, the airship constructed by Mr. Paul is provided with no motor and will be managed, at least until wind and atmospheric pressure shall prove sufficient to support the framework and canvas, simply by natural air currents. If these prove sufficient for the purpose, almost any kind of a motor may be used, and by slightly enlarging the machine two, three or perhaps even four people may be carried. The ship, at present constructed for one man, weighs 180 pounds, nearly three times as much as any similar machine ever invented.

CAMP OF THE AERONAUTS.
TALK WITH INVENTOR.

(ed.: 2 paragraphs missing.)

The town consists of a railroad station, twenty-two houses, a little school building, a general store and two saloons. There is not a sidewalk in the plAce and the two streets of the village are completely buried in sand.
   People in Miller have a vague idea that somebody, somewhere, is preparing a flying machine. Who, they do not know, where, they do not care, what sort of a machine, they do not know. They have agreed that the campers are crazy and give them no thought.

HEADS FOR THE LAKE.

(ed.: 2 paragraphs missing.)

   The six tents are pitched in a valley protected on their side by immense sand piles 100 or more feet in height. Two of the machines, that of Paul's and the seven-winged affair of Chanute's, are exposed to view, while the third is anchored under a canvass tent.
As the visitor approaches, he is met by an erect and white haired gentlemen dressed in a suit of blue, with his handsome white locks covered with a yachting cap of the same shade. His eyes scan his visitor in a doubtful manner and he says nothing until the intruder breaks the ice.
"Professor Chanute, I presume?" says the visitor.

DISCLAIMS THE TITLE.

"My name is Chanute," replies the man of science, "But I am not a professor. I am simply a student."
several paragraphs missing.
    Besides Mr. Chanute, the scientific party consists of two young civil engineers, F. O. Paul and H. T. Herring, and of Dr. Howard T. Ricketts of the Chicago Medical College, who will act as a surgeon to the party. All of them are scientifically educated, and none is a wild-eyed and one sided crank, such as are usually associated in the minds of most people with flying machines.
several paragraphs missing.

HISTORY OF AERIAL NAVIGATION.

(ed.: several paragraphs missing.)

Reprinted from
THE CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE,
SEPTEMBER 12, 1896
Page 6

AIR SHIPS WORK WELL
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CHANUTE'S DEVICES GIVEN TEST
YESTERDAY AT DUNE PARK
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Famous Experiments of Lilienthal Said to
Have Been Eclipsed in Many Respects -
Maximum Flight of 183 Feet is Made by the
Aid of Seven-Winged Apparatus in Less
than Eight Seconds - Trials of the Paul Machine
Are Expected Today
___________

   The wind coasting tests yesterday in the sand dunes on the lake shore near Dune Park, Ind., gave new results, better in certain respects than have ever been achieved in America. The results also exceed in some respect the best work of Lilienthal.

   Mr. Chanute says the day's work demonstrates that his party has two machines which are superior to Lilienthal's in ease of control, safety, lightness, and range of speed. It gives Mr. Herring and Mr. Avery records for air coasting in speed, time, distance, and horizontal paths, and, what is considered most important of all, develops no hidden defects in the air machine tested.

   This means increased confidence upon the parts of the operators and gives promise that complete mastery of the machine is not impossible.

   So far as records show today's tests were made in the strongest wind in which experiments have ever been safely conducted. The wind had an average velocity of thirty-two miles an hour and the speed obtained by the machines in the teeth of this wind exceeded at times twenty-five miles an hour, making the speed through the air equivalent to fifty-seven miles an hour in a calm.

   The machines and operators alighted gently, showing absolute control of the apparatus. Even Lilienthal, until 1895, never experimented in winds stronger than fifteen miles an hour. In that year he advanced his limit to twenty-mile winds, and thereby lost his life.

   The meaning of this advance is held to be greater than mere figures would indicate, since the irregularities of the wind and difficulties of the control probably increase with the square of the velocity of the wind.

   In the forenoon the test was made with the seven-winged machine, operated with the Chanute regulator. The best results in more than two dozen flights were 183 feet in 7 9/10 seconds against a twenty-three-mile wind, made by M. Herring, and 172 feet in 7 8/10 seconds by Mr. Avery.

   With the two-winged or double-decked machine, fitted with the Herring regulator, Mr. Avery coasted 256 feet in 10 2/10 seconds. This flight was made at a descending grade of less than 8º.

   Mr. Herring with the same machine, made 234 feet in 8 7/10 seconds, making the unusual angle of but 7 1/2º.

   Both of these flights made by the operators skimmed along over the ground in courses almost horizontal.

   With the high wind the practice was full of excitement for beholders. The devices showed several capers while still under control which were new to their riders.

   Starts were made purposely half way down the sand hills, as the machine would have sailed into the lake if consigned to the air from on top.

Click on Picture to enlarge

One wholly new freak of the air was experienced by Mr. Herring when his machine rose with a sudden gust forty feet higher than his starting point, then coming to a sudden poise, balancing like a bird, swooping at a right angle, traveled a long journey, and alighted gracefully upon a hillside. It was seen that Mr. Herring's flight with the wind alone caught and held the machine and then let it descend gradually, thus showing control under exceedingly severe conditions.

   It is expected that with favorable conditions a test of William Paul's flying machine of the albatross pattern will be made today.

   No trial of the Paul device was made yesterday, because the inventor was unable to be present to superintend the test.

Reprinted from
THE CHICAGO RECORD,
SEPTEMBER 28, 1896
Monday

AIRSHIP'S FINAL TEST
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THE EXPERIMENT IS A FAILURE
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Adverse Winds Strike the Creature In Its
Flight and Bring It to Earth - Inventor Thinks He will Yet
Solve the Problem.
___________

   Dune Park, Ind. has been deserted by the Albatross and flock of mechanical birds that Octave Chanute and Inventor William Paul have for some months been trying to teach how to fly. The creatures have not flown south for the winter. They have simply been packed in cases and shipped back to Chicago on an Air line freight train.

   Owing to adverse winds, the experiments in aerial navigation have not been entirely satisfactory, but Mr. Chanute and inventor Paul are satisfied with the season's work and claim to have approached a little nearer to the goal for which so many inventors have been striving.

   Saturday, the north wind that was wanted for a test of a big Airship Albatross was blowing at the desired velocity of twenty-five miles an hour, and the test was made. But the wind shifted to the east just as the craft spread its wings and whirled it into a clump of trees, breaking the left wings of the machine and bruising Capt. Paul.

Air Coasting Record Broken.

   This was the final test, and, after coasting for a while with Mr. Chanute's aerocurves and breaking the world's record for air coasting, it is said, the machines were packed for shipment.

   William Paul is still confident that his airship will prove a success if it can be launched under proper conditions.

Success of the Aerocurve.

   Mr. Chanute said yesterday that while he might not be able to devote as much time to practical experiments in aerial navigation another year, he was satisfied with what he had accomplished. He had not hoped to see the problem of aerial navigation solved, but had undertaken the summer's experiments largely for the purpose of perfecting the aerocurve, and had practically succeeded. He now has a device that will adjust itself to any condition of the wind; will right itself and float gradually and safely to the ground, if dropped at any angle or from any reasonable height.

   He has completed a number of aerocurves, capable of sustaining one person, that have carried passengers from a height of about fifty feet a distance of nearly 500 feet before reaching terra firma and landed them comfortably and without jarring.

   Small aerocurves, proportionally weighted, have been tossed in the air at almost every angle and have invariably righted and floated to the ground. Some have been set adrift upside down, and, like a cat, have "landed on their feet." These experiments lead Mr. Chanute to believe that he has perfected a parachute, or aerocurve that solves the problem of aerial balancing and will be safe and useful.

Reprinted from
The Westchester Tribune, Chesterton, Indiana,
Saturday, October 3, 1896

This newspaper article is interesting in that it differs from Chanute's account of the attempted flight of the "Albatross" in his Gliding Experiments published in The Journal of the Society of Western Engineers, or in the Aeronautical Annuals of 1897. In both those publications Chanute stated that there was no pilot in the final attempt, but this article reports that not only did Butusov man the craft, but suffered minor injuries. Also of note is the flight of the Chanute 'double-decker' on Sunday the 27th with a flight of 489 feet that is never mentioned by Chanute.

SHIP FAILS TO FLY

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"Albatross" and Inventor
Drop Sixty-Five Feet

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END IS MADE OF TESTS

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Experimenters Prepare to Abandon
Dune Park Camp

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MAY RETURN NEXT SUMMER

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Octave Chanute Has Future Improvements in View, Records of Aeronautical Devices

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After waiting for almost one month for a favorable wind to test his "Albatross" flying machine, William Paul ¹, the inventor, Saturday afternoon risked his life, his air ship, and his dream of fame and fortune in an effort to sail among the clouds. It was the old story of Darius Green, and that he escaped without serious, if not fatal injury, is a miracle. The machine fell sixty-five feet and was badly wrecked, and that night fame, fortune and success seemed more elusive than ever. Thus ended the season's experiments at Dune Park, and Sunday Octave Chanute and his party broke camp, the "Albatross" and the aeroplane flying machines were packed into boxes for the winter and the camp outfit brought back to Chicago by boat. Until Saturday morning no wind has blown from the north for two weeks. As the frame chute at the hilltop from which the "Albatross" was launched faced due north, nothing but a straight north wind, and that blowing at the rate of twenty-five miles an hour, met the demands of the inventor for his experimenters concluded their long wait was to be rewarded. Before the big aircraft was carried to the top of the hill and put upon the ways, however, a quarter wind had set in, but it was decided to let the "Albatross" make a trip anyhow.

LIFTED ON THE WAYS

It required eight men to put the machine upon the ways. As the wind was increasing momentarily, it was found necessary to hold the craft down with ropes. Mr. Paul climbed into the frame hull, adjusted a rubber lifeboy around his neck, as if expecting to encounter water. A lifeboat on the beach was manned by Will Avery and a fishing smack sailed around near shore to give help if the machine fell into the water. At 3 o'clock the man in the airship shouted "All off". The ropes were cut and the "bird" slid down to the end of the chute and surprised the spectators by stopping, as if counting the cost of a swoop. The quartering wind had proved sufficient to arrest descent by friction of the runners against the off side. Again the craft was placed at the top of the ways. Ropes were fastened to the bottom and four men took positions to accelerate the start with a hearty pull. The wind for a moment seemed not to come from the east and all felt sure that the moment big with consequences for Inventor William Paul was near at hand. "Once again - let her go!" sang out the inventor.

ALBATROSS IS OFF

A chop at the anchor rope, a swift scoot down the ways, and the Albatross was off. It was a plunge into empty space with sixty-nine feet between Mr. Paul and the level of the sandy beach ahead of him. For an instant it seemed that his craft was making for the beach. The next instant a gust straight from the east his the Albatross and its mind seemed quickly altered. The bulk of wood and canvass lifted perceptibly as the starboard wing caught the wind. The head turned to the west. Mr. Paul shifted his weight to hold the craft for the water. He was not quick enough. Already the machine was out of its course and a plaything for the adverse current. The momentum acquired was increased by the wind striking the craft now squarely aft. It darted like a hawk after quarry, wheeling still more upon its course until it ran almost for the hill again. Not more than a hundred feet had been traversed to the west until the Albatross dropped rapidly, beat into a clump of trees, and fell. The craft rested on its left side with the left wing shattered, and a number of ribs smashed, and other damages.

PAUL SAVES HIS NECK

Paul was not thrown to his feet, owing to the side rails, which he clutched with desperate energy, but he sustained a bad cut over his left eye and several bruises. As there was no time left to put the machine in shape it was then dismantled and packed for shipping. In the morning all previous records for coasting were broken by Mr. Avery upon the Chanute double-decked aeroplane. With the aid of a new device for steering he made a flight of 489 feet, landing him in the lake, where the water took him up to his waist. This was the only flight made where the operator reached the lake. It is said to be more than twice the greatest length scored by Lilienthal, and is claimed to be 100 feet ahead of the world's record for aeroplane coasting. Mr. Paul and Dr. H.T. Ricketts also scored some pretty flights with the same machine. It is the purpose of Mr. Chanute to fit up a flatboat with a chute next summer from which experiments may be carried on in the lake with the wind from any quarter and with a less danger to the operator.

Reprinted from THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, August 2, 1896

Reprinted from
THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE,
August 2, 1896