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1867 - 1927

Octave Alexandre Chanute
&
Augustus Moore Herring

 

Octave Alexandre Chanute

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Octave Chanute, a native of France, was retired from a distinguished engineering career and living in Chicago, Illinois, when he began to pursue his life-long interest in aeronautics. His experiments with "gliding machines" began in 1896 and were conducted at Dune Park, Miller Beach, Indiana, on the southern shore of Lake Michigan.

 

 

 

 

Camp Chanute, Dune Park, Indiana - 1896

 

Magic Lantern glass slide (ca. 1909) depicting Octave Chanute's first glider - 1896

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Octave Chanute's Multiple-Wing Glider - "First Form" - 1896

Octave Chanute's Multiple-Wing Glider was built to test the possibility of utilizing wings which pivoted fore-and-aft about a vertical axis to control the center of pressure on the wings of the glider, thus providing stability. The strange appearance of this gliding machine with its "oscillating" wings has caused many people to dismiss the concept, especially in light of the later "classic" designs with trussed and "fixed" wings. However, while this glider was hardly successful, in its design can be seen the germ of a idea which would later be used in numerous designs of military jet-powered machines with pivoting movable wing surfaces, notably the F-111 and B-1.

 

 

 

Augustus Moore Herring - 1907

Augustus Moore Herring (1909)

 

 

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Drawing of Octave Chanute's Multiple-Wing Gliding Machine - 1896

August Herring (1867-1926) was an American aviation enthusiast heavily involved in the glider experiments of Octave Chanute, one of the best known aviation pioneers of the late 1800s. Herring also briefly worked for Samuel Langley, who was the principal competitor to the Wright brothers. Herring's experiences with these two giants of American aeronautics inspired him to build and fly gliders of his own design at the Indiana Sand Dunes and St. Joseph, Michigan.

Augustus Moore Herring was hired by Chanute to assist with the 1896 gliding machine experiments at Miller Beach and Dune Park, Indiana.

 Herring built a Lilienthal-type glider and, along with William Avery, built the Chanute Multiple-Wing Glider and Chanute-Herring Glider which were tested at Camp Chanute. Herring had experimented with a Lilenthal-type glider in 1894 and had earlier served as an assistant to Samuel P. Langley. William Paul Butusov was also present for the tests in 1896 with his own large gliding machine.

 

 

 

 

 

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	Lilenthal-type Soaring Machine Built By Augustus M. Herring - Dune Park, Indiana - 1896
Patent Drawing of Octave Chanute's Lilenthal-type Soaring Machine - 1895	Augustus Herring's Two-Surface Gliding Machine - 1896

The Herring Two-Surface Gliding Machine which was extensively tested at Dune Park in 1896 was an important and significant design. It anticipated the designs of later aeroplanes and clearly set the pattern. The work of Chanute and Herring should be seen as collaborative, for Chanute's engineering skills are evident in the truss bracing used on the gliding machine, while Herring contributed the cruciform Penaud-type tail, as well as the overall scheme.

Octave Chanute's 1902 Three-Surface Oscillating-Wing Folding Gliding Machine tested Chanute's movable wing theory yet again, but this version's wings apparently moved about a spanwise horizontal axis rather than a vertical axis. This meant, in theory, that the operator could alter the angle of incidence in flight, and (so the thought went) control the movement of the center of pressure of the wings. Chanute's 1902 gliding machine was built to Chanute's design by Charles H. Lamson in Long Beach, California, an experienced builder of very large human-carrying kites. After one day of gliding in October of 1902 with Augustus M. Herring as operator, this machine was stored, along with the Wright 1902 Glider, in the loft of the Wrights' workshop at Kill Devil Hill, North Carolina, and was, apparently, not tested further.

 

 

 

 

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	The dual-piston compressed air engine used on the Herring Powered Biplane - 1898
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Drawing Of The Herring Powered Biplane Aloft	Augustus Herring and two views of his powered glider

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The Chanute-Herring Glider Three-Surface Gliding Machine - 1896

Patent Drawing For The Chanute-Herring Glider Three-Surface Powered Machine - 1896

The Charles H. Lamson-built Chanute Three-Surface Oscillating-Wing "Folding" Gliding Machine In Flight, Augustus M. Herring Aboard, Kill Devil Hill, North Carolina - October 1902

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Octave Chanute went on to be the main enthusiast for the Wright Brothers during their early aerial trials, encouraging them and supplying them with the latest aerial information. By 1900 Chanute had become the center point for various aerial experimenters in Europe and the U.S. His 1894 book "Progress in Flying Machines" was a landmark volume and was the book recommended to Wilbur Wright by the Smithsonian Institution in 1899.

Augustus Herring continued his flying machine experiments, adding a small compressed air engine turning two propellers (one pusher and one tractor propeller) in 1898, and apparently made at least one short hop. In June of 1897 Chanute and Herring jointly applied for and received a patent in Great Britain (13 months later) for a powered version of the tri-plane glider.

While Chanute has been remembered as a towering figure in aeronautics during the years around the turn of the century, Herring was not to be so honored. He is now best remembered for having engaged in questionable business practices during his later association with Glenn Curtiss and for having submitted a seemingly fallacious bid to the U.S. Army to construct a military aeroplane.

 

 

The Herring Powered Biplane Glider 1898

 

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	The tractor and pusher propellers are clearly seen in these photographs taken at St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1898, as are the small compressed air engine and the compressed air storage tank, just in front of Augustus Herring's chest (top photo). Note also the two wheels and the position of Herring's legs... crossed and tucked under (top photo).

Much of Herring's work improved upon gliders he had earlier built along with Chanute, configurations largely inspired by the designs of Otto Lilienthal in Germany. These gliders typically included no control system other than shifting the weight of the pilot, who was suspended beneath the wing. Herring's attempt at powered flight came in 1898 when he mounted a 3 hp compressed air engine above the lower wing of one of his biplane gliders. This engine powered two propellers, one in front of the engine and the other behind. Weighing about 90 lb (40 kg), the craft had a wingspan of 18 ft (5.5 m).

Herring is reported to have flown his powered glider on two attempts. The first, which occurred on either 10 or 11 October 1898, is said to have traveled 50 ft (15 m). Herring also claimed a second flight ten days later that lasted about ten seconds and traveled 72 ft (22 m). While Herring's craft probably did fly with an engine aboard, the craft was not controlled and the flight was not sustainable. Moreover, the small engine was woefully underpowered and could only operate for 30 seconds at a time. At best, Herring's craft can be described as a glider that happened to be carrying an engine as payload rather than a powered aircraft.