At the Dawn of Aviation

Among the many curious novelties presented to the
world at the great Chicago Exhibition of 1893, was an “International Conference on Aerial Navigation” and its occurrence makes a modern step in engineering science.
W. Pole, 1896.

Left: Patent 132,022, W.F. Quinby "Flying Apparatus".
Patented Oct. 8, 1872.

WORLD'S COLOMBIAN EXPOSITION IN CHICAGO, 1893

During the World's Colombian Exposition in Chicago Chanute chaired the International Conference on Aerial Navigation. Invitation letters were sent to those persons in various parts of the world who were known to be experts or students in the field of aeronautics [Chanute, 1894 #4]. Forty-seven papers were selected to be presented, with ample time for discussion. Approximately 100 people attended the various conference sessions. Most of the papers were published in the "Proceedings" and the newly created journal "Aeronautics" [Chanute, 1894 #4].

As a result of these efforts and good publicity, the subject of aeronautics was put firmly into the hands of engineers and scientists.

Progress in Flying Machines, by Octave Chanute, 1894.

SPREADING THE WORD

Until the Chicago conference in 1893, many people in the public felt that those talking about aviation were 'cranks'. Scientists like Langley from the Smithsonian and Chanute, an engineer legitimized the field of aviation and helped to shift popular opinion. Naturally, there were still skeptics who said, " if God wanted me to fly, he would have given me wings!"

The media helped spread the word about aviation through articles such as "How it feels to fly". Other organizations, such as the Western Society of Engineers also contributed to the popularization of aviation. It was WSE members who actually went along with Chanute to try this new sport.

There was a certain excitement in the air! And happy experimenters surely spread the word...

Millet, J.B. 1897. Scientific Kite-Flying, with Special Reference to the Blue Hill Experiments , The Century; a popular quarterly 54 (1): 66-78. Illustration drawn by Henry Sandham..

"The Ladder Kite Invented by Mr. Octave Chanute.

The wings are fastened to a central frame made like a pair of "lazy-tongs" so as to produce various transformations and changes in the position and angle of incidence of the wings. This kite flies very steadily, pulls very hard when arranged as shown in this illustration, and very little (while sustaining the same weight) when adjusted so as to resemble a step-ladder. It is the prototype of a gliding-machine recently constructed by Mr. Chanute".

THE NEXT STEP

By 1895, the first phase of Chanute's own aeronautical career was complete. The time had come to go beyond speeches, conferences and theoretical studies. To maintain his leadership in American aeronautical community, he began active gliding experiments.