The Experiments Continued
Experiments continued on 20 August 1896. This time the team consisted of Avery, Herring, Chanute and Charles Chanute, Dr. Ricketts and a Russian sailor, William Paul Butusov. Butusov stated that he had made true soaring flights in Kentucky several years earlier. The group took a flatbed boat to Dune Park, a desolate site at Lake Michigan where it was hoped that newspaper reporters would not find them as easily as they did during the previous month at Miller Beach.
Octave Chanute introduced the railroad date nail into the United States, whereby it was possible to record the age and viability of preserved railroad ties. “I think the better way may be to use a galvanized tack, such as our friend here, Mr. Chanute has devised, with date on head….” stated W.C. Curtis of the Southern Pacific at the 1900 A.R.E.A. meeting.
What are date nails? A “date nail is a nail with the date stamped in its head. For example, a nail with a "41" is from 1941. They are usually 2 1/2" long, with 1/4" shanks. Date nails were driven into railroad ties, bridge timbers, utility poles, mine props, and other wooden structures for record keeping purposes.” Jeff Oaks
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"A Good Start". This image from the 1896 experiments at the dunes along the southern shore of Lake Michigan shows a pilot coming in to land. The insert (upper right hand corner) shows the line of flight; the pilot is getting some lift from "quartering flight". Today the term "quartering" means "ridge soaring." |
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This photo was taken 11 September 1896 near Dune Park. The pilot is unknown, but could possibly have been William Avery or A.M. Herring.The photo was published in the Journal of the Western Society of Engineers, vol 2 no. 5, October 1897 accompanying an article on “Gliding Experiments” by Octave Chanute. Courtesy of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institute. Negative 1A-20359 84-10696.
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Octave Chanute's 1896 Biplane Glider. 1:8 scale model designed, drawn and built by Curt Lewis, Loves Park, IL - October 2001. |
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Octave Chanute's 1896 Biplane Glider. 1:8 scale model designed, drawn and built by Curt Lewis, Loves Park, IL - October 2001. |
