Gustave Albin Whitehead, born Gustav Albin Weißkopf (January 1, 1874 – October 10 1927

Gustave Whitehead with an early engine.

Gustave Albin Whitehead, born Gustav Albin Weißkopf (January 1, 1874 – October 10, 1927), was a German-American aviation pioneer. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Year 1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link with display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... Year 1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link with display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... October 10 is the 283rd day of the year (284th in leap years). ... Year 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Icarus and Daedalus Aviation history deals with the development of mechanical flight, including early attempts and practical aviation since the Wright brothers demonstration of sustained, controlled and powered heavier-than-air flight on December 17, 1903. ...

Experiments in Flight

In the year 1897 on behalf of the Aeronautical Club of Boston, Whitehead was hired by publisher J. B. Millet to build and fly sailplanes. He built several sailplanes, of which one was inspired by the Lilienthal glider. This sailplane actually took off from the ground for short distances. Albert B. C. Horn, an assistant, wrote: "A lightweight would have flown further than Whitehead...". (Referring to the fact that Whitehead was a big and heavy man.) Otto Lilienthal Otto Lilienthal (23 May 1848 – 10 August 1896), the German Glider King, was a pioneer of human aviation. ...

On August 14, 1901 in Fairfield, Connecticut Whitehead reportedly flew his engine powered Number 21 800 m at 15 m height, according to articles in the Bridgeport Herald, the New York Herald and the Boston Transcript. (See References below for a link to the full article.) No photographs were taken, but a sketch of the plane in the air was made by Dick Howell of the Bridgeport Herald, who was present. This flight precedes the Wright brothers' Kitty Hawk, North Carolina flight by more than two years. August 14 is the 226th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (227th in leap years), with 139 days remaining. ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ... Number 21 was the name of the aeroplane Gustave Whitehead allegedly flew with on August 14, 1901 - two years before the Wright brothers first flight. ... The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835 and 1924. ... The Wright brothers, Orville (August 19, 1871–January 30, 1948) and Wilbur (April 16, 1867–May 30, 1912), were two Americans generally credited with building the worlds first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and heavier-than-air human flight on December 17, 1903. ... Kitty Hawk is a town located in Dare County, North Carolina. ...

According to some witness reports, Whitehead had flown about 1 km (half a mile) as early as 1899. In January 1902 he supposedly flew 10 km (7 miles) over the Long Island strait in the improved Number 22.

Since none of Whitehead's flights were well recorded and no photographs remain, it is very difficult to substantiate many of these reports. In particular, the Smithsonian Institute strongly denies that controlled, powered flight occurred before 1903 (yet the Smithsonian didn't make this decision until 1948, when they signed a contract for the Wright brothers' plane). In addition, the original Bridgeport Herald article is filled with many difficult-to-believe claims about the event, and contradicts a number of other eyewitness reports. Whitehead never later reproduced his powered flights so that they could be better documented, and his claim is dismissed as a non-controlled flight like that of another aviation pioneer, Karl Jatho. Nevertheless, the Connecticut state legislature has officially recognized Whitehead's claim as the first to fly. In 1986, a replica of Whitehead's plane successfully flew, contrasting with the failure of a Wright brothers' replica to fly during centennial celebrations at Kill Devil Hills on December 17, 2003. The Smithsonian castle, as seen through the garden gate. ... Karl Jatho (February 3, 1873 - December 8, 1933) was a German pioneer and inventor, performer and public servant of the city of Hanover. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Kill Devil Hills is a town located in Dare County, North Carolina. ...

Weißkopf's Planes

Gustave Whitehead and his 1901 monoplane taken near Whitehead's Pine Street shop. His infant daughter, Rose, sits on her father's lap, and the engine that powers the front landing-gear wheels is on the ground in front of the others.

Gustave Whitehead with daughter Rose posing next to his aircraft Whitehead #21 - ca. 1901

Whitehead's large Albatros-type glider - ca. 1905 - 1906

Whitehead's Number 21 was a racy-looking monoplane with a wingspan of 36 feet (11 meters). The wings constructed of silk, ribbed with bamboo, supported by steel wires and modelled after the shape of a soaring bird's wing. The plane was powered by two engines: a ground engine of 10 hp (7.5 kW), intended to propel the wheels to reach take-off speed, and a 20 hp (15 kW) acetylene engine powering two propellers, which were designed to counter-rotate for stability. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Number 21 was the name of the aeroplane Gustave Whitehead allegedly flew with on August 14, 1901 - two years before the Wright brothers first flight. ... A foot (plural: feet) is a non-SI unit of distance or length, measuring around a third of a metre. ... The metre, or meter (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ... Silk dresses Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. ... Diversity Around 91 genera and 1,000 species Subtribes Arthrostylidiinae Arundinariinae Bambusinae Chusqueinae Guaduinae Melocanninae Nastinae Racemobambodinae Shibataeinae See the full Taxonomy of the Bambuseae. ... The steel cable of a colliery winding tower. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... “Aves” redirects here. ... An engine is something that produces an effect from a given input. ... hp, see HP (disambiguation) The horsepower (hp) is the name of several non-metric units of power. ... The watt (symbol: W) is the SI derived unit of power, equal to one joule per second. ... Acetylene (systematic name: ethyne) is the simplest alkyne hydrocarbon, consisting of two hydrogen atoms and two carbon atoms connected by a triple bond. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

The use of powered wheels meant that Whitehead/Weißkopf did not have to use a catapult nor depend on a strong head wind as did the Wright brothers. The dead weight of the wheel engine, however, would have hindered flight performance. According to the reports, the plane started from a flat surface and landed at another flat surface or on water. During flight, roll was meant to be controlled by the pilot shifting his weight, much as on a glider, as well as by wing warping;^{[citation needed]} pitch would be controlled by a tail wing; and yaw by differing the thrust of the two propellers. It has been suggested that Heavy Catapult be merged into this article or section. ... Impact from a water drop causes an upward rebound jet surrounded by circular capillary waves. ... Look up roll in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Wing warping was an early system for controlling the roll of an aeroplane while flying. ... Flight dynamics is the study of orientation of air and space vehicles and how to control the critical flight parameters, typically named pitch, roll and yaw. ... The word yaw can refer to: Yaw, the name for the Levantine god of chaos, rivers, the sea, and tempests; Yaw, an aeronautical and nautical term which indicates how far a craft is pointing away from its direction of travel due to rotation about its vertical axis. ...

The later Number 22 plane differed from the Number 21 by having a 40 hp (30 kW) kerosene engine. Kerosene or paraffin oil (British English, not to be confused with the waxy solid also called paraffin wax or just paraffin) is a colorless flammable hydrocarbon liquid. ...

Later Work

Whitehead/Weißkopf worked on motors which he sold to Glenn Curtiss and others. Various other aviation pioneers expressed interest in his engine designs. The Wright brothers repeatedly visited Whitehead before 1902 and received inside information about his work. Glenn H. Curtiss at the Grande Semaine dAviation in France in 1909 Glenn Hammond Curtiss (May 21, 1878 – July 23, 1930) was an aviation pioneer and founder of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, now part of Curtiss-Wright Corporation. ...

Around 1911, Whitehead/Weißkopf worked on designs for a helicopter with little success.

The end of Whitehead's career.

It could not be avoided, that Whitehead would someday get into trouble because of his poor business skills. He had not figured on being sued. Completely inexperienced, he lost a suit. His complete workshop, including construction documents and finished parts were impounded. And so was removed from Whitehead the economic basis for any further activity as an aviation pioneer. In poor health and blinded for years in one eye from an accident at work, Whitehead could not recover from this fatal blow.

Modern Replicas

In order to lend support to the idea that Whitehead was able to fly the Number 21 in 1901, some US enthusiasts in 1985 began to construct a replica of Whitehead's machine but with modern lightweight engines. On December 29, 1986 Andrew Kosch made 20 flights and reached a maximum distance of 100 meters (330 feet). On February 18, 1998 a German replica flew distances up to 500 meters. December 29 is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 2 days remaining. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean by UNESCO. [1]. // Coated in ice, power and telephone lines sag and often break, resulting in power outages. ...

A tethered-to-a-trailer unpowered Kosch replica, towed by a pick-up truck at the Bridgeport airport in the mid-'80s was flown by actor-pilot Cliff Robertson. The early morning Robertson flight and Kosch's efforts were reported in EAA's "Sport Aviation" some time around 1990. EAA member Bill Schulz, then of Cornwall, Connecticut, spoke with Robertson at the annual Oshkosh EAA convention in the early '90s and Robertson reported that it flew very nicely and was very controllable. Robertson said he was disappointed that Kosch's efforts had already been buried in the publicity of the upcoming Wright centennial in 2003. Cliff Robertson. ... Cornwall is a town located in Litchfield County, Connecticut, USA. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 1,434. ...

See also

• First flying machine

There are conflicting views as to what was the first flying machine. ...

References

• Popular Aviation (1937) and Bridgeport Herald (1901) articles on Whitehead

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Gustave Whitehead

• Gustav Weisskopf 1. Motorflug der Welt 1901
• Gustave Whitehead's Flying Machines
• Flying Machines — Gustave Whitehead
• Flight Journal Magazine — The 'Who Flew First' Debate
• Air Sports International — Did He Actually Fly Before The Wright Brothers?