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THE TM 911 Franklin Street Weekly Newspaper Michigan City, IN 46360 Volume 33, Number 18 Thursday, May 11, 2017 OOnn WWingsingsby William oof Halliarf EEaglesagles The turn of the 20th century was a period of bur- sistant director for education programs and events. geoning scientifi c experimentation and invention. Among his many interests is the piloting of small The telephone, electric lights, motion pictures and aircraft, for which he has been extensively trained. automobiles to name a few, all having their origins Long interested in the history of powered human during this time of prolifi c creative genius. fl ight, he has studied the subject closely, with an With that inventive spirit, it was only natural we eye toward the connection between manned fl ight’s would turn our thoughts to the birds of the sky and earliest experiments and the dunes area in which the centuries-old dream of taking fl ight, embracing we live. the ultimate freedom of movement and travel. Myers recently spoke during the free Community Even the dunes that cradle Lake Michigan’s Forum Series at New Buffalo Township Library, his shores were the backdrop for early experiments, talk extensively illustrated with slides of historic providing the winds that carried early wings aloft. aircraft and their dauntless pilots. Robert Myers is a longtime Berrien County resi- Leonardo da Vinci dreamed of and sketched unusu- dent, as well as Historical Society of Michigan’s as- Continued on Page 2 Augustus Herring, who once tested his design at Silver Beach Amusement Park in St. Joseph, Mich. THE Page 2 May 11, 2017 THE 911 Franklin Street • Michigan City, IN 46360 219/879-0088 • FAX 219/879-8070 In Case Of Emergency, Dial e-mail: News/Articles - [email protected] email: Classifieds - [email protected] http://www.thebeacher.com/ PRINTED WITH Published and Printed by TM Trademark of American Soybean Association THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden 911 Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is also delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. OOnn WWingsings Continued from Page 1 A craft by Orville and Wilbur Wright takes fl ight. al man-powered devices in his mysterious notebooks, Otto Lilienthal, the “Flying or Codex’s. With the discovery of hydrogen in the Man” of Germany, experimented 1800s, it became possible to create an envelope fi lled with gliders for years and pub- with the lighter-than-air gas and build a craft that lished his fi ndings in 1889 in the could ascend to the clouds. The Montgolfi er brothers book “Birdfl ight as the Basis of rediscovered the hot air balloon, a concept introduced Aviation.” He built many glid- by the Chinese many centuries before, and on Oct. 19, ers of various designs and pub- 1783, they made the fi rst manned fl ight. lished his calculations of airfoil, These early devices were diffi cult to control. The or wing designs. He made more Otto Lilienthal. pilot had no control over them. If the balloons were than 2,000 fl ights in gliders of not securely tethered to the ground by a rope, they his own design and was the fi rst to be photographed would be propelled wherever the wind carried them, in the air. the daring passengers hanging on for dear life. Lilienthal continued his experiments until he In 1846, an Englishman, Sir George Cayley, de- crash-landed during a fl ight in 1896, dying a day fi ned the confi guration of a modern airplane as con- later from his injuries. sisting of a fi xed wing, fuselage (or body) and tail. All over Europe and the United States, men were Indeed, men began to create structure around trying to take to the air, risking their lives in un- their dreams of fl ight. The idea of controlled and usual fl ying machines made of paper, sticks, wire powered fl ight began to take shape. and cloth. THE May 11, 2017 Page 3 Otto Lilienthal and his fl ying contraption. In the late 19th century, four men, each at fi rst following his own dreams, ideas and experiments, came together to make powered controlled fl ight a reality: Octave Chanute, Augustus Herring and the Wright brothers. Curiously, their ultimate success is linked to the Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan dunes, where many ideas for wing design were proven. Octave Chanute was born in Paris in 1832, later moving to New York with his father. He took his fi rst job in 1844 as a member of a surveying crew, laying out routes for the Hudson River Railroad. He continued as a surveyor for the next 30 years, and through talent and hard work rose through the ranks to become chief Sinai Temple Deli Day Octave Chanute. engineer. By 1880, he’d be- Wednesday, May 24, 2017 come one of the nation’s best known civil engineers, establishing a consulting fi rm in Chicago. For several decades, Chanute was interested in the problems of human fl ight. Using his name and renown as an engineer, he introduced himself to, and corresponded with, every aeronautical ex- Lunch Served 10:00 am – 2:00 pm, eat-in, carry-out or delivery * Fax orders to (219)-874-4190) perimenter prominent in the fi eld from around the call in orders (219-874-4477) or (219)-877-7541 globe. He promoted discussions of the problems of *Free Delivery service within a limited area for orders of 5 or more. fl ight at important engineering conferences, and Orders must be placed by May 17! (Please fi ll in delivery time below) All sandwiches are served on Jewish rye bread and include pickle encouraged a dialogue between experimenters, with spear, coleslaw, noodle kugel and condiments. himself as the hub. Item Quantity Price Total A most important contribution to the science of Corned Beef Sandwich $10.00 fl ight came in 1894 when Chanute published his Sinai Temple CB (1/2 pound) $15.00 “Progress in Flying Machines,” which at the time Turkey Sandwich $10.00 Extra Kugel 6 / $5.00 or $1.00 ea. was the most complete record of all experiments in Quart of Coleslaw $5.00 the fi eld. 2 lb. Vienna Salami $13.50 Herring was born in Covington, Ga., in 1867. He 6 to a lb. Vienna Franks $6.50 was educated at various universities and techni- Total Due: Free beverage for all dine-in customers cal schools. Early on, he became interested in fl y- Pick-up time: _____________________________________________ ing machines and began building model gliders. In Company name: Individual name: Address: _____________________ 1893, he built a full-sized glider after the Lilienthal _______________________________________________________ Phone:______________________ Fax: ______________________ design, which he soon crashed. Email: __________________________________________________ In 1898, Herring invited Chanute to witness the Delivery Time: ___________________________________________ powered fl ight of a machine of his own design at MasterCard, Visa and Discover Card accepted Thank you for supporting Sinai Temple Sisterhood Continued on Page 4 THE Page 4 May 11, 2017 OOnn WWingsings Continued from Page 3 Silver Beach Amusement Park in St. Joseph, Mich. Power was supplied by a compressed air engine. During the demonstration, Herring failed to become airborne. Later that same year, Herring claims to have gotten his machine off the ground as witnessed by two unnamed locals. The Wright Brothers’ 1902 Kitty Hawk attempt. broken during test fl ights. Many fl ights were made during the summer of 1896, but all were disappointing short hops, most made by the daring Herring. The group returned home to repair damaged gliders and work on new designs. Returning to the dunes in August 1896, fi ve miles down the beach from their original site, the experimenters brought a new tri-winged glider. The machine made several disappointing fl ights and was diffi cult to handle because of the lower wing’s po- August Herring prepares to launch a version of the Herring Glider. sition. Chanute ordered that the bottom wing be Over the years, Herring would work with, or for, removed, and immediately, the performance of the Chanute, Samuel Langley, Glen Curtis and the fl ying machine improved. Herring made several Wright brothers — all pioneers of fl ight. Curious- fl ights of more than 200 feet and at least one as far ly, he was not able to get along with anyone, su- as 350 feet. ing many, claiming they stole his ideas. Apparently, Several hundred fl ights were completed with the Herring had a rather infl ated opinion of his ideas bi-winged glider in the fall of 1896, after which, ever and their worth. willing to share his knowledge, Chanute published Nevertheless, it is the plans for his successful glider to the world. In 1900, confl uence of genius by Wilbur Wright contacted Chanute in a letter in which Chanute and the Wright he wrote that he and his brother had constructed a brothers, combined with glider: “in appearance it is very similar to the double the daring and bravado of deck (or bi-wing) machine with which the experi- Herring, that turned ex- ments of yourself and Mr. Herring were conducted.” periments in the Indiana The Wright brothers used a more scientifi c meth- Dunes in the late 19th od to improve the design of the airfoil, or the shape century into the basis for of the wing, by inventing and experimenting with what would become the the world’s fi rst wind tunnel. Before then, it was a fi rst successful heavier- “guess and build and test” method.

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