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Famous Engineers
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Trains to Planes: An Engineering
Mastermind
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The weather outside is unusually cold, even for
mid-December, 1890. A white-haired man takes a break
from reading at his desk. As he watches the snow fall
outside the window of his home in Chicago, he reflects back on
his "first" career. |
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In 1849, at the age of 17, he applied with the
Hudson River Railroad. His application was turned down,
so he offered to work for free. Within 10 years, he
would become the Chief Engineer of the Chicago and Alton
Railroad. |
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In 1867, he moved to Kansas City to build the
first bridge over the Missouri River - considered a greater
engineering feat than spanning the Mississippi River. A legend
in the railroad industry, he built stockyards and railroad
lines and bridges to the frontier West. |
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He developed the use of creosote to preserve
rail ties, and later telephone poles. He introduced the
"date nail", which was used until the 1960's by rail and phone
companies to determine the age and viability of wooden
structures. He designed a rapid mass transit system for
the city of New York to replace horse-driven carriages. |
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Not one to reflect much on his exploits, he
draws his gaze away from the window. Retired now at the
age of 58, and financially secure, he is intrigued by the
possibility of "heavier than air" flying machines. He
will spend the last 20 years of his life studying, building
and testing machines for human flight. |
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In 1894, just 4 years after retiring from the
railroad, he published the book "Progress in Flying Machines".
This ground-breaking book combined his research with the work
of others in a single compilation. It allowed the Wright
Brothers and other experimenters to read of work already done
and avoid wasted repetition. |
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But, he didn't confine his work to reading and
writing. He designed and perfected the bi-wing glider,
which became the structural model for the Wright brothers'
first airplane. |
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Wilbur Wright wrote about the retired railroad
engineer, "If he had not lived, the entire history of
progress in flying would have been other than it has been". |
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Who was this incredibly talented and versatile
engineer? |
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Octave Chanute was
born on February 18, 1832 in Paris, France. He emigrated to the
U.S. in 1838 with his father, who accepted a position as Vice President
of Jefferson College, located just north of New Orleans.
In 1846, Chanute
move with his father to New York City. The month long steamship
voyage to New York left a lasting impression on the young boy who was
fascinated with engineering and modern technology. In 1854, he
became an American citizen.
After spending 41
years working in the railroad industry, Chanute turned his attention to
the engineering challenges of human flight. With no books
available on the subject, he contacted everyone who had done any
aeronautical research, learning of their successes and failures along
the way.
Chanute never
tried to profit from his research. He freely shared all of his
knowledge with any flight experimenter who asked for it. In fact,
he contributed tremendously to the Wright brothers first successful
airplane, the "Flyer". Chanute developed a lifelong friendship
with Orville and Wilbur Wright. However, the relationship was
strained in the latter years of his life. The Wrights, who wanted
to profit from their invention, didn't like Chanute's willingness to
freely share his knowledge.
Octave Chanute
passed away in 1910 at the age of 78. He received many awards and
honors during his lifetime. Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul,
Illinois is named for Chanute. The town of Chanute, KS is also
named for the engineer and urban planner who developed the town,
including sanitary water supplies to homes, along the rail line that he
built.
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