Gustave Whitehead

Gustav Albin Bald ( born January 1, 1874 in Leutershausen, Bavaria, † October 10, 1927 in Bridgeport (Connecticut), USA ) was a German - American pioneer of powered flight.

Family

Gustav Weisskopf was born in 1874 as the second child of Mr and Mrs Karl Ernst Bald ( 1848-1887 ) and Babette born Wittmann ( 1849-1886 ) in Leutershausen. His parents had only six months before his birth, married, the first child of the couple was the illegitimate sister Eva babetta 1871. His father came from Ansbach, his mother from Colmberg. 1875 and 1876 are born (Karl and Nicholas) two more sons. On April 4, 1878, born in Neckarelz the fifth child of the couple, Johann Bald called Hans. On 2 December 1879, the sixth child, daughter Maria followed († April 25, 1880 ). On 28 May 1884, born in Höchst am Main as the seventh child of the daughter of Marie Catherine. The mother Babette Bald died on October 12, 1886, only 37 years old in Höchst am Main. The father Karl Ernst Bald died four and a half months later, on 26 February 1887 in Fürth. The six siblings were separated, Gustav came along with his brother Charles in the household of her grandparents in Ansbach.

Gustav Weisskopf 1887 began an apprenticeship as a bookbinder, but broke it off and was instead sent to a locksmith in teaching. Even this doctrine he broke off in the first year, this time by 1889 pirated away from Ansbach. From June to August 1889 he worked as a day laborer in Höchst am Main.

Emigration

Little is known of his subsequent career, until he was eight years later in the U.S. again detectable. Presumably he emigrated to Porto Alegre in Brazil. After he had tried a short time in the still completely undeveloped inland, he came to Rio de Janeiro. Probably around 1895 he immigrated to unknown kind in the United States. Gustav Weisskopf has never lost his German citizenship or applied for another citizenship or accepted. In the U.S., he wrote his name in the English language adapted " Gustave Whitehead ". His later put forward claiming he had worked before his immigration to the United States temporarily as a crew member on sailing ships, can not be proven himself. Its also later put forward claim that he had built and flown gliders in Brazil, he had studied the flight of the condors and two of these birds caught, to investigate their span and their relation to weight is implausible, since his time at the coast of Brazil occurred no condors. His later put forward claiming he was 1893/94 once again returned to Germany, there to meet Otto Lilienthal and become its staff and students, is implausible, since his name in the extensive traditional literature Lilienthal does not appear.

Aeronautical Society

His life can be the first show back in 1897. In the spring of this year he got a job at the " Aeronautical Society " in Boston, obviously, because he claimed to have been an employee and student of Otto Lilienthal. This " Aeronautical Society " had tried in the previous two years to bring the world-famous at that time Lilienthal to Boston, to let him into the United States giving lectures and practical flight instruction.

After Lilienthal's death in August 1896, the " Aeronautical Society " instead decided to let reconstruct a slider of Lilienthal. For this task, Gustav Weisskopf was recruited for his alleged experiences in building and flying of gliders in Brazil and his alleged involvement in Otto Lilienthal. Gustav Weisskopf built in the service of the " Aeronautical Society " two aircraft, but both are found to be unfit to fly. Thereupon he was fired from the " Aeronautical Society " and fled from Boston. He went to New York where he found work in a factory for sports and toy products. On November 24, he married in Buffalo, New York, the brunette Louise ( Lujca ) tuba, an immigrant from Hungary. Louise spoke German. About Baltimore and Johnstown in Pennsylvania went bald with his family in 1899 to Pittsburgh, where he found work in a coal mine.

Here he met his colleague Louis Darvarich, with whom he became friends. This went bald in aircraft at hand. An affidavit from the July 19, 1934 alleged that Darvarich would have as a participant witness an event of flight historical relevance:

"It was flying either in April or in May 1899, when I was present with Mr. Whitehead ( bald ), who managed to lift his from a steam engine driven machine from the ground. The flight in about 8 m height extended about a mile. He was held in Pittsburgh, and indeed with Mr. Whitehead's monoplane. In this case, we were not able to fly around a three-story building, and crashed as the machine, I was from the steam severe burns it, because I had the boiler heated. That's why I had to spend several weeks in the hospital. I distinctly remember the flight. Mr. Whitehead was uninjured, for he had been sitting in front of the machine and they directed from there. "

Contemporary reports or newspaper reports of this alleged flight can not be found. Only one report of Popular Aviation in 1937 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania tells of a powered flight of about 1.6 km in length with a steam-powered airplane with a crew of two (pilot and heater ), which ended on a house wall for lack of ability to control the aircraft by impact should have. Gustav Weisskopf himself never reported in his life over this alleged flight in the spring of 1899 in Pittsburgh. Except Darvarichs description of 1934, there are no previous or delivered by other testimonies about it. In particular, the fact that bald himself, who otherwise often boasted supposedly successful flights, never talked about this a chartered flight from Darvarich of 1899, can appear implausible Darvarichs report.

Hobby

1900 could be Gustav Weisskopf in Bridgeport, Connecticut down and worked as a night watchman at the company Willmot & Hobbs, which he had plenty of time during the day his hobby of development and construction of flying machines with self-designed engines to pursue. There continue to exist the rumor that he had previously been a staff and students Lilienthal, Bald was the flight enthusiastic Stanley Y. Beach, and whose father, the editor of " Scientific American ", Frederick C. Beach convince to support his hobby financially. Helper he recruited from neighborhood children.

Its construction # 21 of bamboo and silk that resembled a cross between a bird, bat and hull ( freeboard ), he fitted with two counter-rotating propellers and a home-built 20 -horsepower engine. The chassis received a 10 -hp motor for higher starting speed. The " tail " was adjustable in height (elevator ), but could only go up, not be deflected downward. The aircraft had no rudder, arguing instead bald, he could operate the two propellers with different speeds in order to trigger a movement about the vertical axis. How it wanted to accomplish in two by the same motor without gears moving propellers, is unclear. The aircraft had no ailerons.

August 14, 1901

On August 18, 1901 in Sunday appearing Bridgeport Herald about a successful unmanned and manned a successful powered flight of 14 August 1901, a distance of 800 m (1 /2 mile ) with Model No. 21 reports. In addition, the by measuring at 30 cm wooden wheels at a speed of about 50 km / h current model, driving with folded wings on the road, attributed. As on-site in Fairfield present witnesses are Richard Howell ( editor of the newspaper ), James Dickie and Andrew Celli ( Suelli ), both called White Wizard head and white head itself. The article was illustrated with a drawing, but there is no photo. In addition to the weekly newspaper Bridgeport Herald reported none of the other four newspapers Bridgeport about this event.

James Dickie testified in April 1937 that he would then have been a neighbor boy agent of Bald, but I never experienced a successful flight of bald, and never know by reports from third parties a success.

Establishing an aircraft factory

In the fall of 1901 Bald received by New York businessman Herman Linde $ 10,000 capital and established an aircraft factory in which he wanted to produce particularly lightweight and strong aircraft engines. The Bridgeport Herald wrote on 1 November 1901, the Flying Machine Factory. In January 1902 broke this partnership, as Linde, appalled by Weisskopf previous inadequate work, these sued in court.

In spring 1902, Gustav Weisskopf announced that he had on 26 January with a new airplane that it " No. Had 22 baptized ", completed two successful flights over nearly two miles and seven miles. In two letters to the Washington journal > The American Inventor < Bald described two test flights over the water surface of Long Iceland Sounds, both of which would have developed satisfactorily and each ended with a gentle splashdown. The second, longer flight to have been a circular flight with splashdown near the launch site. Bald claimed he could by different speeds of the two propellers, like an airplane, " No. 21 ", a control curve. Unlike the previous model to the aircraft " No. Have been 22 " fitted, according to White head with a 40 hp engine. He claimed that the aircraft could with this engine in flight at least 110 km / h (1902 ). Bald claimed in his letters to > The American Inventor, " due to bad weather he had any photos of " No " Can do and instead sent photos of" No. 22 21 ", since the two aircraft were very similar. He promised that as soon as the weather would be better photos of " No 22 " nachzureichen what he never einhielt. To date, no photo of " No 22 " known. The whereabouts of the aircraft, nothing is handed down. Also, the 40 hp engine allegedly used is never resurfaced. Bald claimed that " his men " had helped him during transport and towing of aircraft gewasserten, but he never called names, and never have helpers who were at this event here, can be found. Although the area around the Long Iceland sound was already inhabited in 1902, no eyewitnesses for the flight tests or even the two allegedly successful flights are to be determined. Gustav Weisskopf brother Hans Bald, who, three months later, came to Bridgeport in April 1902 in 1934 could not remember to have heard something on his arrival on these supposedly took place test flights. Gustav had then mentioned to him something of flights over short distances. In the ten years after these alleged flights over two or more than seven miles there is Gustav Weisskopf tellingly never again managed to reproduce this alleged power even to some extent, although he has built numerous aircraft and still made ​​numerous unsuccessful attempts to start.

In 1910, Stanley Beach ended the long-standing financial support white head. Looking back, he gave as a reason for later that it bald until 1910 never managed to build a self- bootable aircraft ( "after so many failures and when to he had failed to make his airplane take off and fly under its own power" ).

1911 was bald from a client $ 5,000 to construct a motor for trials with an early version of a helicopter and build. After the engine was not nearly perform as promised, by his customer Bald sued for repayment. Since white head was insolvent, he was seized in 1912, which meant his financial ruin.

Death

Gustav Weisskopf worked from then until his death on 10 October 1927 as a factory worker in Bridgeport. Around 1914 came the two spouses with their now four children to the Jehovah's Witnesses. Gustav Weisskopf died of a heart attack at his home and was buried at Lakeview Cemetery Bridgeport on October 12 in a pauper's grave. Because the family had no money for it, the grave remained until 1964 without grave stone.

Assessment

That white head engine flights are controversial and largely unknown, due to the few sources and especially on the lack of photos flying machines. Although Bald further worked until at least 1908 on the problem of powered flight, no aircraft of its machines is photographically documented.

To check the plausibility of the described but unproven flight of August 1901 flight tests were made with several reproductions:

• In 1985 was started in the U.S. with a replica, which travel a distance lay up to 100 m in a series of flights on December 29, 1986.
• On February 18, 1998, another replica in Germany put flight distances up to 428 m.

The replicas, however, were equipped with much stronger and lighter simultaneously engines, as they were available bald, but demonstrated the basic ability to fly the construction. Unlike the original aircraft both replicas have separate motors for each of the two propellers. The German replica was equipped with devices for wing twist, to give it at least some ability to steer.

In the Museum of Leutershausen there is a replica of the original engine from 1911. However This replica has so far only with the aid of a modern compressor can be started at all and even then remained far behind the power values ​​indicated by white head back, so that doubts remain whether Bald 1901 ever actually a 20 horsepower engine decreed.

For new explosive in the decades-long dispute over the first powered flight in the world of Australian John Brown has made on 9 March 2013. Brown is convinced after 14 months of research assumes that Gustav Weisskopf took off for the first time in the history of mankind with an engine powered aircraft already two and a half years before the Wright brothers. By law, the U.S. state of Connecticut wrote in June 2013 Bald the first aircraft - engine flight. A detailed examination of contemporary reports and facts holds this statement still does not stand.

Honors

In his hometown Leutershausen the aviation pioneer Gustav Bald Museum exists.

In the musical " Aeronauticus " the life of Gustav Weisskopf is illuminated. Listed is the piece in Cadolzburg, the premiere was on 20 June 2013.

On January 1, 2014, the Historic Flight Research Foundation Gustav Weisskopf has honored the aviation pioneer with a special stamp. The edition was 1,000 copies and was sold out on the day of presentations to half.