Otto Lilienthal
The first man to fly his own aircraft sucessfully and repeatably
The German engineer, Otto Liliental, was the first man to fly sucessfully and repeatably in a machine of his own design.
Other than the Wright Brothers, Otto Lilienthal is probably the most successful of the early aircraft pioneers. He is actually the first historically documented person to fly in an aircraft of his own design, unless you count Eimler of Malmesbury or other obscure maybes. He was a German engineer and entrepreneur who successfully designed a small tubular boiler steam engine for light industrial applications. His steam engine factory was so successful that he was able to virtually retire at a young age, and devote himself to his childhood dream of flying. He is also notable for being an early profit sharing capitalist paying 25% of all profits to his workers.
But it is his flying machines that people remember him for. He took a scientific approach to studying and copying bird flight, and it would be reasonably accurate to name him as the inventor of the hang glider.(1) His status as a respected engineer, and the enthusiasm with which he published his findings; coupled, of course, with his unprecedented repeated success in actually gliding gave a new credibility to the pursuit of human flight. From Lilienthal's first successful glider, the interest and belief in achieving powered flight was at an all time high.
He flew his glider's on thousands of safe and successful flights, and redesigned them several times, with several being biplanes. He scoffed at the planar wing, saying that only curved wings could achieve flight, and he was convinced that wing flapping ornithopters were the only practical powered flying machines, although he did concede that propellers might be useful, and should be tested. He never flew a powered aircraft himself, although he was in the process of designing some. His more successful glider models achieved flights of up to 300 meters.
He was an advocate of what he called "soaring flight" where a glider could circle upward on an air current, and then descend to wherever the pilot desired. All his gliders had no other control than shifting the pilot's weight, and had a tendency to stall and crash in contrary winds. He designed a safety device which he called a rebound bow which fit in front of the pilot, and absorbed impact in crashes. This device saved his life at least once.
But, on a flight to test a new design in 1896 he did not install his rebound bar. A sudden gust of wind broke his wing, and he plummeted 56 feet breaking his spine, and died the next day. His death is tragic because his focus had long been on safety as a very high priority, although he did write of feeling more and more secure in the air. He was an amazing individual, and the first man to fly repeatably in a heavier than air craft. His published writings and figures were a great help and inspiration to the Wright Brothers, and other researchers. Photographs of Lilienthal in flight have a haunting beauty rarely duplicated by modern aircraft.
(1) George Cayley's gliders made two very short manned flights (but Cayley did not pilot). Jakob Degan of Austria and the "Tailor of Ulm", Albrecht Berblinger, may have made one or two successful glider flights in the early 1800's, and there's also the churchman Eimler of Malmesbury in 1010 forbidden to continue work on his gliders by his Abbot after breaking both his legs.
