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There are 11 quotes matching Octave Chanute in the collection:
I hold that in the flight of the soaring birds (the vultures, the eagles, and other birds which fly without flapping) ascension is produced by the skillful use of the force of the wind, and the steering, in any direction, is the result of skillful manoeuvres; so that by a moderate wind a man can, with an aeroplane, un-provided with any motor whatever, rise up into the air and direct himself at will, even against the wind itself.
Man therefore can, with a rigid surface and a properly designed apparatus, repeat the exercises performed by the soaring birds in ascension and steering, and will need to expend no force whatever, save to perform the manouvres required for steering.
Louis Pierre Mouillard
L’Empire de L’Air, 1881.
This passage was so powerful to Octave Chanute that he quoted it in full in his famous 1894 book Progress in Flying Machines.
Let us hope that the advent of a successful flying machine, now only dimly foreseen and nevertheless thought to be possible, will bring nothing but good into the world; that it shall abridge distance, make all parts of the globe accessible, bring men into closer relation with each other, advance civilization, and hasten the promised era in which there shall be nothing but peace and good will among all men.
Octave Chanute
Last words of the conclusion chapter, Progress in Flying Machines, 1894. In a 1976 reprint of this classic aviation book, Alan Shepard, first American in space and Apollo 14 moonwalker, wrote in the foreward:
“The last paragraph of this book deserves mention first because it explains the reasons for publishing this book, and for republishing it today.”
To the possible enquiry as to the probable character of a successful flying machine, the writer would answer that in his judgment two types of such machines may eventually be evolved: one, which may be termed the soaring type, and which will carry but a single operator, and another, likely to be developed somewhat later, which may be termed the journeying type, to carry several passengers, and to be provided with a motor.
Octave Chanute
Progress in Flying Machines, 1894.
All agreed that the sensation of coasting on the air was delightful.
Octave Chanute
Recent Experiments in Gliding Flight, The Aeronautical Annual, 1895.
What is chiefly needed is skill rather than machinery.
Wilbur Wright
Second paragraph of the first letter the brothers wrote to Octave Chanute, 13 May 1900.
See 21 other Wilbur Wright great aviation quotes.
It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill. This I conceive to be fortunate, for man, by reason of his greater intellect, can more reasonably hope to equal birds in knowledge than to equal nature in the perfection of her machinery.
Wilbur Wright
Letter to Octave Chanute, 13 May 1900.
See 21 other Wilbur Wright great aviation quotes.
For some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible to man. The disease has increased in severity and I feel it will soon cost me an increased amount of money, if not my life. I have been trying to arrange my affairs in such a way that I can devote my entire time for a few months to experiment in this field.
Wilbur Wright
Beginning of his first letter to Octave Chanute, 13 May 1900. The letter also included the prediction:
“If the plan will enable me to remain in the air for practice by the hour instead of by the second, I hope to acquire skill sufficient to overcome both these difficulties and those inherent in flight.”
Four days after receiving this extraordinary letter, what the Library of Congress has called “one of the most remarkable letters in the history of science”, Chanute wrote Wilbur a serious yet encouraging reply. In that 17 May 1900 letter, Chanute wrote he was, “quite in sympathy with your proposal to experiment”, and proceeded to offer detailed advice. They would exchange several hundred more letters over the next decade, a correspondence that only ended with Chanute’s death in May 1910.
See 21 other Wilbur Wright great aviation quotes.
I believe the new machine of the Wrights to be the most promising attempt at flight that has yet been made.
Octave Chanute
After visiting the Wright Brothers’ camp for a few days, 23 November 1903.
Those who understand the real significance of the conditions under which we worked will be surprised rather at the length than the shortness of the flights made with an unfamiliar machine after less than one minute’s practice. The machine possesses greater capacity of being controlled than any of our former machines.
Wilbur Wright
Letter to Octave Chanute, from Kitty Hawk, 8 December 1903.
See 21 other Wilbur Wright great aviation quotes.
Success four flights thursday morning all against twenty one mile wind started from Level with engine power alone average speed through air thirty one miles longest 57 seconds inform Press home Christmas.
Orville Wright
17 December 1903. This first telegraph home had two transcription errors. It should have read 59 seconds and Orville’s name was spelled Orevelle. Bishop Milton Wright received the telegram at about 5:30 PM, and showed it to Katharine a few minutes later. Supper was delayed while the telegram was sent over to Lorin’s home and the news was telegraphed to Octave Chanute.
See 12 other Orville Wright great aviation quotes.
The machines will eventually be fast, they will be used in sport, but they are not to be thought of as commercial carriers. To say nothing of the danger, the sizes must remain small and the passengers few, because the weight will, for the same design, increase as the cube of the dimensions, while the supporting surfaces will only increase as the square. It is true that when higher speeds become safe it will require fewer square feet of surface to carry a man, and that dimensions will actually decrease, but this will not be enough to carry much greater extraneous loads, such as a store of explosives or big guns to shoot them. The power required will always be great, say something like one horse power to every hundred pounds of weight, and hence fuel can not be carried for long single journeys.
Octave Chanute
Aerial Navigation, The Popular Science Monthly, March 1904. A paper read before Section D, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 30 December 1903.
The next artice in the edition was by Professor W. Le Conte Stevens, The Metric System: Shall it be Compulsory?
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