Octave Chanute (February 18, 1832 – November 23, 1910) was a French-American

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

and

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

pioneer. He advised and publicized many aviation enthusiasts, including the

Wright brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...

. At his death, he was hailed as the father of aviation and the initial concepts of the heavier-than-air flying machine.

Early life

Octave Chanute was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to Elise and Joseph Chanut, professor at the

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

. Octave and Joseph emigrated to the United States of America in 1838, when Joseph was named Vice President of Jefferson College in Louisiana. Octave attended private schools in New York. He added the "e" to his last name in his adult life. In 1857, he married Anne Riddell James, with whom he had a son and three daughters.

Career

Railroad civil engineer

Chanute began his training as a civil engineer in 1848. He was widely considered brilliant and innovative in the engineering profession. He designed and constructed the two biggest stockyards in the United States, Chicago Stock Yards (1865) and Kansas City Stockyards (1871). He designed and built the Hannibal Bridge with Joseph Tomlinson and George S. Morison. In 1869, this bridge established

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

as the dominant city in the region, as the first bridge to cross the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

there. He designed many other bridges during his railroad career, including the

Illinois River The Illinois River () is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River at approximately in length. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, the river has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins with the confluence of the Des Plaines ...

rail bridge at Chillicothe, Illinois, the Genesee River Gorge rail bridge near

Portageville, New York Portageville is a hamlet located in the town of Genesee Falls in Wyoming County, New York, United States. Its name derives from the Native American canoeists who would withdraw their craft from the river to avoid going over three waterfalls i ...

(now in

Letchworth State Park Letchworth State Park is a New York State Park located in Livingston and Wyoming Counties in western Upstate New York. The park is roughly long, following the course of the Genesee River as it flows north through a deep gorge and over several ...

), the Sibley Railroad Bridge across the Missouri River at Sibley, Missouri, the

Fort Madison Toll Bridge The Fort Madison Toll Bridge ( the Santa Fe Swing Span Bridge for the old Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, Santa Fe Railway) is a tolled, double-decked swing bridge, swinging truss bridge over the Mississippi River that connects Fort Madiso ...

at Fort Madison, Iowa, and the Kinzua Bridge in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Pioneer in wood preservation

Chanute established a procedure for pressure-treating wooden railroad ties with an antiseptic that increased the wood's lifespan. Establishing the first commercial plants, he convinced railroad men that it was advantageous to expend funds treating ties to extend their service life, thus reducing replacement costs. To monitor the longevity of railroad ties and other wooden items, he introduced the railroad date nail in the United States. Chanute retired from the Erie Railway in 1883 to become an independent engineering consultant.

Aviation pioneer

Chanute became interested in aviation after watching a balloon ascend in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

, in 1856. When he retired from his railroad career in 1883, he devoted some leisure time to furthering the new science of aviation. Applying his engineering background, Chanute collected all available data from flight experimenters around the world and combined it with the knowledge gathered as a civil engineer in the past. He published his findings in a series of articles in ''The Railroad and Engineering Journal'' from 1891 to 1893, which were then re-published in the influential book ''Progress in Flying Machines'' in 1894. This was the most systematic global survey of fixed-wing heavier-than-air aviation research published up to that time. At the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

in Chicago in 1893, Chanute collaborated with Albert Zahm to organize a highly successful International Conference on Aerial Navigation. Chanute was too old to fly, so he partnered with younger experimenters, including Augustus M. Herring and William Avery. In 1896, Chanute, Herring, and Avery tested a design based on the work of German aviation pioneer

Otto Lilienthal Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal (23 May 1848 – 10 August 1896) was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the "flying man". He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights with gliders, therefore making t ...

, and of

hang gliders Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised, fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...

of their own design. The testing was in the dunes along the shore of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

near the town of Miller Beach,

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, just east of what became the city of Gary. These experiments convinced Chanute that the best way to achieve extra lift without a prohibitive increase in weight was to stack several wings, an idea proposed by the British engineer

Francis Herbert Wenham __NOTOC__ Francis Herbert Wenham (1824, Kensington – 1908) was a British marine engineer, inventor, and pioneering aeronautical scientist. Best known for his foundational work on the theory of flight and the invention of the wind tunnel, Wenh ...

in 1866 and realized in flight by Lilienthal in the 1890s. Chanute introduced the "strut-wire" braced wing structure that was used in powered

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

s of the future, not seriously challenged until the pioneering efforts of

Hugo Junkers Hugo Junkers (3 February 1859 – 3 February 1935) was a German aircraft engineer and aircraft designer who pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes and flying wings. His company, Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (Junkers Aircraft and ...

to develop all-metal cantilever airframe technology without external bracing from 1915 onward. Chanute based his "interplane strut" concept on the Pratt truss, which was familiar to him from his bridge-building work. The Wright brothers based their glider designs on the Chanute "double-decker", as they called it. A new design of a biplane glider was developed and flown in 1897. Chanute corresponded with many aviation pioneers, including

, Louis Pierre Mouillard, Gabriel Voisin, John J. Montgomery,

Louis Blériot Louis Charles Joseph Blériot ( , also , ; 1 July 1872 – 1 August 1936) was a French aviator, inventor, and engineer. He developed the first practical headlamp for cars and established a profitable business manufacturing them, using much of t ...

, Ferdinand Ferber,

Lawrence Hargrave Lawrence Hargrave, MRAeS, (29 January 18506 July 1915) was an Australian engineer, explorer, astronomer, inventor and aeronautical pioneer. He was perhaps best known for inventing the box kite, which was quickly adopted by other aircraft desig ...

, and Alberto Santos Dumont. In 1897, he started a correspondence with British aviator

Percy Pilcher Percy Sinclair Pilcher (16 January 1867 – 2 October 1899) was a British inventor and pioneer aviator who was his country's foremost experimenter in unpowered flight near the end of the nineteenth century. After corresponding with Otto Lili ...

. Following Chanute's ideas, Pilcher built a

triplane A triplane is a fixed-wing aircraft equipped with three vertically stacked wing planes. Tailplanes and canard (aeronautics), canard foreplanes are not normally included in this count, although they occasionally are. Design principles The trip ...

, but he was killed in a glider crash in October 1899 before he could attempt to fly it. In 1900, Wilbur Wright read ''Progress in Flying Machines'' and contacted Chanute. Chanute helped to publicize the Wright brothers' work and provided consistent encouragement, visiting their camp near

Kitty Hawk, North Carolina Kitty Hawk is a town in Dare County, North Carolina, United States, located on Bodie Island within the state's Outer Banks. The population was 3,708 at the 2020 United States census. It was established in the early 18th century as Chickahawk. Hi ...

, in 1901, 1902, and 1903. The Wrights and Chanute exchanged hundreds of letters between 1900 and 1910. Chanute freely shared his knowledge about aviation with anyone who was interested, and expected others to do the same. He encouraged colleagues to

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

their inventions. His open approach led to friction with the Wright brothers, who believed their ideas about aircraft control were unique and refused to share them. Chanute did not believe that the Wright flying machine patent, premised on

wing warping Wing warping was an early system for lateral (roll) control of a fixed-wing aircraft or kite. The technique, used and patented by the Wright brothers, consisted of a system of pulleys and cables to twist the trailing edges of the wings in opposit ...

, could be enforced and said so publicly, including a newspaper interview in which he said, "I admire the Wrights. I feel friendly toward them for the marvels they have achieved, but you can easily gauge how I feel concerning their attitude at present by the remark I made to Wilbur Wright recently. I told him I was sorry to see they were suing other experimenters and abstaining from entering the contests and competitions in which other men are brilliantly winning laurels. I told him that in my opinion they are wasting valuable time over lawsuits which they ought to concentrate in their work. Personally, I do not think that the courts will hold that the principle underlying the warping tips can be patented." The friendship was still impaired when Chanute died, but Wilbur Wright attended Chanute's memorial service at the family's home. Wright wrote a eulogy that was read at the Aero Club meeting in January 1911. When the Aero Club of Illinois was founded on February 10, 1910, Chanute was its first president until his death.

Death

Chanute died on November 23, 1910, in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois, after battling

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. Wilbur Wright attended his funeral in his honor.

Commemoration

The town of

Chanute, Kansas Chanute () is a city in Neosho County, Kansas, Neosho County, Kansas, United States. Founded on January 1, 1873, it was named after railroad engineer and aviation pioneer Octave Chanute. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the po ...

, is named after Chanute. Three small towns in southeast Kansas were vying for the railroad's land office and Chanute suggested that they incorporate, to make the larger town more attractive to the railroad. The former Chanute Air Force Base near

Rantoul, Illinois Rantoul is a village in northern Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 12,371 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area. History The community was named after Robert Rantoul, Jr., a ...

, was started in 1917 by the U.S. Army as Chanute Field. The base was decommissioned in 1993 and converted to peacetime endeavors. One of these endeavors was the now-closed Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum, which detailed the history of Chanute Air Force Base and of aviation in general, and included a replica of Chanute's 1896 glider. The location of the base is now the Chanute Field Historic District, and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. In 1902, the

Western Society of Engineers The Western Society of Engineers is a professional and educational organization founded in Chicago, Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its ...

began to present the Octave Chanute Award for papers of merit on engineering innovations. From 1939 to 2005, the

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecra ...

presented the Chanute Flight Award for an outstanding contribution made by a pilot or test personnel to the advancement of the art, science, and technology of

aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design process, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. While the term originally referred ...

. In 1963, Chanute was inducted into the

National Aviation Hall of Fame The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) is a museum, annual awards ceremony and learning and research center that was founded in 1962 as an Ohio non-profit corporation in Dayton, Ohio, United States, known as the "Birthplace of Aviation" with ...

in Dayton, Ohio. In 1974, Chanute was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame. In 1978, the U.S. Postal Service commemorated Octave Chanute with a pair of 21-cent airmail stamps. In 1996, the National Soaring Museum honored the 100th anniversary of the glider flying experiments in the sand dunes along Lake Michigan as National Landmark of Soaring No. 8. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, in

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach is a coastal Resort town, resort city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. Located on the East Coast of the United States, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Deltona� ...

, has an off-campus residence hall, the Chanute Complex, for upper-class students. The Gary Bathing Beach Aquatorium, in

Gary, Indiana Gary ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 69,093 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it Indiana's List of municipalities in Indiana, eleventh-most populous city. The city has been historical ...

, houses a museum dedicated to both Octave Chanute and the

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of th ...

. The historic bathing pavilion was designed by architect George Washington Maher. He is represented in the '' Frieze of American History'' detail ''The Birth of Aviation'', in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington DC.

Patents

U.S. patents

* , ''Rolling Track Irons'' * , ''Dredging Machine'' (Octave Chanute & George S. Morrison) * , ''Preserving timber structure'' * , ''Soaring Machine'' * , ''Means for Aerial Flight'', Chanute filed the patent on behalf of Louis Mouillard, with one-half assigned to Chanute. * , ''Soaring Machine'', William Paul Butusov, Chanute collaborated and paid for the patent process and was assigned one-half. * , ''Process of Preserving Wood'' * , ''Means for Aerial Flight'' (or glider launcher).

U.K. patents

13372
(flying machine, ) * 13373 (flying machine, * 15221 (flying machine,

Canadian patents

* 34507, ''Process of Preserving Wood Artificially against Decay''

Timeline

ImageSize = width:777 height:500 DateFormat = YYYY Period = from:1830 till:1915 PlotArea = width:710 height:475 left:40 bottom:20 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical order:reverse ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1830 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1830 PlotData= at:1832 fontsize:S text:"Born Octave Alexandre Chanut, son of Joseph and Eliza (De Bonnaire) Chanut, in Paris, France" at:1838 fontsize:S text:"Joseph Chanut (Father) accepts a position as Vice-president and History Professor at Jefferson College (Washington, Mississippi), north of New Orleans" at:1846 fontsize:S text:"Moves to New York. Month-long steamship voyage, fascination with current technology." at:1848 fontsize:S text:"Takes job as chairman with the Hudson River Railroad" at:1854 fontsize:S text:"Becomes an American citizen. He adds the letter "e" to his family name and drops his middle name" at:1857 fontsize:S text:"Marries Annie Riddell James in Peoria, Illinois; Plats the town of Fairbury, Illinois" at:1863 fontsize:S text:"Appointed Chief Engineer of the Chicago and Alton Railroad" at:1869 fontsize:S text:"Plats the town of Lenexa, Kansas." at:1873 fontsize:S text:"Appointed Chief Engineer of the Erie Railway" at:1883 fontsize:S text:"Resigns Chief Engineer position of the Erie Railway and opens consulting business in Kansas City" at:1888 fontsize:S text:"Retires from railroad engineering, but continues working as a consulting engineer" at:1894 fontsize:S text:"Publishes ''Progress in Flying Machines''" at:1896 fontsize:S text:"Develops biplane glider, influential to all further development in aviation" at:1910 fontsize:S text:"Dies in Chicago"

References

Bibliography

Text of ''Progress in Flying Machines''

''Progress in Flying Machines'' By Octave Chanute
Courier Dover Publications, reprint 1997 of 1894 original. At Google books. * ''World Book Encyclopedia''

Obituary in ''

Flight Flight or flying is the motion (physics), motion of an Physical object, object through an atmosphere, or through the vacuum of Outer space, space, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift ass ...

''. 3 December 1910 * Simine Short. 2011.
Locomotive to Aeromotive: Octave Chanute and the Transportation Revolution
'. University of Illinois Press. * Simine Short: ''Flight Not Improbable. Octave Chanute and the Worldwide Race Toward Flight''. Springer Biographies, Cham 2023.

External links

* *
''Progress in Flying Machines''

A comprehensive look at Chanute's glider flying experiments in 1896 in northern Indiana

Flights Before the Wrights, Octave Chanute: aeronautical pioneer, engineer and teacher
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chanute, Octave 1832 births 1910 deaths Engineers from New York City Gliding in the United States Aerodynamicists Wright brothers American aviation pioneers Aviation inventors Royal Aeronautical Society Gold Medal winners American railway civil engineers French emigrants to the United States Articles which contain graphical timelines French aviation pioneers Chanute, Kansas