Octave Chanute was a successful engineer who undertook the invention of airplanes later in his life as a hobby, after being inspired by Otto Lilienthal. In 1894, he published Progress in Flying Machines, which gathered and analyzed all the technical knowledge about aviation accomplishments and included all the world’s aviation pioneers. The Wright Brothers also used this book as a reference for much of their experiments.

Chanute began building gliders of his designs in 1894. His most notable came in 1896 and included a biplane-type layout. He utilized a bridge building method called “the Pratt truss” which braced two wings on top of each other with wires. This biplane was his most successful design and formed the basis of the Wright Brothers’ aircraft.

Since he apparently was too old to fly, he partnered with younger experimenters, including Augustus Herring and William Avery. In 1896 and 1897, together they tested hang gliders based on designs by Otto Lilienthal, as well as hang gliders of their own design, in the sand hills on the shores of Lake Michigan near the town of Miller Beach, not far from what would become the city of Gary, Indiana.

The Museum’s Chanute glider is also the work of John Litchenburg, who corresponded with Octave Chanute’s grandson and had access to private Chanute family photographs. His research uncovered that the builder of the original glider, William Avery, was familiar with the construction techniques typically used in small boats around the Great Lakes region. These techniques are found in many components of the glider. Completed in 1980, this glider is a reproduction of the 1903-4 craft built for Chanute by Avery for the St. Louis Exposition.