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Pénaud design for an elliptical aircraft. via Bill Rose Born in Paris, Alphonse Pénaud (1850-1880) took up aeronautical design after he failed a medical examination for the French Navy due to a hip problem. He then turned his attention to the design of a heavier-than-air powered craft. Although he never progressed beyond the construction of models, Pénaud was decades ahead of his time, producing a number of revolutionary innovations that would become accepted when powered flight was achieved. via Bill Rose al | L Hatt cE with unusual wing shapes. One of these pio- neers was the German inventor Otto Lilien- thal (1848-1896). He began to fly manned gliders in 1891, using various configurations that would encourage the development of fly- 4, : Born in Paris, Alphonse Pénaud (1850-1880) took up aeronautical design after he failed a medical examination for the French Navy due to a hip problem. He then turned his attention to the design of a heavier-than-air powered craft. Although he never progressed beyond the construction of models, Pénaud was decades ahead of his time, producing a number of revolutionary innovations that would become accepted when powered flight was achieved. via Bill Rose with unusual wing shapes. One of these pio- neers was the German inventor Otto Lilien- thal (1848-1896). He began to fly manned gliders in 1891, using various configurations that would encourage the development of fly- ing wings and circular-shaped aircraft. He conclusively demonstrated that heavier-than- air flight was possible without flapping wings and his work proved highly influential. How- ever, Lilienthal suffered an increasing num- ber of accidents and died on 10th August 1896 after crashing a glider during the previous Ass ee) oO GO Above: Pénaud-Gauchot 1876 design for an elliptically shaped steam-powered aircraft. via Bill Rose day. Lilienthal was followed by the Rev Burrell Cannon (1848-1922), an American Baptist pastor and skilled engineer, who began to work on the design of a powered flying machine in 1898. His plans were completed by August 1901 and the Reverend raised enough money from various friends to ensure that the aircraft was built. Called Ezekiel, this flying machine was semi-elliptical in shape and had a span of 26ft (7.92m). It was con- structed from wood, covered in canvas, and powered by a small 40hp (29.8kW) internal combustion engine driving a series of wheels fitted with paddles, which acted as pro- pellers. The aircraft was built at P W Thorsell’s foundry in Pittsburg, Texas, with most of the work being carried out by an engineer who worked for Thorsell called Gus Stamps. Once completed, Ezekiel was moved to a field not far from the factory and test flown by Stamps on an unspecified date in late 1902. It was reported that Ezekiel flew for a distance of at least 160ft (48m) at a height of about 12ft (3.65m), but the flight was not documented and even Cannon was elsewhere at the time. Witnesses to the event insisted that Stamps had piloted the aircraft across a fence into an 12 Pénaud design for an elliptical aircraft. via Bill Rose Right: Pénaud’s 1873 design for a steam-powered, twin-propeller seaplane. via Bill Rose Secret Projects: Flying Saucer Aircraft