1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition Glider

The 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition Glider

The aeronautics displays at the Exposition held in St. Louis in the fall of 1904 were largely organized by Octave Chanute. To demonstrate his own experiments he commissioned his old assistant from the 1896 experiments, William Avery, to build a new glider based on the original but employing some of the small changes that Herring had implemented in his glider.¹ The 1904 glider is the only one surviving today that was built by Chanute. Shown here in a 2007 picture, it hangs in the Musee de l'Air et de l'Espace just north of Paris, France. For a bigger size image click on the image by Patrick Perrier.

This photo, and the next, scanned from an old, February 22, 1911 issue of the English The Aero show Avery having been launched into a glide. To launch the glider from a level field, Chanute devised a launching apparatus in which the pilot, holding the glider, stood on a small rolling dolly. A towrope from the glider was attached to a large drum 400 feet away. A 10 horsepower electric motor rotated the drum at a rapid rate, pulling the glider forward and launching it like a kite. When the pilot was safely airbourne, he released the towrope.

[1904 Aero Magazine scanned picture - 04aero.gif]

[1904 Aero Magazine scanned picture - 04aero2.gif]

First flown this way on October 7th, Avery ascended 35 feet and glided for 175 feet. He made daily demonstrations until October 25th until an accident befell him. The towrope, which had been frayed being used in a kite-flying contest, broke, and Avery's fall so sprained his ankle that he had to withdraw from the glider competiton.

In a letter to The Aero that accompanied the pictures, Avery wrote that he had built the glider for Mr. Ballsam, a Frenchman. It is most likely that he meant to say that M. Ballsam bought the glider from Chanute, for it is evident from the Chanute papers that Chanute commissioned the glider.
Avery's memory suffered on other accounts in this letter accompanied by photos to The Aero. Besides referring to it as the 1903 Exposition rather than the 1904 Exposition in the photo captions, The Aero published another photo provided by Avery of the 1896 experiments referring to it as the 1892 experiments.

And thanks to Daniel Hartstein of Stockholm, Sweden for The Aero letter and photo scans.