Edson Fessenden Gallaudet
Edson Fessenden Gallaudet | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | Washington, D.C., US | April 21, 1871
Died | July 1, 1945 Pine Orchard, Connecticut, US | (aged 74)
Education |
|
Known for | Aviation pioneer in airfoils and seaplanes |
Notable work | Gallaudet Hydroplane |
Spouse |
Marion Cockrell (m. 1903) |
Parent |
|
Relatives |
|
Edson Fessenden Gallaudet (April 21, 1871 – July 1, 1945) was a pioneer in the field of aviation.
Early life and early career
Edson Gallaudet was born April 21, 1871 in
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3d/Edson_Fessenden_Gallaudet.jpg/130px-Edson_Fessenden_Gallaudet.jpg)
Career in aviation
Gallaudet was the first person to experiment with warped wings in 1896, and in 1898 he built a warping-wing kite to test his invention of a warping-wing mechanism; this kite survives and is on display in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.[3] In 1911 he obtained US pilot's license No. 32 with the Aero Club of America,[4] flying a Wright biplane in Garden City, New York.[5] Also in 1911 he earned a pilot's brevet with the Aero Club of France flying a Nieuport monoplane. In 1908 Gallaudet founded the Gallaudet Engineering Company in Norwich, Connecticut where, as President, he did work as a mechanical and consulting engineer and, in 1909, built his first airplane.[6][7] In 1914 he patented a radical new aircraft propulsion system that was later incorporated into his first seaplane prototype, the Gallaudet D-1 that was first tested on the Thames River in Connecticut. The need for larger facilities and a better location to test his seaplanes, he moved his company to Chepiwanoxet Point on the Narragansett Bay coast in Rhode Island.[8] The Gallaudet Engineering Company was incorporated as the Gallaudet Aircraft Corporation in 1917. In 1923 Gallaudet built an all-metal aircraft, the TW-3 that first flew on June 20, 1923 at Wilbur Wright Field in Ohio.[9][8]
Retirement and family life
In 1924 Gallaudet retired from the company he had founded. The company assets were acquired by Major
Edson's wife Marion Cockrell Gallaudet, daughter of
He died in 1945 in Pine Orchard, Connecticut.
Papers and publications
- Schatzberg, Eric. 1999. Wings of Wood, Wings of Metal: Culture and Technical Choice in American Airplane Materials, 1914–1945. Princeton University Press,
- Gallaudet, Edson Fessenden. 1896. Relations between Length, Elasticity, and Magnetization of Iron and Nickel Wire. Washington, DC: Gibson Bros.
- Gallaudet, Edson F. 1920. The Gallaudet Review. East Greenwich: Gallaudet Aircraft Corp.
- Gallaudet, Edson. 1915. Affidavit (in The Wright Company vs. The Curtiss Aeroplane Company lawsuit). New York: January 8, 1915, 11 pages, plus illustrations. (Source: Renstrom, Arthur G. 2002. "Wilbur & Orville Wright—A Bibliography Commemorating the One-Hundredth Anniversary of the First Powered Flight, December 17, 1903" (PDF). Archived from the original on January 4, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), Monographs in Aerospace History, Number 27, September 2002, p. 87.) (Unpublished.)
References
- ^ Notable Gallaudets in American History
- ^ "Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University Deceased during the year 1945–1946" (PDF). Yale University. January 1, 1947. p. 32. Retrieved September 30, 2011.
- ^ National Air and Space Museum Archived May 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine National Mall Building, Early Flight – Gallery 107, artifact display
- ^ Gannon, Jack. 1981. Deaf Heritage–A Narrative History of Deaf America, Silver Spring, MD: National Association of the Deaf, pp. 175 (PDF Archived March 28, 2012, at the Wayback Machine)
- ^ Edson F. Gallaudet at www.earlyaviators.com
- ^ Gannon, Jack. 1981. Deaf Heritage–A Narrative History of Deaf America, Silver Spring, MD: National Association of the Deaf, pp. 175, 177 (PDF Archived March 28, 2012, at the Wayback Machine)(PDF Archived March 28, 2012, at the Wayback Machine)
- ^ Patillo, Donald M. Pushing the Envelope: The American Aircraft Industry (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1998), 19.
- ^ a b c Brian L. Wallin (July 23, 2016). "Edson F. Gallaudet – A Rhode Island Aircraft Pioneer". Small State Big History, Christian McBurney (ed). Retrieved March 20, 2021.
- ^ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Timeline/1920-24.html Archived July 14, 2019, at the Wayback Machine NASA timeline
External links
- Works by or about Edson Fessenden Gallaudet at Internet Archive
- "The Early Birds" mural by Justin Gruelle (Gallaudet is figure number 43 in mural key).
- Edson Gallaudet at aerospaceweb.org
- Edson F. Gallaudet at www.earlyaviators.com
- The First U.S. Aircraft Manufacturing Companies at www.centennialofflight.net
- Early airplanes designed and built by Edson F. Gallaudet at gallaudetfamily.com
- Gallaudet at aerofiles.com
- "The Gallaudet D-1 and the Gallaudet Drive Aircraft". Archived from the original on February 7, 2007. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) by Robert A. Gordon at web.archive.org - Edson Fessenden Gallaudet riding bicycle at age 13-14 (fourth from right) (Additional information)