First glider club of America

[JoeF]

In 1894, world's first glider club:
Mohawk Aerial Navigation Company, Ltd.
spawned from excitement over the flying man Otto Lilienthal. Man-carrying flex-wing kite and hang gliders .... efforts made; membership grew at $2 per head, but waned.
Leader founder: Charles Proteus Steinmetz, the "wizard of Schenectady. (Ref.: p. 170-172 of Tom D. Crouch, A Dream of Wings)

I nominate Steinmetz as historical member of US Hawks chapter Mo Hawks.

The full story of that club, their interesting constructions and efforts, their pseudo-photo-retouch-membership-drive effort in a waning period ... and more
is invited by anyone finding information and photographs, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Proteus_Steinmetz
[ ]The wiki is yet poor for not yet showing Steinmetz's involvement in matter of Mohawk Aerial Navigation Company, Ltd.

There is a connection with another part of hang glider history...tenuous. In Breslau a gliding club reached our cable-stayed triangle control frame with pilot hung from keel on hang glider. Steinmetz went to University of Breslau before he came to United States.

[JoeF]

Clip found:
Mohawk Aerial Navigation Company Glider.
One of the gliders built by Charles Proteus Steinmetz - the “Wizard of Schenectady” - and others in 1894. Steinmetz is not well known today but he accomplished a great deal in his lifetime considering he had dwarfism, was hunchback, and had hip dysplasia. While working for General Electric at Schenectady, N.Y., Steinmetz organized a band of fellow flying machine enthusiasts into the Mohawk Aerial Navigation Company, and over the summer of 1894 built and tested a man-carrying kite and two true gliders. None were particularly successful. Digital image: Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium.
http://www.geocities.com/khpv_lsc/ID_Challenge_102.jpg

[JoeF]

http://alexwaterhousehayward.com/blog/u ... 781048.jpg


NOTE:
Appearing in search is an alternative name for the club:

Mohawk River Aerial Navigation, Transportation, and Exploration Company, Unlimited, was the construction of air-gliders.

Fellow members included "Berg brothers" ...
E. J. Berg opined that the club did not quite get the construction of the gliders correct for wanted flight.

Biography copy is in Library of Congress:
Genre/Form: Biography
Additional Physical Format: (DLC) 24021903
(OCoLC)921441
Online version:
Hammond, John Winthrop, 1887-1934.
Charles Proteus Steinmetz.
New York, London, The Century & Co. [c1924]
(OCoLC)600994355
Named Person: Charles Proteus Steinmetz
Material Type: Biography
Document Type: Book
All Authors / Contributors: John Winthrop Hammond
Find more information about:
ISBN: 1428609695 9781428609693
OCLC Number: 682890507
Description: xi, 489 p., [19] p. plates : ill., ports., 24 cm.
Responsibility: by John Winthrop Hammond.

[Free]

Wizard of Schenectady, forger of thunderbolts..
What's not to like?

I'll send my $2, to that defunct Mohawk Gliding club and Charles is certainly welcome in mine.

Thanks for more great info, Joe.

[Bob Kuczewski]

I nominate Steinmetz as historical member of US Hawks chapter Mo Hawks.

I second the nomination.

By the way, that brings up a good point. There was an early topic here titled "Missouri Mo Hawks" at this address: http://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=189. I think we had two members signed up (Warren and myself). On December 3rd, 2010, Warren specifically suggested reserving member number 5 for some strange reason.

Here's the quote:

All numbers except #1 (and possibly #5) are open.

So in addition to seconding the nomination of Charles Proteus Steinmetz (the “Wizard of Schenectady”), I make the motion that Warren update the "Missouri Mo Hawks" topic to show all of the current members and their member numbers. I further make the motion that the honorable Joe Faust be granted member number 5 in accordance with Warren's clearly respectful intentions.

How does that sound?

[JoeF]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Proteus_Steinmetz
This US Hawks member keeps showing up!
"Following the Gymnasium, Steinmetz went on to the University of Breslau to "
Some research needs to be done: Did he know W. Simon who exampled battened flex-wing with cable-stayed triangle control frame with pilot hung from keel ... in Breslau in 1908 ????

http://history.nnyln.org/cdm/ref/collection/schmuse/id/26
And READ HERE

Code: Select all

Title  Glider Experiment 
Description  Charles Steinmetz photographs an experimental glider flight. 
Creator  Steinmetz, Charles Proteus, 1865-1923 
Subject.TGM  Engineers
Recreation
Gliders (Aircraft)
 
Subject.Personal_Name  Steinmetz, Charles Proteus, 1865-1923 
NY Heritage Topic  Transportation
People
Recreation & Sports
Medicine, Science & Technology
 
Location  Glenville - Schenectady County - New York 
Publisher of Original  Steinmetz, Charles Proteus, 1865-1923 
Date of Original  1906 
Physical Format  Black-and-white photographs 
Physical Description  photograph; b&w; 8 x 10 in. (20 x 24 cm.) 
Local Location  Charles Steinmetz Photograph Collection 
Type  Still image 
Format of Digital  image/jpeg 
Identifier  CPS162 
Holding Institution  miSci - Museum of Innovation and Science 
Contact Information  15 Nott Terrace Heights
Schenectady, NY 12308
518-382-7890, extension 241
www.schenectadymuseum.org
archives@schenectadymuseum.org 
Publisher of Digital  miSci - Museum of Innovation and Science 
Digital Collection  Steinmetz Digital Collection of Schenectady 
Library Council  Capital District Library Council
 
Rights  This digital image may be used for educational uses. Please cite as Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium. Prior written permission is required for any other use of the images from the Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium. 
Technical Data  From Archival TIFF - Epson Expression 1680; 600 dpi; 3.37 MB; Grayscale; 2025 x 1742 pixels; no compression 


[JoeF]

Armstrong of the company had some "jumps". Steinmetz did not fly, but was of core importance to the company and the experiments.
Author historian Crouch does not dignify the jumps as "flight" but I do: very very very short flights.
Steinmetz did a touched-up composite to form a photo to try to encourage waning interests in the club members:

CAUTION: IMAGE IS NOT OF A REAL FLIGHT.

[JoeF]

Digital image: Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium
of one of the company's efforts
Circa 1894

Digital image: Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium

SteinmetzCompanyHangGlider.jpg (31.9 KiB) Viewed 11548 times

Notice the hill and the man on the hill with hat; such part became part of a retouched photo of a fake flight, see prior post also.

[JoeF]

Some detail on the alternative name for the gliding adventures of Steinmetz:
https://books.google.com/books?id=OCRaaFoxXvsC&lpg=PA467&ots=DlfH5Vap80&dq=%22Mohawk%20River%20Aerial%22&pg=PA467#v=onepage&q=%22Mohawk%20River%20Aerial%22&f=false
Quote from The Froehlich/Kent Encyclopedia of Telecommunications: Volume 15 - Radio ...
By Fritz E. Froehlich, Allen Kent

FromTheFroehlichKentEncycOfTelecomm.PNG (79.43 KiB) Viewed 11546 times

Froelich had apparently found a different name
Mohawk River Aerial Navigation, Transportation, and Exploration Company, Unlimited.
The matter of names could be a research project for someone.

[JoeF]

I've not yet located:
America's first glider club, by Charles r. Steinmetz.
Sportsman pilot, New York, Dec. 1930, v. 4, no. 4,
p. 26-27, 46. illus.

Same biblio note from different source:
Steinmetz, Charles P. America's first glider club.
The Sportsman Pilot, Vol. 4, No. 4 (Dec. 1930), New York, pp. 26-27, 46, ill.