Octave Chanute was an American civil engineer who became interested in flying in 1875 and spent the rest of his life collecting and disseminating the work of other researchers.ò In 1896, he decided to design gliders of his own.ò Already in his sixties, Chanute refined a biplane glider design, making one important contribution to future structures by introducing the bridge builder's Pratt truss, a method of bracing the wings by struts and diagonal wires still employed on planes manufactured in the 1930s. ò His gliders made hundreds of successful flights, many of them covering more than 100 yards.ò Chanute used a system of adjusting the curved wing surfaces for lateral (side-to-side) control as well as shifting the pilot's weight.ò He had hoped to go on into powered aircraft, but in 1900 became confidant and consultant to the Wright brothers.



This replica was built by Jack Edwards of Hapeville, Georgia, in the early 1070s.ò It was displayed at Epps Aviation, Peachtree Dekalb Airport, until it was moved to the Museum of Aviation in November, 1992.