Otto Lilienthal

Otto Lilienthal (May 23, 1848 – August 10, 1896) was a German pioneer of human aviation who became known as the Glider King.
He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful gliding flights.

Lilienthal was born in Anklam, Pomerania Province, Prussia to a family of Swedish origin.
He attended the grammar school in Anklam, and also studied the flight of birds with his brother Gustav (1849–1933).

Lilienthal's greatest contribution was in the development of heavier-than-air flight.

A sketch toward a second hang glider in about 1891 involved a triangle control frame with a complex basebar that would lead to lower double kingposts while the apex of the triangle would serve as a single kingpost;

Filing a U.S. Patent in 1894 directed pilots to grip the "bar" for carrying and flying the hang glider.

In 1889 he published - "Der Vogelflug als Grundlage der Fliegekunst" this was reprinted 2003. (ISBN 3-9809023-8-2).

The A-frame of Percy Pilcher and Otto Lilienthal lives on in today's control frame for hang gliders and ultralight trike aircraft.
Working in conjunction with his brother Gustav, he made over 2,000 flights in gliders of his design starting in 1891, until his death in a gliding crash in 1896.

He could use the updraft of a 10 m/s wind against a hill to remain stationary with respect to the ground, shouting to a photographer on the ground to manoeuvre into the best position for a photo.

In the year 1891 Otto Lilienthal flew his hangglider a distance up to 500 meters.

Lilienthal was a member of the "Verein zur Förderung der Luftschifffahrt", and regularly detailed his experiences in articles in its journal, the "Zeitschrift für Luftschifffahrt und Physik der Atmosphäre", and in the popular weekly publication "Prometheus".

During a flight on 9 August 1896, Lilienthal's glider stalled and he fell from a height of 17 m (56 ft), breaking his spine.
He died in Berlin the following day.

Source: Wikipedia

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