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“My grandfather, Charles Morgan Olmsted, held a Ph.D. in astrophysics and became an aeronautical engineer in the early 20th century,” the BSC professor said. “When I was 14 years of age, I began conducting research about my grandfather’s interest in and contributions to aviation. Interestingly, when he was 14, he designed and built a glider, one of the first models ever tested in the United States.”
In the early 1900s, Charles Olmsted (then an aeronautical engineer with the Buffalo Pitts Company in western New York) had designed a highly-efficient propeller that increased flight efficiency by 20%. “This development was particularly significant,” Dr. Olmsted explained, “because it permitted an airplane to hold an adequate amount of fuel for transatlantic flight.” Concurrently, Charles Olmsted’s creation of the first wind tunnel permitted Buffalo Pitts to test the propeller and, in 1910, an airplane he was designing. Unfortunately in 1912, with the plane nearly 90% complete, Buffalo Pitts entered into bankruptcy, a victim of a major recession and sagging sales of the steam tractors and threshers it relied upon.
“Fortunately, my grandfather was also an avid photographer,” Dr. Olmsted noted. “My interest in his research, the availability of his research papers, his photographs, and more recently the Internet-based capability to extend research in early aviation, have contributed to this study.” Olmsted’s manuscript (357 pages), photographs (230 pages), and appendices (150 pages) provide a fascinating look at the early years of aviation. Currently seeking a publisher for the manuscript, Olmsted thoroughly enjoyed the experience. “This work encompasses 44 years of research,” he said. “The (December 2003) 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ flight inspired me bring this effort to its conclusion.”
February 2, 2005
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