Engineer of French origin, Octave Chanute built several models of gliders at the end of 19th century. The biplane completed several hundred glider flights over a period of several weeks in 1896 without incident. The glider on display was reportedly purchased from Octave Chanute at the 1904 World's Fair in Saint-Louis, Missouri. It was donated to the Museum in 1925.

Octave Chanute in the USA was quite successful with his 1896 glider. In 1904 a slightly different version was built for the Saint Louis Exposition where it was flown daily from Oct. 7 to 25. After that it was shipped to France where it is now in the Musée de l'Air in Paris. The one shown here is a replica built by Carsten Brinkmeier, finished in Jun-2006. A few flight attempts were made, but for safety reasons no full flight was made. In Oct-2006 it was handed over to the Deutsches Segelflugmuseum at Wasserkuppe.

Octave Chanute in the USA was quite successful with his 1896 glider. In 1904 a slightly different version was built for the Saint Louis Exposition where it was flown daily from Oct. 7 to 25. After that it was shipped to France where it is now in the Musée de l'Air in Paris. The one shown here is a replica built by Carsten Brinkmeier, finished in Jun-2006. A few flight attempts were made, but for safety reasons no full flight was made. In Oct-2006 it was handed over to the Deutsches Segelflugmuseum at Wasserkuppe.

Octave Chanute in the USA was quite successful with his 1896 glider. In 1904 a slightly different version was built for the Saint Louis Exposition where it was flown daily from Oct. 7 to 25. After that it was shipped to France where it is now in the Musée de l'Air in Paris. The one shown here is a replica built by Carsten Brinkmeier, finished in Jun-2006. A few flight attempts were made, but for safety reasons no full flight was made. In Oct-2006 it was handed over to the Deutsches Segelflugmuseum at Wasserkuppe.