Otto Lilienthal was
born on 23rd May 1848 in Germany. He studied maths and bird studies
in Berlin and talked at public meetings about flight. In 1874 Lilienthal
began to build models of flying machines. In 1881 he started a company
building boilers and steam engines. He allowed workers in his business
to share in the profits. He wrote a book called 'Bird Flight as
a Basis for Aviation'.
In 1893 Lilienthal built
a flapping wing machine driven by a motor based on the action of
a bird's wing. He began to build gliders (an unpowered aircraft
which uses rising currents of warm air to keep it in the air). Lilienthal
became the top expert on gliders in Germany and gliding became a
popular sport. Otto Lilienthal was killed on 10th August 1896 while
he was flying one of his gliders in Berlin.
Otto
Lilienthal and his flying machine
Anne
Jakins (February, 2004)
