William Henry Fauber
William Henry Harrison Fauber was an American manufacturer and aero inventor who lived in France from 1905–1911. In his early career he made bicycles, then automobiles, getting into aeronautics after arriving in France.
He'd been born in Indiana, went into business in Chicago making bicycle equipment, then lived in France, then lived in New York City, and died in Brooklyn.
An evolving airplane design might be traceable in the course of his international patents from 1906–1910. Some of his patents were filed from 95 Boulevard de la Seine, Nanterre, France.
He also patented a hydroplane boat, not an aircraft but a boat designed to lift up somewhat while traveling speedily through the water.
(See "American has an aero inventor in France", which also makes a big deal out of Fauber securing a patent from the strict Germans.)[1]
Fauber testified to congress in 1919 regarding the government's expenditures on airplanes and airplane patents specifically. (See 1917 Army Aviation Bill.) Fauber observed that the government had simply appropriated his patents during wartime; but had paid the Manufacturers' Aircraft Association $5,000,000 to use Wright-Martin and Curtiss patents.[2] He charged that the law bolstered "an aircraft trust to substantially control the aircraft business of the country" (420). Of the MAA he said, "...it appears to me that two companies have substantially arranged to control the business, merely admitting a few other companies to make the association look like an association that is free to any manufacturers" (423).
In 1925 Fauber gave further testimony to congress regarding the airplane cross-licensing arrangement made during wartime.[3] Regarding his entry into aeronautics he said:
In 1905 I quit business, intending to take a vacation, and while in Europe—as a matter of fact I went to Europe to sell some patents. After completing the sale of those patents I was in Paris and happened to see a balloon contest and, having been interested in aviation I decided to stay in France for a time, became France was at the time the foremost country in Aviation.
I joined the Aero Club de France, and spent five years there following aviation, doing some experimental work in aviation, but more particularly in developing the hydroplane. And the hydroplane is a very important part of aviation, because a hydroairplane is only an airplane mounted on a hydroplane.
He died in 1928, aged 66, still working on inventions:[4]
- William H. Fauber, an inventor who held several basic patents for hydroplanes, died yesterday at his home, 55 Hicks Street, Brooklyn, after an illness of two weeks. He is survived by a widow and by two sisters who live in Chicago. Mr. Fauber formerly for many years was a manufacturer of articles for his bicycle industry, having plants in Chicago and Elgin, Ill. Since 1905 he had devoted his inventive talents to aviation problems, in particular those of the hydroplane. He was a native of Indiana. He recently returned from a visit to Washington in connection with a new patent.
A legal case about his patents was decided in 1941: [1] It was brought by Hazel L. Fauber, possibly his widow. The judgement was that two of Fauber's patents had been infringed upon and 2 million dollars would be awarded to her or his estate. His name in the legal case is sometimes shown as William Henry Harrison Fauber or William Harrison Fauber.
This person had 0 publications and 12 patents in this database.
Patents whose inventor or applicant is William Henry Fauber or William-Henri Fauber
- Patent FR-1906-363017 (English title: Aeroplane, Filing date: 1906-02-06)
- Patent GB-1906-4204 (English title: Apparatus for Aerial Navigation, Supplementary to patent: Patent FR-1906-363017, Filing date: 1906-02-20)
- Patent DE-1906-202333 (English title: Drachenflieger, Supplementary to patent: Patent FR-1906-363017, Filing date: 1906-02-25)
- Patent AT-1906-30944 (English title: Drachenflieger, Supplementary to patent: Patent FR-1906-363017, Filing date: 1906-07-16)
- Patent IT-1907-86985 (English title: Airplane, Supplementary to patent: Patent FR-1906-363017, Filing date: 1907-01-28)
- Patent CA-1907-107139 (English title: Aeroplane, Supplementary to patent: Patent FR-1906-363017, Filing date: 1907-03-07)
- Patent FR-1907-381246 (English title: Hydroplane, Filing date: 1907-08-24)
- Patent FR-1907-385245 (English title: Aeroplane, Filing date: 1907-11-14)
- Patent FR-1908-386084 (English title: Hydroplane, Filing date: 1908-01-10)
- Patent AT-1908-35698 (English title: Hydroplane boat, Supplementary to patent: Patent FR-1908-386084, Filing date: 1908-03-02)
- Patent US-1908-971030 (English title: Aeroplane, Filing date: 1908-10-24)
- Patent GB-1908-24344 (English title: Improvements in Aeroplanes, Supplementary to patent: Patent FR-1907-385245, Filing date: 1908-11-12)
References
- ↑ "has an aero inventor in France", The Automobile, March 12, 1908, p. 363.
- ↑ War Expenditures, p. 399.
- ↑ Inquiry Into Operations of the United States Air Services, p. 1170.
- ↑ NY Times obituary, 30 July 1928
| Names | William Henry Fauber; William Henri Fauber; William-Henri Fauber; William Henry Harrison Fauber |
|---|---|
| Countries | US, FR |
| Locations | Indiana, Chicago, Nanterre, France, Brooklyn, New York |
| Occupations | manufacturer |
| Tech areas | Drachenflieger, Airplane, Marine, Hydroplane, Design |
| Accreditations | |
| Affiliations | Aéro-Club de France, Fauber Manufacturing Company |
| Family name | |
| Birth date | circa 1862 |
| Death date | 1928-07-29 |
| Wikidata id |
