Edward Chalmers Huffaker

Edward Chalmers Huffaker (b. 19 July 1856) was an aero inventor from Tennessee.

He received an M.S. in physics from the University of Virginia, and was offered a full scholarship for his PhD at Johns Hopkins, which he turned down because he was "sick of school and such". He taught in Chucky City, Tennessee, then worked as a railroad engineer.

The model presented at the conference: "This model consists of a spar of light red cedar 3 ft. in length, and originally 1 in. x 3/4 in. in cross section, but beveled upon the upper front margin of the wing of a bird. Two umbrella stays 8 in. in length pass through the extremity of the spar, and are slightly curved to correspond to the curvature of the wing. The free extremities are connected by a violin string tightly drawn. The whole is covered with black satin, nowhere tightly drawn except near the spar. The wing thus formed is concave beneath and convex above, the curvature being greater near the leading edge, and is attached at its middle point to a block of oak in such a way that the plane of the rudder exactly coincides with the plane of the violin string and the leading lower edge of the spar."

Two articles in Century Magazine triggered Huffaker's interest in aeronautics. (Probably Langley, 1891, The Possibility of Mechanical Flight [1] and Maxim, 1891, Aerial Navigation [2], see also [3].) He said later, "I was led by these same articles to undertake certain experiments with small gliding models, which were patterned pretty closely after the soaring birds."

Huffaker wrote to Octave Chanute in 1892 to share his observations on birds in Tennesee. Chanute visited him in March 1893, saw his flying models, and invited him to speak at the Aeronautical Navigation Conference at 1893 World's Fair.

In his presentation to the conference, titled "Soaring Flight", Huffaker described two years watching vultures and buzzards in East Tennessee, and an experimental glider modeled thereupon. His conclusions included the idea that soaring flight was similar to flapping flight, with soaring strokes more "economical" because of the efficient upstroke. He also described the different techniques required for flying in strong wind.

Edward Chalmers Huffaker participated in these events:

• Aeronautical Navigation Conference at 1893 World's Fair (Start date: 1893-08-01, Locations: Chicago (World's Fair), Country: US, Tech focus: LTA • Balloon • Propeller • Propulsion • Airplane • Stability • Parachute • Glider)