Pre-Wright Aviation Patents

179 Contestants

Before the Wright brothers gave us powered flight, there was quite a rash of inventors and visionaries hot on the trail, as attested by two file boxes at Indiana University of Pennsylvania as their Air Ship Patents Collection. Granted that most of the early birds were focused on balloons but soon there was a obvious shift to heavier-than-air flying machines. Patent numbers are not included—those shown are the File Numbers of applications contained in two archives.

		ARCHIVE #1
1	October 16, 1844	M Muzzi	Flying Machine
2	March 26, 1850	Hugh Bell	Balloon
3	July 11, 1854	J W Brewer	Balloon
4	March 8, 1859	James P Gage	Balloon
5	May 21, 1891	M Nelson	Aerial Car
6	June 3, 1862	L C Crowell	Aerial Machine
7	February 10, 1863	Thomas L Shaw	Balloon
8	November 17, 1863	James H Connell	Air Balloon
9	July 5, 1864	Solomon Andrews	Aerostat
10	December 27, 1864	A G Wright	Balloon
11	May 22, 1866	John Wootten	Flying Machine
12	September 11, 1866	Chester W Sykes	Improved Marine Balloons
13	September 10, 1867	W F Quinby	Improved Flying Machine
14	May 12, 1868	Zaphna Stone	Aerial Navigator
15	July 21, 1868	Onofrio Abruzo	Aerial Car
16	November 23, 1869	Frederick Marriott	Aerial Steam Car
17	February 8, 1870	Martin Braun	Improved Aerial Ships
18	March 1, 1870	A P Keith	Aerial Car
19	August 30, 1870	Edward Oakes	Aerial Car
20	July 16, 1872	Isaac W Forbes	Aerial Cars
21	August 27, 1872	Paul Haenlein	Improved Balloon Locomotion
22	October 8, 1872	Watson F Quinby	Improved Flying Apparatus
23	November 12, 1872	Charles McDermott	Improved Nav Apparatus
24	November 26, 1872	T Moy & E Shill	Navigation Apparatus
25	August 12, 1873	Thomas Green	Navigating Apparatus
26	February 10, 1874	Otto Francis	Navigating Apparatus
27	March 24, 1874	C B Wainwright	Steering & Propelling App
28	April 4, 1874	Lewis A Boswell	Improved Propeller-Wheels
29	May 19, 1874	James Hartness	Balloons
30	June 16, 1874	C F McGlashan	Guiding Balloons
31	June 23, 1874	Daniel L Rhone	Aerial Boats
32	September 1, 1874	Micajah Dyer	Navigating Apparatus
33	September 22, 1874	L A Boswell	Aerial Propeller Wheels
34	October 27, 1874	Felix LeBlanc	Aerial Vessels
35	April 6, 1875	Peter B Fernandez	Aerial & Marine Gyrator
36	August 15, 1876	F X Lamboley	Flying Machine
37	December 19, 1876	John B Ward	Aerial Machine
38	May 15, 1877	Frank Barnett	Flying Machine
39	July 17, 1877	Washington Beckley	Balloon
40	August 14, 1877	M M Murrell	Aerial Navigators
41	September 4, 1877	J J Pennington	Flying Machine
42	October 2, 1877	John B Ward	Aerial Machine
43	January 15, 1878	Fritz von Ehren	Aerial Vessels
44	March 12, 1878	C F Ritchel	Improved Flying Machine
45	April 23, 1878	William F Pearson	Balloon
46	May 28, 1878	Richard W Cowan	Aerial Paddle-Wheel
47	June 25, 1878	James Tracy	Balloon
48	November 26, 1878	J F Cameron	Air Ship
49	April 22, 1879	Henrey Badgley	Aerial Machine
50	August 12, 1879	Watson F Quinby	Aerial Ship
51	October 14, 1879	J J Greenough	Aerobat
52	February 17, 1880	Albert L Blackman	Aerial Nav Vess & Machine
53	November 30, 1880	Charles A Sullivan	Flying Machine
54	November 30, 1880	F W Brearey	Aerial Apparatus
55	December 21, 1880	John F Mackenzie	Aerial Navigation
56	January 11, 1881	E A Pearse	Aerial Navigation Machine
57	August 16, 1881	William Beeson	Flying Ship
58	September 13, 1881	Edward De Jongh	Aeronautic App & Regulator
59	December 6, 1881	Albert L Blackman	Aerial Navigation Vessel
60	January 31, 1882	William G Krueger	Air Ship
61	April 4, 1882	Charles P Fest	Balloon
62	April 11, 1882	Carl W Petersen	Air Ship
63	May 23, 1882	James A Nisonger	Shifting rail for vehicles
64	August 29, 1882	Charles P Fest	Air Ship
65	September 12, 1882	R L Downton	Aerial Ship
66	January 2, 1883	Joel Ray	Aerial Vessel
67	January 23, 1883	E F Falconnet	Aerial Ship
68	April 17, 1883	John W Emsley	Balloon
69	August 7, 1883	Gustav Koch	Air Ship
70	January 15, 1884	Kansas D Davis	Balloon Propeller
71	March 18, 1884	Charles P Fest	Air Ship
72	December 2, 1884	G Wellner	Wedge-shaped Air Balloon
73	February 10, 1885	Eugene F Falconnet	Vessel for Aerial Navigation
74	June 9, 1885	Anton Spier	Air Ship
75	June 9, 1885	David Stout	Aerial Ship
76	June 16, 1885	Frederich W Brearey	Aerial Navigation
77	June 23, 1885	Joseph S Foster	Air Ship
78	October 13, 1885	Nicholas Helmer	Air Ship
79	January 26, 1886	Hurgar Hunnicutt	Aerial Ship
80	March 2, 1886	Levi A Beardsley	Ship for Aerial Nav
81	March 16, 1886	Ringert Jongewaard	Aerial Navigation
82	April 27, 1886	William Patterson	Steam Air Ship
83	October 5, 1886	Augustin H Hamon	Dirigible Aerostat
84	November 9, 1886	Moses S Cole	Aerial Vessel
85	November 9, 1886	Moses S Cole	Propelling Wheel
86	November 23, 1886	Marby P Appling	Air Ship
87	December 14, 1886	Otto W Hartung	Balloon
		ARCHIVE #2
1	February 1, 1877	Martin Bruan	Aerial Ship
2	April 19, 1887	James M Wheeler	Air Ship
3	May 10, 1887	Peter C Campbell	Air Ship
4	April 19, 1887	Joseph Neubrand	Aerial Vessel
5	April 26, 1887	William Beeson	Aerial Navigation
6	May 17, 1887	C R E Wulff	Propelling & Guiding App
7	October 18, 1887	W N Hutchinson	Aerial Vessel
8	November 22, 1887	Charles H Morgan	Air Ship
9	January 24, 1888	William Beeson	Flying Machine
10	February 21, 1888	W Gustafson	Aerial Navigation
11	April 17, 1888	B Bontems	Aerial Navigation Apparatus
12	June 5, 1888	E P Johnston	Air Ship
13	February 12, 1889	John P Holmes	Air Ship
14	March 12, 1889	C A Kunzel	Balloon
15	March 19, 1889	H A J Rieckert	Air Ship
16	October 1, 1889	N H Borgfeldt	Flying Machine
17	December 24, 1889	David Thayer	Aerial Apparatus
18	March 25, 1890	Matthias H Baldwin	Aerostat
19	April 1, 1890	John J Pokorny	Air Ship
20	June 3, 1890	C E Bechtel	Air Ship
21	June 17, 1890	C D E Hennig	Air Ship
22	July 22, 1890	Stewart Cairncross	Aerial Machine
23	October 28, 1890	Perham W Nahl	Navigable Air Ship
24	September 29, 1891	Burr F Barnes	Flying Machine
25	November 3, 1891	John Arbtin	Air Ship
26	December 8, 1891	Stewart Caircross	Aerial Machine
27	January 12, 1892	James C Walker	Air Ship
28	April 19, 1892	W N Riddle	Aerial Ship
29	July 12, 1892	Burr F Barnes	Air Ship
30	August 16, 1892	Leon Gayon	Propeller
31	June 27, 1893	C T L Gabrielii	Balloon Ship
32	July 11, 1893	Theodor Steinmann	Air Ship
33	July 25, 1893	S B Batten	Aerial Machine
34	October 17, 1893	A F Bergqvist	Aerial Vessel
35	October 31, 1893	C F Billwiller	Navigable Air Ship
36	November 14, 1893	Edwin Pynchon	Air Ship
37	December 12, 1893	Joachim A Sumovski	Balloon
38	January 9, 1894	J S Preiswerk	Parachute Sail for Balloons
39	February 6, 1894	S Spaeth	Aerial Vessel
40	March 13, 1894	Christopher G Cross	Aerial Locomotive
41	March 13, 1894	George Wellner	Flying Apparatus
42	September 25, 1894	Duana Hurlbut	Air Ship
43	October 2, 1894	Hermann Ganswindt	Propeller for Aerial Vehicles
44	December 4, 1894	Nicholas Borgfeldt	Aerial Navigation Apparatus
45	August 20, 1895	Otto Lilienthal	Flying Machine
46	October 15, 1895	W N Hutchinson	Navigable Balloon
47	March 17, 1896	Manoel V Coutinho	Aerostat
48	August 11, 1896	C A Smith	Air Ship
49	July 28, 1896	Frank Kline	Power Wheel
50	December 22, 1896	E J St Croix	Air Ship
51	April 20, 1897	Henry Heintz	Air Ship
52	April 20, 1897	Carl E Myers	Sky Cycle
53	May 18, 1897	Octave Chanute	Soaring Machine
54	May 18, 1897	Louis P Mouillard	Means of Aerial Flight
55	August 24, 1897	Thomas M Crepar	Air Ship
56	October 12, 1897	Daniel Reed	Air Ship
57	October 26, 1897	Jacob D Graybill	Aerial Machine
58	December 28, 1897	James Richardson	Flying Machine
59	March 22, 1898	Theodore Leibbrand	Aerial Navigation
60	June 7, 1898	Adolph Koehler	Air Ship
61	June 14, 1898	F A Jone	Flying Machine
62	June 28, 1898	William P Butusov	Soaring Machine
63	July 12, 1898	Charles E Hite	Air Ship
64	September 13, 1898	Thomas J Brown	Aerial Ship
65	October 18, 1898	Oscar L Smith	Air Ship
66	October 25, 1898	RH Von Siegsfeld	Air Balloon
67	December 6, 1898	Frederick R Merritt	Air Ship
68	March 14, 1899	F Graf Zeppelin	Navigable Balloon
69	February 20, 1900	John F Pickering	Air Ship
70	May 1, 1900	Louis Etienne Roze	Flying Machine
71	October 9, 1900	Charles Stanley	Air Ship
72	November 13, 1900	Leo Stevens	Controllable Balloons
73	January 22, 1901	J H Dillon-Gregg	Aerial Navigation Machine
74	February 19, 1901	A F Hubbard	Air Ship
75	July 9, 1901	Eugene M Farr	Aerial Vessel
76	February 25, 1902	Walter J Bell	Wing for Flying Machine
77	March 4, 1902	Frederick W Dufwa	Blade for Air Ship
78	April 8, 1902	Charles Groombridge	Propeller for Air Ship
79	July 8, 1902	Joel T Rice	Flying Machine
80	November 4, 1902	Ernest R Krocker	Air Ship or Vessel
81	March 10, 1903	E P Johnston	Air Ship
82	March 24, 1903	John Berry	Air Ship
83	April 21, 1903	Thor Michelsen	Air Ship
84	May 5, 1903	Otto A Kaehler	Flying Machine
85	May 26, 1903	L A Boswell	Steering for Diriqible
86	June 2, 1903	Geo D Shultz	Aerial Vessel
87	June 2, 1903	Theodor Gibon	Aeroplane
88	June 9, 1903	A F Godefroy	Means for Propelling Vessels
89	September 1, 1903	Isaac I Morris	Aerial Navigation Machine
90	October 13, 1903	C E Van Devanter	Aerial Navigation Apparatus
91	no date	Eugene F Falconnet	----
92	no date	Charles H Morgan	Aerial Ship