Chanute, a French native, was later famed for publishing Progress in Flying Machines, which helped pioneer aviation.

With the information contained in Chanute's book, the personal assistance of Chanute himself, and research carried out in their own wind tunnel, the Wright brothers gained enough knowledge of aerodynamics to fly the first powered aircraft on December 17, 1903.

When Langley received word from his friend Octave Chanute of the Wright brothers ' success with their 1902 glider, he attempted to meet the Wrights, but they politely evaded his request.

The Wright brothers even mentioned Chanute as a mentor to them.

The sculpture honors engineer and city namesake, Octave Chanute, and the Wright Brothers.

Chanute was a mentor to Wilbur and Orville Wright and very influential in the early days of flight exploration.

Airmen like Otto Lilienthal, who introduced cambered airfoils in 1891, used gliders to analyze aerodynamic forces. The Wright brothers were interested in Lilianthal's work and read several of his publications. They also found inspiration in Octave Chanute, an airman and the author of Progress in Flying Machines ( 1894 ). It was the preliminary work of Cayley, Lilienthal, Chanute, and other early aerospace engineers that brought about the first powered sustained flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903, by the Wright brothers.

The Wright brothers based their glider designs on the Chanute " double-decker ," as they called it.

Chanute was in contact with the Wright brothers from 1900, when Wilbur Wright wrote to him after reading Progress in Flying Machines.

Chanute did not believe that the Wright flying machine patent, premised on wing-warping, could be enforced and said so publicly.

The friendship was still impaired when Chanute died in 1910, although Wilbur Wright delivered the eulogy at Chanute's funeral.

In 2003, as part of its commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers ' flight, Aviation Week & Space Technology named Chanute 38th on its list of the top 100 " most important, most interesting, and most influential people " in the first century of aerospace .< ref >

In a letter to Wilbur Wright on 3 July 1901, Chanute made a single reference to Whitehead, saying: " I have a letter from Carl E. Myers, the balloon maker, stating that a Mr. Whitehead has invented a light weight motor, and has engaged to build for Mr. Arnot of Elmira ' a motor of 10 I. H. P ....'"

Hanging above this area are exhibits of the Leonardo da Vinci Ornithopter ( mock-up ), Cayley Glider ( reproduction ), Lilienthal Glider ( reproduction ), Chanute Glider ( reproduction ), 1901 Wright Glider ( reproduction ), 1902 Wright Glider ( reproduction ), Montgomery Evergreen Glider, Deperdussin 1911 Type Militaire, Beachey " Little Looper " ( reproduction ), and Wright EX Vin Fiz Flyer.

He served as adjutant, executive officer and commanding officer at Chanute Field in Rantoul, Illinois, Wilbur Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, and Hazelhurst Field in Mineola, New York.

Octave Chanute provided a great service to those interested in aerodynamics and flying machines by publishing a book outlining all of the research conducted around the world up to 1893.

High school credits for New Beginnings Academy are provided by Chanute High School.

The Chanute area has many tourist attractions known for their historical significance.

In 1896 and 1897 Chanute, Herring and Avery tested hang gliders based on designs by German aviator Otto Lilienthal, as well as hang gliders of their own design, in the sandhills on the shores of Lake Michigan near the town of Miller Beach not far from what would become the city of Gary, Indiana.

Chanute freely shared his knowledge about aviation with anyone who was interested and expected others to do the same, although he did encourage colleagues to patent their inventions.

In the first half of the 20th century an American couple, Martin and Osa Johnson — from Lincoln, Kansas and Chanute, Kansas, respectively — captured the public's imagination through their films and books of adventure in exotic, faraway lands.

The town of Chanute, Kansas is named after him, as well as the former Chanute Air Force Base near Rantoul, Illinois, which was decommissioned in 1993.

At Chanute, John Jr. and Kate left the train and caught the MK & T train south to the terminus in Red River County near Denison, Texas.

* Octave Chanute Award, awarded by the Western Society of Engineers since 1901

The population exploded after 1869, when the Hannibal Bridge, designed by Octave Chanute, opened.

** Octave Chanute, French-American engineer and aviation pioneer ( b. 1832 )

* February 18 – Octave Chanute, French-American engineer and aviation pioneer ( d. 1910 )

* Grissom Hall at the former Chanute Air Force Base, Rantoul, Illinois, where Minuteman missile maintenance training was conducted.

Other aviators who made similar flights at that time were Otto Lilienthal, Percy Pilcher, and Octave Chanute.

* Spicerweb. org, Octave Chanute biplane hang glider

The city of Chanute is considered governmentally independent and is excluded from the census figures for the townships.

The northern part of the county experienced an economic and demographic setback with the closing of Chanute Air Training Center in the 1990s.

After Collins was reassigned to the United States, he attended an aircraft maintenance officer course at Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois.

In 1946, the National Order of the Arrow Lodge Meeting was held at Chanute Field.

Fairbury was laid out on November 10, 1857 by Caleb L. Patton and Octave Chanute.

Octave Chanute was a civil engineer employed by the new Peoria and Oquawka Railroad, which is now the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad.

Chanute built the railroad that made Fairbury possible, but did so against the will of Patton, Fairbury's first citizen.

When Patton heard that Chanute wanted to build a railroad in his general direction, he saw it as an opportunity to make use of his otherwise deserted land and struck a deal.

If Chanute built his railroad through Fairbury, then Patton would give Chanute half of the town's property.

Patton and Chanute reached an agreement, and Chanute kept up his end of the deal.

However, when Chanute reached Fairbury, he was met by a group of armed citizens.