Chanute - Herring Glider

Hanging overhead is a replica of the 1896 Chanute-Herring glider that established the trussed biplane design standard used by many early 20th century experimenters, including the Wright Brothers and Glenn Curtiss. Octave Chanute, Augustus Herring, and William Avery built this aircraft in Chicago in summer of that year and flew it successfully during their July-August glider experiments at Miller Beach and Dune Park (near present-day Gary, IN).

This is a weight shift hang glider, controlled by shifting the legs from side to side and back and forth. Herring made a number of flights in this glider in excess of 200 ft. with his best flight being 359 ft.