Guido Dinelli - May 251904

Foil: 63 Panel: 3 Column: 4 Line: 30

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Guido Dinelli

MAY 25, 1904 – Guido Dinelli, in Tandil, Argentina, flew his "Aeroplano apparatus" glider attached to a bicycle for 180 m. (590 ft)

Guido Dinelli, an Italian shoemaker, was the second person in South America who is known to have made a gliding flight, while Pablo Suarez is believed to have been the first to do so.
Both gliding flights took place at Tandil, Argentina, from atop Garibaldi Hill. Dinelli's flight, on May 25, 1904, was made with a glider which he designed in late 1903. The glide was remarkable, covering 590 feet... a considerable distance. Dinelli and his "Aereoplano apparatus" weighed a combined total of 211 pounds and was controlled by a number of ropes pulled by the operator. The glider, constructed of steam-bent spruce covered with cotton fabric, apparently was attached to a bicycle. Dinelli seems to have garnered some construction advice from Frank Brown, an English clown with the Carlo Brothers Circus. The wing was arranged to tilt (in order to vary the angle of incidence) so Dinelli could choose when to gain lift. He pedaled the bicycle to gain speed and then tilted the wing to lift just as he left the edge of Garibaldi Hill, timed to take advantage of an updraft. Dinelli's glide, apparently his last, ended with damage to his glider and bruises to himself.

More information can be found here: http://www.flyingmachines.org/dinelli.html & http://www.flyingmachines.org/suar.html