Otto Lilienthal

My Hero, Otto Lilienthal (http://www.flyingmachines.org/lilthl.html)

Otto Lilienthal is surely my hero! Why, you ask? Do you know who Otto Lilienthal is? If you don’t, then you are in luck! If you do, here is your chance to learn more about him! In my essay, I will be talking about Otto Lilienthal, of course! The three main ideas I will be focusing on are Otto Lilienthal’s life, other information about him, and last but not least, his inventions. In these stanzas, hopefully you will learn a lot. So relax with a cup of coffee and enjoy my essay!

Otto Lilienthal is known as the first successful aviator in the history of mankind. He founded the science of wing aerodynamics from his study of birds. Otto and his brother Gustav Lilienthal worked together on their inventions. Otto Lilienthal was born on May 23, 1848 in Anklam, Germany. From 1864 to 1866, he attended a Regional Technical School in Postdam, Germany.

Otto and Gustav owned their own company in Germany. In 1890, they introduced a 25% profit sharing scheme for the workers in their company. Lilienthal had a conical hill constructed in 1894 near Berlin, Germany to help with the test flights. He had more than 2,500 flights with his invention before he died. On August 9, 1896, he crashed his invention after an unsuccessful attempt to steer a “normal glider” through a heat eddy. The next day, on August 10, 1896, he died in Berlin, Germany.

Otto’s full name was Otto Wilhelm Karl Lilienthal. His exploits inspired the Wright Brothers. His first glider was made in 1891. His first “normal glider” was constructed in 1894. Otto was married to Mathilde Agnes Fischer Lilienthal. The couple had four children named Otto, Theresa, Hans, and Helene. There is a German stamp commemorating Otto Lilienthal. There was a magic glass lantern slide in Germany depicting Lilienthal’s 1895 flight. The Otto Lilienthal Museum is located in his hometown of Anklam, Germany.

Otto Lilienthal accomplished many flights. As I stated earlier, he had over 2,500 successful glider flights and died while flying his newest invention. When he invented the airplane, he invented something that has helped many people travel from place to place much quicker than Otto ever imagined.

I hope you enjoyed learning about Otto Lilienthal. You know about his life, his inventions and how they contributed to mankind. I’m sure you can see why I think Otto Lilienthal is a good enough person to be my hero and hopefully a hero to others too.