Patrick Young Alexander (28 March 1867 – 7 July 1943) was a British aeronautical pioneer fascinated by the possibility of heavier-than-air flight. He was an enthusiastic balloonist and he was also particularly active in meteorology. He performed many meteorological and aviation experiments, designing and building his own equipment. He travelled widely, visiting Australia in his youth and later making many visits to USA — crossing the Atlantic at least 50 times — he travelled widely in Europe and visited Mexico, Russia, Siberia and Africa in pursuit of his interests.
Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences which includes atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics, with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw modest progress in the field after weather observation networks were formed across broad regions. Prior attempts at prediction of weather depended on historical data. It was not until after the elucidation of the laws of physics and more particularly, the development of the computer, allowing for the automated solution of a great many equations that model the weather, in the latter half of the 20th century that significant breakthroughs in weather forecasting were achieved. An important domain of weather forecasting is marine weather forecasting as it relates to maritime and coastal safety, in which weather effects also include atmospheric interactions with large bodies of water.
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia.
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost 2,000,000 square kilometres (770,000 sq mi), the nation is the fifth largest country in the Americas by total area and the 13th largest independent state in the world. With an estimated population of over 120 million people, the country is the tenth most populous state and the most populous Spanish-speaking state in the world, while being the second most populous nation in Latin America after Brazil. Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and Mexico City, a special federal entity that is also the capital city and its most populous city. Other metropolises in the state include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana and León.
Octave Chanute was a French-born American civil engineer and aviation pioneer. He provided many budding enthusiasts, including the Wright brothers, with help and advice, and helped to publicize their flying experiments. At his death he was hailed as the father of aviation and the heavier-than-air flying machine.
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, were two American aviation pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flying the world's first successful airplane. They made the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft with the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903, four miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. In 1904–05, the brothers developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed-wing aircraft, the Wright Flyer III. Although not the first to build experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible.
Alberto Santos-Dumont was a Brazilian inventor and aviation pioneer, one of the very few people to have contributed significantly to the development of both lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air aircraft.
Early years
Planophore model airplane by Alphonse Pénaud, 1871
Alexander was born at Hern Villa, Belvedere, Erith, Kent. His mother was Harriotte Emma and his father was Andrew Alexander from Scotland. He had an elder brother, John Edmond who was three years older.
Erith is an area of south-east London, England, located 13.3 miles (21.4 km) east of Charing Cross. Historically part of Kent, it has formed part of the London Borough of Bexley since 1965. Erith is located to the north-east of Bexleyheath and north-west of Dartford, and lies on the south bank of the River Thames.
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west. The county also shares borders with Essex along the estuary of the River Thames, and with the French department of Pas-de-Calais through the Channel Tunnel. The county town is Maidstone.
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Sharing a border with England to the southeast, Scotland is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, by the North Sea to the northeast and by the Irish Sea to the south. In addition to the mainland, situated on the northern third of the island of Great Britain, Scotland has over 790 islands, including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.
His father, Andrew Alexander, was a civil engineer of some standing and a mechanical engineer. He was interested in aeronautics and was a founder member of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1866. He presented some papers to the society including "Power in Relation to Weight in Aerial Navigation". In 1875, he went to see Thomas Moy's Aerial Steamer at The Crystal Palace. This machine had many interesting design features and may have achieved a brief hop into the air; accounts vary. That year, Andrew Alexander became manager of the Cyclops works of Charles Cammell and Company in Sheffield, where he worked on the improvement of armour plate for warships.
Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identifies the aspects of "aeronautical Art, Science and Engineering" and "the profession of Aeronautics ."
The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Fellows and Companions of the society can use the post-nominal letters FRAeS or CRAeS, respectively.
Thomas William Moy (1823–1910) was an English engineer and patent agent best known for his Aerial Steamer of 1875.
Andrew Alexander was a practical-minded man, unlikely to be prone to flights of fancy, yet at a time when many ridiculed the idea of heavier-than-air flight, he told Patrick he was sure that the problems of aviation would be solved. He was clearly a major influence on Patrick's life.
In 1878, Patrick Alexander, doubtless encouraged by his father, built an elastic driven model aeroplane of the Penaud type. In the late summer of that year, Patrick was taken by his father to see the Paris Exhibition. One attraction was irresistible: the enormous hydrogen balloon of Henri Giffard, which was capable of taking 52 passengers at a time on a tethered ascent to 500 metres (1,600ft). The experience left a deep impression on Alexander, then 11 years old.
The third Paris World's Fair, called an Exposition Universelle in French, was held from 1 May through to 10 November 1878. It celebrated the recovery of France after the 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War.
Baptiste Jules Henri Jacques Giffard was a French engineer. In 1852 he invented the steam injector and the powered Giffard dirigible airship.
When Andrew Alexander left the Cyclops works, the Alexander family moved from Sheffield to Bath and Patrick decided on a career in the Merchant Navy.
Bath is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, known for its Roman-built baths. In 2011, the population was 88,859. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, 97 miles (156 km) west of London and 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Bristol. The city became a World Heritage site in 1987.
At sea
On 1 April 1885, just 3days after his 18th birthday, Patrick Alexander signed as an apprentice Merchant Navy officer. The very next day he sailed upon the Minero, a barque of 478 tones bound for Fremantle in Western Australia, a distance of 12,500 miles (20,000km) in a vessel powered only by the wind.
60days into the journey, while aloft helping with the sails, Patrick lost his grip and fell. As he hit the deck, he broke his leg. The ship was still three weeks away from port and there was little that could be done other than to strap Patrick into a bunk for the rest of the journey, letting the leg heal without expert attention.
The Minero had left England with a crew short by one member. At Fremantle, two of the crew jumped ship, possibly encouraged by rumours of gold being found in the desert; replacement crewmen were hard to come by and only one could be found. The Minero set sail for Cossack and Port Walcott some 1,000 miles (1,600km) to the North, seeking a cargo, probably of wool and pearl shell, for the return to London. Patrick was getting about with the aid of a crutch and, given the shortage of crew, he was helping as best he could. On 10 August, in rough weather on a wet and slippery deck, Alexander fell again and re-broke his injured leg. He was taken to Victoria Hospital at Geraldton. The Minero returned to London without him. Patrick returned to England; despite treatment, it was clear that his injuries would leave him lame for life.
In 1886, while he was away from England, Patrick Alexander's elder brother died. The following year, Patrick's mother, Emma, died. In 1890, Patrick's father, Andrew, died at the age of 62. Now aged 23, Patrick was quite alone. Patrick's father had left him everything: almost £60,000 (equivalent to £6.49million in 2019.[1]) At the time it was enough for a gentleman to live in some comfort. Patrick was to use his inheritance to pursue his various interests.
Taking off
Patrick Alexander became increasingly interested in aviation and related subjects, such as meteorology, parachutes, balloons, and propellers. By about 1888 he was working on wireless telegraphy. The French aviation historian Charles Dolfus recorded that Patrick Alexander was the first to suggest that wireless could be used for the automatic direction of airships and aeroplanes and said Patrick Alexander was a "Pioneer of Space".
On 9 June 1891, Patrick Alexander made a gas balloon ascent in the company of aeronaut Griffith Brewer: this was the first of a number of balloon ascents that would lead to his becoming a licensed balloonist. Patrick ordered a three-man (some say five-man) balloon from balloon manufacturer Percival G. Spencer, naming his balloon Queen of the West. Throughout the summer of 1892, Patrick and his friend Philip Braham made a number of flights. They collected meteorological observations and measurements and took photographs. Their adventures were recorded in a number of local newspapers.
Also in 1891, Patrick Alexander acquired an 8-inch (200mm) aperture refractor telescope which was erected in Bath. The telescope was a substantial instrument, which together with its mounting, must have weighed several tons. The telescope was fully equipped for astronomical observations and Patrick was a member of the Royal Astronomical Society until 1921. Although he enjoyed showing his telescope to friends and distinguished visitors, any interest he had in astronomy was overshadowed by his other passions; the telescope was probably a scientific toy. Barry Bellinger[2] suggests that the telescope was used to track pilot balloons released into the air, before releasing any main balloons; however, a telescope of this size and type seems unsuited to such a task.
In 1893, Patrick Alexander ordered a balloon of 100,000 cubic feet (2,800m3) capacity from Percival Spencer. At the time, C.G. Spencer and Sons' largest advertised balloon was of 80,000 cubic feet (2,300m3) and when it was made it attracted much public interest. Capable of lifting 12 passengers, it was one of the largest balloons yet made. Alexander named her the Majestic. In 1894, Patrick took it to Germany where he conducted scientific ascents that excited interest among German scientists and the lay public, as well as that of Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Ever since the first balloon ascent by the Montgolfier Brothers in 1783, it had been realised that for balloons to be really useful, they had to be navigable. Patrick Alexander applied his mind to this problem of airship propulsion. In 1893 and 1894 he filed a number of patents. His ideas included reciprocating oars and an adjustable-pitch propeller that resembled a pair of fans. One patent includes a means of heating the gas in the balloon envelope by using piped steam, the steam pipe also served to support the balloon in the shape of a parachute in the event of the balloon being burst or punctured. None of Patrick’s ideas ever came to anything; but throughout his life, he never lost faith in the practicality of airships.
In Bath Patrick Alexander set up the first of a series of workshops. His most prestigious workshop was The Mount at Batheaston purchased in 1900 and here he had a gas supply brought into the garden and a balloon inflation valve installed. Town gas, although not as light as Hydrogen, was readily available and very much less expensive; it was, of course, highly flammable. His workshops were fully equipped and employed several people, there he designed and manufactured experimental balloons and meteorological instruments.
Patrick Alexander joined the Aero clubs of Berlin, Paris and America and, at one time, that of Austria.
In 1900 the first Zeppelin made its maiden flight, observed by Alexander. The Zeppelin was launched from a floating assembly hall on Lake Constance; Patrick observed from a motor boat in order to be as close as possible. Later that year, at the invitation of the Berlin Metrological Institute, he made a flight in the world's largest balloon, a non-dirigible with a capacity of 9,000 cubic metres (320,000cuft). The objective was to make metrological measurements and break the existing endurance records. It is indicative of the esteem in which Patrick was held that he, a non-German, was offered a place. The balloon was equipped against every eventuality and stocked with rations for 20days. The balloon took off on 27 September, just before 6 pm. The same evening, their trailing rope became stuck in trees and gusty winds caused the crew to lose control. In the dark it was decided to release the gas and land the balloon. The ambitious expedition ended just 20 kilometres (12mi) from the start.
Patrick Alexander was very interested in the development of heavier-than-air flying machines. Early in the 1890s, he travelled to Germany to meet Otto Lilienthal who was experimenting with gliders, and he continued to study ideas from a wide variety of sources. In 1896, Hiram Stevens Maxim came close to achieving flight when his huge steam-powered machine briefly lifted from the rails that also restrained it. Patrick was in contact with Octave Chanute and others experimenting with flight. In the USA, sometime before 1903, Patrick visited Samuel Pierpont Langley whose successful models had attracted much attention. At Christmas 1902 he visited the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk.
On hearing that Patrick Alexander was planning a return trip to the USA in October 1903, the Wright brothers, not known for welcoming interruptions to their work, said they would be happy to meet him. However, Patrick missed a crucial telegram and never received their message. Patrick must have been most disappointed to have missed the opportunity to witness the first flights of the Wright Flyer on 17 December 1903.
Aldershot in Hampshire was an insignificant village until, in 1854, it was selected as the home of the British Army. It was in Aldershot that the army established the Army Balloon section. In June 1904 the American born aviation pioneer Samuel Franklin Cody came to Aldershot to test his kites. There, in collaboration with the Army, he worked on balloons, kites and aeroplanes. That same year Patrick Alexander moved to nearby Mytchett in Surrey where he was involved with the Army Balloon section. He shared a house with Cody who later went on to become the first man in England to fly an aeroplane.
Stringfellow's flying machine in the Science Museum in January 2006
1905 was a year of public generosity. Chard in Somerset had been the location of some remarkable aviation experiments by John Stringfellow in 1848: he constructed a model aeroplane that is claimed to have achieved the first ever power flight. Some of the relics of these experiments were eventually bought for the Washington Museum. Patrick Alexander obtained and had restored at his expense, Stringfellow's earlier models and presented them to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Also, Patrick offered his telescope - the 8" refractor - to the War Office. The offer included the cost of construction of a suitable observatory to house it. The offer was accepted and a site was chosen. In December 1906 the Aldershot Observatory was officially opened, the opening ceremony was attended by several high-ranking officials and guests from Aldershot civic council, and Patrick Alexander himself.
In January 1910, Patrick Alexander issued the conditions of a £1,000 Alexander Award, a prize that he would offer for the development of a lightweight engine suitable for aviation. The prize was offered through the auspices of the Aerial League of which Alexander was a founding member and the testing would be performed by the National Physical Laboratory.[3] (The prize, which was Alexander's own money, was a considerable sum; £1,000 in 1910 is equivalent to £100,000 in 2019.[1]) Tests were carried out one year later. The Green Engine by Aster Engineering Ltd performed particularly well[4] and, by unanimous agreement, won the prize.[5]
First World War
With the outbreak of war, Patrick Alexander was keen to make himself useful. He was soon in America again where he aided British propaganda by making statements in the American press. He was well known to New York journalists who reported his views at length and naturally Patrick expressed his view on the importance of aviation in the conflict. In 1917 he was given a job by the newly formed Air Ministry at the Metrological Office at Falmouth; here he worked until the end of the war.
Teaching
At the end of the First World War, Patrick Alexander was fifty years old and his inheritance was all but gone. Even his prodigious energies had been unable to keep up with the developments in aviation that had taken place during the conflict. He spent the rest of his life at the Imperial Service College, Windsor. There he taught students the basics of aeronautical principles.
Legacy
Patrick Alexander died on 7 July 1943, almost penniless — having given most of his money away. Today, he is not well known; having failed to make any singular, lasting contribution to aviation and there being just a few modest memorials to his name. His primary contribution to the history of aviation was that through his tireless efforts, many journeys, writings, public speeches, and generous donations he was responsible for collecting and disseminating ideas across nations and continents without which development in the field would have proceeded more slowly.
He was a generous man — generous with his time, his intellect and with his money. An inheritance and his business ability made him wealthy, but financial success meant little to him. He was driven by native curiosity and ambition, and yet he was always supportive of the efforts of others, often making generous financial contributions, and was not jealous of their achievements.
Patrick Alexander was buried in a small churchyard in Windsor. Ironically his headstone faces the flight path from Heathrow Airport, and features a simple inscription:
Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin was a German general and later inventor of the Zeppelin rigid airships; he founded the company Luftschiffbau Zeppelin.
The history of aviation extends for more than two thousand years, from the earliest forms of aviation such as kites and attempts at tower jumping to supersonic and hypersonic flight by powered, heavier-than-air jets.
John Joseph Montgomery was an American inventor, physicist, engineer, and professor at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California who is best known for his invention of controlled heavier-than-air flying machines.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1909:
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1904:
This is a list of aviation-related events during the 18th century :
This is a list of aviation-related events during the 19th century :
Charles Green was the United Kingdom's most famous balloonist of the 19th century. He experimented with coal gas as a cheaper and more readily available alternative to hydrogen for lifting power. His first ascent was in a coal gas balloon on 19 July 1821. He became a professional balloonist and had made 200 ascents by 1835. In 1836, he set a major long distance record in the balloon Royal Vauxhall, flying overnight from Vauxhall Gardens in London to Weilburg, Duchy of Nassau (Germany) a distance of 480 miles (770 km). By the time he retired in 1852, he had flown in a balloon more than 500 times.
Early flying machines include all forms of aircraft studied or constructed before the development of the modern aeroplane by 1910. The story of modern flight begins more than a century before the first successful manned aeroplane, and the earliest aircraft thousands of years before.
Aldershot observatory is a circular red-brick building with a domed roof standing on Queens Avenue in Aldershot Military Town near Aldershot, England, home to the British Army since circa 1854. Inside is an 8-inch (203 mm) refracting telescope on a German-type equatorial mount with a clockwork drive which will run for about 2 hours without rewinding, this has a facility to vary the drive rate. The telescope and observatory building were a gift from aviation pioneer Patrick Young Alexander to the British Army, a fact which is recorded by a plaque near the observatory door. It reads: ‘Presented to the Aldershot Army Corps by Patrick Y Alexander Esq 1906’.
Balloons were one of the first mechanisms used in air warfare. Their role was originally mainly for reconnaissance purposes. They provided humans with the first available method of elevating themselves well over the battlefield to obtain the proverbial "birds-eye view." They were an early instrument of definitive intelligence collection, and were also particularly useful in the preparation of accurate battlefield maps, before which time this rudimentary craft had led to many a battlefield failure. Incendiary balloons also have a long history.
The School of Ballooning was a training and test centre for British Army experiments with balloons and airships. It was established at Chatham in Kent in 1888. The School moved to Stanhope Lines, Aldershot in 1890 when a balloon section and depot were formed as permanent units of the Royal Engineers establishment. The School was sometimes known as the Balloon Factory.
Arthur Josef Stanislaus Berson was a German meteorologist and pioneer of aerology who was a native of Neu Sandez, Galicia.
Hugh Oswald Short, AFRAeS was an English aeronautical engineer.
Eugène Godard Ainé was a notable French aeronaut, born in Clichy on August 26, 1827, died in Brussels on September 9, 1890.
Carl Edgar Myers was an American businessman, scientist, inventor, meteorologist, balloonist, and aeronautical engineer. He invented many types of hydrogen balloon airships and related equipment. His business of making passenger airshipballoons and instrument balloons at his "balloon farm" was well known throughout the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He invented a machine for varnishing fabric that would make it impervious to hydrogen so that the finished product could be made into large envelopes for lighter-than-air balloons.
The Berlin scientific balloon flights were a series of 65 manned and 29 unmanned balloon flights carried out between 1888 and 1899 by the German Society for the Promotion of Aeronautics to investigate the atmosphere above the planetary boundary layer. The flights were organized by Richard Aßmann, Professor at the Meteorological Institute of Berlin, who also developed the most important of the measurement instruments employed by them. The execution lay primarily in the hands of the military airship pilot Hans Groß and the meteorologist Arthur Berson. In 1894, Berson flew with the balloon Phönix to a height of 9155 meters, the highest that any human had flown until then.
Gustave Hermite was a French aeronaut and physicist, pioneer with Georges Besançon of the weather balloon. He was the nephew of Charles Hermite, one of the fathers of modern mathematical analysis.
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