Jacob Ellehammer

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Jacob Christian Hansen Ellehammer (June 14, 1871 – May 20, 1946) was a Danish watchmaker and inventor born in Bakkebølle, Denmark.

As a youth Ellehammer was apprenticed to a watchmaker. He developed his skills in miniature devices and later taught himself the principles of electricity and the internal combustion engine. His early commercial success with a motorcycle design permitted him to indulge his pursuit of powered flight.

His studies of birds enabled him to calculate the horsepower required to fly and to translate these calculations into his own design of a radial engine. Incredibly, Ellehammer continued to experiment unaware of the Wrights' first flight in December of 1903, and, on September 12, 1906 became the first European to fly an airplane. He made over 200 flights in the next two years using many different machines. In 1912, Ellehammer succeeded in making a helicopter rise from the ground.

An unfortunate accident to one of his aircraft in 1916 caused him to halt his aviation experiments until 1930 when his earlier interest was reawakened. He thereafter continued to aid in the development of Danish aviation until his death in 1946.

[edit] See also

• First flying machine