William Abner Eddy
Encyclopedia
Kite
A kite is a tethered aircraft. The necessary lift that makes the kite wing fly is generated when air flows over and under the kite's wing, producing low pressure above the wing and high pressure below it. This deflection also generates horizontal drag along the direction of the wind...
s.
William A. Eddy was born to a wealthy family in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. His father was a reverend. William's experience with kites started at an early age: When he was 15, he successfully tied a lantern to a hexagonal kite. After graduation from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
he returned to New York, where he would soon work as an accountant for the New York Herald
New York Herald
The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835, and 1924.-History:The first issue of the paper was published by James Gordon Bennett, Sr., on May 6, 1835. By 1845 it was the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the UnitedStates...
. In 1887, he married Cynthia S. Huggins (1856–1922) and moved to nearby Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is a peninsula that is situated between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east...
, where his cousin already lived. Their daughter Margaret was born on January 11, 1888 in New York City.
It seems that Eddy's interest in kites was renewed when he learned about recent advances. In 1883, Douglas Archibald used kites to measure differences in wind velocity. Alexander McAdie repeated Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
's kite experiments with an electrometer. In 1887, Eddy heard of Woodbridge Davis' maneuverable kites. Based on accounts of tailless diamond kites common in Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
, he tried to fill in the missing details. In standard diamond kites the tail was needed for stabilization, but was problematic when chaining several kites in order to reach higher altitudes. He added a bow in the cross spar and a hole at the crossing of the sticks. In 1893, the World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
gave him the chance to acquire an authentic Malay kite
Malay kite
The Malay kite is a model of tailless kite. First introduced to the West in a New York newspaper article from October 1894, the Malay kite was used for recreation for centuries before this in parts of the Far East. The article detailed how a university professor had erected a series of kites and...
, which inspired further improvements and led to what is now known as the diamond Eddy kite.
He also improved the method for chaining several kites. Previously each kite had been tied to the previous one. Instead, he made the individual kites' lines branch off a common main line.
Eddy's publication of air temperatures measured with his kites attracted the attention of the American Meteorological Society
American Meteorological Society
The American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
. In 1894, he followed an invitation to assist the work of Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory
Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory
The Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, also known as Great Blue Hill Weather Observatory, Blue Hill Weather Observatory, or simply the Blue Hill Observatory, in Milton, Massachusetts is the foremost structure associated with the history of weather observations in the United States...
. He solved the observatory's technical problems, thereby contributing significantly to its reputation.
On May 30, 1895, Eddy took the first aerial photograph in the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
. This was 37 years after Nadar
Nadar (photographer)
Félix Nadar was the pseudonym of Gaspard-Félix Tournachon , a French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist and balloonist. Some photographs by Nadar are marked "P. Nadar" for "Photographie Nadar" .-Life: born in April 1820 in Paris...
's first balloon-based photographs and 7 years after Arthur Batut
Arthur Batut
Arthur Batut was a French photographer and pioneer of aerial photography.-Life:Batut, born 1846 in Castres, was interested in history, archeology and photography...
's first kite-based photographs. Eddy improved Batut's technique further, and he even experimented with telephony via kites and with kite-based mirrors.
The New York Times regularly reported on Eddy's curious accidents, plans, and results. For example, in 1897: playing children interfered with his experiments during the night. In 1898, he hoped to assist the navy in the Spanish–American War. On Christmas Day 1900, he found that the wild ducks at the coast were flying at 47 miles per hour (75.6 km/h) at an altitude of 1500 feet (457.2 m). In 1908, Eddy took kite aerial photographs in order to solve the theft of ice cream from his back porch; one photo showed two men eating the loot.
The scientific significance of Eddy's improvements to kite-flying was short-lived, due to the advent of Lawrence Hargrave
Lawrence Hargrave
Lawrence Hargrave was an engineer, explorer, astronomer, inventor and aeronautical pioneer.- Early life :Hargrave was born in Greenwich, England, the second son of John Fletcher Hargrave and was educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmorland...
's rectangular box kites. Nevertheless, in the year following Eddy's death, a train of ten Eddy kites reaching an altitude of 23385 feet (7,127.7 m) set a height record for several years.
Further reading
Except where noted otherwise, all information comes from the following article:- White, Bob (2005), Diamonds in the Sky: The Contributions of William Abner Eddy to Kiting.