Edward C. Huffaker
Huffaker was an American pioneer of manned flight best known for suggesting decades before anyone else that the Bernoulli Principle may allow curved wings to fly. Huffaker's wind-tunnel work has been discussed in histories of early American aeronautics. In 1889, he performed glider experiments in Chuckey, Tennessee.
Edward C. Huffaker
- Name
- Edward Chalmers Huffaker
- Born
- 16 July 1856
- Birthplace
- Seclusion Bend, Tennessee, U.S.
- Died
- 1937
- Education
- Emory and Henry College (1876), University of Virginia (1883)
- Occupation
- teacher, engineer, journalist, postmaster
- Known for
- Suggesting the Bernoulli Principle may be responsible for curved wings' flight; assistant to Samuel Langley at the Smithsonian Institution; assisting the Wright brothers
- Spouse
- Cora Lyman Fishburn (1888 – 1888) Carrie Sue Redding (1894 –????)
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Edward C. Huffaker. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q123697376 · wikipedia · Edward C. Huffaker
In this article
Biography
Biography
From 1895 to 1896, he worked for the Smithsonian Institution on aviation modeling by invitation of Octave Chanute. Late in 1896, he returned to Chuckey to test more gliders under the Smithsonian's Samuel Langley's instruction. He left the Smithsonian in 1898 following disagreements with Langley. Huffaker worked with the Wright brothers but they did not care for his personality or hygiene. Huffaker patented a flight-stabilization device in 1920. Huffaker never flew in an airplane.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Edward Chalmers Huffaker • Born — 16 July 1856 • Birthplace — Seclusion Bend, Tennessee, U.S. • Died — 1937 • Education — Emory and Henry College (1876), University of Virginia (1883) • Occupation — teacher, engineer, journalist, postmaster • Known for — Suggesting the Bernoulli Principle may be responsible for curved wings' flight; assistant to Samuel Langley at the Smithsonian Institution; assisting the Wright brothers • Spouse — Cora Lyman Fishburn (1888 – 1888) Carrie Sue Redding (1894 –????) • Notable Works — The Value of Curved Surfaces in Flight (1893)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1856
Edward C. Huffaker born.
1937
Edward C. Huffaker died.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Edward C. Huffaker, revision 1372395402 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1."Edward Huffaker" from "The Wright Brothers: A Centennial Tribute," by Bob Gardner, East Tennessee State University. Accessed December 7, 2023.
- 2."Edward Chalmers Huffaker," Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame. Accessed December 7, 2023.
- 3.Crouch, Tom D. A Dream of Wings: Americans and the Airplane, 1875–1905. W. W. Norton. 212–218. 2002. 978-0393322279.
- 4."https://archives.etsu.edu/agents/people/242 Huffaker, Edward C." East Tennessee State University: Archives of Appalachia. Accessed December 7, 2023.
- 5."Doers and Dreamers," Pilots, Planes and Pioneers. Accessed December 7, 2023.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
The identifiers under which Edward C. Huffaker may be traced in institutional catalogues.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Modern design
3,254 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Edna ModeDesigner
- Edoardo PersicoDesigner
- Eduard CuypersDesigner
- Eduardo CorronsDesigner
- Edward Carter PrestonDesigner
- Edward Chandler MooreDesigner
- Edward E. SimbalistDesigner
- Edward FellaDesigner
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Edward C. Huffaker?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.