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The Aviation Pioneer
Gustave Albin Whitehead (Weißkopf)
was born on January 1, 1874
in Leutershausen, Bavaria, Germany. During his early youth
and part of his primary school time he lived in Hoechst/Main.
At the age of 13 Weißkopf was orphaned and was taken
in by his grandparents in Ansbach.
After breaking off an apprenticeship,
he trained as a mechanic. He traveled to Hamburg where in 1888,
he was "shanghaied" by the crew of a sailing ship.
Weißkopf spent many years at sea and learned all about
masts and rigging, wind, and weather.
Weißkopf became an
immigrant to the United States of America in 1894. There he
called himself "Whitehead" rather than Weißkopf.
In 1897, he built and flew gliders for the Boston Aeronautical
Society.
It was 1899, when he succeeded
in taking off for a motorized flight in Pittsburgh. The flight
ended on a house wall. In 1900, Whitehead moved to Bridgeport,
Connecticut. Here he worked on designing and building flying
machines and motors. |
