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FROM THE
HAROLD & MARVEL MOREHOUSE
AVIATION PIONEERS COLLECTION
National Air & Space Museum

Horace B. Wild
Early Aeronaut - Dirigible Pilot - Aviator

Horace B. Wild was born in Chicago, Illinois, April 23, 1868, the son of English balloonist. He attended local grade and High schools, then became a graduate electrical engineer.

Wild started in this profession and became a leading Chicago electrical engineering contractor. One of his early contracts was for wiring and special lighting of White City, Chicago's gala new amusement park, in which he was professionally interested. 

Although a practicing electrical engineer, Wild developed an early interest in the air and took up ballooning in 1989, the continued the sport for some time, becoming a real expert. He sailed over the Great Lakes area, the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, his longest trip lasting 24 hours, 25 minutes. During this early period Wild became a close friend of Octave Chanute in Chicago and shared his interest in the possibilities of flight. 

Wild followed Chanute's early experiments closely and was present at the Chanute-Herring glider trials at Dunne Park, Indiana during the summer 1896. At that tie he was making a pedal, foot powered airship which was not much of a success. 

He next turned his attention to the powered airship and reportedly completed his first one in 1903. His experiments continued and by 1905 he had developed a

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