Eagle of the Sierra: Secrets shadow Gilmore

Editor?s Note: This is the first in a series of three articles reflecting on aviation, 100 years after the Wright Brothers were credited with the first powered flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in December of 1903. Some Colfax residents feel history needs to be rewritten. Next week?s issue, Dec. 11, will explore Beacon Hill and the lights that were used to guide aircraft over the Sierra.Lyman Gilmore often spoke of his aeronautical achievements with both pride and secrecy. Telling just enough to pique the interest of those listening, but not enough to give away information allowing others to capitalize on his inventions.Years after the Wright Brothers were credited with their first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in December 1903, Gilmore reflected on his first powered flight near Colfax on May 15, 1902, some 9 months prior to the Wright brother?s success.Was he the first to fly? His friends at the time believe he was. Skeptics, however, argue there is no documented proof of Gilmore?s claims.Yet his inventive genius is well documented. The Gilmore Aerodrome in 1908 was one of three in the United States and is credited as the first airport west of the Mississippi River. As a young man his constant obsession with flight drove him from his father?s farm in Cowlitz County, Washington, were he was born on June 11, 1874. A few years after he moved to his Uncle John Gilmore?s farm near Red Bluff. But a failed glider experiment by young Gilmore sent both Lyman and one of his uncle?s horses on a path out of town.For the remainder of his life, Lyman Gilmore would reside in Grass Valley, Colfax and Iowa Hill. His early knowledge of gold mining drew him away from his aeronautical experiments from time to time. As a boy, his father and grandfather had both been miners. He often held an interest in mines such as the Morning Star in Iowa Hill, the Grant Mine, the Blue Channel Mine, the Iowa Hill Mine and others.But his first love was aeronautics. After earning a mechanical engineering degree at Washington State College, he was soon applying his education to his experiments. Early documents reveal that Gilmore?s experiments led to a number of aviation firsts, including a well-designed wing that outperformed any others of the period. On April 27 of 1893, he designed an all-metal fuselage with an enclosed cabin and retractable landing gear.In 1905 Gilmore exhibited a powered-plane at the California State Fair in Sacramento.While Gilmore?s early experiments and when they occurred are still be debated within the aviation industry, it?s clear that his expertise was known worldwide at the turn of the century. The Wright Brothers, in fact, visited Gilmore at his Aerodrome in grass Valley to take advantage of his early experiments. His accomplishments led a Guggenheim Foundation stipend that supplemented his income for much of his life.For all of his recognized accomplishments, however, the secrecy that he imposed from those around him has clouded his true contribution to aviation.He often carried out his experiments out of sight of the press or any recognized aviation authority.His early airplanes were designed to use steam for power. The weight association with steam engines later forced him to turn to gasoline powered aircraft.The first documented powered flight of his own design was reported in the Grass Valley Union on August 15, 1911. ?The ascent was made in a small machine weighing about 900 pounds and propelled by a 35-horsepower engine,? the article read.It is believed the plane flown by Gilmore was a monoplane often referred to as a ?Bat? plane. Gilmore manufactured two such planes.?As soon as inventor Gilmore was stationed firmly in his seat, and the mechanicians pronounced everything in readiness, the small airship soared in the air to a distance of five feet above the ground and before dismounting Gilmore circumnavigated a circle with a 125 yard radius. It is estimated that a distance of one half mile was made before the machine was brought to a standstill after its first start.?Subsequent flights were reported in the Colfax Record.The Record reported that Gilmore damages his airplane on Nov. 29, 1912. ?He met with stockholders Wednesday evening to consider the purchase of a new engine of the Roberts type, 76 horsepower and weighing 250 pounds.?Interest in Gilmore?s airplanes attracted a great deal of attention prior to World War I. During 1910, stock certificates for the Gilmore Airship Company were issued to several investors. By October 23, 1929, the Grass Valley Council voted to make Gilmore Field a municipal airport.Gilmore passed away at the Nevada County hospital on Feb. 18, 1951. During his lifetime he took part in the early development of aviation. Prior to his death he saw the onset of jet powered airplanes.His was a friend to early aviation pioneers such as the Orville and Wilbur Wright, Robert Fowler and Samuel Langley. But his rightful place in aviation history was thwarted, he felt, by the failure of his backers to come up with enough capitol for him to build the plane as planned. A 1935 fire that destroyed his Aerodrome in grass Valley also claimed a number of his vintage aircraft and early records and experiments.