Harry Schaare (New York, Arizona, 1922 - 2008) "Octave Chanute Working on Glider" Signed lower right. Original Oil painting on Masonite. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting is the original which was published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the U.S. 21c Octave Chanute Air Mail stamp issued March 29, 1979. Though flight was considered folly by the common man since time began, by 1893, it was considered a feasible endeavor by scientists. At that time, a spirit of cooperation among aeronautical researchers gave rise to remarkable scientific advances, both theoretical and practical. This attitude of free exchange and cooperation, pervading both Europe and the United States, was largely the work of one man, Octave Chanute. It was Chanute who schooled aviation students on the experiments and inventions of their predecessors and on the theory of flight in general. He helped them build on what was already known about man's search for flight and encouraged them to further expand man's knowledge of aeronautics. His assistance was greatly welcomed, for Chanute was a reputable scientist, a renowned civil engineer of penetrating ability. His innovative attitudes and profound scope led him to be known as the leader in a new age of aeronautical development. He firmly believed that the glider held the answer to man's dream of flight, and history would bear out the wisdom of his theories during the Wright Brothers first glider experiments on the sand dunes at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. In 1893, most people felt that flight, in anything but a balloon or a dirigible, was impossible. But Chanute, and many other people from the scientific community, knew that one day man would achieve powered flight. Image Size: 17.5 x 13.75 in. Overall Size: 21.75 x 17.5 in. Unframed. (B05887)