Charles Edward Stacy

Charles Edward Stacy was a professional trombonist and was described as the greatest trombone soloist in America on 4 Feb 1907 in the Fitchburg Sentinel Newspaper in Massachusetts 

 

He was an early aviation pioneer in Dayton, Ohio, and flew an ornithopter glider six times above farmer’s heads at speeds about 25 mph in a New York Times newspaper article and The Times Recorder Newspaper of Zanesville, Ohio, on 18 Oct 1911

 

His brother, Cornelius “Neil” Stacy (1870-1961) worked at the Wilbur and Orville Wright bicycle shop in Dayton, as told by his grand daughter, Barbara Jean Gray Plowick of Florida 

 

Charles and Cornelius Stacy owned an airplane building company in Dayton from about 1915 to 1919

 

Charles had the following U.S. Patents:

 

1,053,447 on 18 Feb 1913 -

Automatic Food Protecting and Feeding Device For Chickens

 

1,089,876 on 20 Mar 1914 -

Mouthpiece For Brass Musical Instrument 

 

1,309,968 on 15 Jul 1919 -

Aeroplane, Controlling the Direction of Flight and for Maintaining an Inherent Balance 

 

1,311,097 on 22 Jul 1919 -

Airplane, A Control System Free From Wires and Pulleys, Whereby Lost Motion Between Control Stick and Movement of the Control Planes is Avoided 

 

The Dayton Daily News reported on 20 Nov 1919: “Inventor Flies New Airplane, Trip Success, Charles E Stacy built an airplane, but made a sudden landing and attributed it to his lack of experience, rather than any defect in the airplane”

 

A few family photographs were shown to a U.S. National Park Ranger during a visit to the Huffman Flying Field and near the Wright Brother’s Catapult launch location 

 

The Ranger said several photos showed the Wright Brother’s Airplane Hanger with two distinctive windows and your relative likely leased the hanger after Wilbur and Orville moved to a larger building 

 

The airplane hanger can be seen in a YouTube video showing an early flight of a Wright Flyer at the Huffman Flying Field