Mr. Wulff's Eagle-Powered Balloon: And other (mostly) bizarre, useless and utterly dangerous ideas on how to fly submitted to the U.S. Patent Office b

People have attempted to fly since before the time of Leonardo da Vinci, usually with very little success. Many of the aircraft designs were modeled after birds or sailing ships. Some, like Mr. Wullf's idea, actually included live birds in their plans. What's even more incredulous is that the ideas contained in this book somehow passed the stringent guidelines of the U.S. Patent Office and were granted patents for their (mostly) impractical inventions.These patent drawings are reproduced here, along with descriptions of how the aircraft were supposed to fly. Be sure not to miss this exciting look of how, when man attempted to soar like a bird, he usually landed like a lead balloon.