Charles Dellschau was an American butcher who lived between 1830 and 1923. He was a part of the Sonora Aero Club, a group of men that met to discuss and design flying machines. According to his diaries one of the members of this seceret society had discovered the formula for an anti-gravity fuel he called “NB Gas.” The aim of the group was to design flying machines that would use this anti-gravity fuel.
Dellschau was a draftsman for the club, designing a variety of fantastic flying machines for the group. After his death, all of his art works were discarded, but used furniture dealer rescued the notebooks and drawings and took them to his warehouse, where they sat forgotten for several years under a pile of discarded carpet. A university student asked the furniture dealer if she could use some of Dellschau’s notebooks as part of a display on the history of flight.
The drawings were a hit, inspiring the imagination and creating a sense of wonder in onlookers. Years after his death, Dellschau’s art works received the recognition they so deserved. Now his antique illustrations are celebrated for their inventiveness, artistic appeal and for simply being marvellous. You can learn more about Charles Dellschau on charlesdellschau.com or see more of his drawings on Facebook.
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- An open display of a Charles Dellschau notebook shows how busy and full each page was.
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- Charles Dellschau designed a number of mechanical flying machines that were never built.
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- Even when not viewed as an engineering design, CHarles Dellschau’s drawings have an aesthetic appeal.
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- One of Charles Delschau’s imaginative airships looks like it uses giant ice creams to be able to fly.
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- Repetitive patterns often found their way into CHarles Dellschau’s designs of flying machines.
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- This Charles Dellschau illustration shows how his flying machines were designed to be people carriers.
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- This close up of a Charles Dellschau watercolor illustration shows how much thought he put into each idea.
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- This watercolor illustration by Charles Dellschau shows his dream of flying machines long before flight was possible.
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- Whether or not Charles Dellschau’s ideas would work is unknown, but his designs certainly make for enjoyable eye candy.
