Born 10th March 1878, at Brookfield House, Maghull, where his family lived. After education in Bedford and London, and an apprenticeship in Civil Engineering, Oscar worked in quarrying, mining and survey work in Sweden, Brazil, Transvaal and Angola. He returned to England and lived with his Aunt and immediate family at Silverholme, on the western shore of southern basin of Windermere lake. Aviation was still a new technology around 1909, and Oscar was interested in it.
Using an airframe of wood and bamboo he'd designed himself, and an engine with an interval of 20 hours between total rebuilds, Oscar tried various floats as undercarriage for his plane on the lake. The local boat builder made the floats, at Borwicks at Bowness-on-Windermere. He was initially in competition with Captain E. W. Wakefield to be the first to achieve this feat. Captain E. W. Wakefield generously offered his facilities at Hill Of Oaks, on the other side of the lake, and they combined resources. Captain E. W. Wakefield was about to form the "Lakes Flying Company" in 1911, to create the first naval flying school using only planes that took off and landed on water. (
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The stepped hull of a planing boat at speed was well known and understood. Once a three stepped twin pontoon design was used, Oscar was able to break free of the surface and eventually perform a series of longer hops. He was the first to take off from water in the UK in November 1911. He was only taxiing south out of Bowness Bay when he felt able to lift clear of the water's sticton. Unfortunately his inexperience of handling aircraft resulted in a wing tip catching the water and him crashing. This left the water clear for Captain Wakefield's pilot to take off and alight later that same day from a body of water.
A Frenchman was first in the world, followed by an American in San Francisco bay. Oscar hopped his plane because he had not learnt to turn it yet, and did not have a pilot's license, which required a figure of eight circuit and a landing without engine running. It was Captain E. W. Wakefield's hired pilot who actually completed the first journey with a seaplane called Waterhen. (
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Later on he worked for Shorts, Rochester, designing flying boats and sea planes, as well as prospecting in the Coniston Fells for copper and other minerals.
He married Barbara Collingwood, the daughter of John Ruskin's secretary. Her headstone is adjacent. He built a house for them at Hollin Bank, Coniston. (
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To find Oscar's headstone, walk along main path of graveyard, almost to the end. Simple headstone is on the left (west) side of the path.
Links
Gnosspelius No2 plane (
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Wiki on 1923 plane design (
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Wikipedia (
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Life Resume (
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Book dedication in Pigeon Post (
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Reference to wing he designed (
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Reference to monoplane (
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There is very little recognition of Oscar Gnosspelius's pioneering efforts in naval aviation, and hopefully this waymark will redress that. Apart from this headstone there is nothing to mark this man's important role.
Source
An Aeronautical History of the Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway region, part 1: 1825 to 1914 by Peter Connon (
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