Cheston Lee Eshelman
Encyclopedia
Cheston Lee Eshelman was born in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania
near Gettysburg
, and was an American
inventor, aviator, manufacturer of aircraft, boats, garden machinery and small automobiles, and founder of the Cheston L. Eshelman Company and Eshelman Motors Corporation in Baltimore
and Dundalk, Maryland
.
Since 1916 his parents Samuel Clarence Eshelman and Bertha Eshelman (née Musselman, sister of canner-grower Christian H. Musselman of the CH Musselman Company, today part of Knouse Foods) had owned and operated the Fox Hill orchards in McKnightstown, and eventually expanded into retailing agricultural implements including Centaur tractors.
As a youth Cheston was a member of Boy Scout Troop 76 at the Gettysburg
Presbyterian Church and a member of the Future Farmers of America.
On June 6, 1939 at age 22 Cheston Eshelman, now an aviation student, made the worldwide press after crashing a rented Luscombe
all-metal 2-seat monoplane
into the Atlantic Ocean near Georges Bank
180 miles southeast of Boston, Massachusetts on his second solo flight. The long-overdue craft was equipped with a radio and blind-flying instruments.
The airplane's owner, an Edward Walz, pressed theft charges and the laughing Cheston was jailed after claiming (most likely tongue-in-cheek, though that certainly escalated the story) that he was attempting to fly to Mars. A police search on his person turned up 55 cents and eight bullets; he claimed the revolver was lost with the airplane.
His written statement said the Mars attempt was "to survey a temporary hideout for the harmless people so they may escape in time of war the slave-enforced ultra-tragedy when the maniacs versus the he-men feud to destroy themselves and their possessions".
A few months later the trawler Plymouth snagged pieces of the wrecked Luscomb in its nets off Georges Bank.
Two years later, Cheston Eshelman developed, built and repeatedly demonstrated a wingless pancake-shaped airplane, the NX28993 and NC22070 "Flying Flounder" which was claimed to be faster than any other fighter aircraft then in use. The federal government praised the prototype but did not place an order.
On January 7, 1943 he was awarded Patent 42395 for his small Flying wing
airplane design.
By 1945 he was producing light commercial aircraft in Dundalk, including the Eshelman Winglet. By mid-century he had set up the Cheston L. Eshelman Company at 109 Light Street in Baltimore, Maryland to produce light agricultural implements including lawn mowers, plows and garden tractors and, by 1953, tiny one-cylinder automobiles, golf cars and motor scooters which were advertised in small ads within mechanical magazines.
After a 1956 plant fire, Eshelman's interests turned primarily to his cars. Resuming limited production in Crisfield, Maryland
, he produced several new subcompact models including the fiberglass Sportabout for three adults and battery-powered children's cars.
In the 1960s Eshelman developed and patented several concepts of resilient automobile safety bumpers http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4002364.html http://www.wikipatents.com/4254978.html .
One of his cars, the 1967 Eshelman Golden Eagle Safety Car, was equipped with a patented 15MPH impact-resistant front bumper utilizing the car's spare tire.
Cheston Eshelman's retirement years were spent in Miami, Florida
, where he resided at 630 NE 30 Terrace, and in Hialeah, Florida
, where he died in 2004.
See Eshelman
.
Cashtown-McKnightstown, Pennsylvania
The Cashtown-McKnightstown Census Designated Place was the 2000 United States Census area designated by obsolete Census Code 11588 which has been replaced by the Cashtown and McKnightstown Census Designated Places, which the USGS designated as separate named places on August 30,...
near Gettysburg
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Gettysburg is a borough that is the county seat, part of the Gettysburg Battlefield, and the eponym for the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. The town hosts visitors to the Gettysburg National Military Park and has 3 institutions of higher learning: Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg College, and...
, and was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
inventor, aviator, manufacturer of aircraft, boats, garden machinery and small automobiles, and founder of the Cheston L. Eshelman Company and Eshelman Motors Corporation in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
and Dundalk, Maryland
Dundalk, Maryland
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 62,306 people, 24,772 households, and 16,968 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 4,689.5 people per square mile . There were 26,385 housing units at an average density of 1,985.9 per square mile...
.
Since 1916 his parents Samuel Clarence Eshelman and Bertha Eshelman (née Musselman, sister of canner-grower Christian H. Musselman of the CH Musselman Company, today part of Knouse Foods) had owned and operated the Fox Hill orchards in McKnightstown, and eventually expanded into retailing agricultural implements including Centaur tractors.
As a youth Cheston was a member of Boy Scout Troop 76 at the Gettysburg
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Gettysburg is a borough that is the county seat, part of the Gettysburg Battlefield, and the eponym for the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. The town hosts visitors to the Gettysburg National Military Park and has 3 institutions of higher learning: Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg College, and...
Presbyterian Church and a member of the Future Farmers of America.
On June 6, 1939 at age 22 Cheston Eshelman, now an aviation student, made the worldwide press after crashing a rented Luscombe
Luscombe
Luscombe aircraft was a United States aircraft manufacturer from 1933 to 1950.Donald A. Luscombe founded the Luscombe aircraft company in 1933, in Kansas City, Missouri. Luscombe had already made his reputation as a winged-aircraft designer with the Monocoupe series of light aircraft, but he felt...
all-metal 2-seat monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
into the Atlantic Ocean near Georges Bank
Georges Bank
Georges Bank is a large elevated area of the sea floor which separates the Gulf of Maine from the Atlantic Ocean and is situated between Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia ....
180 miles southeast of Boston, Massachusetts on his second solo flight. The long-overdue craft was equipped with a radio and blind-flying instruments.
The airplane's owner, an Edward Walz, pressed theft charges and the laughing Cheston was jailed after claiming (most likely tongue-in-cheek, though that certainly escalated the story) that he was attempting to fly to Mars. A police search on his person turned up 55 cents and eight bullets; he claimed the revolver was lost with the airplane.
His written statement said the Mars attempt was "to survey a temporary hideout for the harmless people so they may escape in time of war the slave-enforced ultra-tragedy when the maniacs versus the he-men feud to destroy themselves and their possessions".
A few months later the trawler Plymouth snagged pieces of the wrecked Luscomb in its nets off Georges Bank.
Two years later, Cheston Eshelman developed, built and repeatedly demonstrated a wingless pancake-shaped airplane, the NX28993 and NC22070 "Flying Flounder" which was claimed to be faster than any other fighter aircraft then in use. The federal government praised the prototype but did not place an order.
On January 7, 1943 he was awarded Patent 42395 for his small Flying wing
Flying wing
A flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft which has no definite fuselage, with most of the crew, payload and equipment being housed inside the main wing structure....
airplane design.
By 1945 he was producing light commercial aircraft in Dundalk, including the Eshelman Winglet. By mid-century he had set up the Cheston L. Eshelman Company at 109 Light Street in Baltimore, Maryland to produce light agricultural implements including lawn mowers, plows and garden tractors and, by 1953, tiny one-cylinder automobiles, golf cars and motor scooters which were advertised in small ads within mechanical magazines.
After a 1956 plant fire, Eshelman's interests turned primarily to his cars. Resuming limited production in Crisfield, Maryland
Crisfield, Maryland
Crisfield is a city in Somerset County, Maryland, United States, located on the Tangier Sound, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. The population was 2,723 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, he produced several new subcompact models including the fiberglass Sportabout for three adults and battery-powered children's cars.
In the 1960s Eshelman developed and patented several concepts of resilient automobile safety bumpers http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4002364.html http://www.wikipatents.com/4254978.html .
One of his cars, the 1967 Eshelman Golden Eagle Safety Car, was equipped with a patented 15MPH impact-resistant front bumper utilizing the car's spare tire.
Cheston Eshelman's retirement years were spent in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, where he resided at 630 NE 30 Terrace, and in Hialeah, Florida
Hialeah, Florida
Hialeah is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 226,419. As of 2009, the population estimate by the U. S...
, where he died in 2004.
See Eshelman
Eshelman
Eshelman was a marque of small American automobiles and other vehicles and implements including motor scooters, garden tractors, pleasure boats, aircraft, golf carts, snowplows, trailers, mail-delivery vehicles and more. The Cheston L...
.