Jan Wnęk (1828 – 10 July 1869) was a Polish carver of religious statues who is claimed to have constructed and flown a

glider (aircraft) A glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that is supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air against its lifting surfaces, and whose free flight does not depend on an engine. Most gliders do not have an engine, although motor-gliders ha ...

in the 1860s, predating the flights of

Otto Lilienthal Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal (23 May 1848 – 10 August 1896) was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the "flying man". He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights with gliders, therefore making t ...

. There is a speculative "reconstruction" of Wnek's glider in the Ethnographic Museum of Kraków. Jan Wnek was born in the village of Kaczówka near

Dąbrowa Tarnowska Dąbrowa Tarnowska () is a town in Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, about north of Tarnów. It is the capital of Dąbrowa County. Before reorganization (in 1999) Dąbrowa Tarnowska was part of Tarnów Voivodeship (1975–1998). As of Decem ...

. He was the son of a

serf Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed du ...

and received no formal education., but was trained as a carpenter. Encouraged by a local priest, Father Stanislaw Morgenstern, Wnęk became a prolific

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

in wood and stone for churches and cemeteries in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

and

Odporyszów Odporyszów is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Żabno, within Tarnów County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately north-east of Żabno, north-west of Tarnów, and east of the regional capital K ...

. The

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

s he sculpted are described as having wings of "exceptional beauty". He also possessed an instinctive talent for mechanics and improved some contemporary agricultural machinery, and acted in village plays. There is no contemporary written description of the glider and the reconstruction in the Kraków Museum of Ethnography is entirely speculative. The claims for his flights are based on a local

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

. Although Professor Tadeusz Seweryn, former director of the Museum of Ethnography, claimed to have discovered some church records with descriptions of Jan Wnęk's flights, these have never been made available for independent scrutiny. Wnęk had no formal education, and his ideas were based on his observation of

bird flight Bird flight is the primary mode of animal locomotion, locomotion used by most bird species in which birds take off and flight, fly. Flight assists birds with feeding, Sexual reproduction, breeding, avoiding predation, predators, and Bird migrati ...

and on his own skills as a craftsman. He noted that some

soaring birds This is a list of soaring birds, which are birds that can maintain flight without wing flapping, using rising air currents. Many gliding birds are able to "lock" their extended wings by means of a specialized tendon. ;Bird of prey * Buzzards * C ...

made use of rising air currents to gain height and so identified the optimum weather conditions for his flights. He allegedly built several experimental models and although he did not understand the theory of

aerodynamic Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...

lift, he copied the upper curvature of a bird's wing. He tested his models by launching them by hand. In 1866 he is claimed to have started construction of a full-sized glider which he named ''Loty'' (Flyer), which had an

ash Ash is the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash is the ...

framework covered with

varnish Varnish is a clear Transparency (optics), transparent hard protective coating or film. It is not to be confused with wood stain. It usually has a yellowish shade due to the manufacturing process and materials used, but it may also be pigmente ...

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

. It is claimed that he controlled his glider by twisting the wing's trailing edge using strings attached to stirrups at his feet. Wnęk is said to have made his first short controlled flights in June of the same year from a small hill. After several flights, some adjustments and learning his glider behavior, Wnęk is then said to have felt confident enough to ask for authorization from the

church priest, Father Stanisław Morgenstern, to build a special ramp on top of the church tower to launch himself from. The tower stands high and is built on top of a hill, making it high launch above the valley below. POL gmina Radgoszcz COA

Several public flights are claimed between 1866 and 1869, mainly during religious festivals, carnivals and New Year celebrations., and that during the Pentecost Carnival held on 16 May 1869 at

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, Wnęk's made a flight that ended in an accident. An assistant, Michał Sowiński, was reported to be implicated in his death. He died a few weeks later, aged 41, leaving a wife and three children. His flying activities spanned about four years. If these flights took place, they preceded those of

by 25 years. Unknown outside the locality, any achievement made by Wnek had no influence on the development of heavier-than-air flight.

References

External links

*Flying Machines - The pioneer Aviation Grou

*Polish aviation history. By Dr. Stanisław Konstanty Wałęg

*Kraków's Museum of Ethnograph

*Photo of the Odporyszów church tower

*Jan Wnęk Museum in Odporyszó

*Some sculptures and paintings by Jan Wnę

*Photo of monument dedicated to Jan Wnęk

*Jan Wnęk. Biography - in Polish and French language

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wnek, Jan 1828 births 1869 deaths Aviation inventors Aviation pioneers Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents People from Dąbrowa County Polish aviators Polish inventors 19th-century Polish sculptors Polish male sculptors Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1869 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Poland