Rocket PoweR, InteRstellaR tRavel and eteRnal lIfe

Chapter Two
THE AVIATION BUSINESS
“Dan Hungerford built his own small plane which he
flew from various places in Chemung County. His
favorite place was a piece of land that is now included
in the Chemung County airport. He said it was the best
place in the county from which to fly.” 22
Keith Marvin, who wrote extensively about the
Hungerford brothers, noted that Daniel Hungerford
was interested in aviation as early as 1901. A newspaper
clip from 1965 suggests Hungerford’s interest was
piqued by a “borrowed book, entitled The Boy’s Book of
Inventions printed in London.” 23 Hungerford himself
wrote in 1964 that he “began studying” aviation in 1901.
He said the inspirational book belonged to “a neighbor
boy - a Christmas present to him by an aunt, the book is
lost and I haven’t been able to find a copy since. I did
find -1/2 of a copy projecting from a bale of paper and
books on a truck . . ” 24
By 1910 Daniel and Floyd had built a two-cylinder,
opposed aircraft engine. The Sunday Telegram for
September 11, 1927, noted that in 1909 the Hungerfords
built the first airplane engine in Elmira. “It is a 30 H.P.
engine that actually flew an airplane. It loks [sic] as
much like a modern airplane engine as a sewing
machine would. But it flew!” An undated newspaper
clip, probably from 1913, describes the engine, “entirely
of his [Daniel Hungerford’s] manufacture and is considered
much superior to some of the large ones. It is
small and has more power.”
Cliff R. Towner, who knew Dan Hungerford in early
1940s, recalled “seeing pictures of Dan and Glenn
Curtis [sic] at Hammondsport when Dan was Glenn’s
Chief Mechanic on his first ‘Flying Boat.’ 25 Jon Elan
Steen, Hungerford’s great-nephew, said William
Hungerford told Elan Steen that “Dan worked for
Curtiss Smith [sic] Aircraft in his early years and that
was how he first became interested in flying.” 26
Glenn H. Curtiss by 1909 had become well known as
an aviator as well as an inventive manufacturer of
Figure 5. The Bleriot Type XI airplane, with Daniel Hungerford as pilot, located near West Second Street in Elmira with the
Hungerford house behind at center. Left to right are Jennie Hungerford Badger, Stanley Kosmicki, Nellie Ahern, Vivian Hungerford
(later Wells), Robert Pease, “Mrs. Esther War of Mud Creek near Troy [Pennsylvania]”, and Mary Ward Hungerford. A similar but not
identical image was printed in August 7, 1955, Sunday Telegram.
Daniel and Floyd Hungerford: Rocket Power, Interstellar Travel and Eternal Life, by Geofrey N. Stein. New York State Museum Record 4, © 2013 by The
University of the State of New York, The State Education Department, Albany, New York. All rights reserved.
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