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Did your ancestor show up in the Air Car Hall of Fame by surprise?

Would you like to...
  • call the police because I researched your ancestors,
  • or see your ancestor get credit for his work?

Here at Pneumatic Options Research Library...

...we've experienced every possible reaction when someone finds their ancestor mentioned on this website, except the one we're hoping for: a complete set of plans, photographs of the engine, a detailed explanation of the working principles, and a secret memo from President Herbert Hoover directing the Oil Companies to purchase the invention and bury it under Lake Erie.

Here are some examples of family reactions, worst first; the others were pretty great:

My dad all mine.

A woman found that I was distributing copies of her father's shop notes, told me the engine had been finished and perfected, and insisted I remove the notes from my website. OK, done. Her father's work is now unknown.

Died a plumber.

A man was shocked to learn what the mechanical drawings he and his mother had found pinned to the attic wall when he was 13 had been. Of course they had discarded the drawings. The nice man sent me some beautiful pictures of his ancestor but ignored further emails.

Town eccentric.

A nice lady and her photographer friend sent me some great photos of an inventor I'd interviewed twice over the phone 25 years earlier. We wouldn't have met if not for her interest in genealogy. But she had grown tired of hearing about air cars when she was a young girl and our correspondence was short.

Drove a limo.

A girl I'd met when she was ten and re-met when she was 40 scanned some awesome pictures of her father and good-naturedly let me quiz her and her sister for a couple hours about their dad. Thanks Anna and Cynthia, you are the bee's knees.

Starving artist.

A retired TV executive and avid genealogist gave me access to all his files. Nothing about the invention, of course, but I am now an expert on this interesting pioneer family.

Pushed his luck.

A professional clown was getting interested in genealogy and found my queries online, so he paid over $125 for files I needed in order to complete my collection about the sordid tales of his great uncle's exploits. Exploits which unfortunately ruined his career as an inventor.

Big and bigger.

A man whose inventor father died when he was an infant granted us a long recorded interview, filled us in on many details of his father's life and character, provided lots of good pictures, and made sure I knew there was a lot more where that came from, which I was never gonna get to see.

Not just a barber.

A genealogist had heard that her great-uncle had "tried to invent things" and that the inventor's mother had weighed over 300 lbs. His father had always worn a frock-tail coat.

These details are important because they remind us that the inventors were human beings, not some sort of cardboard characters always trying to figure out how to make a fast buck by getting a phony invention marketed. The vast majority of these inventors were family men, not con men. Most of them sincerely believed their invention would revolutionize the world economy and wanted more than anything to see their names next to Edison's, Tesla's, and Giffard's.

But they also wanted to be paid for their work. In every instance that I know of, when there was no money happening, the project was canceled or allowed to fizzle. The inventors all took their secrets to their graves. Their wives and children were probably happy when Inventor Joe stopped spending nights in his workshop and got a real job.

The Rural Legend theory states that the reason these inventors were so sure they were onto something... while never stating outright what their working principle was... goes like this. Herman heard from a trusted friend that his favorite cousin Delbert's grandfather's air car went all over the place without stopping for a fill-up, and here's how it worked, but you gotta promise not to tell anyone, ever...

I've found inventor William's mother growing up next door to inventor Sam's grandfather, in the wilds of Alabama. I've found inventor X living three miles from inventor Y. I've found inventor Z living two miles from inventor Q's son. Inventor A living across the street from Inventor B's landlady. And on and on. Roy died in Sacramento a few years before George moved away from there. Obid seems to have followed Bob everywhere he went, although we have no record of their having met and they don't seem to be related. Except that they both knew something and they both weren't telling. Delos--who knew how to put low pressure air into a high pressure tank--lived 1/4 mile from the father of the free range air car, Lewis. Then a few years later, Lewis had a mysterious need to go to Arkansas before he died, and a few years after that, this "low pressure air into high pressure tank" notion springs up full-blown down at Bob's place in Arkansas. And Bob's brother lived in the same town where Charles lived in 1936 when Bob and Charles both publicized their self-fueling air cars. Certain geographical areas like Joplin, Pittsburgh, and northern Texas were hot spots for air car activity. I can't think of any good reason why these fellers, who all went broke trying to build the same confounded contraption, would all be from the same neck of the woods, unless there were in fact some sort of rural legend getting around somehow.

This is because people talk to each other, especially in a world not yet overrun by TV and stupid-phones, and there's nothing more exciting to talk about than a deep, dark secret. It wouldn't be half as much fun if everyone knew.

Your ancestor might have hoarded his precious secrets unto obscurity, but don't let his good intentions be forgotten. Please donate photographs, anecdotes, and other information to the Air Car Hall of Fame, even if you never knew he was an inventor (which is most common). Mention whether you want to be credited for your donated materials or kept out of it. Note: unfortunately we cannot pay for information or files, nor allow the goals of my project to be influenced by donations. Thanks for understanding, and you might consider the 4+ decades of work done by yours truly without any monetary profit. Thanks and have a great life.