Oskar Erbsloh (1879-1910),German aviation pioneer,preparing for a balloon ascent. Erbsloh began ballooning at the age of 25,qualifying as a balloon pilot in 1905. He won prizes for his ballooning,including winning the Gordon Bennett Cup on 27 October 1907 in St Louis,USA,in the balloon Pomeranian with Henry Helm Clayton (1861-1946). He then founded a company that built the airship Erbsloh,named after him. This airship crashed on a test flight on 13 July 1910,killing all five on board including Erbsloh. This photograph is from the Bain News Service,one of the USA's earliest news picture libraries |