Jan Wnęk is believed to have been an aviation pioneer.

Jan Wnek was born in Kaczówka. He was illiterate but known to be very intelligent. Trained as a carpenter, this Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 peasant had a keen sense of detail and was also able to restore paintings. Under the encouragement of the Roman Catholic Father Stanislaw Morgenstern, Wnęk became a prolific wood and stone sculptor

Sculpture

Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

 for churches and cemeteries in Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

 and Odporyszów

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 Kraków....

. The angel

Angel

Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...

s he sculpted are described to 'have wings of exceptional beauty.' He also possessed an instinctive talent for mechanics and improved some contemporary agricultural machinery. He also acted in some village plays.

Jan Wnęk is remembered in Poland to have been an early aviation

Aviation

Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...

 pioneer. He was self-taught and could only count on his knowledge about nature based on the observation of bird flight

Bird flight

Flight is the main mode of locomotion used by most of the world's bird species. Flight assists birds while feeding, breeding and avoiding predators....

 and on his own builder and carver skills. He noted that some soaring birds made use of rising air currents in facilitating climb and identified the optimal weather conditions for his flights. He also spent considerable time (years) studying a dead duck

Duck

Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...

's wing and observing how live birds manage their wings and tail for controlled flight.

Wnęk built several wing models and although he did not understand the aerodynamics of lift, he mimicked the upper curvature of a bird's wing. He tested his weighted models by throwing them by hand. In 1866 he started construction of an ash wood

Ash tree

Fraxinus is a genus flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45-65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The tree's common English name, ash, goes back to the Old English æsc, while the generic name...

 wing 'skeleton', which he covered with linen

Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....

 impregnated with varnish

Varnish

Varnish is a transparent, hard, protective finish or film primarily used in wood finishing but also for other materials. Varnish is traditionally a combination of a drying oil, a resin, and a thinner or solvent. Varnish finishes are usually glossy but may be designed to produce satin or semi-gloss...

. After several months of work he completed construction and he named his glider "Loty" (Flyer). Jan Wnęk was firmly strapped to the glider by the chest and hips and it is claimed that he controlled his glider by twisting the wing's trailing edge via strings attached to stirrups at his feet. Wnęk managed his first short controlled flights in June of that same year from a small hill. After several flights, some adjustments and learning his glider behavior, Wnęk felt confident enough to ask for authorization from the Odporyszow village church priest -Stanisław Morgenstern- to build a special ramp on top of the church tower to launch from. The tower stood 45 m high and was located on top of a 50 m hill, making a 95 m (311 ft) high launch above the valley below.

On late June 1866, Wnęk timed his 'big flight' to coincide with an upcoming Pentecost

Pentecost

Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...

 church celebration. It is reported that huge crowds came to church celebrations and also to purchase goods from shops and nearby town markets. The summer breeze must have been perfect as he launched for a flawless flight of substantial distance -probably aided by a prevailing thermal updraft- quoted as 1800 meters (about 1 mile).

Church records indicate that Jan Wnęk made several public flights between 1866 - 1869 especially during religious festivals, carnivals and New Year celebrations. His fame spread to nearby villages and was said that 'he was either blessed or had dealings with the Devil.'

During the Pentecost Carnival held on May 16, 1869 at Odporyszów

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 Kraków....

, Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

, Wnęk's final flight that ended in a tragic fall. An assistant, Michal Sowinski, was reported to be implicated in his death, in one fashion or another. He died a few weeks later at age 41, leaving a wife -Marianna Ciomborówna- and three children. His flying activities spanned about four years in time and, although his flights preceded Otto Lilienthal

Otto Lilienthal

Otto Lilienthal was a German pioneer of human aviation who became known as the Glider King. He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful gliding flights. He followed an experimental approach established earlier by Sir George Cayley...

's by 25 years, Wnęk left no known written records or drawings, thus having no impact on aviation progress.

The fact is that there is no description of the glider and the presented model and control feature (if any) are speculations. But there does seem to be reason to believe that Wnęk may have made at least a few true glides in his machine. Oral descriptions of these events were transferred from one generation to the next throughout the whole region. Recently, Professor Tadeusz Seweryn, former director of the Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

Museum of Ethnography http://www.krakow-info.com/museums.htm, claims that he has unearthed some church records with descriptions of Jan Wnęk's activities. These have so far, not been available for verification.

External links

• Flying Machines - The pioneer Aviation Group http://www.flyingmachines.org/wnek.html
• Polish aviation history. By Dr. Stanislawice Konstanty Wałęga http://www.avia.tarman.pl/index.php?action=histwnek
• Krakow's Museum of Ethnograpgy http://www.mek.krakow.pl/menu_ang.htm
• Photo of the Odporyszów church tower: http://www.hotel.tarnovia.pl/files/church4.jpg
• Jan Wnęk Museum in Odporyszów http://www.zabno.pl/?strona=00148,http://szlak.wrotamalopolski.pl/PL/Obiekty.aspx?id=55
• Some sculptures and paintings by Jan Wnęk http://www.zabno.pl/?fotogaleria=00036
• Photo of monument dedicated to Jan Wnęk: http://www.dziecidodzieci.republika.pl/wnek-ikar.htm
• Jan Wnęk. Biography - in Polish and French language. http://www.dziecidodzieci.republika.pl/wnekfr.htm, http://www.gim2dt.miasto.net.pl/index%20wnek.htm, http://www.zabno.pl/?strona=00152
• http://www.dziecidodzieci.republika.pl/seweryn.htm