Talbert Abrams

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Talbert "Ted" Abrams (born August 17, 1895 in Tekonsha , Michigan, † August 26, 1990 in Lansing , Michigan) was an American aviation pioneer and entrepreneur. He is considered the father of modern aerial photography .

Career

The Abrams P-1 Explorer

Abrams learned to fly at the Curtiss Aviation School while working as a mechanic for the Curtiss Airplane and Motor Company . He received the pilot's license number 282 from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale , signed by Orville Wright .

In 1917 Abrams joined the US Marine Corps and was assigned to the US Navy flying school in Pensacola . After the First World War his unit was under the so-called Banana Wars in Haiti used where Abrams first came up with the aerial photography in touch.

In 1920 he retired from the military, bought a retired Curtiss JN-4 and started a small airline called ABC Airline , but remained interested in aerial photography.

On January 17, 1923, Abrams married Leota Pearl Fry. That same year, he bought a Standard J-1, fitted it with cameras, and founded the Abrams Aerial Survey Corporation .

He was commissioned to take aerial photographs for the construction of a larger north-south highway in Michigan. This section of US Highway 27 , now part of US Highway 127 , became the first highway to be planned with the help of aerial photographs. Abrams once estimated that his company mapped 1,720 cities and 515 counties , 48,000 miles of power lines, and 5,800 miles of highways in the United States ; in total she was active in 96 countries.

Other companies were founded, initially the Abrams Instrument Corporation , with whose help he wanted to develop and manufacture better aerial cameras and other instruments for his work. For example, one of Abrams' numerous patents relates to foldable viewing glasses for stereoscopy .

In 1937, Abrams founded the Abrams Air Craft Corporation . In the same year, the Abrams P-1 Explorer made its maiden flight, the first aircraft specially designed for aerial photography and photogrammetry . The outbreak of the Second World War ended the further development of the aircraft type.

During World War II, Abrams founded the Abrams School of Aerial Surveying and Photo Interpretation to pass on his experience in aerial photography to the US military. Meanwhile, Abrams Instrument Corporation manufactured aerial reconnaissance cameras and other optical and electronic equipment for military use. Admiral William F. Halsey , war commander of a US Navy fleet in the Pacific, once said that every American ship and aircraft in the Pacific War was equipped with maps based on data from Abrams and his employees.

In the 1960s, Abrams participated in Operation Deep Freeze in Antarctica .

In 1961 he sold the Abrams Instrument Corporation to Curtiss-Wright and retired.

In 1962, Talbert and Leota the Abrams Foundation , which annually grants awarded in engineering. In the same year they donated a large amount of money to Michigan State University to build a planetarium .

Talbert Abrams died in a nursing home in Lansing at the age of 95 .

Honors

The Abrams Planetarium at MSU

Every year the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) presents the Talbert Abrams Award for outstanding achievements in the field of aerial photography and cartography.

The Mount Abrams in Antarctica is named after him. He was also awarded the Antarctica Service Medal .

Also named after him is the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University , which he and his wife donated .

literature

  • Terry Penry: Talbert Abrams - The Father of Aerial Photogrammetry , in: The American Surveyor, December 2015 (PDF)
  • Robert F. Pauley: The Abrams Explorer , in: Skyways: The Journal of the Airplane 1920-1940. No. 61, January 2002

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Talbert "Ted" Abrams , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University
  2. ^ Talbert "Ted" Abrams , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University
  3. ↑ Talbert Abrams Dies; Aerial Pioneer Was 95 in: The New York Times , August 30, 1990
  4. ↑ Terry Penry: Talbert Abrams - The Father of Aerial Photogrammetry in: The American Surveyor, December 2015 (PDF)
  5. ↑ Terry Penry: Talbert Abrams - The Father of Aerial Photogrammetry in: The American Surveyor, December 2015 (PDF)
  6. ^ Talbert "Ted" Abrams , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University
  7. ↑ Terry Penry: Talbert Abrams - The Father of Aerial Photogrammetry in: The American Surveyor, December 2015 (PDF)
  8. ^ Talbert "Ted" Abrams , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University
  9. ^ Talbert "Ted" Abrams , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University
  10. ↑ Talbert Abrams Dies; Aerial Pioneer Was 95 In: The New York Times , Aug 30, 1990
  11. ↑ Mount Abrams in the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System
  12. ↑ Talbert Abrams Dies; Aerial Pioneer Was 95 in: The New York Times , August 30, 1990
  13. ^ Talbert "Ted" Abrams , Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University
personal data
SURNAME Abrams, Talbert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Abrams, Ted (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American aviation pioneer and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH 17th August 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Tekonsha , Michigan
DATE OF DEATH August 26, 1990
Place of death Lansing , Michigan