Evening star., 1944-08-20
Aviation Pioneer, Is,
Found PenniIess in
Normandy VILLAGE
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star War Correspondent.

= Ii GRAIS, Normandy, Aug. 49,
High above the clouds planes sound
like the rumble Of distant thunder.
A few miles away Thunderbolts are
diving on German conveys. In this
little crossroads village a sick, pen
niless old man watches.
:. Probably more than any other man
:, alive he made all this possible for
he Is one of the most remarkable
individuals on earth. He Is 76-year-
?, old Paul Daniel. inventor of the
rotary engine and the airplane SUI
percharger. Mr.. Daniel, a native
Of France, lived in the United States
for many years where he was veal
thy, manufacturer, a friend of
John D. Rockefeller and technical
adviser to the American Government
p in the World War.
He first became interested in avia-
tion in the early 1905, before the
Wrights. He-was an early asso-
ciate of Santos Dumont. the Bra
lillian who developed the dirigible
and the monoplane in Paris.
Wanted Light Engine.
M. Daniel was a motor designer.
He says he realized the early block
engine never could be light enough
for long flights. He devised the
first rotary engine, which he de-
scribes as IAN engine with q crank
shaft which didn't turn but with CYL
inders turning around the shaft" He
made cylinders from cannon steel
3 and used storage battery for igni-
tion. He patented it in the United
States and France in 1898.
Aviation was only a hobby with
him as his real job was designing
% automobile engines. When the IA
nous American road racer, John D.
Harkness, son of a partner of John
D. Rockefeller. came to France with
a 90-horsepower Mercedes built in
Germany to enter the Madrid
race he met M. Daniel, who bet
him he could make better engine
~ Working in his spare time, he
: built an automobile that beat Mr.
Harkness by one hour between Paris
and Bordeaux. Mr.. Harkness was so
Impressed he persuaded M. Daniel
to go to the United States to start
business with him at Bound Brook,
N. j.
Business Failed in World War.
M. Daniel remained in the United
States from 1908 to 1921, but his bus
mess failed early in the World War
He says he was too busy solving a
problem of air compression to attend
to business.
After famous French air pioneer
y told him that an engine became
weaker the higher it went, NJ Daniel
devised fan for pushing fresh air
under compression into the cylin-
ders. This compressor, or super
charger as it is known today, is the
basis of all high-altitude flying. This
invention also is covered by a basic
patent issued in Washington in 1910
Without this device. now vastly
improved. to feed air at sea-level
pressure into a motor at any height
the ceiling of flight would be much
lower than is now possible.
While living in the United States
he once was deputy sheriff OF
Middlesex County, N. J. He still
proudly displays his sheriff's Gre
dentials.
Business went from bad to worse
he says, adding that Il wasn't BON
to make money"
His health failed and he returned
TO his native France where he had a
small pension as a member of the
Legion of Honor. 1t has not been
paid for four years.
Perfected New Engine.
He was always tinkering with new
inventions. In 1889 he had perfected
a 1,500-horsepower engine for
French aviation. The best the Luft-