HOUDINI'S ENGINEER

Montraville Wood & His Patents

Houdini's assistants are well-known to aficionados, except for perhaps his most skilled one, Montraville Wood. 

Wood first worked for Thomas Edison, then became Houdini's mechanic and flight engineer from 1908 to 1910, helping Harry become one of the world's foremost aviators. (By 1910 Harry had more flying time than the entire U.S. Army Air Corps combined.) 

Wood's great contribution to Houdini, to aviation, and to military engineering, was his method of mounting a gyroscope in a floating gimbal to both stabilize the aircraft and to increase its anti-gravitational lift capacity.

Montraville Wood's pitchbook on the Chautauqua lecture circuit.

As writers of historical fiction, we have no problem asserting that it was probably Houdini who suggested to Wood the use of the gyroscope in airships. The reference to the "Wrestling Gyroscope" above is corroboration. Harry, ever the scientist and historian, was no doubt inspired by the secret gyroscope in the famous "Mighty Wrestling Cheese" of the 19th century magician P.T Selbit.

The Mighty Cheese still defies gravity and forces the world's strongest men to tap out, as shown in this delightful, and completely accurate, excerpt from Penn & Teller's television series "Penn & Teller Tell a Lie."

RELATED:

HOUDINI THE SCIENTIST

HOUDINI THE SCIENTIST: MONKEY GLANDS

HOUDINI THE SCIENTIST: DUEL OF THE MAGICIANS