 Built in San Francisco in 1869, the Avitor Hermes, Jr. powered by a 1-hp steam engine driving twin propellers, was the first heavier-than-air aircraft to employ a three-axis control system. A hydrogen gas bag partially offset the weight of the 45 foot airframe, but Avitor's rudimentary 18 foot wings and shape generated the lift that got it off the ground. On its first flight, the unmanned aeroplane flew one mile at a field near the present San Francisco Airport.
The Avitor was designed and built under the direction of Frederick Marriott, an Englishman who migrated to Gold Rush-era San Francisco in 1848. In London, Marriott had worked with John Stringfellow and William Samuel Henson, disciples of Sir George Cayley who is considered by many to be the father of aircraft design.
During later tests, the aeroplane (a term coined by Marriott) caught fire and was destroyed, discouraging Marriott's stockholders and further support of the project.
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