Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. This award was created about 1901 by the Western Society of Engineers for papers of merit on engineering innovations. It is now called the "Chanute Flight Award" and is awarded by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. (AIAA). Octave Chanute, 1832 1910, was born in France and became a naturalized American. He was a self-taught engineer. He designed the first railroad bridge over the Missouri River and the Union Stock Yards in Chicago (IL) as well as those in Kansas City (MO). Octave Chanute was a pioneer aeronautical engineer and experimenter, and was a friend and adviser to the Wright Brothers.