HP Nielsen Inventions Information

Hans Peter Nielsen (May 21, 1859 – September 11, 1945) was a Danish-born American machinist, mechanic, engineer, fireman, and inventor who lived most of his life in Alameda, California. In 1910 Nielsen built the first biplane in Alameda, commissioned by Adrian J Merle. An early adopter of automobile technology, he also believed in the potential represented by aviation.

Nielsen was also a firefighter who innovated several firefighting devices, and was the first engineer at the Alameda Electric Light Plant. As a prominent member of the Alameda community his activities were frequently covered in local newspapers, often under the misspelling "Nielson."

Hans Peter Nielsen was born in Denmark in 1855. He married his wife Hansine Christine (1853 – 1925) in 1883, and the following year he traveled to the United States for the first time. Nielsen returned to Denmark in 1886. He, Hansine, and their children Augusta and Christian sailed to San Francisco in 1887 and settled in Alameda. The ship manifest lists Nielsen's occupation as Watchmaker.

Nielsen became a naturalized citizen on July 27, 1892. He and Hansine had two more children in California: Ella and Adolph. As of the 1920 Census Hansine reported having given birth to 8 children, but only Augusta, Ella, and Adolph still lived.

Nielsen joined the Alameda Fire Department in 1890 as the "first paid Alameda city fireman." He served as engineer of the Encinal Steamer No. 1, a horse-drawn engine with a steam pumper. Nielsen's idiosyncratic methods made an impression on his fellow firefighters:

In 1901, Nielsen left the Fire Department to become the first engineer at the Alameda Electric Light Plant. Alameda Municipal Power is the oldest municipal electrical utility west of the Mississippi, and from 1887 until 1902 provided Alameda with electric street lights. In 1902, the Alameda Electric Light Plant sub-station also began to offer electrical power to homes and businesses.

Nielsen repaired automobiles as proprietor of the Encinal Garage in Alameda. In 1909 Nielsen was also issued a permit for him to build a $600 machine shop building behind his home at 2254 Santa Clara Avenue.

Even as Nielsen was working on flying machines in his backyard shop, his Encinal garage reportedly hired "a couple of men" to assist with the motor line during the busy spring season of 1910.

In 1912, the city of Alameda awarded Nielsen a contract for construction of a tractor to pull the Fire Station No. 1 hook-and-ladder truck. The contract for $800 specified that the tractor would be equipped with pneumatic front tires and a 35-horsepower Toledo engine, and guaranteed to draw the truck at 20 miles per hour. Further, the engine had to detachable, with the ability to hitch the truck to horses within five minutes.

Nielsen studied the new science of aviation, including making close examination of planes flown by aviator Louis Paulhan, and had made designs for several aircraft. He did not have the funds to manufacture these designs himself. In 1910, he met businessman Adrian J Merle at an aviation meet in San Francisco. Merle had recently flown as a passenger at a Los Angeles aviation meet, and was determined to start manufacturing aircraft.

On January 23, 1910, Nielsen announced to a group of automobile enthusiasts his intention to begin manufacturing aircraft. With financial backing from Adrian and Isadore Merle, Nielsen expected to start construction in weeks.

In early February Nielsen announced that he was indeed ready to start construction of airplanes at once, beginning with orders for two biplanes and one monoplane. Nielsen anticipated completion of the first airplane in two months: "a plane for pleasure purposes that will combine speed and safety ... about thirty feet in width, and [with the] capacity of carrying two passengers."

Building Merle's biplane took months longer than anticipated, and by September Nielsen was in a race with another local engineer, William Gorham, to build Alameda's first working airplane. Both craft were described as a cross between Curtiss and Farman models.

Gorham's plane was described as a 120-pound craft with a six-cylinder, 30 horsepower engine and a 30-foot span. Nielsen's much larger airplane had a 45 horse power six-cylinder engine, 40-foot span, a record wing area of 740 square feet, and weighed about 800 pounds. Nielsen had designed his larger, heavier airplane with the inexperienced aviator in mind:

Merle tested Nielsen's aeroplane at the Stockton Airport in September 1910. The biplane was too heavy for sustained flight, only managing to remain airborne for a few hundred feet at a time. The plane was dismantled and kept in Merle's basement for decades afterwards, but never flew again. Nielsen is not reported to have completed any other aircraft.

In 1892, after two years with the Alameda Fire Department, Nielsen submitted a patent for an Automatic Releasing Device "which can be applied to the releasing of hitched animals, such as horses in fire houses." He was granted US Patent 490211 the next year.

Nielsen and Alameda Fire Chief Frederick Keller Krauth, Jr. registered US Patent 580142 in 1897 for an improved Hose Nozzle. Their multi-headed design included a novel method of switching between a single stream, a double stream, and a wider spray, anticipating the modern manually adjustable fog nozzle. This design was used by the Alameda Fire Department and others.

In 1898, Nielsen filed a patent for an Acetylene Gas Generator. His central drip generator, designed for use in automobiles and similar portable lamps, proposed to use calcium carbide to generate gas as well as to dehydrate the gas after production. When the carbide was spent, the mechanism would cut off the flow of water and automatically give an alarm. When US Patent 648283 was awarded in 1900, local newspapers celebrated Nielsen's patent for a "gas generator" or "acetylene gas meter."

In January 1910 the Alameda Times-Star reported that "H.P. Nielson [sic], an automobile expert of this city," had patented an electrical automobile starter. No such patent can be found, and it is likely that the newspaper misattributed a foreign patent by Herman Nielsen to the local inventor.

Similarly, in 1912 the Times-Star announced that Nielsen had, patented a new electric welding device in partnership with Otto Beckman of Oakland, but no matching patent has been found.

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