Oskar Erbsloh (1879-1910), German aviation pioneer, preparing for a balloon ascent. Erbsloh began ballooning at the age of 25, qualifying as a balloon pilot in 1905. He won prizes for his ballooning, including winning the Gordon Bennett Cup on 27 October 1907 in St Louis, USA, in the balloon Pomeranian with Henry Helm Clayton (1861-1946). He then founded a company that built the airship Erbsloh, named after him. This airship crashed on a test flight on 13 July 1910, killing all five on board including Erbsloh. This photograph is from the Bain News Service, one of the USA's earliest news picture libraries.