Lysander Button

Lysander Button (September 2, 1810 - July 29, 1898) was the inventor of many of the early improvements made on hand and steam fire engines. Many of those improvements made their way to the modern fire engines of today.

Button was born in North Haven, Connecticut on September 2, 1810 but moved with his parents to Albany by 1825. After John Rogers relocated his machine shop from Albany to a spot on King’s Canal in Waterford, Saratoga County, New York, Button found a job there as a machinist. Rogers manufactured fire engines and had even submitted two patents in the 1830s (the copies of which have unfortunately been lost). Rogers sold the shop to William Platt and Judge Nicholas Doe, who expanded the product line to include other castings such as iron water wheels. Without the advantages of a formal education, Button became foreman in the shop by 1833 and was named a partner the following year.

In 1841, Platt sold his share of the business to Button, who became the sole owner after Judge Doe died. For the next fifteen years the business was known as L. Button & Company, which continued to operate on Kings Canal. Button later moved to a steam-powered building on Third Street in the Village of Waterford. Most of his innovations were for the so-called “hand-pumper” fire engines. It is obvious that he possessed remarkable gifts in mechanical engineering, since by 1838 he had developed the first “piano engine” which delivered water from the front end of the trunk of the device. Another notable improvement was the “runaround” that returned water to the suction to relieve pressure on the hose. In 1841 he developed the first fire engine water pump, with valves set at an angle of 45 degrees and straight-level waterways from the inlet to the outlet.

Lysander

Lysander (/laɪˈsændər/ or /ˈlaɪˌsændər/; died 395 BCE, Greek: Λύσανδρος, Lýsandros) was a Spartan admiral who commanded the Spartan fleet in the Hellespont which defeated the Athenians at Aegospotami in 405 BCE. The following year, he was able to force the Athenians to capitulate, bringing the Peloponnesian War to an end; he organized the dominion of Sparta over Greece in the last decade of his life.

Early life

Little is known of Lysander's early life. Lysander's father was Aristocleitus, who was a member of the Spartan Heracleidae; that is, like most Dorian men of good family, he claimed descent from Heracles. Nevertheless, Lysander was a mothax: his family was poor and when he was young he needed sponsorship to be able to participate in the Spartan training to be a soldier.

The Battle of Notium

Lysander was appointed Spartan navarch (admiral) for the Aegean Sea in 407 BC. It was during this period that he gained the friendship and support of Cyrus the Younger, a son of Darius II of Persia and Parysatis.

Westland Lysander

The Westland Lysander was a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's exceptional short-field performance enabled clandestine missions using small, unprepared airstrips behind enemy lines to place or recover agents, particularly in occupied France with the help of the French Resistance. British army air co-operation aircraft were named after mythical or historical military leaders; in this case the Spartan general Lysander was chosen.

Design and development

In 1934 the Air Ministry issued Specification A.39/34 for an army co-operation aircraft to replace the Hawker Hector. Initially Hawker Aircraft, Avro and Bristol were invited to submit designs, but after some debate within the Ministry, a submission from Westland was invited as well. The Westland design, internally designated P.8, was the work of Arthur Davenport under the direction of "Teddy" Petter. It was Petter's second aircraft design and he spent considerable time interviewing Royal Air Force pilots to find out what they wanted from such an aircraft. Less clear was whether he or the pilots understood the army co-operation role and what the army wanted, which was tactical reconnaissance and artillery reconnaissance capability - photographic reconnaissance and observation of artillery fire in daylight - up to about 15,000 yards (14 km) behind the enemy front. The result of Petter's pilot enquiries suggested that field of view, low-speed handling characteristics and STOL performance were the most important requirements.

Lysander (disambiguation)

Lysander may refer to:

People

Military

Places

Literature

Etymology

From the Greek name Λυσανδρος (Lysandros) which meant "a release of a man" from Greek λυσις (lysis) "a release" and ανδρος (andros) "of a man".