This trailer hitch was a real fifth wheel

Did you know that famed aviation pioneer Glenn H. Curtiss also pioneered travel trailers? He was working on them early as 1917. He wasn't satisfied with the hitches of those early days, so he developed his own, the first fifth wheel hitch for trailers.

Curtiss mounted an actual wheel and tire horizontally over the rear axle of the tow car using four clamps in a square frame. The pin on the trailer was locked into the hub of the wheel. The inflated tire helped to dampen road vibrations and shocks, improving the ride and reducing wear and tear on the trailer. His hitch and the trailers he also designed were sold up until about 1940. Check out a restored 1936 Curtiss Aerocar Land Yacht.

A little fifth wheel history

After nearly 2 years of full-timing aboard my fifth wheel trailer, Gypsy, and posting my travel journals in a pseudo-blog at www.jerryriverguy.com, I'm starting this blog. I'm not sure where it's going to go, but I hope readers will find it interesting, sometimes useful and generally fun and worth keeping up with. I'm familiar with all types of RVs, but I know fifth wheels best, so that's where I'll tend to focus.

For starters: I've always been curious about the term "fifth wheel." Does that refer to the trailer being supported at the front end by a tow vehicle acting as a giant front wheel? Well, I checked into the history of the term, and it actually comes from the early days of the automotive industry, where it was first used on trucks. The locking-jaw fifth wheel hitch was originally patented in 1919 and has changed little since. Because it is generally circular and uses a kingpin that fits in the center like an axle, the hitch was called the fifth wheel, even though it is mounted horizontally. The fifth wheel hitch that we use in the RV world wasn't developed for another 50 years, until the late 1960's.