Vincent G. Apple (January 26, 1874 – 1932) was an inventor whose parts were used in the first commercially successful American flight of a heavier-than-air powered airplane.
Apple was born on a farm, just outside Miamisburg, Ohio.
In 1903 his magneto ignition system was used by the Wright brothers in their flyers at Kitty Hawk.
He was the founder of the Franklin Electric Company, Apple Dayton Electric and Manufacturing Company and The Vincent G. Apple Laboratories at Dayton, all based in Dayton, Ohio. Apple held more than 350 patents during his lifetime.
Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives http://ead.ohiolink.edu/xtf-ead/view?docId=ead/ODaWU0034.xml;query=;brand=default Online version of The Man Who Rivaled Edison In Number Of Inventions, By James W. Beckman, 1941 http://www.daytonhistorybooks.com/manwhorivaled.html