How It Flies; or, The Conquest of the Air. Richard Ferris
Britain, held in London on December 15, 1905, a letter from Orville Wright to one of the members was read. It was dated November 17, 1905, and an excerpt from it is as follows:
“During the month of September we gradually improved in our practice, and on the 26th made a flight of a little over 11 miles. On the 30th we increased this to 12⅕th miles; on October 3, to 15⅓ miles; on October 4, to 20¾ miles, and on October 5, to 24¼ miles. All these flights were made at about 38 miles an hour, the flight of October 5 occupying 30 minutes 3 seconds. Landings were caused by the exhaustion of the supply of fuel in the flights of September 26 and 30, and October 8, and in those of October 3 and 4 by the heating of the bearings in the transmission, of which the oil cups had been omitted. But before the flight on October 5, oil cups had been fitted to all the bearings, and the small gasoline can had been replaced with one that carried enough fuel for an hour’s flight. Unfortunately, we neglected to refill the reservoir just before starting, and as a result the flight was limited to 38 minutes. …
A Wright machine in flight.
“The machine passed through all of these flights without the slightest damage. In each of these flights we returned frequently to the starting point, passing high over the heads of the spectators.”
These statements were received with incredulity in many parts of Europe, the more so as the Wrights refused to permit an examination of their machine, fearing that the details of construction might become known before their patents were secured.
The Archdeacon machine on the Seine.
During the summer of 1905, Captain Ferber and Ernest Archdeacon of Paris had made experiments with gliders. One of the Archdeacon machines was towed by an automobile, having a bag of sand to occupy the place of the pilot. It rose satisfactorily in the air, but the tail became disarranged, and it fell and was damaged. It was rebuilt and tried upon the waters of the Seine, being towed by a fast motor-boat at a speed of 25 miles an hour. The machine rose about 50 feet into the air and sailed for about 500 feet.
Archdeacon gathered a company of young men about him who speedily became imbued with his enthusiasm. Among them were Gabriel Voisin, Louis Bleriot, and Leon Delagrange. The two former, working together, built and flew several gliders, and when Santos-Dumont made his historic flight of 720 feet with his multiple-cell machine on November 13, 1906 (the first flight made in Europe), they were spurred to new endeavors.
Within a few months Voisin had finished his first biplane, and Delagrange made his initial flight with it—a mere hop of 30 feet—on March 16, 1907.
Bleriot, however, had his own ideas, and on August 6, 1907, he flew for 470 feet in a monoplane machine of the tandem type. He succeeded in steering his machine in a curved course, a feat which had not previously been accomplished in Europe.
In October of the same year, Henri Farman, then a well-known automobile driver, flew the second Voisin biplane in a half circle of 253 feet—a notable achievement at that date.
But Santos-Dumont had been pushing forward several different types of machines, and in November he flew first a biplane 500 feet, and a few days later a monoplane 400 feet.
At this point in our story the past seems to give place to the present. The period of early development was over, and the year 1908 saw the first of those remarkable exploits which are recorded in the chapter near the end of this work entitled, “Chronicle of Aviation Achievements.”
It is interesting to note that the machines then brought out are those of to-day. Practically, it may be said that there has been no material change from the original types. More powerful engines have been put in them, and the frames strengthened in proportion, but the Voisin, the Bleriot, and the Wright types remain as they were at first. Other and later forms are largely modifications and combinations of their peculiar features.
Chapter V.
FLYING MACHINES: THE BIPLANE.
Successful types of aeroplanes—Distinguishing features—The Wright biplane—Construction—New type—Five-passenger machine—The Voisin biplane—New racing type—The Curtiss biplane—The Cody biplane—The Sommer biplane—The Baldwin biplane—New stabilizing plane—The Baddeck No. 2—Self-sustaining radiator—The Herring biplane—Stabilizing fins.
In the many contests for prizes and records, two types of flying machines have won distinctive places for themselves—the biplane and the monoplane. The appearance of other forms has been sporadic, and they have speedily disappeared without accomplishing anything which had not been better done by the two classes named.
This fact, however, should not be construed as proving the futility of all other forms, nor that the ideal flying machine must be of one of these two prominent types. It is to be remembered that record-making and record-breaking is the most serious business in which any machines have so far been engaged; and this, surely, is not the field of usefulness to humanity which the ships of the air may be expected ultimately to occupy. It may yet be proved that, successful as these machines have been in what they have attempted, they are but transition forms leading up to the perfect airship of the future.
The Wright biplane in flight.
The distinguishing feature of the biplane is not alone that it has two main planes, but that they are placed one above the other. The double (or tandem) monoplane also has two main planes, but they are on the same level, one in the rear of the other.
A review of the notable biplanes of the day must begin with the Wright machine, which was not only the first with which flights were made, but also the inspiration and perhaps the pattern of the whole succeeding fleet.
THE WRIGHT BIPLANE.
The Wright biplane is a structure composed of two main surfaces, each 40 feet long and 6 feet 6 inches wide, set one above the other, parallel, and 6 feet apart. The planes are held rigidly at this distance by struts of wood, and the whole structure is trussed with diagonal wire ties. It is claimed by the Wrights that these dimensions have been proven by their experiments to give the maximum lift with the minimum weight.
Diagram showing the construction of the Wright biplane. The lever R is connected by the bar A with the rudder gearing C, and is pivoted at the bottom on a rolling shaft B, through which the warping wires W1, W2 are operated. The semicircular planes F aid in stabilizing the elevator system.
The combination of planes is mounted on two rigid skids, or runners (similar to the runners of a sleigh), which are extended forward and upward to form a support for a pair of smaller planes in parallel, used as the elevator (for directing the course of the aeroplane upward or downward). It has been claimed by the Wrights that a rigid skid under-structure takes up the shock of landing, and checks the momentum at that moment, better than any other device. But it necessitated a separate starting apparatus, and while the starting impulse thus received enabled the Wrights to use an engine of less power (to keep the machine going when once started), and therefore of less dead weight, it proved a handicap to their machines in contests where they were met by competing machines which started directly with their own power. A later model of the Wright biplane is provided with a wheeled running gear, and an engine of sufficient power to raise it in the air after a short run on the wheels.