How It Flies; or, The Conquest of the Air. Richard Ferris
drive from the engine speed of 1,500 revolutions per minute.
The large elevator planes in front have been a distinctive feature of the Wright machine. They have a combined area of 80 square feet, adding that much more lifting surface to the planes in ascending, for then the under side of their surfaces is exposed to the wind. If the same surfaces were in the rear of the main planes their top sides would have to be turned to the wind when ascending, and a depressing instead of a lifting effect would result.
To the rear of the main planes is a rudder composed of two parallel vertical surfaces for steering to right or left.
The feature essential to the Wright biplane, upon which the letters patent were granted, is the flexible construction of the tips of the main planes, in virtue of which they may be warped up or down to restore disturbed equilibrium, or when a turn is to be made. This warping of the planes changes the angle of incidence for the part of the plane which is bent. (The angle of incidence is that which the plane makes with the line in which it is moving. The bending downward of the rear edge would enlarge the angle of incidence, in that way increasing the compression of the air beneath, and lifting that end of the plane.) The wing-warping controls are actuated by the lever at the right hand of the pilot, which also turns the rudder at the rear—that which steers the machine to right or to left. The lever at the left hand of the pilot moves the elevating planes at the front of the machine.
Sketch showing relative positions of planes and of the operator in the Wright machine: A, A, the main planes; B, B, the elevator planes. The motor is placed beside the operator.
The motor has 4 cylinders, and develops 25 to 30 horse-power, giving the machine a speed of 39 miles per hour.
A newer model of the Wright machine is built without the large elevating planes in front, a single elevating plane being placed just back of the rear rudder. This arrangement cuts out the former lifting effect described above, and substitutes the depressing effect due to exposing the top of a surface to the wind.
Courtesy of N. Y. Times.
The new model Wright biplane—without forward elevator.
The smallest of the Wright machines, popularly called the “Baby Wright,” is built upon this plan, and has proven to be the fastest of all the Wright series.
THE VOISIN BIPLANE.
While the Wrights were busily engaged in developing their biplane in America, a group of enthusiasts in France were experimenting with gliders of various types, towing them with high speed automobiles along the roads, or with swift motor-boats upon the Seine. As an outcome of these experiments, in which they bore an active part, the Voisin brothers began building the biplanes which have made them famous.
As compared with the Wright machine, the Voisin aeroplane is of much heavier construction. It weighs 1,100 pounds. The main planes have a lateral spread of 37 feet 9 inches, and a breadth of 7 feet, giving a combined area of 540 square feet, the same as that of the Wright machine. The lower main plane is divided at the centre to allow the introduction of a trussed girder framework which carries the motor and propeller, the pilot’s seat, the controlling mechanism, and the running gear below; and it is extended forward to support the elevator. This is much lower than in the Wright machine, being nearly on the level of the lower plane. It is a single surface, divided at the centre, half being placed on each side of the girder. It has a combined area of 42 square feet, about half of that of the Wright elevator, and it is only 4 feet from the front edge of the main planes, instead of 10 feet as in the Wright machine. A framework nearly square in section, and about 25 feet long, extends to the rear, and supports a cellular, or box-like, tail, which forms a case in which is the rudder surface for steering to right or to left.
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