Part 31

At present the greatest value of the aeroplane seems to be for military reconnaissance and all the great powers are striving their utmost to secure supremacy in the air. France, Germany, Russia and England have to date spent millions in developing aeroplane fleets. Only the government of the United States has failed as yet to appreciate the military significance of the flying machine. If the relative aeronautical strength of the world’s nations were represented alphabetically the U. S. would naturally scarce have to change its initial, U being slightly in advance of Z which would stand for Zululand. But even with its modest equipment the navy fliers of the United States proved the great worth of the aeroplane and the flying boat, when during the recent trouble in Mexico the air scouts gathered in a few minutes information that could only have been secured by days of cavalry scouting before the advent of the flying machine. Indeed, the name of Lieut. P. N. L. Bellinger, the most able of the naval fliers at Vera Cruz, has figured more prominently in the despatches from the front than that of any other officer connected with the expedition.

Flying seems certain in the very near future to take its place as the fastest, safest and most comfortable mode of conveyance. The flying boat will render quickly accessible the vast country lying along the great rivers of South America, Africa, and Australia; it will bridge the great lakes and the oceans; bring near together the islands of the Pacific and Indian oceans. It will make imperative, because of the speed with which distances will be traversed, of a language common to all peoples; and treble man’s life without extending his years by making it possible to see and do three times as much in the same length of time.

~TEN YEARS OF FLYING~

Ten years ago on that day, December 17, 1913, Wilbur and Orville Wright made four flights on the coast of North Carolina near Roanoke Island, a spot historic in America’s history as the site of the first English settlement in the Western Hemisphere.

The first flight started from level ground against a 27-mile wind. After a run of 40 feet on a monorail track, the machine lifted and covered a distance of 120 feet over the ground in 12 seconds. It had a speed through the air of a little over 45 feet per second, and the flight, if made in calm air, would have covered a distance of over 540 feet.

Altogether four flights were made on the 17th. The first and third by Orville Wright, the second and fourth by Wilbur Wright. The last flight was the longest, covering a distance of 852 feet over the ground in 59 seconds. After the fourth flight, a gust of wind struck the machine standing on the ground and rolled it over, injuring it to an extent that made further flights with it impossible for that year.

1900

1901

1902

1905 1904

1903]

The gliding experiments of Lilienthal in 1896 led the Wright Brothers to become interested in flight. The next four years were spent in reading and theorizing. In the Fall of 1900 practical experiments were begun with a man-carrying glider. These experiments were carried on from the sand hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The first glider was without a tail, the lateral equilibrium and the right and left steering were obtained by warping of the main surfaces. A flexible forward elevator was used. This machine was flown as a kite with and without operator, and several glides were made with it.

A second machine was designed of larger size, and many glides were made with it in 1901. This machine was similar to the one of 1900 but had slightly deeper curved surfaces. Experiments with this machine demonstrated the inaccuracy of all the recognized tables of air pressures, upon which its design had been based.

In 1902 a third glider was constructed, based upon tables of air pressures made by the Wright Brothers themselves. The lateral control was maintained by warping surfaces, and a vertical rear rudder operated in conjunction with the surfaces. Nearly a thousand gliding flights were made with this machine.

In 1903, the Wright Brothers designed a machine to be driven with a motor. They also designed and built their own motor. This had four horizontal cylinders, 4 in. by 4 in., and developed 12 h.p. Two propellers, turning in opposite directions, were driven by chains from the engine. After many delays the machine was finally ready and was flown on the 17th of December, 1903, as related above.

In the Spring of 1904, power flights were continued near Dayton with a machine similar to the one flown in 1903, but slightly heavier.

The first complete circle was accomplished on the 20th of September, 1904, in a flight covering a distance of about one mile. Altogether 105 flights were attempted during the year, the longest of which were two of five minutes each, covering a distance of about three miles. All of the flights were started from a monorail.

After September a derrick and a falling weight were used to assist in launching the machine.

1908-9

1910

1910

MODEL R, 1910]

~INTERESTING GOVERNMENTS IN FLYING MACHINES~

It was not till 1908 that the Wright Brothers found purchasers for their invention. In that year they made a contract to furnish one machine to the Signal Corps of the United States Army and to sell the rights to their invention in France to a French company. In both cases they agreed to carry a passenger in addition to the operator, fuel sufficient for a flight of 100 miles, and to make a speed of 40 miles an hour.

After making some preliminary practice flights at their old experiment grounds near Kitty Hawk in May, 1908, Wilbur Wright went to France to give demonstrations before the French Syndicate and Orville Wright to Washington to deliver the machine to the United States Signal Corps. The machines used by Wilbur Wright had been standing in bond in the warehouse at Havre since August of the year before. Owing to damage done to the machine in shipment, it was not ready for the official demonstrations until late in the year.

Meanwhile Orville Wright in September, 1908, started demonstrations of the machine contracted for by the United States Government. On the 9th he made two flights, one of 57 minutes, and the other one hour and 2 minutes, world’s records. On the 10th and 11th, these records were increased and on the 12th a flight of 1 hour and 15 minutes was made. On the 17th, the tests were terminated by an accident in which Lieutenant Selfridge met his death and Mr. Wright was severely injured, so that he was not able to complete the tests until the following year.

Four days after the accident, on the 21st of September, Wilbur Wright made a flight of 1 hour and 31 minutes at Le Mans, France, which record he improved several times during the following months, and on the 31st of December, won the Michelin Trophy by a flight, in which he remained in the air 2 hours and 24 minutes.

Where Is the Wind When It Is Not Blowing?