Marvels of Modern Science

Early Attempts at Flight-The Dirigible-Professor Langley's

Experiment-The Wright Brothers-Count Zeppelin-Recent Aeroplane

Records.

It is hard to determine when men first essayed the attempt to fly. In myth, legend and tradition we find allusions to aerial flight and from the very dawn of authentic history, philosophers, poets, and writers have made allusion to the subject, showing that the idea must have early taken root in the restless human heart. Aeschylus exclaims:

"Oh, might I sit, sublime in air

Where watery clouds the freezing snows prepare!"

Ariosto in his "Orlando Furioso" makes an English knight, whom he names Astolpho, fly to the banks of the Nile; nowadays the authors are trying to make their heroes fly to the North Pole.

Some will have it that the ancient world had a civilization much higher than the modern and was more advanced in knowledge. It is claimed that steam engines and electricity were common in Egypt thousands of years ago and that literature, science, art, and architecture flourished as never since. Certain it is that the Pyramids were for a long time the most solid "Skyscrapers" in the world.

Perhaps, after all, our boasted progress is but a case of going back to first principles, of history, or rather tradition repeating itself. The flying machine may not be as new as we think it is. At any rate the conception of it is old enough.

In the thirteenth century Roger Bacon, often called the "Father of Philosophy," maintained that the air could be navigated. He suggested a hollow globe of copper to be filled with "ethereal air or liquid fire," but he never tried to put his suggestion into practice. Father Vasson, a missionary at Canton, in a letter dated September 5, 1694, mentions a balloon that ascended on the occasion of the coronation of the Empress Fo-Kien in 1306, but he does not state where he got the information.

The balloon is the earliest form of air machine of which we have record. In 1767 a Dr. Black of Edinburgh suggested that a thin bladder could be made to ascend if filled with inflammable air, the name then given to hydrogen gas.

In 1782 Cavallo succeeded in sending up a soap bubble filled with such gas.

It was in the same year that the Montgolfier brothers of Annonay, near Lyons in France, conceived the idea of using hot air for lifting things into the air. They got this idea from watching the smoke curling up the chimney from the heat of the fire beneath.

In 1783 they constructed the first successful balloon of which we have any description. It was in the form of a round ball, 110 feet in circumference and, with the frame weighed 300 pounds. It was filled with 22,000 cubic feet of vapor. It rose to a height of 6,000 feet and proceeded almost 7,000 feet, when it gently descended. France went wild over the exhibition.

The first to risk their lives in the air were M. Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis de Arlandes, who ascended over Paris in a hot-air balloon in November, 1783. They rose five hundred feet and traveled a distance of five miles in twenty-five minutes.

In the following December Messrs. Charles and Robert, also Frenchmen, ascended ten thousand feet and traveled twenty-seven miles in two hours.

The first balloon ascension in Great Britain was made by an experimenter named Tytler in 1784. A few months later Lunardi sailed over London.

In 1836 three Englishmen, Green, Mason and Holland, went from London to

Germany, five hundred miles, in eighteen hours.

The greatest balloon exhibition up to then, indeed the greatest ever, as it has never been surpassed, was given by Glaisher and Coxwell, two Englishmen, near Wolverhampton, on September 5, 1862. They ascended to such an elevation that both lost the power of their limbs, and had not Coxwell opened the descending valve with his teeth, they would have ascended higher and probably lost their lives in the rarefied atmosphere, for there was no compressed oxygen then as now to inhale into their lungs. The last reckoning of which they were capable before Glaisher lost consciousness showed an elevation of twenty-nine thousand feet, but it is supposed that they ascended eight thousand feet higher before Coxwell was able to open the descending valve. In 1901 in the city of Berlin two Germans rose to a height of thirty-five thousand feet, but the two Englishmen of almost fifty years ago are still given credit for the highest ascent.

The largest balloon ever sent aloft was the "Giant" of M. Nadar, a

Frenchman, which had a capacity of 215,000 cubic feet and required for

a covering 22,000 yards of silk. It ascended from the Champ de Mars,

Paris, in 1853, with fifteen passengers, all of whom came back safely.

The longest flight made in a balloon was that by Count de La Vaulx, 1193 miles in 1905.

A mammoth balloon was built in London by A. E. Gaudron. In 1908 with three other aeronauts Gaudron crossed from the Crystal Palace to the Belgian Coast at Ostend and then drifted over Northern Germany and was finally driven down by a snow storm at Mateki Derevni in Russia, having traveled 1,117 miles in 31-1/2 hours. The first attempt at constructing a dirigible balloon or airship was made by M. Giffard, a Frenchman, in 1852. The bag was spindle-shaped and 144 feet from point to point. Though it could be steered without drifting the motor was too weak to propel it. Giffard had many imitations in the spindle-shaped envelope construction, but it was a long time before any good results were obtained.

It was not until 1884 that M. Gaston Tissandier constructed a dirigible in any way worthy of the name. It was operated by a motor driven by a bichromate of soda battery. The motor weighed 121 lbs. The cells held liquid enough to work for 2-1/2 hours, generating 1-1/3 horse power. The screw had two arms and was over nine feet in circumference. Tissandier made some successful flights.

The first dirigible balloon to return whence it started was that known as La France. This airship was also constructed in 1884. The designer was Commander Renard of the French Marine Corps assisted by Captain Krebs of the same service. The length of the envelope was 179 feet, its diameter 27-1/2 feet. The screw was in front instead of behind as in all others previously constructed. The motor which weighed 220-1/2 lbs. was driven by electricity and developed 8-1/2 horse power. The propeller was 24 feet in diameter and only made 46 revolutions to the minute. This was the first time electricity was used as a motor force, and mighty possibilities were conceived.

In 1901 a young Brazilian, Santos-Dumont, made a spectacular flight. M. Deutch, a Parisian millionaire, offered a prize of $20,000 for the first dirigible that would fly from the Parc d'Aerostat, encircle the Eiffel Tower and return to the starting point within thirty minutes, the distance of such flight being about nine miles. Dumont won the prize though he was some forty seconds over time. The length of his dirigible on this occasion was 108 feet, the diameter 19-1/2 feet. It had a 4-cylinder petroleum motor weighing 216 lbs., which generated 20 horse power. The screw was 13 feet in diameter and made three hundred revolutions to the minute.

From this time onward great progress was made in the constructing of airships. Government officials and many others turned their attention to the work. Factories were put in operation in several countries of Europe and by the year 1905 the dirigible had been fairly well established. Zeppelin, Parseval, Lebaudy, Baidwin and Gross were crowding one another for honors. All had given good results, Zeppelin especially had performed some remarkable feats with his machines.

In the construction of the dirigible balloon great care must be taken to build a strong, as well as light framework and to suspend the car from it so that the weight will be equally distributed, and above all, so to contrive the gas contained that under no circumstances can it become tilted. There is great danger in the event of tilting that some of the stays suspending the car may snap and the construction fall to pieces in the air.

In deciding upon the shape of a dirigible balloon the chief consideration is to secure an end surface which presents the least possible resistance to the air and also to secure stability and equilibrium. Of course the motor, fuel and propellers are other considerations of vital importance.

The first experimenter on the size of wing surface necessary to sustain a man in the air, calculated from the proportion of weight and wing surface in birds, was Karl Meerwein of Baden. He calculated that a man weighing 200 lbs. would require 128 square feet. In 1781 he made a spindle-shaped apparatus presenting such a surface to the resistance of the air. It was collapsible on the middle and here the operator was fastened and lay horizontally with his face towards the earth working the collapsible wings by means of a transverse rod. It was not a success.

During the first half of the 19th Century there were many experiments with wing surfaces, none of which gave any promise. In fact it was not until 1865 that any advance was made, when Francis Wenham showed that the lifting power of a plane of great superficial area could be obtained by dividing the large plane into several parts arranged on tiers. This may be regarded as the germ of the modern aeroplane, the first glimmer of hope to filter through the darkness of experimentation until then. When Wenham's apparatus went against a strong wind it was only lifted up and thrown back. However, the idea gave thought to many others years afterwards.

In 1885 the brothers Lilienthal in Germany discovered the possibility of driving curved aeroplanes against the wind. Otto Lilienthal held that it was necessary to begin with "sailing" flight and first of all that the art of balancing in the air must be learned by practical experiments. He made several flights of the kind now known as gliding. From a height of 100 feet he glided a distance of 700 feet and found he could deflect his flight from left to right by moving his legs which were hanging freely from the seat. He attached a light motor weighing only 96 lbs. and generating 2-1/2 horse power. To sustain the weight he had to increase the size of his planes.

Unfortunately this pioneer in modern aviation was killed in an experiment, but he left much data behind which has helped others. His was the first actual flyer which demonstrated the elementary laws governing real flight and blazed the way for the successful experiments of the present time. His example made the gliding machine a continuous performance until real practical aerial flight was achieved.

As far back as 1894 Maxim built a giant aeroplane but it was too cumbersome to be operated.

In America the wonderful work of Professor Langley of the Smithsonian Institution with his aerodromes attracted worldwide attention. Langley was the great originator of the science of aerodynamics on this side of the water. Langley studied from artificial birds which he had constructed and kept almost constantly before him.

To Langley, Chanute, Herring and Manly, America owes much in the way of aeronautics before the Wrights entered the field. The Wrights have given the greatest impetus to modern aviation. They entered the field in 1900 and immediately achieved greater results than any of their predecessors. They followed the idea of Lilienthal to a certain extent. They made gliders in which the aviator had a horizontal position and they used twice as great a lifting surface as that hitherto employed. The flights of their first motor machine was made December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, N.C. In 1904 with a new machine they resumed experiments at their home near Dayton, O. In September of that year they succeeded in changing the course from one dead against the wind to a curved path where cross currents must be encountered, and made many circular flights. During 1906 they rested for a while from practical flight, perfecting plans for the future. In the beginning of September, 1908, Orville Wright made an aeroplane flight of one hour, and a few days later stayed up one hour and fourteen minutes. Wilbur Wright went to France and began a series of remarkable flights taking up passengers. On December 31, of that year, he startled the world by making the record flight of two hours and nineteen minutes.

It was on Sept. 13, 1906, that Santos-Dumont made the first officially recorded European aeroplane flight, leaving the ground for a distance of 12 yards. On November 12, of same year, he remained in the air for 21 seconds and traveled a distance of 230 yards. These feats caused a great sensation at the time.

While the Wrights were achieving fame for America, Henri Farman was busy in England. On October 26, 1907, he flew 820 yards in 52-1/2 seconds. On July 6, 1908, he remained in the air for 20-1/2 minutes. On October 31, same year, in France, he flew from Chalons to Rheims, a distance of sixteen miles, in twenty minutes.

The year 1909 witnessed mighty strides in the field of aviation. Thousands of flights were made, many of which exceeded the most sanguine anticipations. On July 13, Bleriot flew from Etampes to Chevilly, 26 miles, in 44 minutes and 30 seconds, and on July 25 he made the first flight across the British Channel, 32 miles, in 37 minutes. Orville Wright made several sensational flights in his biplane around Berlin, while his brother Wilbur delighted New Yorkers by circling the Statue of Liberty and flying up the Hudson from Governor's Island to Grant's Tomb and return, a distance of 21 miles, in 33 minutes and 33 seconds during the Hudson-Fulton Celebration. On November 20 Louis Paulhan, in a biplane, flew from Mourmelon to Chalons, France, and return, 37 miles in 55 minutes, rising to a height of 1000 feet.

The dirigible airship was also much in evidence during 1909, Zeppelin, especially, performing some remarkable feats. The Zeppelin V., subsequently re-numbered No. 1, of the rigid type, 446 feet long, diameter 42-1/2 feet and capacity 536,000 cubic feet, on March 29, rose to a height of 3,280, and on April 1, started with a crew of nine passengers from Frederickshafen to Munich. In a 35 mile gale it was carried beyond Munich, but Zeppelin succeeded in coming to anchor. Other Zeppelin balloons made remarkable voyages during the year. But the latest achievements (1910) of the old German aeronaut have put all previous records into the shade and electrified the whole world. His new passenger airship, the Deutschland, on June 22, made a 300 mile trip from Frederickshafen to Dusseldorf in 9 hours, carrying 20 passengers. This was at the rate of 33.33 miles per hour. During one hour of the journey a speed of 43-1/2 miles was averaged. The passengers were carried in a mahogany finished cabin and had all the comforts of a Pullman car, but most significant fact of all, the trip was made on schedule and with all regularity of an express train.

Two days later Zeppelin eclipsed his own record air voyage when his vessel carried 32 passengers, ten of whom were women, in a 100 mile trip from Dusseldorf to Essen, Dortmund and Bochum and back. At one time on this occasion while traveling with the wind the airship made a speed of 56-1/2 miles. It passed through a heavy shower and forced its way against a strong headwind without difficulty. The passengers were all delighted with the new mode of travel, which was very comfortable. This last dirigible masterpiece of Zeppelin may be styled the leviathan of the air. It is 485 feet long with a total lifting power of 44,000 lbs. It has three motors which total 330 horse power and it drives at an average speed of about 33 miles an hour. A regular passenger service has been established and tickets are selling at $50.

The present year can also boast some great aeroplane records, notably by Curtiss and Hamilton in America and Farman and Paulhan in Europe. Curtiss flew from Albany to New York, a distance of 137 miles, at an average speed of 55 miles an hour and Hamilton flew from New York to Philadelphia and return. The first night flight of a dirigible over New York City was made by Charles Goodale on July 19. He flew from Palisades Park on the Hudson and return.

From a scientific toy the Flying Machine has been developed and perfected into a practical means of locomotion. It bids fair at no distant date to revolutionize the transit of the world. No other art has ever made such progress in its early stages and every day witnesses an improvement.

The air, though invisible to the eye, has mass and therefore offers resistance to all moving bodies. Therefore air-mass and air resistance are the first principles to be taken into consideration in the construction of an aeroplane. It must be built so that the air-mass will sustain it and the motor, and the motor must be of sufficient power to overcome the air resistance.

A ship ploughing through the waves presents the line of least resistance to the water and so is shaped somewhat like a fish, the natural denizen of that element. It is different with the aeroplane. In the intangible domain it essays to overcome, there must be a sufficient surface to compress a certain volume of air to sustain the weight of the machinery.

The surfaces in regard to size, shape, curvature, bracing and material, are all important. A great deal depends upon the curve of the surfaces. Two machines may have the same extent of surface and develop the same rate of speed, yet one may have a much greater lifting power than the other, provided it has a more efficient curve to its surface. Many people have a fallacious idea that the surfaces of an aeroplane are planes and this doubt less arises from the word itself. However, the last syllable in aeroplane has nothing whatever to do with a flat surface. It is derived from the Greek planos, wandering, therefore the entire word signifies an air wanderer.

The surfaces are really aero curves arched in the rear of the front edge, thus allowing the supporting surface of the aeroplane in passing forward with its backward side set at an angle to the direction of its motion, to act upon the air in such a way as to tend to compress it on the under side.

After the surfaces come the rudders in importance. It is of vital consequence that the machine be balanced by the operator. In the present method of balancing an aeroplane the idea in mind is to raise the lower side of the machine and make the higher side lower in order that it can be quickly righted when it tips to one side from a gust of wind, or when making angle at a sudden turn. To accomplish this, two methods can be employed. 1. Changing the form of the wing. 2. Using separate surfaces. One side can be made to lift more than the other by giving it a greater curve or extending the extremity.

In balancing by means of separate surfaces, which can be turned up or down on each side of the machine, the horizontal balancing rudders are so connected that they will work in an opposite direction-while one is turned to lift one side, the other will act to lower the other side so as to strike an even balance.

The motors and propellers next claim attention. It is the motor that makes aviation possible. It was owing in a very large measure to the introduction of the petrol motor that progress became rapid. Hitherto many had laid the blame of everything on the motor. They had said,-"give us a light and powerful engine and we will show you how to fly."

The first very light engine to be available was the Antoinette, built by Leon Levavasseur in France. It enabled Santos-Dumont to make his first public successful flights. Nearly all aeroplanes follow the same general principles of construction. Of course a good deal depends upon the form of aeroplane-whether a monoplane or a biplane. As these two forms are the chief ones, as yet, of heavier than-air machines, it would be well to understand them. The monoplane has single large surfaces like the wings of a bird, the biplane has two large surfaces braced together one over the other. At the present writing a triplane has been introduced into the domain of American aviation by an English aeronaut. Doubtless as the science progresses many other variations will appear in the field. Most machines, though fashioned on similar lines, possess universal features. For instance, the Wright biplane is characterized by warping wing tips and seams of heavy construction, while the surfaces of the Herring-Curtiss machine, are slight and it looks very light and buoyant as if well suited to its element. The Voisin biplane is fashioned after the manner of a box kite and therefore presents vertical surfaces to the air. Farman's machine has no vertical surfaces, but there are hinged wing tips to the outer rear-edges of its surfaces, for use in turning and balancing. He also has a combination of wheels and skids or runners for starting and landing.

The position to be occupied by the operator also influences the construction. Some sit on top of the machine, others underneath. In the Antoinette, Latham sits up in a sort of cockpit on the top. Bleriot sits far beneath his machine. In the latest construction of Santos-Dumont, the Demoiselle, the aviator sits on the top.

Aeroplanes have been constructed for the most part in Europe, especially in France. There may be said to be only one factory in America, that of Herring-Curtiss, at Hammondsport, N.Y., as the Wright place at Dayton is very small and only turns out motors and experimenting machines, and cannot be called a regular factory. The Wright machines are now manufactured by a French syndicate. It is said that the Wrights will have an American factory at work in a short time. The French-made aeroplanes have given good satisfaction. These machines cost from $4,000 to $5,000, and generally have three cylinder motors developing from 25 to 35 horse power.

The latest model of Bleriot known as No. 12 has beaten the time record of Glenn Curtiss' biplane with its 60 horse power motor. The Farman machine or the model in which he made the world's duration record in his three hour and sixteen minutes flight at Rheims, is one of the best as well as the cheapest of the French makes. Without the motor it cost but $1,200. It has a surface twenty-five meters square, is eight meters long and seven-and-a-half meters wide, weighs 140 kilos, and has a motor which develops from 25 to 50 horse power.

The Wright machines cost $6,000. They have four cylinder motors of 30 horse power, are 12-1/2 meters long, 9 meters wide and have a surface of 30 square meters. They weigh 400 kilos. In this country they cost $7,500 exclusive of the duty on foreign manufacture.

The impetus being given to aviation at the present time by the prizes offered is spurring the men-birds to their best efforts.

It is prophesied that the aeroplane will yet attain a speed of 300 miles an hour. The quickest travel yet attained by man has been at the rate of 127 miles an hour. That was accomplished by Marriott in a racing automobile at Ormond Beach in 1906, when he went one mile in 28 1-5 seconds. It is doubtful, however, were it possible to achieve a rate of 300 miles an hour, that any human being could resist the air pressure at such a velocity.

At any rate there can be no question as to the aeroplane attaining a much greater speed than at present. That it will be useful there can be little doubt. It is no longer a scientific toy in the hands of amateurs, but a practical machine which is bound to contribute much to the progress of the world. Of course, as a mode of transportation it is not in the same class with the dirigible, but it can be made to serve many other purposes. As an agent in time of war it would be more important than fort or warship.

The experiments of Curtiss, made a short time ago over Lake Keuka at Hammondsport, N.Y., prove what a mighty factor would have to be reckoned with in the martial aeroplane. Curtiss without any practice at all hit a mimic battle ship fifteen times out of twenty-two shots. His experiment has convinced the military and naval authorities of this country that the aeroplane and the aerial torpedo constitute a new danger against which there is no existing protection. Aerial offensive and defensive strategy is now a problem which demands the attention of nations.