THE BOYS’ BOOK OF
MODEL AEROPLANES

Launching the Airship.

HOW TO BUILD AND FLY
THEM: WITH THE STORY OF
THE EVOLUTION OF THE
FLYING MACHINE

FRANCIS A. COLLINS

ILLUSTRATED WITH MANY
PHOTOGRAPHS AND DIAGRAMS
BY THE AUTHOR

LONDON
EVELEIGH NASH
1912

TO
ARNOLD MILLER COLLINS
(Aged Ten)

THAN WHOM NO COLLABORATOR COULD
HAVE BEEN MORE ENTHUSIASTIC

CONTENTS

PART I

MODELS: HOW TO BUILD AND FLY THEM

CHAPTER		PAGE
I.	The New Sport for Boys	[3]
II.	Why the Aeroplane Flies	[18]
III.	How To Build a “Glider”	[30]
IV.	Building the Motor	[50]
V.	Fine Points of Construction	[68]
VI.	Simple Monoplane Models	[84]
VII.	Elaborating the Monoplane	[102]
VIII.	Building a Biplane	[121]
IX.	Combining Monoplane and Biplane Forms	[137]
X.	Faults and How to Mend Them	[143]

PART II
THE HISTORY AND SCIENCE OF AVIATION
I.	The First Flying Machines	[163]
II.	Developing the Aeroplane	[175]
III.	The Wright Brothers’ Own Story	[193]
IV.	Aboard the Wrights’ Airship	[224]
V.	Other Aeroplanes Appear	[238]
VI.	Successful Monoplanes	[254]
VII.	Aerial Warfare	[272]
VIII.	Sports of the Air, Aeroplanes	[293]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

	PAGE
Launching the Airship	[Frontispiece]
A Junior Aëroclub with its Instructor in One of the New York Public Schools	[7]
A Young Inventor in His Workshop	[14]
Boys Comparing Models	[14]
The First Glider Weighted at the Front	[28]
Dowel Strips of Different Sizes	[33]
Plate A—Diagrams of Plan of Aëroplane on Page 58	[38]
A Coil of Cane or Reed	[42]
Splitting a Bamboo Fish-Pole	[47]
Plate B—The Propeller before Cutting Down	[51]
Model Constructed from Diagram, Plate A	[58]
Splitting the Segar Box Cover to Build the Propeller	[63]
Plate C—The Diagram of a Monoplane	[65]
A Model Aëroplane Built from the Drawing (Plate C)	[71]
Detail of Rudder and Propeller of Model Built from Drawing (Plate C)	[78]
Plate I—A Clever Folding Model. The Wings Are Broader than Need Be	[88]
Plate II—A Model Aëroplane Worth Imitating	[93]
Plate III—An Ingenious French Model Made of Umbrella Wire	[100]
Plate IV—One of the Simplest of Aëroplanes to Construct	[105]
Plate V—Too Large for Beginners but Will Make Long Flights	[112]
Model Shown in Plate V Ready for a Flight	[117]
Plate VI—A Model with Both Good and Bad Features	[124]
Plate VII—A Good Example of Careful Designing and Workmanship	[129]
Plate VIII—An Effective Model with Wooden Wings	[136]
Plate IX—An Interesting Experiment Along New Lines	[139]
Plate X—An Excellent Monoplane Capable of Long Flights	[150]
Detail of Model Shown in Plate X	[153]
Plate XI—Well Thought Out Monoplane	[158]
Plate XII—A Good Example of Tilted Planes	[165]
Plate XIII—A Serviceable Form Made of Wire	[172]
Plate XIV—The Under Body of the Monoplane Shown in Plate XIII	[179]
Plate XV—A Simple Model which Proves Steady in Flight	[184]
Plate XVI—The Propeller and Shaft of the Model Shown in Plate XV	[189]
Plate XVII—An Ingenious Model which Fails to Fly	[196]
Plate XVIII—A Good Model Excepting That Its Vertical Rudders Are Too Large	[201]
Plate XIX—A Simple Cellular Form	[208]
Plate XX—A Cellular Type with Rudder and Elevating Plane	[213]
Plate XXI—A Complicated Model Capable of Long Flights	[220]
Plate XXII—An Interesting Form which Flies Backward or Forward	[225]
Plate XXIII—A Well Built Model Badly Proportioned	[230]
Plate XXIV—Wright Model Ready for Flight	[235]
Plate XXV—Another View of the Wright Model	[246]
Plate XXVI—An Ingenious Model which Rises Quickly	[251]
Plate XXVII—An Aëroplane with Paper Wings	[255]
A Very Simple Monoplane for Beginners	[262]
Otto Lilienthal about to Take Flight	[267]
A Machine for Testing the Lifting Power of Aëroplanes	[274]
Maxim’s First Aëroplane	[280]
The Machine on the Rails, as it Appeared in 1893	[280]
First Flight of the Wright Brothers’ First Motor Machine	[285]
Three-quarter View of a Flight at Simms Station, November 16, 1904	[292]
Front View of the Flight of the Wright Aëroplane, October 4, 1905	[297]

PART I

MODELS: HOW TO BUILD
AND FLY THEM

THE BOYS’ BOOK OF
MODEL AEROPLANES

THE BOYS’ BOOK OFMODEL AEROPLANES

THE BOYS’ BOOK OF
MODEL AEROPLANES