The flight must have been very graceful and dignified, for it elicited commendation even from the squad of reporters present, men who customarily recorded such events with uncontrollable mirth and ridicule. Dr. Langley merely remarks: “This was the first time in history, so far as I know, that a successful flight of a mechanically sustained flying machine was seen in public.” It was also the first successful gasoline[22] aëroplane, and the forerunner of the host of flyers presently to spring up in all parts of the world. Its flight though very brief, owing to a surcharge of gasoline, was so satisfactory in all its dynamic features, that it seemed to justify an immediate launching of the one-man machine, with which like maneuvers were anticipated. As will appear in the sequel this prospect of fair sailing was beset with unsuspected shoals.
We have now traced the growth of the aëroplane from its earliest conception to the present time, as exemplified by working models. First came the parachute of da Vinci and others, whose sole function was to carry a weight softly to earth, with no provision for steadiness of motion, or control of direction. Then, in the beginning of the nineteenth century, arrived the gliders adjusted for steadiness, equilibrium and a predetermined slanting course in the air; beautiful passive birds, actuated by gravity, but riderless and awaiting the advent of artificial motive power. Then suddenly appeared Mr. Henson’s wonderful project; a large man-carrying aëroplane, provided with a motor, propellers, rudders, wheels for launching and landing—an impossible scheme for that day, but destined to be realized in the course of two generations. Henson’s idea was doubtless the most prolific in the history of aviation. After this followed the numerous instructive models, actuated by twisted rubber, steam, gasoline, compressed air—economic contrivances for ascertaining the secrets of propulsion, equilibrium and control, of the prospective man-flyer. These may be said to have demonstrated the practicability of man-flight, though many contemporaneous and allied experiments, to be noticed presently, all contributed to the triumphs subsequently achieved by the race of sanguine, daring and tireless inventors.
Fig. 36.—Launoy
and Bienvenu’s
Helicopter, 1784.
In this brief outline, the two other main types of flyers, the orthopters and helicopters, have been omitted. The orthopters, or wing flapping machines, have been very numerous, but have not yet approached practical success in use. Though a man-carrying orthopter has not yet been produced, an elegant pigeon-like model operated by rubber has been made by Pichancourt, which flies and balances nicely. The helicopters, or direct-lifting screws, have more than once raised their weight and that of the helicoptrist, or navigator. These latter, therefore, seem to be of sufficient interest to merit a short historical review.
Leonardo da Vinci, the fertile pioneer in aviation, missed one novel device worthy even of his genius. He constructed aërial screws of paper, but he did not endow them with motive force. Such an achievement was in his power, and would have ranked him with Archytas of Tarentum, who 400 b. c. invented the kite, and an artificial dove said to have flown, no one knows how. Having escaped da Vinci’s ingenuity, the power helicopter failed to materialize for three centuries, but finally appeared in France.
In 1784 Launoy and Bienvenu, the first a naturalist, the second a mechanician, exhibited before the French Academy the interesting toy shown in Fig. 36. This was the first power-driven helicopter, and is said to have lifted itself in the air quite readily. As may be observed it consists of two coaxial screws rotating in opposite directions actuated by the power of an elastic stick, like a bow. The screws were each about one foot in diameter and made of four feathers; one screw being fastened to the top of the rotating shaft, the other fastened to the bow, which rotated in the contrary direction. The little model excited much interest, particularly as its inventors expected to build a man-carrying helicopter on the same plan. The larger project was obviously without merit; for no combination of springs can maintain flight for more than a few seconds even on the most favorable scale.
A more powerful toy helicopter was produced by Mr. Horatio Phillips in England in 1842. This was a single aërial screw emitting jets of steam which compelled it to spin, on the principle of a lawn sprinkler, or a Hero engine. The whole apparatus weighed two pounds, and had screw blades inclined 20° to the horizon. The steam was generated by the combustion of charcoal, niter and gypsum, as in the fire extinguisher previously invented by the same ingenious man. The performance of this curious helicopter, is thus described by Mr. Phillips: “All being arranged, the steam was up in a few seconds, then the whole apparatus spun around like a top, and mounted into the air faster than any bird; to what height it ascended I have no means of ascertaining. The distance traveled was across two fields, where, after a long search, I found the machine minus the wings, which had been torn off from contact with the ground.”
“The distance traveled was across two fields.” For vagueness this surpasses the poet’s measure—“as far as oxen draw the plow in a day.” It would be most interesting to have an exact description of this classical experiment, when for the first time a flying machine rose in the air propelled by a heat motor. It would be desirable also to know the possibilities of such a helicopter, particularly since Prof. Cleveland Abbe has proposed to employ a like agent to carry meteorological instruments into the higher atmosphere.[23]
