Ely, flying a Curtiss biplane, left the shore in a slight mist, being guided as he approached his destination by the syren blasts of the Pennsylvania. When sighted by those on the cruiser, he was flying low, quite close to the surface of the water.
The airman steered past the Pennsylvania’s bow. Then he rose a little, and made a half-circle in the air. Smoothly approaching the vessel’s stern, he stopped his engine, and settled with absolute precision upon the platform.
After a short rest, Ely added to the practical interest of his performance by rising from the cruiser’s deck, and flying back to his starting-point, a field on the outskirts of San Francisco.
American naval men were naturally impressed by this performance, and also by a series of experiments which were carried out by Mr Glen H. Curtiss, the builder of the biplane which bears his name.
Mr Curtiss designed a biplane which would float upon the water on pontoons, and also rise from the surface of the water when it moved forward at a certain speed.
Considerable ingenuity was exercised in the construction of this machine. The pontoons upon which it was mounted, and which took the place of ordinary land wheels, were hollow boxes with pointed ends, made out of wood, and sheathed with thin steel.
A large pontoon, under the centre of the biplane, bore the greater part of the weight, and a smaller pontoon was set under the front of the machine; while a third pontoon, smaller still, was placed at the extreme forward end of the aeroplane, to tilt it upward when it began to move across the water.
First tests with this machine were entirely successful. When forced forward by its propeller, at a speed of thirty miles an hour, the hydro-aeroplane skimmed along with only its main pontoon on the water. Then, at a slight acceleration, it rose easily into the air, and flew off. Descents upon the surface of the water were made with equal facility.
[Illustration: MOTOR TRANSPORT. Photo, M. Branger. This picture shows how a Breguet military biplane, with its main-planes folded by the sides of its body, can be towed from point to point behind a motor-lorry.]
After satisfying himself that his machine answered expectations, Curtiss carried out an instructive test in conjunction with an American battleship. Flying from a point on shore, he made a successful descent upon the water close beside the vessel. Then his machine was hoisted on board, by means of special tackle.