PREFACE
The object of this book is to explain the fundamental principles of aeronautics and to point out the historic development of both the heavier-than-air and the lighter-than-air craft. The treatment is simple. Technical phrases have been avoided wherever possible. Emphasis has been laid on the changes in the design or construction of aeroplanes and dirigibles, which show the evolution of flight and aircraft from early experiments with balloons and gliders to the transatlantic flights of the NC-4, the Vickers “Vimy” Bomber, and the R-34. Only those things have been singled out which indicated a step forward in the science of aeronautics. Emphasis is placed upon the commercial accomplishments of the aeroplane and the dirigible, and many of the present uses and future possibilities of aircraft as a commercial vehicle have been pointed out.
I am indebted to many sources for the information contained herein. Mr. Henry Woodhouse, the well-known aeronautical authority and editor of Flying Magazine and author of the text-books on military and naval aeronautics, has been the source of much of my information, and the volumes of Flying Magazine have supplied me with much historic data. Aerial Age Weeklyand Mr. G. Douglas Wardrop, the managing editor, have also been very helpful. The British periodicals Flight, The Aeroplane, and Aeronautics have furnished me with many facts regarding British aircraft. The articles of Mr. C. G. Grey, the editor of The Aeroplane, dealing with the growth of heavier-than-air machines, and of Mr. W. L. Wade on lighter-than-air craft, have been the source of many of the facts regarding the evolution of aircraft. Many other aeronautical authorities have afforded statistics, facts, etc.
Evan John David.
New York, August 12.
CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
|---|---|---|
| I. | The First Balloons | [1] |
| THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FREE BALLOON—THE CAPTIVE BALLOON—THE DIRIGIBLE—THE BLIMP—THE KITE BALLOON. | ||
| II. | The Aeroplane | [13] |
| EXPERIMENTS WITH PLANES—LILLIENTHAL’S GLIDER—LANGLEY’S AERODROME—SUCCESS OF THE WRIGHTS—FIRST AEROPLANE FLIGHTS. | ||
| III. | Why An Aeroplane Flies | [25] |
| THE HELICOPTER—THE ORNITHOPTER—WING SURFACE—FLYING SPEED—LANDING SPEED—EFFECT OF MOTORS—THE SEAPLANE. | ||
| IV. | Learning to Fly | [34] |
| EARLY METHODS—DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOLS—STUDYING STRUCTURE OF PLANES, MOTORS, THEORY OF FLIGHT, AERODYNAMICS, MAP READING—FRENCH SYSTEM—GOSPORT SYSTEM. | ||
| V. | Aeroplane Development, 1903 to 1918 | [47] |
| ADER’S EXPERIMENTS—MAXIM’S MULTIPLANE—DUMONT’S AEROPLANE—WRIGHTS’ 1908 PLANE—VOISIN PUSHER—BLERIOT’S MONOPLANE—AVRO TRIPLANE—FARMAN’S AILERONS—OTHER TYPES. | ||
| VI. | Development of the Aeroplane for War Purposes | [67] |
| GERMAN AERIAL PREPAREDNESS—PRIZES GIVEN FOR AERONAUTICS BY VARIOUS GOVERNMENTS—FIRST USE OF PLANES IN WAR—FIRST AIRCRAFT ARMAMENT. | ||
| VII. | Development of the Liberty and Other Motors | [76] |
| DEBATE IN REGARD TO ORIGIN OF LIBERTY MOTOR—LIBERTY-ENGINE CONFERENCE, DESIGN, AND TEST—MAKERS OF PARTS—HISPANO-SUIZA MOTOR—ROLLS-ROYCE—OTHER MOTORS. | ||
| VIII. | Growth of Aircraft Manufacturing in United States | [94] |
| THE 1912 EXPOSITION—THE FIRST PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION—THE MANUFACTURERS AIRCRAFT EXPOSITION—DESCRIPTIONS OF EXHIBITORS—GROWTH OF AIRCRAFT FACTORIES—NAVAL AIRCRAFT FACTORY. | ||
| IX. | The Development of the Aero Mail | [134] |
| FIRST MAIL CARRIED BY AIRCRAFT—NEW YORK—PHILADELPHIA—WASHINGTON SERVICE—NEW YORK—CLEVELAND—CHICAGO SERVICE—FOREIGN AERO MAIL ROUTES. | ||
| X. | Kinds of Flying | [151] |
| NIGHT FLYING—FORMATION FLYING—STUNTING—IMMELMAN TURN—NOSE DIVING—TAIL SPINNING—BARREL—FALLING LEAF, ETC. | ||
| XI. | Aerial Navigation | [161] |
| ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS—WINDS AND THEIR WAYS—CLOUD FORMATIONS, NAMES, AND ALTITUDES. | ||
| XII. | Commercial Flying | [169] |
| BUSINESS POSSIBILITIES OF THE AEROPLANE—SOME CELEBRATED AIR RECORDS—GERMANY’S INITIAL ADVANTAGE—A HUGE INVESTMENT—CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS—DISCOMFORTS OVERCOME—INEXPENSIVE FLYABOUTS—THE SPORTS TYPE—ARCTIC-FLIGHT—NO EAST OR WEST. | ||
| XIII. | The Commercial Zeppelin | [203] |
| THE AMBITION OF THE AGES REALIZED—A GIANT GERMAN DIRIGIBLE—ZEPPELIN ACCOMPLISHMENTS—HIGH COST OF ZEPPELINS—SAFETY OF TRAVEL—SOME BRITISH PREDICTIONS—THE FUTURE OF HELIUM—THE LIFE-BLOOD OF COMMERCE. | ||
| XIV. | The Regulation of Air Traffic | [235] |
| IMPORTANCE OF SAME—LAWS FORMED BY BRITISH AERIAL TRANSPORT COMMITTEE LIKELY TO BE BASES OF INTERNATIONAL AERIAL LAWS—COPY OF SAME. | ||
| XV. | The Trans-Atlantic Flight | [251] |
| THE NC’S—THE LOSS OF THE C-5—READ’S STORY—BELLINGER’S STORY—THE GREAT NAVAL FLIGHT—HAWKER’S STORY—ALCOCK’S STORY—TO AND FROM AMERICA—THE R-34. | ||
| Appendix I | [327] | |
| UNITED STATES AIRCRAFT AND ENGINE PRODUCTION FOR THE UNITED STATES AIR SERVICE. | ||
| Appendix II | [354] | |
| RECORDS OF ALLIED AND ENEMY ACES WITH NUMBER OF PLANES BROUGHT DOWN. | ||
| Appendix III | [362] | |
| NOMENCLATURE FOR AERONAUTICS. | ||
ILLUSTRATIONS
| The NC-4 flying-boat, showing the arrangement of the motors | [Frontispiece] |
| FACING PAGE | |
| Observation balloon about to ascend | [10] |
| The Wright flyer after the epoch-making flight at Kitty Hawk, N. C., December, 1903 | [20] |
| A Shortt “pusher” seaplane equipped with a one-and-a-half-pounder gun | [32] |
| British-built Curtiss flying boat, at Brighton, England | [32] |
| The Farman “Goliath” contrasted with a Farman “Mosquito” | [56] |
| The huge four-motored Handley Page bomber | [64] |
| The Martin bomber | [84] |
| The pathfinding aerial mail flight, New York-Cleveland-Chicago | [144] |
| The reconstructed De Haviland biplane, showing the limousine accommodations for passengers | [146] |
| Diagrams showing an “aerial skid,” “tail slide,” and the “spinning dive” | [154] |
| The so-called “Immelman turn” | [156] |
| Diagrams illustrating the reversal of position effected by a “loop” and the execution of the so-called “Immelman turn” | [158] |
| Interior view of the Graham White twenty-four-seater aeroplane in flight | [170] |
| The Vickers-“Vimy” bomber | [200] |
| The C-5 leaving its hangar at Montauk Point en route to accompany the NC’s on their trans-Atlantic flight | [202] |
| The R-34, the British rigid dirigible | [222] |