THE BOYS’ BOOK OF
MODEL AEROPLANES
CHAPTER I
THE NEW SPORT FOR BOYS
IN the boy’s calendar nowadays the aëroplane season comes in with sledding and runs all through skating, marble, top, kite-flying, and bicycle time. The delights of all the old games seem to be found in this marvelous new toy. The fun in throwing a top cannot compare with that of launching an aëroplane, while kite-flying is a very poor substitute for the actual conquest of the air. To watch one of these fascinating little ships of the air, which you have fashioned and built with your own hands, actually rise from the earth and soar aloft with a swallow’s swiftness, is perhaps the greatest boy’s sport in the world. Certainly no new game or toy has ever taken such hold of the boy’s imagination, and in so short a time enrolled such an army of enthusiasts.
Throughout the country to-day upward of ten thousand boy aviators are struggling with the problem of the air-ship. Among these junior aëronauts the record for height and that for distance in flying are matters of quite as lively interest as among the grown-ups. The great contests of aviators here and abroad are watched with intelligent interest. Let a new form of aëroplane, a biplane or monoplane, appear, and it is quickly reproduced by scores of models and its virtues put to an actual test. If a new wing or new plan for insuring stability is invented, a new thought in the steering-device, or some new application of power, it is instantly the subject of earnest discussion among the junior aëronauts the country over.
Nor are junior aëronauts merely imitators. The mystery of the problems of the air, the fascination of a new world of conquest, make a strong appeal to the American temperament. With thousands of bright boys working with might and main to build air-ships which will actually fly, there is certain to be real progress. Thousands of different models have been designed and put to actual test. This army of inventors, ranging in age from twelve to eighteen years, some of whom will be the aviators of the future, cannot fail to do great service, as time goes on, in the actual conquest of the air.
Within a few months this army of inventors has become organized into clubs, and a regular program of tournaments has been arranged. The junior aëro clubs are found in connection with many schools, both public and private; they are made features of the Young Men’s Christian Association amusements, or they become identified with various neighborhoods. Tournaments are arranged between clubs of different cities or States, while an international tournament is even planned between the United States and Great Britain.
The junior aëro world has its prizes, which are scarcely less coveted than the rewards for actual flight. Some fifty medals have been distributed this year among the members of the New York Junior Aëro Club. Many elaborate trophies will be contended for during 1910 by the junior aëronauts of the country. A handsome silver cup of special design has been presented by Mr. A. Leo Stevens, and a second by Mr. Sidney Bowman, while similar trophies are offered by Commodore Marshall, O. Chanute, and others.
The toy aëroplane is not limited to any one season, as one’s sled, kite, or skates. In the winter months the tests of flight may be carried out in any large room or hall. There is even an advantage in holding such a tournament in a large school-room, riding-academy, or armory, since there is no baffling wind to contend with. Already definite rules have been laid down for conducting these tests and for making official records of flights. It is possible, therefore, to compare the records made in different cities or countries with one another.
