Farman has placed his rear stability planes unusually far behind the main frame. They consist of two fixed horizontal planes, one above the other, with a vertical rudder placed in the space between them. The front horizontal rudder for vertical steering, is a single plane, mounted close to the entering edge. The vertical rudder is worked by a foot pedal. The machine is driven by one large wooden propeller, eight feet six inches in diameter, at a speed of 1300 revolutions per minute, which, it will be noticed, is unusually high. The Farman biplane is one of the heaviest yet constructed, weighing about 1000 pounds without the pilot.
An original plan has also been found for mounting the machine. The aëroplane rests upon a combination of skids and wheels. There are two sets of wheels under the front edge of the plane, while the two skids are placed between the wheels of each pair. The motor is four cylinder, fifty horse power type, and drives the machine at the rate of forty miles an hour.
The largest, and by far the heaviest aëroplane is the Cody biplane built by an American inventor who lives in England. It weighs nearly one ton, or more than 1800 pounds, to be exact, and measures fifty-two feet across. The machine is balanced somewhat after the manner of the Curtiss-Herring model, by two horizontal planes placed at the extremities of the main planes and midway between the rear corners. The two main planes are seven feet six inches wide and are placed nine feet apart, which is considerably farther than in any other successful model. The upper plane is slightly curved toward the ends. The machine carries two large horizontal planes for vertical steering, sixteen feet before the entering edge of the main wings. These planes, placed side by side, have a combined area of 150 square feet and naturally exert a considerable lifting force. A small vertical rudder for horizontal steering is carried above and between these front planes. An unusually large rudder is placed well behind the machine, consisting of a vertical plane with an area of forty square feet. All the rudders are operated by a wheel in front of the pilot’s seat.
In the Cody aëroplane the horizontal rudders are moved by pushing or pulling the wheel, while by moving it sideways the two balancing planes, which control the equilibrium, are moved up and down. The most original feature of the Cody machine is the position of the propellers. They are carried in the space between the two main planes forward of the center. It would seem that they must draw the air from the upper planes and affect their lifting quality. The machine is mounted on three wheels, two beneath the front edge of the main plane, and the other slightly forward, which is an unusual distribution. The Cody biplane, with 770 feet of wing surface, lifts more than 1800 pounds.
PLATE XXVI.
An Ingenious Model which Rises Quickly.
It is all a matter of guess work, of course, whether the monoplane, biplane, or some entirely new form of aëroplane will come into general use. Every model has its enthusiastic friends. The biplane, at present, has greater stability than the monoplane, and carries greater weights for longer distances. The development of the flying machine is so rapid however that in five or ten years the successful aëroplane models of to-day may appear as crude as do the clumsy, lumbering old horseless carriages of five or ten years ago.
CHAPTER VI
SUCCESSFUL MONOPLANES