These are some of the useful developments of the aeroplane. Of course there have been many spectacular achievements such as the trip of Calbraith P. Rodgers, a comparatively inexperienced aviator, from Sheepshead Bay, N. Y., to Long Beach, Cal., across the whole American continent; the trips of Harry N. Atwood from Boston to Washington and from St. Louis to New York via Chicago, Buffalo and Albany; the trip of Vedrines from Paris to Madrid, across the Pyrenees Mountains, and the terrific speed of about 155 miles an hour, or more than two and a half miles a minute, maintained by Vedrines for eighty miles. Just to think of such a speed would take the ordinary person's breath away, but the aviators speak of it calmly and say it won't be long before it will be a common thing for aeroplanes to make a speed of 200 miles an hour, about twice as fast as the fastest automobile has ever burned up the road. Then, too, there was the winning of the James Gordon Bennett Cup and prize in England by C. F. Weyman, an American who flew a Nieuport monoplane equipped with a 100-horsepower Gnome motor. It would be impossible in our space to give a list of the contests, races, circuit races and endurance tests of the year. Not only were aeroplanes seen in the United States, but they were flown in South America, Africa, Australia, Japan, India and China. The Sphinx in the Great Sahara Desert, the Panama Canal, Niagara Falls, the Chinese Wall, the Far Eastern temples to Buddha, and the Islands of the Antipodes all have been circled by the dauntless birdmen, as well as the Goddess of Liberty in New York and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Young Atwood started from Boston without much ado on June 30, 1911, sailed 93 miles to New London, Conn., and the day following reeled off the 112 miles to New York as easily as he would walk across the street. The Fourth of July he went to Atlantic City; July 10th he sailed from there to Baltimore, a distance of 122 miles, which was made in four hours and a half; and the day after that finished up by sailing into Washington, D. C.
This young aviator still was not satisfied and shipped his aeroplane to St. Louis, from where on August 14th he started for New York. His longest single flight was made from St. Louis to Chicago, 283 miles in 6 hours and 32 minutes. Flying an average distance of 105-1/2 miles a day for the remaining eleven days, he completed the 1,266 miles on August 25th. His total flying time was 28 hours and 53 minutes, and his average speed 43.9 miles per hour.
Far more exciting was the record-breaking flight of the ill-fated Rodgers from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He had a number of severe falls, but his determination carried him through in spite of everything. His machine was a specially constructed Wright biplane model Ex, something of a mixture between the regular racing and passenger carrying types. Starting from Sheepshead Bay, N. Y., on September 17th, the young giant, who had only learned to fly that summer, was off on the longest trip ever attempted by a birdman. After being on the go for forty-nine days, he sailed over the coast towns to Long Beach on the Pacific Ocean. He was actually in the air the equivalent of 3 days, 10 hours, 4 minutes; made an average speed of 51 miles an hour, and his longest single flight was from Sanderson to Sierra Blanca, Texas, on October 28th, a distance of 231 miles. He crossed three ranges of mountains, two deserts and the continental plain; he wrecked and rebuilt his machine four times and replaced some parts of it eight times; he rode through darkness and wind and rain and lightning, at the heart of a thunder cloud. Once his engine blew up while he was 4,000 feet high and he had to glide to earth. A special train with duplicate parts, a complete repair-shop, and mechanics followed as he winged his way up the Hudson across New York State, across the plains of the Middle West, down through Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, across the Arizona and California deserts, over the Pacific range, and finally to the western ocean. His worst accident came at Compton, Cal., on the last stage of his journey, when he was so badly injured that he was laid up twenty-eight days. This occurred on November 12th, but, persevering to the end, Rodgers arose as soon as he was able and sailed to the ocean on December 10th.
Rodgers remained in California the rest of the winter, giving many exhibitions of his daring and skill, only to meet his death while holding the world's record. On April 3, 1912, while 7,000 persons at Long Beach, near Los Angeles, watched his evolutions, his machine tipped forward. The crowd cheered, thinking it a daring dive, but became silent when they saw the aviator had lost control. From a height of 200 feet the biplane plunged into the surf where the water was only two feet deep. When the people reached the broken machine Rodgers was dead—his neck broken. There was nothing to show the cause of the biplane's dive. The spot where Rodgers was killed is only a few yards from the one where he completed his transcontinental flight, and where the citizens of Los Angeles planned to erect a monument to his achievement.
Most boys are perfectly familiar with the important events of 1912 in aviation, which the scientist and his young friend talked over so eagerly, for, of course, the papers are full of them, and aviation meets are a common thing now in nearly every city of the country.
The development of the hydro-aeroplane was probably the chief work of the inventors for the year, but with it came many devices designed to prevent the appalling loss of life while the art of flying is being perfected. One of them is a parachute fixed to the top of the plane, which the aviator is supposed to open in case his machine gets beyond control. In tests aviators have descended to earth in these parachutes without injury. Also a number of automatic balancing and stabilizing devices have been brought out.
Frank Coffyn's feats in and about New York Bay during the winter of 1912 with his Wright hydro-aeroplane gave that city the best idea of the success of the aeroplane in and over water it had ever had. He flew from and alighted on the water and great ice floes in the bay as easily as aviators would fly from a clear landing ground on a calm day. It was from Coffyn's machine that the picture of the Statue of Liberty was taken.
The world saw the first hydro-aeroplane meet in March of 1911 off the coast of the little European principality of Monaco. Seven aviators competed for the rich prizes, and, although the Maurice Farman machine won the greatest number of points, the Curtiss hydros showed the greatest speed, and alighted with perfect ease in breakers four feet high.
Far more important than the winning of prize contests is the latest achievement of Glen Curtiss in perfecting his "flying boat," pictures of which are shown opposite page [23]. Curtiss describes this aeroplane as a combination between a speed motor boat, a yacht and a flying machine. Speaking of the new plane, he said recently: "With this craft the dangers common to land aeroplanes are eliminated and safe flying is here. It will develop a new and popular sport which will be known as aerial yachting." The most important factor in this machine is its safety, but it also is speedy, for in its official tests at Hammondsport it developed 50 miles an hour as a motor boat and 60 miles an hour as an aeroplane. The boat is 26 feet long and 3 feet wide. The planes are 30 feet wide and 5-1/2 feet deep. The rudders are attached to the rear; the propeller, driven by an 80-horsepower motor, is at the front.