CONTENTS

PAGE
THE DELIGHTS AND DANGERS OF FLYING.— Dangers of Aviation.—What it is Like to Fly[1]
SOARING FLIGHT BY MAN.— What Holds it Up? — Lifting Power.—Why so Many Sails?—Steering[17]
TURNING CORNERS.—What Happens when Making a Turn.—Lateral Stability.— Wing Warping.—Automatic Control.—The Gyroscope.—Wind Gusts[33]
AIR AND THE WIND.—Sailing Balloons.—Field and Speed[43]
GAS AND BALLAST.—Buoyancy in Air.—Ascending and Descending.—The Ballonet.—The Equilibrator[57]
DIRIGIBLE BALLOONS AND OTHER KINDS.— Shapes.—Dimensions.—Fabrics.—Framing.— Keeping the Keel Horizontal.—Stability.—Rudders and Planes.— Arrangement and Accessories.—Amateur Dirigibles.— The Fort Omaha Plant.—Balloon Progress[71]
THE QUESTION OF POWER.— Resistance of Aeroplanes.—Resistance of Dirigibles.— Independent Speed and Time-Table.—The Cost of Speed.—The Propeller[101]
GETTING UP AND DOWN; MODELS AND GLIDERS; AEROPLANE DETAILS.—Launching.—Descending.—Gliders.— Models.—Balancing.—Weights.—Miscellaneous.—Things to Look After[121]
SOME AEROPLANES.—SOME ACCOMPLISHMENTS[143]
THE POSSIBILITIES IN AVIATION.— The Case of the Dirigible.—The Orthopter.— The Helicopter.—Composite Types.—What is Promised[170]
AERIAL WARFARE[189]

[Pg xii]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
The Fall of IcarusFrontispiece
The Aviator[3]
The Santos-Dumont “Demoiselle”[4]
View from a Balloon[9]
Anatomy of a Bird’s Wing[10]
Flight of a Bird[11]
In a Meteoric Shower[13]
How a Boat Tacks[15]
Octave Chanute[18]
Pressure of the Wind[19]
Forces Acting on a Kite[20]
Sustaining Force in the Aeroplane[23]
Direct Lifting and Resisting Forces[24]
Shapes of Planes[26]
Balancing Sail[28]
Roe’s Triplane at Wembley[30]
Action of the Steering Rudder[31]
Recent Type of Wright Biplane[31]
Circular Flight[33]
The Aileron[35]
Wing Tipping[36]
Wing Warping[37]
The Gyroscope[39]
Diurnal Temperatures at Different Heights[45]
Seasonal Variation in Wind Velocities[47]
The Wind Rose for Mt. Weather, Va.[49]
Diagram of Parts of a Drifting Balloon[51]
Glidden and Stevens Getting Away in the “Boston”[52]
Relative and Absolute Balloon Velocities[53]
Field and Speed[53]
Influence of Wind on Possible Course[54]
Count Zeppelin[55]
Buoyant Power of Wood[57]
One Cubic Foot of Wood Loaded in Water[58]
Buoyant Power of Hydrogen[59]
Lebaudy’s “Jaune”[60]
Air Balloon[62]
Screw Propeller for Altitude Control[66]
Balloon with Ballonets[67]
Construction of the Zeppelin Balloon[68]
The Equilibrator[69]
Henry Giffard’s Dirigible[71]
Dirigible of Dupuy de Lome[72]
Tissandier Brothers’ Dirigible Balloon[73]
The “Baldwin”[74]
The “Zeppelin” on Lake Constance[75]
The “Patrie”[77]
Manufacturing the Envelope of a Balloon[79]
Andrée’s Balloon, “L’Oernen”[80]
Wreck of the “Zeppelin”[82]
Car of the “Zeppelin”[84]
Stern View of the “Zeppelin”[86]
The “Clément-Bayard”[87]
The “Ville de Paris”[88]
Car of the “Liberté”[89]
The “Zodiac No. 2”[92]
United States Signal Corps Balloon Plant at Fort Omaha[93]
The “Caroline”[94]
The Ascent at Versailles, 1783[95]
Proposed Dirigible[96]
The “République”[97]
The First Flight for the Gordon-Bennett Cup[99]
The Gnome Motor[102]
Screw Propeller[103]
One of the Motors of the “Zeppelin”[104]
The Four-Cycle Engine[105]
Action of Two-Cycle Engine[106]
Motor and Propeller[108]
Two-Cylinder Opposed Engine[110]
Four-Cylinder Vertical Engine[110]
Head End Shapes[113]
The Santos-Dumont Dirigible No. 2[115]
In the Bay of Monaco: Santos-Dumont[117]
Wright Biplane on Starting Rail[121]
Launching System for Wright Aeroplane[122]
The Nieuport Monoplane[124]
A Biplane[125]
Ely at Los Angeles[126]
Trajectory During Descent[127]
Descending[128]
The Witteman Glider[130]
French Monoplane[132]
A Problem in Steering[133]
Lejeune Biplane[134]
Tellier Monoplane[135]
A Monoplane[137]
Cars and Framework[139]
Some Details[139]
Recent French Machines[141]
Orville Wright at Fort Myer[143]
The First Flight Across the Channel[144]
Wright Motor[145]
Voisin-Farman Biplane[147]
The Champagne Grand Prize Flight[148]
Farman’s First Biplane[149]
The “June Bug”[150]
Curtiss Biplane[151]
Curtiss’ Hydro-Aeroplane at San Diego Bay[152]
Flying Over the Water[153]
Blériot-Voisin Cellular Biplane with Pontoons[154]
Latham’s “Antoinette”[155]
James J. Ward at Lewiston Fair[156]
Marcel Penot in the “Mohawk”[157]
Santos-Dumont’s “Demoiselle”[159]
Blériot Monoplane[160]
Latham’s Fall into the Channel[161]
De Lesseps Crossing the Channel[163]
The Maxim Aeroplane[164]
Langley’s Aeroplane[165]
Robart Monoplane[166]
Vina Monoplane[167]
Blanc Monoplane[170]
Melvin Vaniman Triplane[171]
Jean de Crawhez Triplane[171]
A Triplane[172]
Giraudon’s Wheel Aeroplane[175]
Bréguet Gyroplane (Helicopter)[177]
Wellman’s “America”[181]
The German Emperor Watching the Progress of Aviation[189]
Automatic Gun for Attacking Airships[193]
Gun for Shooting at Aeroplanes[197]
Santos-Dumont Circling the Eiffel Tower[199]
Latham, Farman and Paulhan[202]