Farman’s First Biplane at Issy-les-Moulineaux Returning to the Hangar after a Flight
The June Bug, one of the first Curtiss machines, is shown below. This was one of the lightest of biplanes, having a wing spread of forty-two feet and an area of 370 square feet. The wings were transversely arched, being furthest apart at the center: an arrangement which has not been continued. It had a box tail, with a steering rudder of about six square feet area, above the tail. The horizontal rudder, in front, had a surface of twenty square feet. Four triangular ailerons were used for stability. The machine had a landing frame and wheels, made about forty miles per hour, and weighed, in operation, 650 pounds.
The “June Bug”
Mr. Curtiss first attained prominence in aviation circles by winning the Scientific American cup by his flight at the speed of fifty-seven miles per hour, in 1908. In the following year he exhibited intricate curved flights at Mineola, and circled Governor’s Island in New York harbor. In 1910 he made his famous flight from Albany to New York, stopping en route, as prearranged. At Atlantic City he flew fifty miles over salt water. A flight of seventy miles over Lake Erie was accomplished in September of the same year, the return trip being made the following day. On January 26, 1911, Curtiss repeatedly ascended and descended, with the aid of hydroplanes, in San Diego bay, California: perhaps one of the most important of recent achievements. It is understood that Mr. Curtiss is now attempting to duplicate some of these performances under the high-altitude conditions of Great Salt Lake. According to press reports, he has been invited to give a similar demonstration before the German naval authorities at Kiel.
(Photo by Levick, N.Y.)
Curtis Biplane