The Mastery of the Air
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William J. Claxton >> The Mastery of the Air
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THE MASTERY OF THE AIR
by WILLIAM J. CLAXTON
PREFACE
This book makes no pretence of going minutely into the technical
and scientific sides of human flight: rather does it deal mainly
with the real achievements of pioneers who have helped to make
aviation what it is to-day.
My chief object has been to arouse among my readers an
intelligent interest in the art of flight, and, profiting by
friendly criticism of several of my former works, I imagine that
this is best obtained by setting forth the romance of triumph in
the realms of an element which has defied man for untold
centuries, rather than to give a mass of scientific principles
which appeal to no one but the expert.
So rapid is the present development of aviation that it is
difficult to keep abreast with the times. What is new to-day
becomes old to-morrow. The Great War has given a tremendous
impetus to the strife between the warring nations for the mastery
of the air, and one can but give a rough and general impression
of the achievements of naval and military airmen on the various
fronts.
Finally, I have tried to bring home the fact that the fascinating
progress of aviation should not be confined entirely to the
airman and constructor of air-craft; in short, this progress is
not a retord of events in which the mass of the nation have
little personal concern, but of a movement in which each one of
us may take an active and intelligent part.
I have to thank various aviation firms, airmen, and others who
have kindly come to my assistance, either with the help of
valuable information or by the loan of photographs. In
particular, my thanks are due to the Royal Flying Corps and Royal
Naval Air Service for permission to reproduce illustrations
from their two publications on the work and training of their
respective corps; to the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain;
to Messrs. C. G. Spencer & Sons, Highbury; The Sopwith Aviation
Company, Ltd.; Messrs. A. V. Roe & Co., Ltd.; The Gnome Engine
Company; The Green Engine Company; Mr. A. G. Gross (Geographia,
Ltd.); and M. Bleriot; for an exposition of the
internal-combustion engine I have drawn on Mr. Horne's The Age of
Machinery.
PART I. BALLOONS AND AIR-SHIPS
I. MAN'S DUEL WITH NATURE
II. THE FRENCH PAPER-MAKER WHO INVENTED THE BALLOON
III. THE FIRST MAN TO ASCEND IN A BALLOON
IV. THE FIRST BALLOON ASCENT IN ENGLAND
V. THE FATHER OF BRITISH AERONAUTS
VI. THE PARACHUTE
VII. SOME BRITISH INVENTORS OF AIR-SHIPS
VIII. THE FIRST ATTEMPTS TO STEER A BALLOON
IX. THE STRANGE CAREER OF COUNT ZEPPELIN
X. A ZEPPELIN AIR-SHIP AND ITS CONSTRUCTION
XI. THE SEMI-RIGID AIR-SHIP
XII. A NON-RIGID BALLOON
XIII. THE ZEPPELIN AND GOTHA RAIDS
PART II. AEROPLANES AND AIRMEN
XIV. EARLY ATTEMPTS IN AVIATION
XV. A PIONEER IN AVIATION
XVI. THE "HUMAN BIRDS"
XVII. THE AEROPLANE AND THE BIRD
XVIII. A GREAT BRITISH INVENTOR OF AEROPLANES
XIX. THE WRIGHT BROTHERS AND THEIR SECRET EXPERIMENTS
XX. THE INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE
XXI. THE INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE (Con't.)
XXII. THE AEROPLANE ENGINE
XXIII. A FAMOUS BRITISH INVENTOR OF AVIATION ENGINES
XXIV. THE WRIGHT BIPLANE (CAMBER OF PLANES)
XXV. THE WRIGHT BIPLANE (Cont.)
XXVI. HOW THE WRIGHTS LAUNCHED THEIR BIPLANE
XXVII. THE FIRST MAN TO FLY IN EUROPE
XXVIII. M. BLARIOT AND THE MONOPLANE
XXIX. HENRI FARMAN AND THE VOISIN BIPLANE
XXX. A FAMOUS BRITISH INVENTOR
XXXI. THE ROMANCE OF A COWBOY AERONAUT
XXXII. THREE HISTORIC FLIGHTS
XXXIII. THREE HISTORIC FLIGHTS (Cont.
XXXIV. THE HYDROPLANE AND AIR-BOAT
XXXV. A FAMOUS BRITISH INVENTOR OF THE WATER-PLANE
XXXVI. SEA-PLANES FOR WARFARE
XXXVII. THE FIRST MAN TO FLY IN BRITAIN
XXXVIII.THE R.F.C. AND R.N.A.S.
XXXIX. AEROPLANES IN THE GREAT WAR
XL. THE ATMOSPHERE AND THE BAROMETER
XLI. HOW AN AIRMAN KNOWS WHAT HEIGHT HE REACHES
XLII. HOW AN AIRMAN FINDS HIS WAY
XLIII. THE FIRST AIRMAN TO FLY UPSIDE DOWN
XLIV. THE FIRST ENGLISHMAN TO FLY UPSIDE DOWN
XLV. ACCIDENTS AND THEIR CAUSE
XLVI. ACCIDENTS AND THEIR CAUSE (Cont.)
XLVII. ACCIDENTS AND THEIR CAUSE (COnt.)
XLVIII. SOME TECHNICAL TERMS USED By AVIATORS
XLIX. THE FUTURE IN THE AIR
THE MASTERY OF THE AIR
PART I-BALLOONS AND AIR-SHIPS
CHAPTER I
Man's Duel with Nature
Of all man's great achievements none is, perhaps, more full of
human interest than are those concerned with flight. We regard
ourselves as remarkable beings, and our wonderful discoveries in
science and invention induce us to believe we are far and away
the cleverest of all the living creatures in the great scheme of
Creation. And yet in the matter of flight the birds beat us;
what has taken us years of education, and vast efforts of
intelligence, foresight, and daring to accomplish, is known by
the tiny fledglings almost as soon as they come into the world.
It is easy to see why the story of aviation is of such romantic
interest. Man has been exercising his ingenuity, and
deliberately pursuing a certain train of thought, in an attempt
to harness the forces of Nature and compel them to act in what
seems to be the exact converse of Nature's own arrangements.
One of the mysteries of Nature is known as the FORCE OF GRAVITY.
It is not our purpose in this book to go deeply into a study of
gravitation; we may content ourselves with the statement, first
proved by Sir Isaac Newton, that there is an invisible force
which the Earth exerts on all bodies, by which it attracts or
draws them towards itself. This property does not belong to the
Earth alone, but to all matter--all matter attracts all other
matter. In discussing the problems of aviation we are concerned
mainly with the mutual attraction of The Earth and the bodies on
or near its surface; this is usually called TERRESTRIAL gravity.
It has been found that every body attracts very other body with a
force directly proportionate to its mass. Thus we see that, if
every particle in a mass exerts its attractive influence, the
more particles a body contains the greater will be the
attraction. If a mass of iron be dropped to the ground from the
roof of a building at the same time as a cork of similar size,
the iron and the cork would, but for the retarding effect of the
air, fall to the ground together, but the iron would strike the
ground with much greater force than the cork. Briefly stated, a
body which contains twice as much matter as another is attracted
or drawn towards the centre of the Earth with twice the force of
that other; if the mass be five times as great, then it will be
attracted with five times the force, and so on.
It is thus evident that the Earth must exert an overwhelming
attractive force on all bodies on or near its surface. Now, when
man rises from the ground in an aeroplane he is counter-acting
this force by other forces.
A short time ago the writer saw a picture which illustrated in a
very striking manner man's struggle with Nature. Nature was
represented as a giant of immense stature and strength, standing
on a globe with outstretched arms, and in his hands were shackles
of great size. Rising gracefully from the earth, immediately in
front of the giant, was an airman seated in a modern
flying-machine, and on his face was a happy-go-lucky look as
though he were delighting in the duel between him and the giant.
The artist had drawn the picture so skilfully that one could
imagine the huge, knotted fingers grasping the shackles were
itching to bring the airman within their clutch. The picture was
entitled "MAN TRIUMPHANT"
No doubt many of those who saw that picture were reminded of the
great sacrifices made by man in the past. In the wake of
the aviator there are many memorial stones of mournful
significance.
It says much for the pluck and perseverance of aviators that they
have been willing to run the great risks which ever accompany
their efforts. Four years of the Great War have shown how
splendidly airmen have risen to the great demands made upon them.
In dispatch after dispatch from the front, tribute has been paid
to the gallant and devoted work of the Royal Flying Corps and the
Royal Naval Air Service. In a long and bitter struggle British
airmen have gradually asserted their supremacy in the air. In
all parts of the globe, in Egypt, in Mesopotamia, in Palestine,
in Africa, the airman has been an indispensable adjunct of the
fighting forces. Truly it may be said that mastery of the air is
the indispensable factor of final victory.
CHAPTER II
The French Paper-maker who Invented the Balloon
In the year 1782 two young Frenchmen might have been seen one
winter night sitting over their cottage fire, performing the
curious experiment of filling paper bags with smoke, and letting
them rise up towards the ceiling. These young men were brothers,
named Stephen and Joseph Montgolfier, and their experiments
resulted in the invention of the balloon.
The brothers, like all inventors, seem to have had enquiring
minds. They were for ever asking the why and the wherefore of
things. "Why does smoke rise?" they asked. "Is there not some
strange power in the atmosphere which makes the smoke from
chimneys and elsewhere rise in opposition to the force of
gravity? If so, cannot we discover this power, and apply it to
the service of mankind?"
We may imagine that such questions were in the minds of those two
French paper-makers, just as similar questions were in the mind
of James Watt when he was discovering the power of steam. But
one of the most important attributes of an inventor is an
infinite capacity for taking pains, together with great patience.
And so we find the two brothers employing their leisure in what
to us would, be a childish pastime, the making of paper balloons.
The story tells us that their room was filled with smoke, which
issued from the windows as though the house were on fire. A
neighbour, thinking such was the case, rushed in, but, on being
assured that nothing serious was wrong, stayed to watch the tiny
balloons rise a little way from the thin tray which contained the
fire that made the smoke with which the bags were filled. The
experiments were not altogether successful, however, for the bags
rarely rose more than a foot or so from the tray. The neighbour
suggested that they should fasten the thin tray on to the bottom
of the bag, for it was thought that the bags would not ascend
higher because the smoke became cool; and if the smoke were
imprisoned within the bag much better results would be obtained.
This was done, and, to the great joy of the brothers and their
visitor, the bag at once rose quickly to the ceiling.
But though they could make the bags rise their great trouble was
that they did not know the cause of this ascent. They thought,
however, that they were on the eve of some great discovery, and,
as events proved, they were not far wrong. For a time they
imagined that the fire they had used generated some special gas,
and if they could find out the nature of this gas, and the means
of making it in large quantities, they would be able to add to
their success.
Of course, in the light of modern knowledge, it seems strange
that the brothers did not know that the reason the bags rose, was
not because of any special gas being used, but owing to the
expansion of air under the influence of heat, whereby hot air
tends to rise. Every schoolboy above the age of twelve knows
that hot air rises upwards in the atmosphere, and that it
continues to rise until its temperature has become the same as
that of the surrounding air.
The next experiment was to try their bags in the open air.
Choosing a calm, fine day, they made a fire similar to that used
in their first experiments, and succeeded in making the bag rise
nearly 100 feet. Later on, a much larger craft was built, which
was equally successful.
And now we must leave the experiments of the Montgolfiers for a
moment, and turn to the discovery of hydrogen gas by Henry
Cavendish, a well-known London chemist. In 1766 Cavendish proved
conclusively that hydrogen gas was not more than one-seventh the
weight of ordinary air. It at once occurred to Dr. Black, of
Glasgow, that if a thin bag could be filled with this light gas
it would rise in the air; but for various reasons his experiments
did not yield results of a practical nature for several years.
Some time afterwards, about a year before the Montgolfiers
commenced their experiments which we have already described,
Tiberius Cavallo, an Italian chemist, succeeded in making, with
hydrogen gas, soap-bubbles which rose in the air. Previous to
this he had experimented with bladders and paper bags; but the
bladders he found too heavy, and the paper too porous.
It must not be thought that the Montgolfiers experimented solely
with hot air in the inflation of their balloons. At one time
they used steam, and, later on, the newly-discovered hydrogen
gas; but with both these agents they were unsuccessful. It can
easily be seen why steam was of no use, when we consider that
paper was employed; hydrogen, too, owed its lack of success to
the same cause for the porosity of the paper allowed the gas
to escape quickly.
It is said that the name "balloon" was given to these paper craft
because they resembled in shape a large spherical vessel used
in chemistry, which was known by that name. To the brothers
Montgolfier belongs the honour of having given the name to this
type of aircraft, which, in the two succeeding centuries, became
so popular.
After numerous experiments the public were invited to witness the
inflation of a particularly huge balloon, over 30 feet in
diameter. This was accomplished over a fire made of wool and
straw. The ascent was successful, and the balloon, after rising
to a height of some 7000 feet, fell to earth about two miles
away.
It may be imagined that this experiment aroused enormous interest
in Paris, whence the news rapidly spread over all France and to
Britain. A Parisian scientific society invited Stephen
Montgolfier to Paris in order that the citizens of the metropolis
should have their imaginations excited by seeing the hero of
these remarkable experiments. Montgolfier was not a rich man,
and to enable him to continue his experiments the society granted
him a considerable sum of money. He was then enabled to
construct a very fine balloon, elaborately decorated and
painted, which ascended at Versailles in the presence of the
Court.
To add to the value of this experiment three animals were sent up
in a basket attached to the balloon. These were a sheep, a cock,
and a duck. All sorts of guesses were made as to what would be
the fate of the "poor creatures". Some people imagined that
there was little or no air in those higher regions and that the
animals would choke; others said they would be frozen to death.
But when the balloon descended the cock was seen to be strutting
about in his usual dignified way, the sheep was chewing the cud,
and the duck was quacking for water and worms.
At this point we will leave the work of the brothers Montgolfier.
They had succeeded in firing the imagination of nearly every
Frenchman, from King Louis down to his humblest subject.
Strange, was it not, though scores of millions of people had seen
smoke rise, and clouds float, for untold centuries, yet no one,
until the close of the eighteenth century, thought of making a
balloon?
The learned Franciscan friar, Roger Bacon, who lived in the
thirteenth century, seems to have thought of the possibility of
producing a contrivance that would float in air. His idea was
that the earth's atmosphere was a "true fluid", and that it had
an upper surface as the ocean has. He quite believed that on
this upper surface--subject, in his belief, to waves similar to
those of the sea--an air-ship might float if it once succeeded in
rising to the required height. But the difficulty was to reach
the surface of this aerial sea. To do this he proposed to make a
large hollow globe of metal, wrought as thin as the skill of man
could make it, so that it might be as light as possible, and this
vast globe was to be filled with "liquid fire". Just what
"liquid fire" was, one cannot attempt to explain, and it is
doubtful if Bacon himself had any clear idea. But he doubtless
thought of some gaseous substance lighter than air, and so he
would seem to have, at least, hit upon the principle underlying
the construction of the modern balloon. Roger Bacon had ideas
far in advance of his time, and his experiments made such an
impression of wonder on the popular mind that they were believed
to be wrought by black magic, and the worthy monk was classed
among those who were supposed to be in league with Satan.
CHAPTER III
The First Man to Ascend in a Balloon
The safe descent of the three animals, which has already been
related, showed the way for man to venture up in a balloon. In
our time we marvel at the daring of modern airmen, who ascend to
giddy heights, and, as it were, engage in mortal combat with the
demons of the air. But, courageous though these deeds are, they
are not more so than those of the pioneers of ballooning.
In the eighteenth century nothing was known definitely of the
conditions of the upper regions of the air, where, indeed, no
human being had ever been; and though the frail Montgolfier
balloons had ascended and descended with no outward happenings,
yet none could tell what might be the risk to life in committing
oneself to an ascent. There was, too, very special danger in
making an ascent in a hot-air balloon. Underneath the huge
envelope was suspended a brazier, so that the fabric of the
balloon was in great danger of catching fire.
It was at first suggested that two French criminals under
sentence of death should be sent up, and, if they made a safe
descent, then the way would be open for other aeronauts to
venture aloft. But everyone interested in aeronautics in those
days saw that the man who first traversed the unexplored regions
of the air would be held in high honour, and it seemed hardly
right that this honour should fall to criminals. At any rate
this was the view of M. Pilatre de Rozier, a French gentleman,
and he determined himself to make the pioneer ascent.
De Rozier had no false notion of the risks he was prepared to
run, and he superintended with the greatest care the construction
of his balloon. It was of enormous size, with a cage slung
underneath the brazier for heating the air. Befors making his
free ascent De Rozier made a trial ascent with the balloon held
captive by a long rope.
At length, in November, 1783, accompanied by the Marquis
d'Arlandes as a passenger, he determined to venture. The
experiment aroused immense excitement all over France, and a
large concourse of people were gathered together on the outskirts
of Paris to witness the risky feat. The balloon made a perfect
ascent, and quickly reached a height of about half a mile above
sea-level. A strong current of air in the upper regions caused
the balloon to take an opposite direction from that intended, and
the aeronauts drifted right over Paris. It would have gone hard
with them if they had been forced to descend in the city, but the
craft was driven by the wind to some distance beyond the suburbs
and they alighted quite safely about six miles from their
starting-point, after having been up in the air for about half an
hour.
Their voyage, however, had by no means been free from anxiety.
We are told that the fabric of the balloon repeatedly caught
fire, which it took the aeronauts all their time to extinguish.
At times, too, they came down perilously near to the Seine, or to
the housetops of Paris, but after the most exciting half-hour of
their lives they found themselves once more on Mother Earth.
Here we must make a slight digression and speak of the invention
of the hydrogen, or gas, balloon. In a previous chapter we read
of the discovery of hydrogen gas by Henry Cavendish, and the
subsequent experiments with this gas by Dr. Black, of Glasgow.
It was soon decided to try to inflate a balloon with this
"inflammable air"--as the newly-discovered gas was called--and
with this end in view a large public subscription was raised in
France to meet the heavy expenses entailed in the venture. The
work was entrusted to a French scientist, Professor Charles, and
two brothers named Robert.
It was quickly seen that paper, such as was used by the
Montgolfiers, was of little use in the construction of a gas
balloon, for the gas escaped. Accordingly the fabric was made of
silk and varnished with a solution of india-rubber and
turpentine. The first hydrogen balloon was only about 13 feet in
diameter, for in those early days the method of preparing
hydrogen was very laborious and costly, and the constructors
thought it advisable not to spend too much money over the initial
experiments, in case they should be a failure.
In August, 1783--an eventful year in the history of aeronautics--
the first gas-inflated balloon was sent up, of course
unaccompanied by a passenger. It shot up high in the air much
more rapidly than Montgolfier's hot-air balloon had done, and was
soon beyond the clouds. After a voyage of nearly an hour's
duration it descended in a field some 15 miles away. We are told
that some peasants at work near by fled in the greatest alarm at
this strange monster which settled in their midst. An old print
shows them cautiously approaching the balloon as it lay heaving
on the ground, stabbing it with pitchforks, and beating it with
flails and sticks. The story goes that one of the alarmed
farmers poured a charge of shot into it with his gun, no doubt
thinking that he had effectually silenced the panting demon
contained therein. To prevent such unseemly occurrences in the
future the French Government found it necessary to warn the
people by proclamation that balloons were perfectly harmless
objects, and that the experiments would be repeated.
We now have two aerial craft competing for popular favour: the
Montgolfier hot-air balloon and the "Charlier" or gas-inflated
balloon. About four months after the first trial trip of the
latter the inventors decided to ascend in a specially-constructed
hydrogen-inflated craft. This balloon, which was 27 feet in
diameter, contained nearly all the features of the modern
balloon. Thus there was a valve at the top by means of which the
gas could be let out as desired; a cord net covered the whole
fabric, and from the loop which it formed below the neck of the
balloon a car was suspended; and in the car there was a quantity
of ballast which could be cast overboard when necessary.
It may be imagined that this new method of aerial navigation had
thoroughly aroused the excitability of the French nation, so that
thousands of people were met together just outside Paris on the
17th December to see Professor Charles and his mechanic,
Robelt, ascend in their new craft. The ascent was successful in
every way; the intrepid aeronauts, who carried a barometer, found
that they had quickly reached an altitude of over a mile.
After remaining aloft for nearly two hours they came down.
Professor Charles decided to ascend again, this time by himself,
and with a much lighter load the balloon rose about two miles
above sea-level. The temperature at this height became very low,
and M. Charles was affected by violent pain in his right ear and
jaw. During the voyage he witnessed the strange phenomenon of a
double sunset; for, before the ascent, the sun had set behind the
hills overshadowing the valleys, and when he rose above the
hill-tops he saw the sun again, and presently saw it set again.
There is no doubt that the balloon would have risen several
thousand feet higher, but the professor thought it would burst,
and he opened the valve, eventually making a safe descent about 7
miles from his starting-place.
England lagged behind her French neighbour's in balloon
aeronautics--much as she has recently done in aviation--for a
considerable time, and,it was not till August of the following
year (1784) that the first balloon ascent was made in Great
Britain, by Mr. J. M. Tytler. This took place at Edinburgh in
a fire balloon. Previous to this an Italian, named Lunardi, had
in November, 1783, dispatched from the Artillery Ground, in
London, a small balloon made of oil-silk, 10 feet in diameter and
weighing 11 pounds. This small craft was sent aloft at one
o'clock, and came down, about two and a half hours later, in
Sussex, about 48 miles from its starting-place.
In 1784 the largest balloon on record was sent up from Lyons.
This immense craft was more than 100 feet in diameter, and stood
about 130 feet high. It was inflated with hot air over a straw
fire, and seven passengers were carried, including Joseph
Montgolfier and Pilatre de Rozier.
But to return to de Rozier, whom we left earlier in the chapter,
after his memorable ascent near Paris. This daring Frenchman
decided to cross the Channel, and to prevent the gas cooling, and
the balloon falling into the sea, he hit on the idea of
suspending a small fire balloon under the neck of another balloon
inflated with hydrogen gas. In the light of our modern knowledge
of the highly-inflammable nature of hydrogen, we wonder how
anyone could have attempted such an adventure; but there had been
little experience of this newly-discovered gas in those days. We
are not surprised to read that, when high in the air, there was
an awful explosion and the brave aeronaut fell to the earth and
was dashed to death.
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