The Mastery of the Air
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William J. Claxton >> The Mastery of the Air
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CHAPTER IV
The First Balloon Ascent in England
It has been said that the honour of making the first ascent in a
balloon from British soil must be awarded to Mr. Tytler. This
took place in Scotland. In this chapter we will relate the
almost romantic story of the first ascent made in England.
This was carried out successfully by Lunardi, the Italian of whom
we have previously spoken. This young foreigner, who was engaged
as a private secretary in London, had his interest keenly aroused
by the accounts of the experiments being carried out in balloons
in France, and he decided to attempt similar experiments in this
country.
But great difficulties stood in his way. Like many other
inventors and would-be airmen, he suffered from lack of funds to
build his craft, and though people whom he approached for
financial aid were sympathetic, many of them were unwilling to
subscribe to his venture. At length, however, by indomitable
perseverance, he collected enough money to defray the cost of
building his balloon, and it was arranged that he should ascend
from the Artillery Ground, London, in September, 1784.
His craft was a "Charlier"--that is, it was modelled after the
hydrogen-inflated balloon built by Professor Charles--and it
resembled in shape an enormous pear. A wide hoop encircled the
neck of the envelope, and from this hoop the car was suspended by
stout cordage.
It is said that on the day announced for the ascent a crowd of
nearly 200,000 had assembled, and that the Prince of Wales was an
interested spectator. Farmers and labourers and, indeed, all
classes of people from the prince down to he humblest subject,
were represented, and seldom had London's citizens been more
deeply excited.
Many of them, however, were incredulous, especially when an
insufficiency of gas caused a long delay before the balloon could
be liberated. Fate seemed to be thwarting the plucky Italian at
every step. Even at the last minute, when all arrangements had
been perfected as far as was humanly possible, and the crowd was
agog with excitement, it appeared probable that he would have to
postpone the ascent.
It was originally intended that Lunardi should be accompanied by
a passenger; but as there was a shortage of gas the balloon's
lifting power was considerably lessened, and he had to take the
trip with a dog and cat for companions. A perfect ascent was
made, and in a few moments the huge balloon was sailing
gracefully in a northerly direction over innumerable housetops.
This trip was memorable in another way. It was probably the only
aerial cruise where a Royal Council was put off in order to
witness the flight. It is recorded that George the Third was in
conference with the Cabinet, and when news arrived in the Council
Chamber that Lunardi was aloft, the king remarked: Gentlemen, we
may resume our deliberations at pleasure, but we may never see
poor Lunardi again!"
The journey was uneventful; there was a moderate northerly
breeze, and the aeronaut attained a considerable altitude, so
that he and his animals were in danger of frost-bite. Indeed,
one of the animals suffered so severely from the effects of the
cold that Lunardi skilfully descended low enough to drop it
safely to earth, and then, throwing out ballast, once more
ascended. He eventually came to earth near a Hertfordshire
village about 30 miles to the north of London.
CHAPTER V
The Father of British Aeronauts
No account of the early history of English aeronautics could
possibly be complete unless it included a description of the
Nassau balloon, which was inflated by coal-gas, from the
suggestion of Mr. Charles Green, who was one of Britain's most
famous aeronauts. Because of his institution of the modern
method of using coal-gas in a balloon, Mr. Green is generally
spoken of as the Father of British Aeronautics. During the close
of the eighteenth and the opening years of the nineteenth century
there had been numerous ascents in Charlier balloons, both in
Britain and on the Continent. It had already been discovered
that hydrogen gas was highly dangerous and also expensive, and
Mr. Green proposed to try the experiment of inflating a balloon
with ordinary coal-gas, which had now become fairly common in
most large towns, and was much less costly than hydrogen.
Critics of the new scheme assured the promoters that coal-gas
would be of little use for a balloon, averring that it had
comparatively little lifting power, and aeronauts could never
expect to rise to any great altitude in such a balloon. But
Green firmly believed that his theory was practical, and he put
it to the test. The initial experiments quite convinced him that
he was right. Under his superintendence a fine balloon about 80
feet high, built of silk, was made in South London, and the car
was constructed to hold from fifteen to twenty passengers. When
the craft was completed it was proposed to send it to Paris for
exhibition purposes, and the inventor, with two friends, Messrs.
Holland and Mason, decided to take it over the Channel by air.
It is said that provisions were taken in sufficient quantities to
last a fortnight, and over a ton of ballast was shipped.
The journey commenced in November, 1836, late in the afternoon,
as the aeronauts had planned to cross the sea by night. A fairly
strong north-west wind quickly bore them to the coast, and in
less than an hour they found themselves over the lights of
Calais. On and on they went, now and then entirely lost to Earth
through being enveloped in dense fog; hour after hour went by,
until at length dawn revealed a densely-wooded tract of country
with which they were entirely unfamiliar. They decided to land,
and they were greatly surprised to find that they had reached
Weilburg, in Nassau, Germany. The whole journey of 500 miles had
been made in eighteen hours.
Probably no British aeronaut has made more daring and exciting
ascents than Mr. Green--unless it be a member of the famous
Spencer family, of whom we speak in another chapter. It is said
that Mr. Green went aloft over a thousand times, and in later
years he was accompanied by various passengers who were making
ascents for scientific purposes. His skill was so great that
though he had numerous hairbreadth escapes he seldom suffered
much bodily harm. He lived to the ripe old age of eighty-five.
CHAPTER VI
The Parachute
No doubt many of those who read this book have seen an aeronaut
descend from a balloon by the aid of a parachute. For many years
this performance has been one of the most attractive items on the
programmes of fetes, galas, and various other outdoor
exhibitions.
The word "parachute" has been almost bodily taken from the French
language. It is derived from the French parer to parry, and
chute a fall. In appearance a parachute is very similar to an
enormous umbrella.
M. Blanchard, one of the pioneers of ballooning, has the honour
of first using a parachute, although not in person. The first
"aeronaut" to descend by this apparatus was a dog. The
astonished animal was placed in a basket attached to a parachute,
taken up in a balloon, and after reaching a considerable altitude
was released. Happily for the dog the parachute acted quite
admirably, and the animal had a graceful and gentle descent.
Shortly afterwards a well-known French aeronaut, M. Garnerin, had
an equally satisfactory descent, and soon the parachute was used
by most of the prominent aeronauts of the day. Mr. Cocking, a
well-known balloonist, held somewhat different views from those
of other inventors as to the best form of construction of
parachutes. His idea was that a parachute should be very large
and rather heavy in order to be able to support a great weight.
His first descent from a great height was also his last. In
1837, accompanied by Messrs. Spencer and Green, he went up with
his parachute, attached to the Nassau balloon. At a height of
about a mile the parachute was liberated, but it failed to act
properly; the inventor was cast headlong to earth, and dashed to
death.
From time to time it has been thought that the parachute might be
used for life-saving on the modern dirigible air-ship, and even
on the aeroplane, and experiments have been carried out with that
end in view. A most thrilling descent from an air-ship by means
of a parachute was that made by Major Maitland, Commander of the
British Airship Squadron, which forms part of the Royal Flying
Corps. The descent took place from the Delta air-ship, which
ascended from Farnborough Common. In the car with Major Maitland
were the pilot, Captain Waterlow, and a passenger. The parachute
was suspended from the rigging of the Delta, and when a height of
about 2000 feet had been reached it was dropped over to the side
of the car. With the dirigible travelling at about 20 miles an
hour the major climbed over the car and seated himself in the
parachute. Then it became detached from the Delta and shot
downwards for about 200 feet at a terrific rate. For a moment
or two it was thought that the opening apparatus had failed to
work; but gradually the "umbrella" opened, and the gallant major
had a gentle descent for the rest of the distance.
This experiment was really made in order to prove the stability
of an air-ship after a comparatively great weight was suddenly
removed from it. Lord Edward Grosvenor, who is attached to the
Royal Flying Corps, was one of the eyewitnesses of the descent.
In speaking of it he said: "We all think highly of Major
Maitland's performance, which has shown how the difficulty of
lightening an air-ship after a long flight can be surmounted.
During a voyage of several hours a dirigible naturally loses gas,
and without some means of relieving her of weight she might have
to descend in a hostile country. Major Maitland has proved the
practicability of members of an air-ship's crew dropping to the
ground if the necessity arises."
A descent in a parachute has also been made from an aeroplane by
M. Pegoud, the daring French airman, of whom we speak later. A
certain Frenchman, M. Bonnet, had constructed a parachute which
was intended to be used by the pilot of an aeroplane if on any
occasion he got into difficulties. It had been tried in many
ways, but, unfortunately for the inventor, he could get no pilot
to trust himself to it. Tempting offers were made to pilots of
world-wide fame, but either the risk was thought to be too great,
or it was believed that no practical good would come of the
experiment. At last the inventor approached M. Pegoud, who
undertook to make the descent. This was accomplished from a
great height with perfect safety. It seems highly probable that
in the near future the parachute will form part of the equipment
of every aeroplane and air-ship.
CHAPTER VII
Some British Inventors of Air-ships
The first Englishman to invent an air-ship was Mr. Stanley
Spencer, head of the well-known firm of Spencer Brothers, whose
worksare at Highbury, North London.
This firm has long held an honourable place in aeronautics, both
in the construction of air-craft and in aerial navigation.
Spencer Brothers claim to be the premier balloon manufacturers in
the world, and, at the time of writing, eighteen balloons and two
dirigibles lie in the works ready for use. In these works there
may also be seen the frame of the famous Santos-Dumont air-ship,
referred to later in this book.
In general appearance the first Spencer air-ship was very similar
to the airship flown by Santos-Dumont; that is, there was the
cigar-shaped balloon, the small engine, and the screw propellor
for driving the craft forward.
But there was one very important distinction between the two
air-ships. By a most ingenious contrivance the envelope was made
so that, in the event of a large and serious escape of gas, the
balloon would assume the form of a giant umbrella, and fall to
earth after the manner of a parachute.
All inventors profit, or should profit, by the experience of
others, whether such experience be gained by success or failure.
It was found that Santos-Dumont's air-ship lost a considerable
amount of gas when driven through the air, and on several
occasions the whole craft was in great danger of collapse. To
keep the envelope inflated as tightly as possible Mr. Spencer, by
a clever contrivance, made it possible to force air into the
balloon to replace the escaped gas.
The first Spencer air-ship was built for experimental purposes.
It was able to lift only one person of light weight, and was thus
a great contrast to the modern dirigible which carries a crew of
thirty or forty people. Mr. Spencer made several exhibition
flights in his little craft at the Crystal Palace, and so
successful were they that he determined to construct a much
larger craft.
The second Spencer air-ship, first launched in 1903, was nearly
100 feet long. There was one very important distinction between
this and other air-ships built at that time: the propeller was
placed in front of the craft, instead of at the rear, as is the
case in most air-ships. Thus the craft was pulled through the
air much after the manner of an aeroplane.
In the autumn of 1903 great enthusiasm was aroused in London by
the announcement that Mr. Spencer proposed to fly from the
Crystal Palace round the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral and back to
his starting-place. This was a much longer journey than that
made by Santos-Dumont when he won the Deutsch prize.
Tens of thousands of London's citizens turned out to witness the
novel sight of a giant air-ship hovering over the heart of their
city, and it was at once seen what enormous possibilities there
were in the employment of such craft in time of war. The writer
remembers well moving among the dense crowds and hearing
everywhere such remarks as these:
"What would happen if a few bombs were thrown over the side of
the air-ship?" "Will there be air-fleets in future, manned by
the soldiers or sailors?" Indeed the uppermost thought in
people's minds was not so much the possibility of Mr. Spencer
being able to complete his journey successfully--nearly everyone
recognized that air-ship construction had now advanced so far
that it was only a matter of time for an ideal craft to be
built--but that the coming of the air-ship was an affair of grave
international importance.
The great craft, glistening in the sunlight, sailed majestically
from the south, but when it reached the Cathedral it refused to
turn round and face the wind. Try how he might, Mr. Spencer
could not make any progress. It was a thrilling sight to witness
this battle with the elements, right over the heart of the
largest city in the world. At times the air-ship seemed to be
standing quite still, head to wind. Unfortunately, half a gale
had sprung up, and the 24-horse-power engine was quite incapable
of conquering so stiff a breeze, and making its way home again.
After several gallant attempts to circle round the dome, Mr.
Spencer gave up in despair, and let the monster air-ship drift
with the wind over the northern suburbs of the city until a
favourable landing-place near Barnet was reached, where he
descended.
The Spencer air-ships are of the non-rigid type. Spencer air-ship
A comprises a gas vessel for hydrogen 88 feet long and 24 feet
in diameter, with a capacity of 26,000 cubic feet. The framework
is of polished ash wood, made in sections so that it can easily
be taken to pieces and transported, and the length over all
is 56 feet. Two propellers 7 feet 6 inches diameter, made of
satin-wood, are employed to drive the craft, which is equipped
with a Green engine of from 35 to 40 horse-power.
Spencer's air-ship B is a much larger vessel, being 150 feet long
and 35 feet in diameter, with a capacity for hydrogen of 100,000
cubic feet. The framework is of steel and aluminium, made in
sections, with cars for ten persons, including aeronauts,
mechanics, and passengers. It is driven with two petrol aerial
engines of from 50 to 60 horse-power.
About the time that Mr. Spencer was experimenting with his large
air-ship, Dr. Barton, of Beckenham, was forming plans for an even
larger craft. This he laid down in the spacious grounds of the
Alexandra Park, to the north of London. An enormous shed was
erected on the northern slopes of the park, but visitors to the
Alexandra Palace, intent on a peep at the monster air-ship under
construction, were sorely disappointed, as the utmost secrecy in
the building of the craft was maintained.
The huge balloon was 43 feet in diameter and 176 feet long, with
a gas capacity of 235,000 cubic feet. To maintain the external
form of the envelope a smaller balloon, or compensator, was
placed inside the larger one. The framework was of bamboo, and
the car was attached by about eighty wire-cables. The wooden
deck was about 123 feet in length. Two 50-horse-power engines
drove four propellers, two of which were at either end.
The inventor employed a most ingenious contrivance to preserve
the horizontal balance of the air-ship. Fitted, one at each end
of the carriage, were two 50-gallon tanks. These tanks were
connected with a long pipe, in the centre of which was a
hand-pump. When the bow of the air-ship dipped, the man at the
pump could transfer some of the water from the fore-tank to the
after-tank, and the ship would right itself. The water could
similarly be transferred from the after-tank to the fore-tank
when the stern of the craft pointed downwards.
There were many reports, in the early months of 1905, that the
air-ship was going to be brought out from the shed for its trial
flights, and the writer, in common with many other residents in
the vicinity of the park, made dozens of journeys to the shed in
the expectation of seeing the mighty dirigible sail away. But
for months we were doomed to disappointment; something always
seemed to go wrong at the last minute, and the flight had to be
postponed.
At last, in 1905, the first ascent took place. It was
unsuccessful. The huge balloon, made of tussore silk, cruised
about for some time, then drifted away with the breeze, and came
to grief in landing.
A clever inventor of air-ships, a young Welshman, Mr. E. T.
Willows, designed in 1910, an air-ship in which he flew from
Cardiff to London in the dark--a distance of 139 miles. In the
same craft he crossed the English Channel a little later.
Mr. Willows has a large shed in the London aerodrome at Hendon,
and he is at present working there on a new air-ship. For some
time he has been the only successful private builder of air-ships
in Great Britain. The Navy possess a small Willows air-ship.
Messrs. Vickers, the famous builders of battleships, are giving
attention to the construction of air-ships for the Navy, in their
works at Walney Island, Barrow-in-Furness. This firm has erected
an enormous shed, 540 feet long, 150 feet broad, and 98 feet
high. In this shed two of the largest air-ships can be built
side by side. Close at hand is an extensive factory for the
production of hydrogen gas.
At each end of the roof are towers from which the difficult task
of safely removing an air-ship from the shed can be directed.
At the time of writing, the redoubtable DORA (Defence of the
Realm Act) forbids any but the vaguest references to what is
going forward in the way of additions to our air forces. But it
may be stated that air-ships are included in the great
constructive programme now being carried out. It is not long
since the citizens of Glasgow were treated to the spectacle of a
full-sized British "Zep" circling round the city prior to her
journey south, and so to regions unspecified. And use, too, is
being found by the naval arm for that curious hybrid the "Blimp",
which may be described as a cross between an aeroplane and an
air-ship.
CHAPTER VIII
The First Attempts to Steer a Balloon
For nearly a century after the invention of the Montgolfier and
Charlier balloons there was not much progress made in the science
of aeronautics. True, inventors such as Charles Green suggested
and carried out new methods of inflating balloons, and scientific
observations of great importance were made by balloonists both in
Britain and on the Continent. But in the all-important work of
steering the huge craft, progress was for many years practically
at a standstill. All that the balloonist could do in controlling
his balloon was to make it ascend or descend at will; he could
not guide its direction of flight. No doubt pioneers of
aeronautics early turned their attention to the problem of
providing some apparatus, or some method, of steering their
craft. One inventor suggested the hoisting of a huge sail at the
side of the envelope; but when this was done the balloon simply
turned round with the sail to the front. It had no effect on the
direction of flight of the balloon. "Would not a rudder be of
use?" someone asked. This plan was also tried, but was equally
unsuccessful.
Perhaps some of us may wonder how it is that a rudder is not as
serviceable on a balloon as it is on the stern of a boat. Have
you ever found yourself in a boat on a calm day, drifting idly
down stream, and going just as fast as the stream goes? Work the
rudder how you may, you will not alter the boat's course. But
supposing your boat moves faster than the stream, or by some
means or other is made to travel slower than the current, then
your rudder will act, and you may take what direction you will.
It was soon seen that if some method could be adopted whereby the
balloon moved through the air faster or slower than the wind,
then the aeronaut would be able to steer it. Nowadays a
balloon's pace can be accelerated by means of a powerful
motor-engine, but the invention of the petrol-engine is very
recent. Indeed, the cause of the long delay in the construction
of a steerable balloon was that a suitable engine could not be
found. A steam-engine, with a boiler of sufficient power to
propel a balloon, is so heavy that it would require a balloon of
impossible size to lift it.
One of the first serious attempts to steer a balloon by means of
engine power was that made by M. Giffard in 1852. Giffard's
balloon was about 100 feet long and 40 feet in diameter, and
resembled in shape an elongated cigar. A 3-horse-power
steam-engine, weighing nearly 500 pounds, was provided to work a
propeller, but the enormous weight was so great in proportion to
the lifting power of the balloon that for a time the aeronaut
could not leave the ground. After several experiments the
inventor succeeded in ascending, when he obtained a speed against
the wind of about 6 miles an hour.
A balloon of great historical interest was that invented by
Dtipuy du Lonie, in the year 1872. Instead of using steam he
employed a number of men to propel the craft, and with this
air-ship he hoped to communicate with the besieged city of Paris.
His greatest speed against a moderate breeze was only about 5
miles an hour, and the endurance of the men did not allow of even
this speed being kept up for long at a time.
Dupuy foreshadowed the construction of the modern dirigible
air-ship by inventing a system of suspension links which
connected the car to the envelope; and he also used an internal
ballonet similar to those described in Chapter X.
In the year 1883 Tissandier invented a steerable balloon which
was fitted with an electric motor of 1 1/2 horse-power. This
motor drove a propeller, and a speed of about 8 miles an hour was
attained. It is interesting to contrast the power obtained from
this engine with that of recent Zeppelin air-ships, each of which
is fitted with three or four engines, capable of producing over
800 horse-power.
The first instance on record of an air-ship being steered back to
its starting-point was that of La France. This air-craft was the
invention of two French army captains, Reynard and Krebs. By
special and much-improved electric motors a speed of about 14
miles an hour was attained.
Thus, step by step, progress was made; but notwithstanding the
promising results it was quite evident that the engines were far
too heavy in proportion to the power they supplied. At length,
however, the internal-combustion engine, such as is used in
motor-cars, arrived, and it became at last possible to solve the
great problem of constructing a really-serviceable, steerable
balloon.
CHAPTER IX
The Strange Career of Count Zeppelin
In Berlin, on March 8, 1917, there passed away a man whose name
will be remembered as long as the English language is spoken.
For Count Zeppelin belongs to that little band of men who giving
birth to a work of genius have also given their names to the
christening of it; and so the patronymic will pass down the ages.
In the most sinister sense of the expression Count Zeppelin may
be said to have left his mark deep down upon the British race.
In course of time many old scores are forgiven and forgotten, but
the Zeppelin raids on England will survive, if only as a curious
failure. Their failure was both material and moral.
Anti-aircraft guns and our intrepid airmen brought one after
another of these destructive monsters blazing to the ground, and
their work of "frightfulness" was taken up by the aeroplane;
while more lamentable still was the failure of the Zeppelin as an
instrument of terror to the civil population. In the long list
of German miscalculations must be included that which pictured
the victims of bombardment from the air crying out in terror for
peace at any price.
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