The Mastery of the Air

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One of Mr. Green's requirements was that the cylinders should be
made of cast-steel, and that they should come from a British
foundry. The company that took the work in hand, the Aster
Company, had confidence in the inventor's ideas. It is said that
they had to waste 250 castings before six perfect cylinders were
produced. It is estimated that the first Green engine cost
L6000. These engines can be purchased for less than L500.

The closing months of 1909 saw the Green engine firmly
established. In October of that year Mr. Moore Brabazon won the
first all-British competition of L1000 offered by the Daily Mail
for the first machine to fly a circular mile course. His
aeroplane was fitted with a 60-horse-power Green aero engine. In
the same year M. Michelin offered L1000 for a long-distance
flight in all-British aviation; this prize was also won by Mr.
Brabazon, who made a flight of 17 miles.

Some of Colonel Cody's achievements in aviation were made with
the Green engine. In 1910 he succeeded in winning both the
duration and cross-country Michelin competitions, and in 1911 he
again accomplished similar feats. In this year he also finished
fourth in the all-round-Britain race. This was a most
meritorious performance when it is remembered that his Cathedral
weighed nearly a ton and ahalf, and that the 60-horse-power Green
was practically "untouched", to use an engineering expression,
during the whole of the 1010-mile flight.

The following year saw Cody winning another Michelin prize for a
cross-country competition. Here he made a flight of over 200
miles, and his high opinion of the engine may be best described
in the letter he wrote to the company, saying: "If you kept the
engine supplied from without with petrol and oil, what was within
would carry you through".

But the pinnacle of Mr. Green's fame as an inventor was reached
in 1913, when Mr. Harry Hawker made his memorable waterplane
flight from Cowes to Lough Shinny, an account of which appears in
a later chapter. His machine was fitted with a 100-horse-power
Green, and with it he flew 1043 miles of the 1540-miles course.

Though the complete course was not covered, neither Mr. Sopwith--
who built the machine and bore the expenses of the flight--nor
Mr. Hawker attached any blame to the engine. At a dinner of the
Aero Club, given in 1914, Mr. Sopwith was most enthusiastic in
discussing the merits of the "Green", and after Harry Hawker had
recovered from the effects of his fall in Lough Shinny he
remarked in reference to the engine: "It is the best I have ever
met. I do not know any other that would have done anything like
the work."

At the same time that this race was being held the French had a
competition from Paris to Deauville, a distance of about 160
miles. When compared with the time and distance covered by Mr.
Hawker, the results achieved by the French pilots, flying
machines fitted with French engines, were quite insignificant;
thus proving how the British industry had caught up, and even
passed, its closest rivals.

In 1913 Mr. Grahame White, with one of the 100-horse-power
"Greens" succeeded in winning the duration Michelin with a flight
of over 300 miles, carrying a mechanic and pilot, 85 gallons of
petrol, and 12 gallons of lubricating oil. Compulsory landings
were made every 63 miles, and the engine was stopped. In spite
of these trying conditions, the engine ran, from start to finish,
nearly nine hours without the slightest trouble.

Sufficient has been said to prove conclusively that the thought
and labour expended in the perfecting of the Green engine have
not been fruitless.

CHAPTER XXIV
The Wright Biplane (Camber of Planes)

Now that the internal-combustion engine had arrived, the Wrights
at once commenced the construction of an aeroplane which could be
driven by mechanical power. Hitherto, as we have seen, they had
made numerous tests with motorless gliders; but though these
tests gave them much valuable information concerning the best
methods of keeping their craft on an even keel while in the air,
they could never hope to make much progress in practical flight
until they adopted motor power which would propel the machine
through the air.

We may assume that the two brothers had closely studied the
engines patented by Daimler and Levassor, and, being of a
mechanical turn of mind themselves, they were able to build their
own motor, with which they could make experiments in power-driven
flight.

Before we study the gradual progress of these experiments it
would be well to describe the Wright biplane. The illustration
facing p. 96 shows a typical biplane, and though there are
certain modifications in most modern machines, the principles
upon which it was built apply to all aeroplanes.

The two main supporting planes, A, B, are made of canvas
stretched tightly across a light frame, and are slightly curved,
or arched, from front to back. This curve is technically known
as the CAMBER, and upon the camber depend the strength and speed
of the machine.

If you turn back to Chapter XVII you will see that the plane is
modelled after the wing of a bird. It has been found that the
lifting power of a plane gradually dwindles from the front edge--
or ENTERING EDGE, as it is called--backwards. For this reason it
is necessary to equip a machine with a very long, narrow plane,
rather than with a comparatively broad but short plane.

Perhaps a little example will make this clear. Suppose we had
two machines, one of which was fitted with planes 144 feet long
and 1 foot wide, and the other with planes 12 feet square. In
the former the entering edge of the plane would be twelve times
as great as in the latter, and the lifting power would
necessarily be much greater. Thus, though both machines have
planes of the same area, each plane having a surface of 144
square feet, yet there is a great difference in the "lift" of the
two.

But it is not to be concluded that the back portion of a plane is
altogether wasted. Numerous experiments have taught aeroplane
constructors that if the plane were slightly curved from front to
back the rear portion of the plane also exercised a "lift"; thus,
instead of the air being simply cut by the entering edge of the
plane, it is driven against the arched back of the plane, and
helps to lift the machine into the air, and support it when in
flight.

There is also a secondary lifting impulse derived from this
simple curve. We have seen that the air which has been cut by
the front edge of the plane pushes up from below, and is arrested
by the top of the arch, but the downward dip of the rear portion
of the plane is of service in actually DRAWING THE AIR FROM
ABOVE. The rapid air stream which has been cut by the entering
edge passes above the top of the curve, and "sucks up", as it
were, so that the whole wing is pulled upwards. Thus there are
two lifting impulses: one pushing up from below, the other
sucking up from above.

It naturally follows that when the camber is very pronounced the
machine will fly much slower, but will bear a greater weight than
a machine equipped with planes having little or no camber. On
high-speed machines, which are used chiefly for racing purposes,
the planes have very little camber. This was particularly
noticeable in the monoplane piloted by Mr. Hamel in the Aerial
Derby of 1913: the wings of this machine seemed to be quite
flat, and it was chiefly because of this that the pilot was able
to maintain such marvellous speed.

The scientific study of the wing lift of planes has proceeded so
far that the actual "lift" can now be measured, providing the
speed of the machine is known, together with the superficial area
of the planes. The designer can calculate what weight each
square foot of the planes will support in the air. Thus some
machines have a "lift" of 9 or 10 pounds to each square foot of
wing surface, while others are reduced to 3 or 4 pounds per
square foot.

CHAPTER XXV
The Wright Biplane (Cont.)

The under part of the frame of the Wright biplane, technically
known as the CHASSIS, resembled a pair of long "runner" skates,
similar to those used in the Fens for skating races. Upon
those runners the machine moved along the ground when starting to
fly. In more modern machines the chassis is equipped with two
or more small rubber-tyred wheels on which the machine runs along
the ground before rising into the air, and on which it alights
when a descent is made.

You will notice that the pilot's seat is fixed on the lower
plane, and almost in the centre of it, while close by the engine
is mounted. Alongside the engine is a radiator which cools the
water that has passed round the cylinder of the engine in order
to prevent them from becoming overheated.

Above the lower plane is a similar plane arranged parallel to it,
and the two are connected by light upright posts of hickory wood
known as STRUTS. Such an aeroplane as this, which is equipped
with two main planes, known as a BIPLANE. Other types of
air-craft are the MONOPLANE, possessing one main plane, and the
TRIPLANE, consisting of three planes. No practical machine has
been built with more than three main planes; indeed, the triplane
is now almost obsolete.

The Wrights fitted their machine with two long-bladed wooden
screws, or propellers, which by means of chains and
sprocket-wheels, very like those of a bicycle, were driven by the
engine, whose speed was about 1200 revolutions a minute. The
first motor engine used by these clever pioneers had four
cylinders, and developed about 20 horsepower. Nowadays engines
are produced which develop more than five times that power.

In later machines one propeller is generally thought to be
sufficient; in fact many constructors believe that there is
danger in a two-propeller machine, for if one propeller got
broken, the other propeller, working at full speed, would
probably overturn the machine before the pilot could cut off his
engine.

Beyond the propellers there are two little vertical planes which
can be moved to one side or the other by a control lever in front
of the pilot's seat. These planes or rudders steer the machine
from side to side, answering the same purpose as the rudder of a
boat.

In front of the supporting planes there are two other horizontal
planes, arranged one above the other; these are much smaller than
the main planes, and are known as the ELEVATORS. Their function
is to raise or lower the machine by catching the air at different
angles.

Comparison with a modern biplane, such as may be seen at an
aerodrome on any "exhibition" day, will disclose several marked
differences in construction between the modern type and the
earlier Wright machine, though the central idea is the same.

CHAPTER XXVI
How the Wrights launched their Biplane

Those of us who have seen an aeroplane rise from the ground know
that it runs quickly along for 50 or 60 yards, until sufficient
momentum has been gained for the craft to lift itself into the
air. The Wrights, as stated, fitted their machine with a pair of
launching runners which projected from the under side of the
lower plane like two very long skates, and the method of
launching their craft was quite different from that followed
nowadays.

The launching apparatus consisted of a wooden tower at the
starting end of the launching ways--a wooden rail about 60 or 70
feet in length. To the top of the tower a weight of about 1/2
ton was suspended. The suspension rope was led downwards over
pulleys, thence horizontally to the front end and back to the
inner end of the railway, where it was attached to the aeroplane.
A small trolley was fitted to the chassis of the machine and this
ran along the railway.

To launch the machine, which, of course, stood on the rail, the
propellers were set in motion, and the 1/2-ton weight at the top
of the tower was released. The falling weight towed the
aeroplane rapidly forward along the rail, with a velocity
sufficient to cause it to glide smoothly into the air at the
other end of the launching ways. By an ingenious arrangement the
trolley was left behind on the railway.

It will at once occur to you that there were disadvantages in
this system of commencing a flight. One was that the launching
apparatus was more or less a fixture. At any rate it could not
be carried about from place to place very readily: Supposing the
biplane could not return to its starting-point, and the pilot was
forced to descend, say, 10 or 12 miles away: in such a case it
would be neces- sary to tow the machine back to the launching
ways, an obviously inconvenient arrangement, especially in
unfavourable country.

For some time the "wheeled" chassis has been in universal use,
but in a few cases it has been thought desirable to adopt a
combination of runners and wheels. A moderately firm surface is
necessary for the machine to run along the ground; if the ground
be soft or marly the wheels would sink in the soil, and serious
accidents have resulted from the sudden stoppage of the forward
motion due to this cause.

With their first power-driven machine the Wrights made a series
of very fine flights, at first in a straight line. In 1904 they
effected their first turn. By the following year they had made
such rapid progress that they were able to exceed a distance of
20 miles in one flight, and keep up in the air for over half an
hour at a time. Their manager now gave their experiments great
publicity, both in the American and European Press, and in 1908
the brothers, feeling quite sure of their success, emerged from a
self-imposed obscurity, and astonished the world with some
wonderful flights, both in America and on the French flying
ground at Issy.

A great loss to aviation occurred on 30th May, 1912, when Wilbur
Wright died from an attack of typhoid fever. His work is
officially commemorated in Britain by an annual Premium Lecture,
given under the auspices of the Aeronautical Society.

CHAPTER XXVII
The First Man to Fly in Europe

In November, 1906, nearly the whole civilized world was
astonished to read that a rich young Brazilian aeronaut, residing
in France, had actually succeeded in making a short flight, or,
shall we say, an enormous "hop", in a heavier-than-air machine.

This pioneer of aviation was M. Santos Dumont. For five or six
years before his experiments with the aeroplane he had made a
great many flights in balloons, and also in dirigible balloons.
He was the son of well-to-do parents--his father was a successful
coffee planter--and he had ample means to carry on his costly
experiments.

Flying was Santos Dumont's great hobby. Even in boyhood, when
far away in Brazil, he had been keenly interested in the work of
Spencer, Green, and other famous aeronauts, and aeronautics
became almost a passion with him.

Towards the end of the year 1898 he designed a rather novel form
of air-ship. The balloon was shaped like an enormous cigar, some
80 feet long, and it was inflated with about 6000 cubic feet of
hydrogen. The most curious contrivance, however, was the motor.
This was suspended from the balloon, and was somewhat similar to
the small motor used on a motor-cycle. Santos Dumont sat beside
this motor, which worked a propeller, and this curious craft was
guided several times by the inventor round the Botanical Gardens
in Paris.

About two years after these experiments the science of
aeronautics received very valuable aid from M. Deutsch, a member
of the French Aero Club. A prize of about L4000 was offered by
this gentleman to the man who should first fly from the Aero Club
grounds at Longchamps, double round the Eiffel Tower, and then
sail back to the starting-place. The total distance to be flown
was rather more than 3 miles, and it was stipulated that the
journey--which could be made either in a dirigible air-ship or a
flying machine--should be completed within half an hour.

This munificent offer at once aroused great enthusiasm among
aeronauts and engineers throughout the whole of France, and, to a
lesser degree, in Britain. Santos Dumont at once set to work on
another air-ship, which was equipped with a much more powerful
motor than he had previously used. In July, 1901, his
arrangements were completed, and he made his first attempt to win
the prize.

The voyage from Longchamps to the Eiffel Tower was made in very
quick time, for a favourable wind speeded the huge balloon on its
way. The pilot was also able to steer a course round the tower,
but his troubles then commenced. The wind was now in his face,
and his engine-a small motor engine of about 15 horse-power-was
unable to produce sufficient power to move the craft quickly
against the wind. The plucky inventor kept fighting against
the-breeze, and at length succeeded in returning to his
starting-point; but he had exceeded the time limit by several
minutes and thus, was disqualified for the prize.

Another attempt was made by Santos Dumont about a month later.
This time, however, he was more unfortunate, and he had a
marvellous escape from death. As on the previous occasion he got
into great difficulties when sailing against the wind on the
return journey, and his balloon became torn, so that the gas
escaped and the whole craft crashed down on the house-tops.
Eyewitnesses of the accident expected to find the gallant young
Brazilian crushed to death; but to their great relief he was seen
to be hanging to the car, which had been caught upon the buttress
of a house. Even now he was in grave peril, but after a long
delay he was rescued by means of a rope.

It might be thought that such an accident would have deterred the
inventor from making further attempts on the prize; but the
aeronaut seemed to be well endowed with the qualities of patience
and perseverance and continued to try again. Trial after trial
was made, and numerous accidents took place. On nearly every
occasion it was comparatively easy to sail round the Tower, but
it was a much harder task to sail back again.

At length in October, 1901, he was thought to have completed the
course in the allotted time; but the Aero Club held that he had
exceeded the time limit by forty seconds. This decision aroused
great indignation among Parisians--especially among those who had
watched the flight--many of whom were convinced that the journey
had been accomplished in the half-hour. After much argument the
committee which had charge of the race, acting on the advice of
M. Deutsch, who was very anxious that the prize should be awarded
to Santos Dumont, decided that the conditions of the flight had
been complied with, and that the prize had been legitimately won.
It is interesting to read that the famous aeronaut divided the
money among the poor.

But important though Santos Dumont's experiments were with the
air-ship, they were of even greater value when he turned his
attention to the aeroplane.

One of his first trials with a heavier-than-air machine was made
with a huge glider, which was fitted with floats. The curious
craft was towed along the River Seine by a fast motor boat named
the Rapiere, and it actually succeeded in rising into the air and
flying behind the boat like a gigantic kite.

12th November, 1906, is a red-letter day in the history of
aviation, for it was then that Santos Dumont made his first
little flight in an aeroplane. This took place at Bagatelle, not
far from Paris.

Two months before this the airman had succeeded in driving his
little machine, called the Bird of Prey, many yards into the air,
and "11 yards through the air", as the newspapers reported; but
the craft was badly smashed. It was not until November that
the first really satisfactory flight took place.

A description of this flight appeared in most of the European
newspapers, and I give a quotation from one of them: "The
aeroplane rose gracefully and gently to a height of about 15 feet
above the earth, covering in this most remarkable dash through
the air a distance of about 700 feet in twenty-one seconds.

"It thus progressed through the atmosphere at the rate of nearly
30 miles an hour. Nothing like this has ever been accomplished
before. . . . The aeroplane has now reached the practical stage."

The dimensions of this aeroplane were:

Length 32 feet
Greatest width 39 feet
Weight with one passenger 465 pounds.
Speed 30 miles an hour

A modern aeroplane with airman and passenger frequently weighs
over 1 ton, and reaches a speed of over 60 miles an hour.

It is interesting to note that Santos Dumont, in 1913--that is,
only seven years after his flight in an aeroplane at Bagatelle
made him world-famous--announced his intention of again taking an
active part in aviation. His purpose was to make use of
aeroplanes merely for pleasure, much as one might purchase a
motor-car for the same object.

Could the intrepid Brazilian in his wildest dreams have foreseen
the rapid advance of the last eight years? In 1906 no one had
flown in Europe; by 1914 hundreds of machines were in being, in
which the pilots were no longer subject to the wind's caprices,
but could fly almost where and when they would.

Frenchmen have honoured, and rightly honoured, this gallant and
picturesque figure in the annals of aviation, for in 1913 a
magnificent monument was unveiled in France to commemorate his
pioneer work.

CHAPTER XXVIII
M. Bleriot and the Monoplane

If the Wright brothers can lay claim to the title of "Fathers of
the Biplane", then it is certain that M. Bleriot, the gallant
French airman, can be styled the "Father of the Monoplane."

For five years--1906 to 1910--Louis Bleriot's name was on
everybody's lips in connection with his wonderful records in
flying and skilful feats of airmanship. Perhaps the flight which
brought him greatest renown was that accomplished in July, 1909,
when he was the first man to cross the English Channel by
aeroplane. This attempt had been forestalled, although
unsuccessfully, by Hubert Latham, a daring aviator who is best
known in Lancashire by his flight in 1909 at Blackpool in a
wind which blew at the rate of nearly 40 miles an hour--a
performance which struck everyone with wonder in these early days
of aviation.

Latham attempted, on an Antoinette monoplane, to carry off the
prize of L1000 offered by the proprietors of the Daily Mail. On
the first occasion he fell in mid-Channel, owing to the failure
of his motor, and was rescued by a torpedo-boat. His machine was
so badly damaged during the salving operations that another had
to be sent from Paris, and with this he made a second attempt,
which was also unsuccessful. Meanwhile M. Bleriot had arrived
on the scene; and on 25th July he crossed the Channel from Calais
to Dover in thirty-seven minutes and was awarded the L1000
prize.

Bleriot's fame was now firmly established, and on his return to
France he received a magnificent welcome. The monoplane at once
leaped into favour, and the famous "bird man" had henceforth to
confine his efforts to the building of machines and the
organization of flying events. He has since established a large
factory in France and inaugurated a flying school at Pau.

All the time that the Wrights were experimenting with their
glider and biplane in America, and the Voisin brothers were
constructing biplanes in France, Bleriot had been giving earnest
attention to the production of a real "bird" machine, provided
with one pair of FLAPPING wings. We know now that such an
aeroplane is not likely to be of practical use, but with quiet
persistence Bleriot kept to his task, and succeeded in evolving
the famous Antoinette monoplane, which more closely resembles a
bird than does any other form of air-craft.

In the illustration of the Bleriot monoplane here given you will
notice that there is one main plane, consisting of a pair of
highly-cambered wings; hence the name "MONOplane". At the rear
of the machine there is a much smaller plane, which is slightly
cambered; this is the elevating plane, and it can be tilted up
or down in order to raise or lower the machine. Remember that
the elevating plane of a biplane is to the front of the machine
and in the monoplane at the rear. The small, upright plane G is
the rudder, and is used for steering the machine to the right or
left. The long narrow body or framework of the monoplaneis known
as the FUSELAGE.

By a close study of the illustration, and the description which
accompanies it, you will understand how the machine is driven.
The main plane is twisted, or warped, when banking, much in the
same way that the Wright biplane is warped.

Far greater speed can be obtained from the monoplane than from
the biplane, chiefly because in the former machine there is much
less resistance to the air. Both height and speed records stand
to the credit of the monoplane.

The enormous difference in the speeds of monoplanes and biplanes
can be best seen at a race meeting at some aerodrome. Thus at
Hendon, when a speed handicap is in progress, the slow biplanes
have a start of one or two laps over the rapid little monoplanes
in a six-lap contest, and it is most amusing to see the latter
dart under, or over, the more cumbersome biplane. Recently
however, much faster biplanes have been built, and they bid fair
to rival the swiftest monoplanes in speed.

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