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Title: Aircraft: its development in war and peace and its commercial future
Author: Evan John David
Release date: September 3, 2024 [eBook #74358]
Language: English
Original publication: New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1919
Credits: Fiona Holmes and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AIRCRAFT: ITS DEVELOPMENT IN WAR AND PEACE AND ITS COMMERCIAL FUTURE ***
Transcriber’s Note
Some spellings have been left as is e.g. Wavrille/Waville
Hyphenations have been standardised.
Changes made are noted at the end of the book.
AIRCRAFT
[Illustration:
_Courtesy of Aerial Age Weekly._
The NC-4 flying-boat, showing the arrangement of the motors.
It is equipped with four Liberty 450 h.-p. engines. It flew
from Rockaway, New York, to Plymouth, England, commanded by
Lieutenant-Commander A. C. Read, U. S. N.]
AIRCRAFT
ITS DEVELOPMENT IN WAR AND PEACE AND
ITS COMMERCIAL FUTURE
BY
EVAN JOHN DAVID
ASSOCIATE EDITOR OF “FLYING”
FULLY ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
1919
COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
Copyright, 1919, by the CURTIS PUBLISHING CO.
Published September, 1919
[Illustration]
TO
ALL WHO HELPED ME TO OBTAIN
AN EDUCATION
PREFACE
The object of this book is to explain the fundamental principles
of aeronautics and to point out the historic development of both
the heavier-than-air and the lighter-than-air craft. The treatment
is simple. Technical phrases have been avoided wherever possible.
Emphasis has been laid on the changes in the design or construction
of aeroplanes and dirigibles, which show the evolution of flight and
aircraft from early experiments with balloons and gliders to the
transatlantic flights of the NC-4, the Vickers “Vimy” Bomber, and the
R-34. Only those things have been singled out which indicated a step
forward in the science of aeronautics. Emphasis is placed upon the
commercial accomplishments of the aeroplane and the dirigible, and
many of the present uses and future possibilities of aircraft as a
commercial vehicle have been pointed out.
I am indebted to many sources for the information contained herein.
Mr. Henry Woodhouse, the well-known aeronautical authority and editor
of _Flying Magazine_ and author of the text-books on military and
naval aeronautics, has been the source of much of my information, and
the volumes of _Flying Magazine_ have supplied me with much historic
data. _Aerial Age Weekly_ and Mr. G. Douglas Wardrop, the managing
editor, have also been very helpful. The British periodicals _Flight_,
_The Aeroplane_, and _Aeronautics_ have furnished me with many facts
regarding British aircraft. The articles of Mr. C. G. Grey, the editor
of _The Aeroplane_, dealing with the growth of heavier-than-air
machines, and of Mr. W. L. Wade on lighter-than-air craft, have been
the source of many of the facts regarding the evolution of aircraft.
Many other aeronautical authorities have afforded statistics, facts,
etc.
EVAN JOHN DAVID.
NEW YORK, August 12.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE FIRST BALLOONS 1
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FREE BALLOON—THE
CAPTIVE BALLOON—THE DIRIGIBLE—THE BLIMP—THE
KITE BALLOON.
II. THE AEROPLANE 13
EXPERIMENTS WITH PLANES—LILLIENTHAL’S
GLIDER—LANGLEY’S AERODROME—SUCCESS OF
THE WRIGHTS—FIRST AEROPLANE FLIGHTS.
III. WHY AN AEROPLANE FLIES 25
THE HELICOPTER—THE ORNITHOPTER—WING
SURFACE—FLYING SPEED—LANDING SPEED—EFFECT
OF MOTORS—THE SEAPLANE.
IV. LEARNING TO FLY 34
EARLY METHODS—DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOLS—STUDYING
STRUCTURE OF PLANES, MOTORS,
THEORY OF FLIGHT, AERODYNAMICS, MAP READING—FRENCH
SYSTEM—GOSPORT SYSTEM.
V. AEROPLANE DEVELOPMENT, 1903 TO 1918 47
ADER’S EXPERIMENTS—MAXIM’S MULTIPLANE—DUMONT’S
AEROPLANE—WRIGHTS’ 1908 PLANE—VOISIN
PUSHER—BLERIOT’S MONOPLANE—AVRO
TRIPLANE—FARMAN’S AILERONS—OTHER TYPES.
VI. DEVELOPMENT OF THE AEROPLANE FOR WAR PURPOSES 67
GERMAN AERIAL PREPAREDNESS—PRIZES GIVEN
FOR AERONAUTICS BY VARIOUS GOVERNMENTS—FIRST
USE OF PLANES IN WAR—FIRST AIRCRAFT
ARMAMENT.
VII. DEVELOPMENT OF THE LIBERTY AND OTHER
MOTORS 76
DEBATE IN REGARD TO ORIGIN OF LIBERTY MOTOR—LIBERTY-ENGINE
CONFERENCE, DESIGN, AND
TEST—MAKERS OF PARTS—HISPANO-SUIZA MOTOR—ROLLS-ROYCE—OTHER
MOTORS.
VIII. GROWTH OF AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING IN
UNITED STATES 94
THE 1912 EXPOSITION—THE FIRST PAN-AMERICAN
EXPOSITION—THE MANUFACTURERS AIRCRAFT
EXPOSITION—DESCRIPTIONS OF EXHIBITORS—GROWTH
OF AIRCRAFT FACTORIES—NAVAL
AIRCRAFT FACTORY.
IX. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AERO MAIL 134
FIRST MAIL CARRIED BY AIRCRAFT—NEW
YORK—PHILADELPHIA—WASHINGTON SERVICE—NEW
YORK—CLEVELAND—CHICAGO SERVICE—FOREIGN
AERO MAIL ROUTES.
X. KINDS OF FLYING 151
NIGHT FLYING—FORMATION FLYING—STUNTING—IMMELMAN
TURN—NOSE DIVING—TAIL SPINNING—BARREL—FALLING
LEAF, ETC.
XI. AERIAL NAVIGATION 161
ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS—WINDS AND THEIR
WAYS—CLOUD FORMATIONS, NAMES, AND ALTITUDES.
XII. COMMERCIAL FLYING 169
BUSINESS POSSIBILITIES OF THE AEROPLANE—SOME
CELEBRATED AIR RECORDS—GERMANY’S
INITIAL ADVANTAGE—A HUGE INVESTMENT—CAUSES
OF ACCIDENTS—DISCOMFORTS OVERCOME—INEXPENSIVE
FLYABOUTS—THE SPORTS TYPE—ARCTIC-FLIGHT—NO
EAST OR WEST.
XIII. THE COMMERCIAL ZEPPELIN 203
THE AMBITION OF THE AGES REALIZED—A GIANT
GERMAN DIRIGIBLE—ZEPPELIN ACCOMPLISHMENTS—HIGH
COST OF ZEPPELINS—SAFETY OF
TRAVEL—SOME BRITISH PREDICTIONS—THE FUTURE
OF HELIUM—THE LIFE-BLOOD OF COMMERCE.
XIV. THE REGULATION OF AIR TRAFFIC 235
IMPORTANCE OF SAME—LAWS FORMED BY BRITISH
AERIAL TRANSPORT COMMITTEE LIKELY TO
BE BASES OF INTERNATIONAL AERIAL LAWS—COPY
OF SAME.
XV. THE TRANS-ATLANTIC FLIGHT 251
THE NC’S—THE LOSS OF THE C-5—READ’S STORY—BELLINGER’S
STORY—THE GREAT NAVAL
FLIGHT—HAWKER’S STORY—ALCOCK’S STORY—TO
AND FROM AMERICA—THE R-34.
APPENDIX I 327
UNITED STATES AIRCRAFT AND ENGINE PRODUCTION
FOR THE UNITED STATES AIR SERVICE.
APPENDIX II 354
RECORDS OF ALLIED AND ENEMY ACES WITH
NUMBER OF PLANES BROUGHT DOWN.
APPENDIX III 362
NOMENCLATURE FOR AERONAUTICS.
ILLUSTRATIONS
The NC-4 flying-boat, showing the arrangement of the
motors _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
Observation balloon about to ascend 10
The Wright flyer after the epoch-making flight at Kitty
Hawk, N. C., December, 1903 20
A Shortt “pusher” seaplane equipped with a one-and-a-half-pounder
gun 32
British-built Curtiss flying boat, at Brighton, England 32
The Farman “Goliath” contrasted with a Farman “Mosquito” 56
The huge four-motored Handley Page bomber 64
The Martin bomber 84
The pathfinding aerial mail flight, New York-Cleveland-Chicago 144
The reconstructed De Haviland biplane, showing the
limousine accommodations for passengers 146
Diagrams showing an “aerial skid,” “tail slide,” and the
“spinning dive” 154
The so-called “Immelman turn” 156
Diagrams illustrating the reversal of position effected by
a “loop” and the execution of the so-called “Immelman turn” 158
Interior view of the Graham White twenty-four-seater
aeroplane in flight 170
The Vickers-“Vimy” bomber 200
The C-5 leaving its hangar at Montauk Point en route to
accompany the NC’s on their trans-Atlantic flight 202
The R-34, the British rigid dirigible 222
AIRCRAFT
CHAPTER I
THE FIRST BALLOONS
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FREE BALLOON—THE CAPTIVE BALLOON—THE
DIRIGIBLE—THE BLIMP—THE KITE BALLOON
Ever since man first noticed the flight of a bird through the air he
has longed to fly. How often, during the countless ages of unrecorded
time, he attempted to soar above the earth we cannot know. That he
tried often and failed always we have ample proof; indeed, the phrase,
“might as well try to fly,” expressed the acme of the impossible.
That many scientific men for nearly two thousand years believed that
eventually a mechanical means could be devised to lift man off the
ground like the wings of a bird and to propel him through the air, we
have evidence in their writings and the history of their lives.
Ancient mythology is full of stories of the heroes who attempted to
imitate the flight of the fowls of the air. The earliest efforts of the
aeronauts themselves appear to have been along this line. Naturally
many of the experimenters lost their lives. A mere enumeration of their
names would take too much space for this volume.
Perhaps these struggles to use wings suggested to the tight-rope walker
Allard the possibility of performing a novel stunt. At any rate, in
1660 he successfully made several glides for exhibition purposes in
France. Seventeen years later another Frenchman named Bosnier also made
spectacular glides. These experiments, however, led to the invention
of the glider, which finally developed into the aeroplane or the
heavier-than-air machine.
A glider consists of a rigid rectangular plane constructed of frail
framework, similar to a kite, and covered with linen or cloth,
much like the wing of a modern aeroplane. This plane surface might
be a dozen or more feet long and two or more feet wide. The early
experimenters jumped off hills with this plane fastened to their arms
or shoulders, and balancing themselves in the centre, glided several
feet over the ground, keeping their equilibrium by means of their feet.
Later two planes fastened together like a box-kite were employed, with
the flier stretched out on his stomach on the lower planes. Lillienthal
and even the Wright brothers learned most about longitudinal and
lateral balance by gliding on gliders of the last type. A great deal of
sport can be had with these man-carrying kites even to-day.
The experiments of the two French brothers, Joseph and Jacques
Montgolfier, with paper bags inflated with hot air started a new period
of development in aeronautics, for the paper bags suggested the silk
ones, which were, of course, much lighter. On September 19, 1783, they
gave an exhibition before the royal family at Versailles.
The authors of the first ascension, the first actual step in the
conquest of the air, were two Frenchmen, Marquis d’Arlandes and Pilâtre
de Roziers, who made the first ascension near Paris on November 21,
1783. From that time on free ballooning became a very popular sport.
The escaping of the hot air or gas, forcing the balloon to descend
too suddenly, led to the invention of the parachute as a means of
descending slowly from the collapsing bag. The possibility of using
this type of balloon for observation purposes was realized by the
French, and the first recorded battle that the captive balloon was
employed in was at Fleurus June 26, 1794, thus supplying “aerial eyes”
for the French army to observe the movements of the Austrians.
The free balloon was, however, entirely at the mercy of the winds,
and the captive balloon could not be moved about readily, so that it
was thus limited in its sphere of observation, except when attached
to some movable conveyance. This showed the necessity of inventing
some means of propulsion and steering. The first experiments were
attempts to row ordinary spherical balloons, as you would a boat, but
the earliest record of any definite progress being achieved in forcing
a lighter-than-air craft through the air was the experiment in France
of two brothers named Robert in 1784. They constructed a melon-shaped
balloon, 52 feet long and 32 feet in diameter, made of proofed silk.
The gas employed was pure hydrogen. Underneath this envelope was
suspended a long, narrow car, in general idea not unlike that used on
some modern airships; and three pairs of oars with blades made like
racquet-frames covered with silk, and a rudder of similar material,
were the only implements for navigation.
The two brothers and their brother-in-law went up in the apparatus and
succeeded in describing a curve of one kilometre radius, which showed,
at any rate, that they could deviate slightly from the direction of the
feeble wind then prevailing.
The development of the steam-engine was potent with suggestions for
aerial navigation of a dirigible. Thus, on December 24, 1852, Henry
Gifford, another Frenchman, first ascended in a dirigible balloon.
It was spindle-shaped, 143 feet long and 39 feet in diameter. It was
driven by a 3 horse-power steam-engine and an 11-foot screw propeller.
He went out from the Hippodrome in Paris and made six miles per hour
relative to the air and several successful landings. This was the first
recorded dirigible flight.
A decade later, Tissandier, with a spindle-shaped balloon, much on
the lines of those of his predecessors, succeeded in reaching a
speed of eight miles an hour with the aid of an electric motor and a
bichromate-of-potash battery.
Captain Charles Renard brought the airship another stage toward
realization by building an envelope with a true stream-line. The method
of suspending the car was of the type adopted by later builders,
namely, to place an enormous sheet over the back of the airship and
to attach suspensory cords to its edges. This airship had a cubic
capacity of 66,000 feet, and was kept rigid by means of an internal
air balloonet or interior gas-bag which was confined to a definite
shape by an outer framework or cover. This balloonet was kept full by a
fan-blower coupled to the motor.
The car was 108 feet long, and really served as a spar employed in
later airships of what became known as the semirigid type.
An electric motor was installed, weighing 220 pounds, which developed 9
horse-power. The battery composed of chlorochromic salts, delivered one
shaft horse-power for each 88 pounds, and this great weight seriously
handicapped the performance of the airship. The first trials were made
in 1884, and apparently within the limits of its propulsive power the
airship was an unqualified success, so far as navigation was concerned.
On one occasion it flew around Paris at an average speed of 14½
miles an hour.
As early as 1872 Herr Hanlein, in Germany, built an airship of quite
reasonable proportions, propelled by a 6 horse-power Lenoir gas-engine.
Apparently the engine was run on gas from the envelope. A speed of 10
miles an hour or so was achieved.
In 1879 Baumgartner and Wolfert built an airship with a Daimler benzine
motor. An ascent was made at Leipzig in 1880, but owing to improper
load distribution the vessel got out of control and was smashed on the
ground.
The first rigid dirigible with aluminum framework was built by an
Austrian named Schwartz in 1897. This was the prototype of the
Zeppelin, and no practical rigid lighter-than-air ship could now be
lifted by hydrogen unless it had an aluminum framework.
The invention of the gasoline engine was another tremendous advantage
to the Zeppelin.
M. Santos Dumont built an extraordinary collection of small airships
during a period of several years commencing in 1898. His first effort
was a cylinder of varnished Japanese silk, 82½ feet long and 11
feet in diameter, with pointed ends, which gave it a capacity of about
6,300 cubic feet. It was fitted with the usual internal air balloonet
and a 3½ horse-power motor-cycle engine weighing 66 pounds. The
engine was fitted to an ordinary balloon basket, which hung beneath the
envelope and drove a two-blade propeller. The pilot also sat in the
basket. The poise of the vessel was controlled by shifting weights,
and steering was effected with a silk rudder stretched over a steel
frame. In September, 1898, this miniature airship left the Zoological
Gardens at Paris in the face of a gentle wind, and performed all sorts
of evolutions in the neighborhood.
M. Dumont’s No. 5 was fitted with a four-cylinder, air-cooled motor
driving an enormous propeller of 26 feet in diameter, which gave a
thrust of 120 pounds at 140 revolutions per minute. There is, however,
some difference between this number of revolutions and the 1,400 per
minute now generated by all the standard aeronautical motors. Among
other novelties water ballast was used and piano wires replaced the old
type suspension cords.
No account of the lighter-than-air machine would be complete without
mentioning the man after whom the Zeppelins were named. As a matter of
fact Count Zeppelin added nothing strikingly new to his airships—he
simply made them much larger than any of their predecessors; thus
increasing the net lifting power and multiplying the number of engines
and the horse-power.
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin first began to experiment in 1898. His
first rigid dirigible was 410 feet and the gas-bags contained 400,000
cubic feet of hydrogen, and the net lifting power, after allowing for
the engines, fuel, gear, etc., was about two tons. The framework was
of aluminum latticework divided into seventeen compartments, fifteen
of which had gas-bags. Two cars were attached and in each was a 16
horse-power German Daimler gasoline motor driving two propellers,
and the machine gained a speed of 15 miles an hour, which was far in
advance of any airship of that period.
By this time practically all the fundamentals of construction of
dirigibles had been incorporated in these airships. Further refinements
were made, more engines and balloonets added, and the length of the
dirigible and the volume of hydrogen gas used for inflation was
increased, as was also the horse-power, but nothing more in the way of
radical changes was employed to the end of the Great War. Therefore
a description of the Zeppelin which was brought down in England will
serve as an excellent idea of the size of these mammoth airships.
The Zeppelin forced to land in Essex measured from 650 feet to 680
feet in length and measured 72 feet across its largest diameter.
The vessel was of the stream-line form, with a blunt, rounded nose,
and a tail that tapered off to a sharp point. The framework was made
of longitudinal latticework girders, connected together at intervals
by circumferential latticework ties, all made of an aluminum alloy
resembling duraluminum. The whole was braced together and stiffened by
a system of wires, arrangements being provided by which they could be
tightened up when required. The weight of the framework is reckoned to
be about 9 tons, or barely a fifth of the total of 50 tons attributed
to the airship complete with engines, fuel, guns, and crew. There were
24 balloonets arranged within the framework, and the hydrogen capacity
was 2,000,000 cubic feet.
A cat-walk, an arched passage with a footway nine inches wide, running
along the keel enabled the crew, which consisted of twenty-two men, to
move about the ship and get from one gondola to another. This footway
was covered with wood, a material which, however, was evidently avoided
as much as possible in the construction of the ship. The gondolas, made
of aluminum alloy, were four in number; one was placed forward on the
centre line, two were amidships, one on each side, and the fourth was
aft, again on the centre line.
The vessel was propelled—at a speed, it is thought, of about sixty
miles an hour in still air—by means of six Maybach-Mercedes gasoline
engines of 240 horse-power each, or 1,440 horse-power in all. Each had
six vertical cylinders with overhead valves and water cooling, and
weighed about 1,000 pounds. They were connected each to a propeller
shaft through a clutch and change-speed gear, and also to a dynamo
used either for lighting or for furnishing power to the wireless
installation. One of these engines with its propeller was placed at
the back of the large forward gondola, two were in the amidships
gondolas, and three were in the aft gondola. In the last case one of
the propellers was in the centre line of the ship, and the shafts of
the other two were stayed out, one on either side. With the object of
minimizing air resistance the stays were provided with a light but
strong casing of two or three ply wood, shaped in stream-line form.
The gasoline tanks had a capacity of 2,000 gallons, and the propeller
shafts were carried in ball bearings. The date, July 14, 1916, marked
on one of them, is thought to indicate the date of the launching or
commissioning of the vessel.
Forward of the engine-room of the forward gondola, but separated from
it by a small air space, was first the wireless operator’s cabin and
then the commander’s room. The latter was the navigating platform, and
in it were concentrated the controls of the elevators and rudder at
the stern, the arrangement for equalizing the levels in the gasoline
and water tanks, the engine-room telegraphs, and the switchboard of
the electrical gear for releasing the bombs. Provision was made for
carrying sixty of the latter in a compartment amidships, and there
was a sliding shutter, worked from the commander’s cabin, which was
withdrawn to allow them to fall freely. Nine machine-guns were carried.
Two of these, of 0.5-inch bore, were mounted on the top of the vessel,
and six of a smaller caliber were placed in the gondolas—two in the
forward, one each in the amidships ones, and two in the aft one. The
ninth was carried in the tail.
The separate gas-bags were a decided advantage over the free balloon
and earlier airships which carried all the gas in one compartment,
for if the latter sprang a leak for any reason it had to descend,
whereas the Zeppelin could keep afloat with several of the separate
compartments in a complete state of collapse.
Since the Zeppelin, like all airships, is buoyed up by hydrogen gas
which is .008 lighter than air, the dirigible was sent up by the simple
expedient of increasing the volume of gas in the envelope until the
vessel arose. This was done by releasing the gas for storage-tanks into
the gas-bags. In order to head the nose up, air was kept in certain
of the rear bags, thus making the tail heavier than the forward part,
which naturally rose first. Steering was done by means of the rudder or
the engines, or both, and the airship was kept on an even keel by use
of the lateral planes. The airship could be brought down by forcing the
gas out of the bags into the gas-tanks, thus decreasing the volume and
by increasing the air in the various compartments.
This airship had a flying radius of 800 miles and could climb to 12,000
feet, and could carry a useful load of four tons and could remain in
the air for fifty hours. Without a doubt it is one of the largest rigid
dirigibles ever built.
[Illustration:
_Courtesy of Flying Magazine._
Observation balloon about to ascend.
These balloons were stationed at intervals along the battle-fronts.]
Owing to the great amount of material used, the immense cost, and the
time necessary to construct a Zeppelin, under the urgent demands of
war, the British built and developed a small rigid dirigible measuring
between 200 and 250 feet in length, buoyed up by two balloonets,
one front and back, and carrying a fuselage and one aeromotor, and
propeller situated directly under the cigar-shaped airship. These
vessels made about fifty miles an hour, carried two men, were fitted
with wireless, and made excellent scouts over the North Sea and
waters contiguous to allied territory, looking for submarines. These
air-vessels were called Blimps.
The kite balloon was cigar-shaped and non-rigid, with only a basket
suspended underneath. It was attached to a rope and was lifted by the
gas and the wind which passed under the fins, which extended from the
sides near the rear. It combined the principle of the free balloon and
the man-lifting kites.
These balloons were used very extensively in the Great War for
observation purposes. Suspended at the end of a cable attached to a
donkey-engine or a windlass at an altitude of 3,000 feet, they afforded
the best observation for artillery-fire, and by means of the telephone
in the basket the observer could keep headquarters well informed of
troop movements within a radius of many miles.
Naturally it was the special delight of the aeroplanes to dive down on
these stationary balloons and by means of incendiary bullets to ignite
the gas. It was dangerous work for the heavier-than-air machines,
for all the way down the antiaircraft guns blazed away. It was also
dangerous work for the observers in the imprisoned balloon, who often
had to jump with their parachutes in order to escape.
Thus by 1918 man had devised an aircraft that could propel him through
the air faster than the eagle, farther than the sea-gull, and soar
aloft higher than the lark! No wonder he felt that no mechanical feat
was impossible.
CHAPTER II
THE AEROPLANE
EXPERIMENTS WITH PLANES—LILLIENTHAL’S GLIDER—LANGLEY’S
AERODROME—SUCCESS OF THE WRIGHTS—FIRST AEROPLANE FLIGHTS
The evolution of the heavier-than-air flying-machine, like that of the
lighter-than-air, covers a long period of time, and was fraught with
many difficulties and dangers. For ages many scientific men played with
the idea, but owing to the lack of motive power light enough to be
mounted on a glider yet supplying sufficient strength to drive a set
of planes through the air at 45 miles an hour, very little progress
was made until the perfection of the steam-engine and the development
of the gasoline motor. Indeed, such things as lateral and longitudinal
balance of planes, as well as steering by rudder, could only be worked
out to a successful conclusion by man-carrying gliders moving at a
sufficient velocity to keep them off the ground. Since no mechanical
device driven by man could supply this want, the science lacked
practical development until the last quarter of a century.
Perhaps the acrobatic tight-rope walker Allard, in 1660, was the first
to make long glides during an exhibition of his profession. But nothing
of material advantage to the science was accomplished.
In 1809 Sir George Cayley, an Englishman, planned an aeroplane with
oblique planes, resting on a wheeled chassis, fitted with propellers,
motors, and steering devices. The machine was never built.
In 1843 another Englishman, Samuel Henderson, designed and patented an
“aerial steam carriage,” which was to be an aeroplane of immense size
to be used for passenger carrying. Like the former it was never built.
M. Strongfellow, another Englishman, designed a triplane, which he
fitted with a tail and two propellers. A triplane differs from a
biplane only in that a third plane is superimposed over the second
plane at the same distance as the second plane was above the first or
monoplane. This model was shown at the exhibition of the Aeronautical
Society of Great Britain in 1868. As in the case of previous inventors,
nothing in this model indicated that he had any comprehension of
the principles of stability or knowledge of the lifting capacity of
surfaces, or the power required for dynamic flight.
In 1872 a French inventor, named Alphonse Penaud, constructed a
small monoplane. It was only a toy—two flimsy wings actuated by
a twisting rubber—but it had fore-and-aft stability. These model
aeroplanes, however, aided the science materially by demonstrating the
necessity for stability before planes could be steered through space.
Subsequently, in 1875, Penaud took out a patent on a monoplane fitted
with two propellers and having controlling devices. But this was
not built, principally because it would have required a light motor,
and the lightest available at that time weighed over 60 pounds per
horse-power. To-day most aeromotors weigh less than two pounds per
horse-power.
Louis Pierre Mouillard, a Frenchman, who had observed that large birds
in flight, while seeming at rest, could go forward against the wind
without a stroke of the wings, constructed a number of gliders built
on the principle of bird wings, and experimented with gliding. He
published a work called “L’Empire de l’Air,” which inspired many late
experiments with gliders.
The net results of all these designs and experiments of these inventors
demonstrated that thin, rigid surfaces of a certain shape, structure,
and design could support weights when driven through the air at a
sufficient velocity. Further than that they contributed practically
nothing to the science of aviation.
As a matter of fact, it was toward the close of the nineteenth century
before means were found to make an aeroplane rise from the ground,
maintain its equilibrium. These latter-day pioneers of aviation were
divided into two schools. The first sought to achieve soaring flights
by means of large kitelike apparatus, which enabled them to fly in the
air against winds, their machines being lifted up and supported by the
inertia of the air as kites are. The second sought to develop power
flight, that is, to send their kitelike machines through the air at
high speed, being tracted or propelled by revolving screws actuated by
motor power.
The most prominent experimenters of the first glider school were Otto
Lillienthal, a German, P. L. Pitcher, an Englishman, Octave Chanute,
and J. J. Montgomery.
Lillienthal was the first man to accomplish successful flights by
means of artificial wing surfaces. In 1894, after much experimenting,
he constructed rigid wings which he held to his shoulders. He used to
run down hills with them until the velocity he was moving at would
catch the air and lift him completely off the ground. By observation of
birds he saw that their wings were arched, which suggested reason for
failures of previous experiments in this line; so afterward his planes
were arched also. He was the first man to be lifted off the ground by
plane surfaces, and to demonstrate that arched surfaces were necessary
to sustained flight of heavier-than-air craft.
To the rigid wings Lillienthal fastened a rigid tail and this
constituted his glider. There were no control levers and the only way
he could steer was by shifting the balance, by use of his legs, in one
direction or another. By means of an artificial hill he had constructed
he could coast downward for some distance without striking the ground.
He was unfortunately killed in one of these experiments in 1896.
Chanute’s experiments in gliding were similar to Lillienthal’s, but
they were conducted on the sand-dunes along Lake Michigan, near
Chicago. His apparatus was more strongly constructed, of trussed
biplane type—a construction suggested to him by his experience
in bridge building, and one which persists to-day as the basis of
strength in our present military biplanes. In design it was similar to
a box kite, and it was the kind which the Wrights adopted for their
experiments.
The leaders of the second school were: Clement Ader (1890-97), Sir
Hiram Stevens Maxim (1890-94), and Samuel Pierpont Langley (1895-1903).
Clement Ader, the famous French scientist, under the auspices of the
French Government, conducted experiments from 1890 to 1897. In 1890
he filled his Arion, a boat-shaped machine with two propellers, with
a steam-engine, but the apparatus never flew. He finished his next
machine in 1897 after six years of hard work. It was large enough to
carry a man, but, like its predecessor, it never left the ground, and
the French Government refused to support his experiments further.
While Ader was making his experiments in France, Sir Hiram S. Maxim was
at work constructing a large multiplane for the English Government,
which he fitted with two steam-engines of 175 horse-power. But like
Ader’s experiments it toppled over at the first trial and was badly
damaged, and the British Government refused further backing.
The experience of Samuel Pierpont Langley in America is not unlike the
experience of Ader in France and Maxim in England. He was employed by
the Board of Ordnance and Fortification of the United States army to
construct the “Aerodrome” of his own invention. Congress appropriated
$50,000 for the purpose. Langley’s machine was a tandem monoplane, 48
feet from tip to tip, and 52 feet from bowsprit to the end of its tail.
It was fitted with a 50 horse-power engine and weighed 830 pounds.
The trials of this aerodrome, two attempts to launch it, were made on
October 7 and December 8, 1903. On both occasions the aerodrome became
entangled in the defective launching apparatus, and was thrown headlong
into the Potomac River—on which the launching trials were made.
Following the last failure, when the aerodrome was wrecked, the press
ridiculed the whole enterprise, and Congress refused to appropriate
money for further experiments. The Langley aerodrome, fitted with a
Curtiss motor and Curtiss controls, flew in 1913-14.
As with experiments of the first school they did not attain practical
results. The machines were usually wrecked at the first trial without
giving any clew to the nature or whereabouts of the trouble. Although
Langley’s machines were reconstructed and flown later this should not
detract in any way from the fame of the Wright brothers, Orville and
Wilbur, who really were the first to construct an aeroplane which was
driven by a gasoline motor, lifting a man off the ground, and pursuing
a steered and sustained flight through the air.
The experiments of Lillienthal and his death in his glider were
the direct incentives to the Wright brothers to conduct their
investigations with gliders. The Lillienthal way of balancing
the planes by swinging his legs they judged to be a poor means of
controlling the direction of the flight. So they set out to discover
another method of controlling the stability of the planes. Their
experiments began in the fall of 1900 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina,
as Mr. Henry Woodhouse, the aeronautical authority, has pointed out.
They took all the theories of flight and tried them one by one, only to
find, after two years of hard, discouraging work, that they were based
more or less on guesswork. Thereupon they cast aside old theories and
patiently put the apparatus through innumerable gliding tests, ever
changing, adding, modifying—setting down the results; after each glide
comparing, changing again and again, until they finally constructed a
glider which was easy to balance both laterally and longitudinally.
But in order to control fore-and-aft balance they had to eliminate
Lillienthal’s method of swinging his legs and substitute a horizontal
elevator. This elevator was raised and lowered by a lever operated
by the pilot stretched out on the centre of the lower wing of the
glider. This device kept the glider level with respect to the ground.
In fact, this elevator was absolutely necessary to prevent the planes
from diving up or down, for if the pilot found the glider pitching
too much forward, tending to dive, he would tilt the elevator upward
by means of the lever, thus pulling the nose of the glider back into
its proper position. At first the Wrights built the elevator in front
of the planes so that they could see and study its effect. They soon
discovered that the control of the glider was much better with the
elevator. This elevator has been incorporated as a standard fin on the
tail of the fuselage of every aeroplane and is one of the chief factors
in steering up or down.
Having completely mastered this most important step, the Wrights next
took up the problem of lateral control. The natural tendency of the
glider was to flop about like a kite with too light a tail. In order
to correct this lateral instability the Wrights determined to make
the air itself, rather than gravity, supply this balance, instead
of Lillienthal’s method of swinging his legs from side to side by
observing closely the way in which a pigeon secures its lateral balance
by varying the angle of attack with its two wings, whereby one wing
would lift more forcibly than the other, thereby turning the bird in
any direction around any given axis of flight. In order to accomplish
this variation the Wrights made the ends of the glider loose while the
rest remained rigid. Then by a system of wires operated from a lever
they could warp these wing ends of the glider, one to present a greater
angle of attack to the air and the other a smaller angle, just as the
pigeon did. In other words, by pulling down the rear edge of the tip of
one wing and by pulling up the extreme edge of the other the angles of
the wings were varied with respect to the way in which they cut through
the air on very much the same principles as the tail elevator on the
fuselage. Also, if a flat surface moves through the air horizontal to
the ground, if you tipped the rear edge upward the air would strike it
on that edge and have a tendency to force it down, thus forcing the
forward edge upward. To pull it in the other direction would cause
the opposite effect. The Wrights were first to incorporate this in a
glider or aeroplane. They patented it, and although a hinge, called an
aileron, was later attached to the end of the wings of an aeroplane
to produce the same effect and at the same time to allow more rigid
construction of the ends of the wings, nevertheless this idea was
distinctly a Wright discovery and innovation.
[Illustration:
_Courtesy of Flying Magazine._
The Wright flyer after the epoch-making flight at Kitty Hawk, N. C.,
December, 1903.
This was the first successful motor-driven heavier-than-air craft to
lift a man off the ground and carry him over a steered course. It had
one 16 h.-p. motor with a chain-drive to two propellers. The elevators
were in front of the machine. The plane resembles a glider or a box
kite and the wings could be warped for steering.]
But that was not all the Wright brothers did to make man-flight over a
sustained and steered course in a heavier-than-air machine possible.
Directional control or power to steer the glider in a straight line
or to vary it had not yet been acquired, so the Wrights installed a
vertical rudder which they also operated by lever, just as the rudder
on a power-boat is controlled, and the effect on directional steering
was the same. Indeed, passage through the medium of the air is in many
ways similar to passage through water. Thus the moment the glider
swerved from right to left the rudder was pulled in the opposite
direction and the planes came back to the steered course.
But this was not invented at once nor installed until after the Wrights
discovered that whenever the glider was in flight the effect of warping
the wings to control the rolling had a serious unexpected secondary
effect, namely, a tendency for the high wing, which they desired to
bring down, to advance faster through the air than the low wing, and
solely by its higher velocity to develop a higher lifting capacity and
thus to neutralize the benefit of the warp. After much experimenting
they hit upon the rudder idea and that corrected the difficulty.
Thus the Wrights gained complete mastery of the glider; they could
steer it up and down, turn it from right to left, and bring it back
safely to the earth. This is the basis of the Wright patents to-day.
The next thing to be done was to install upon an aeroplane a power
plant sufficient to drive it through the air fast enough to make the
air lift it off the ground and sustain it in the “liquid blue” until
the pilot saw fit to glide to the earth again. This was by no means
a simple matter, for from 1900, when the Wrights began their glider
experiments, to 1903, when they made their first flight, the gasoline
motor was in its impotent infancy. They set about building a small
light motor, however, to install in their planes.
In the meantime they experimented further with wing surfaces. Langley
and Chanute had proved flat wings inefficient and curved wings
necessary for lifting capacity. Of course, those early experimenters
did not know how much those curvatures affected the climbing angle of
a glider, so the Wrights set out to find out by using the wind-tunnel
method and testing scale models in the same, with a blast of air
generated by an engine-driven fan. This tunnel was cylindrical in
form, sixteen inches in diameter. The smaller models of wings were
hung in the centre, the air-blast turned on, and the balance arm,
which projected into the tunnel and on which the wings were mounted,
measured the air forces and the efficiency of the varied wing shapes
from the standpoint of rounded wing tips and curvature.
Data acquired in experimenting with their six-inch model biplane in
this determined them to build their aeroplane on that scale, even
though it was discovered that two wings together were less efficient
than one wing by itself. The rigidity of two wings added a safety
factor, so they adopted the biplane or two-plane surface rather than
the monoplane or one-plane surface.
In these experiments the Wrights also discovered that all surfaces
shaped like a fish offered less resistance to the air than blunter
obtuse surfaces, so they adopted the stream-line method in construction
of struts or supports to the two wings, so that now all surfaces that
cut the air in the forward progress of the planes are rounded off so
that the air slips off with the least resistance. This was an important
discovery, for later when the enclosed fuselage or body in which the
aviator sits was constructed it had much to do in determining its shape
and design.
Propellers had already been experimented with as a means of propulsion
through the air. Because of the low horse-power at which they were
driven very little scientific data as to propeller efficiency had been
compiled. Because the first motor constructed by the Wrights had only
16 horse-power at maximum speed, which soon fell off to 12 horse-power,
the two propellers mounted on their first machine developed a
high propeller efficiency. To-day propeller efficiency has reached
approximately 70 per cent of efficiency, and much study has been
devoted to the propeller.
Because no gasoline motor was in existence light enough to mount on
their glider the Wrights built their own in their shops in Dayton. It
was a four-cylinder water-cooled upright motor, and it could develop
12 horse-power. The engine was mounted on the rear of the planes of
the glider and by a chain drive propelled the two blades mounted in
the rear of the two planes, thus making a pusher type of aeroplane.
The estimate of the total weight of the machine and the operator was
between 750 and 800 pounds.
With this machine, on December 17, 1903, Wilbur Wright made the
world’s first sustained steered flight of 852 feet in 59 seconds in a
heavier-than-air machine. To them really belongs the honor of having
invented the aeroplane and of having demonstrated the feasibility of
navigating the air in a heavier-than-air machine. It is true that the
Frenchman M. Bleriot was the man who covered the fuselage, put the
engine in front of the aviator, and constructed a monoplane similar
in shape to a bird. Nevertheless, it is the Wrights who built the
aeroplane which met all the fundamental requirements of flight through
the air.
CHAPTER III
WHY AN AEROPLANE FLIES
THE HELICOPTER—THE ORNITHOPTER—WING SURFACE—FLYING SPEED—LANDING
SPEED—EFFECT OF MOTORS—THE SEAPLANE
The heavier-than-air machines are divided into three classes. The
helicopter is a machine which theorists of that school believe can fly
straight up into the sky because its air screw propeller works on a
vertical axis. This type of aircraft has never been successful, for the
reason that the propeller does not lift. It simply pulls a stream-lined
surface through the air. The lifting must be done by planes.
The ornithopter is another heavier-than-air craft which seeks to fly by
flapping wings like a bird. The effort to build this type of machine is
as old as human desire to imitate the fowls of the air and it has been
as unsuccessful as the helicopter.
Before we begin to discuss the aeroplane we must remember that
before a modern machine leaves the ground it must be moving at least
thirty-five miles an hour with respect to the air. This forcing of
the edges of these broad-pitching, curved surfaces through the air at
such a velocity naturally drives the air downward and these particles
of atmosphere react in exactly the same degree upward, thus forcing
the planes and the attached apparatus upward. Therefore, as long as
the aeroplane rushes through the air at that or greater speed the
thousands of cubic feet of air forced down beneath the wings deliver
up a reaction that results in complete support. When an aircraft fails
to move at that velocity it loses “flying speed” and falls to the
earth. The net result of this reaction is called “lift,” and as long as
the machine sweeps forward at that momentum it has lift. The engine,
of course, must supply this forward movement, and when it stalls,
the heavier-than-air machine must glide to a landing-place or fall
perpendicular to the ground.
To understand why a heavier-than-air machine flies it is necessary
to remember that air or atmosphere has many of the characteristics
of water. Indeed, like the ocean, its pressure varies at different
altitudes. At sea-level a cubic foot in dry weather weighs 0.0807
pounds, but at a mile above sea-level it weighs only 0.0619 pounds,
and at five miles 0.0309 pounds per cubic foot and so on up. Therefore
machines designed to fly at sea-level often fail to get off the ground
at 12,000 feet above the sea in such countries as Mexico.
Air also has motion. Its tendency to remain motionless is called
inertia, and its characteristic desire to reoccupy its normal amount
of space is known as its elasticity, and the tendency of the particles
of air to resist separation is described as its viscosity. Thus we see
that air has practically the same characteristics as water, only it is
much lighter.
Without going into a technical discussion of all the forces that enter
into the flight of an aeroplane we must, however, realize that if the
pressure of the atmosphere is uniform in all directions, in order to
make the air forced under a wing or plane lift more than the air above
forces down, the wing of the plane must be curved in such a way that
the forward motion of the edge of the wing causes the air underneath
to force any particle of the surface upward, while the upper surface
is relieved of the pressure. This is done by curving the surface of
the planes so that the under surface is concave while the upper part
is almost convex, like the outspread wing of a bird. When this wing is
forced horizontally through the air it creates a vacuum immediately
behind the upper or convex part, the under pressure is still constant
and the surface is lifted upward. That is why a plane covered with a
curved surface will fly and a plane with a flat surface will not. In
short, a curved surface when moving through atmosphere causes eddies in
the air, and if the curvature of the wings is properly calculated, it
leaves a vacuum near the rear edge of the surface of the plane and it
climbs upward. The smaller the angle the smaller the lift or climbing
power of the plane. Thus a 15-degree angle will lift one pound; if
reduced to 10 degrees it will only lift two-thirds of a pound, but
because a wing is curved a plane could fly at several degrees less than
0 degree, but its “stalling” or critical angle beyond which it is not
safe to go is 15 degrees.
It must be borne in mind that the larger the wing surface the larger
load the aeroplane can carry, for the lift of a heavier-than-air
machine depends entirely on the number of square feet of surface in
the plane or wings. The larger the planes the more power is required
to force them through the air and the less easy they are to manœuvre
and land. The Nieuports, Spads, Sopwiths, and Fokkers, with their small
wing spread of less than 30 feet, made them much easier to fly, even
though they land faster than the “big busses.” Therefore every pound of
weight added to an aeroplane decreases its speed proportionately and
requires an equivalent increase in horse-power to force it through the
air. Of course, an increase of speed gives an increase in lift, so by
doubling the speed of a plane you increase the lift just four times.
There are, however, a number of factors which tend to decrease the
progress of a machine through the air: the head resistance of the
fuselage, the motor, the struts, the wires, the landing-gear, etc.
These things do not add to the lift and are described as “dead-head”
resistance. Stream-line, or the tapering of all surfaces which resist
the air, helps reduce this resistance, so that the design of the plane
has much to do with its speed, also as to whether the plane can climb
faster than fly straight ahead. Naturally the horse-power of the motor
determines the flying speed of the aeroplane as much as any other
factor.
To lift a plane off the ground it must be travelling at least 35 miles
an hour with respect to the air, as we have pointed out before. So if
a gale is blowing 20 miles an hour the aeroplane may be lifted off the
ground when moving no faster than 15 miles an hour with respect to the
earth. Likewise unless a machine is moving 35 miles an hour it will
lose flying speed and fall to the ground.
Machines do not all land at the same speed. The famous Morane monoplane
skimmed along the ground at anywhere from 45 to 90 miles an hour.
It is manifestly impossible to do more than suggest the fundamental
principles of aeroplane flight here. To be sure, the type of aircraft
has, as we have indicated, much to do with why and how it flies.
Because of its similarity to the bird and owing to the lack of struts,
etc., to increase the head resistance the monoplane or single-wing
plane is the fastest machine. The absence of struts and the few bracing
wires brings a greater strain on the wings and increases its chances of
breaking. The biplane, with its two parallel wings separated by struts,
is more easily braced and proportionately stronger. The lift is also
greater, due to the additional wing surface. The vacuum made over the
lower wing is interfered with by the upper plane, and thus neutralizes
somewhat the lifting and flying efficiency of the upper wing. Since a
plane must reverse all its stresses when looping, the double supports
of the biplane make it less susceptible to doubling up and falling.
These are some of the reasons for the popularity of the biplane.
The triplane is so called because it has three tiers of wing surfaces
set one above the other. This allows for even greater strength in
construction, and despite the resistance several very fast-climbing
triplanes have been built. The famous Caproni triplanes with three
motors have a wing spread of 127 feet. Many biplanes and flying-boats
also have approximately 126-foot wing spread. The well-known Handley
Page bomber and the NC-1, NC-2, NC-3, NC-4 Naval Flying Boats, which
tried the Atlantic flight, had a similar wing spread.
In the war the small aeroplane of the monoplane or biplane type with
a small wing spread and equipped with a rotary motor, whose nine or
more cylinders revolved with the propeller, or a small V-type motor,
was called a scout. These biplanes seldom had a wing spread of over 28
feet and the horse-power of the rotary motors seldom developed more
than 150 horse-power, whereas the stationary motors for these same
machines generated as much as 300 horse-power, as in the case of the
Hispano-Suiza. These machines were used for fighting because they made
as high as 150 miles an hour and responded so easily to the slightest
movement of the “joy stick” and, consequently, manœuvred so readily.
Since trick flying was absolutely essential to air duels these machines
were best for this purpose and for quickly getting information of troop
movements.
The next larger size, seating two men and driven by the same types of
motors or even larger twelve-cylinder Rolls-Royce or Liberty motors,
but with a wing spread of from 34 to 48 feet, was used for taking
photographs, directing artillery-fire, and general reconnaissance in
war. The multimotored machines, with a wing spread of anywhere from 48
to 150 feet, were used for bombing at night or during the day. Owing
to the size of these machines and because of their slow-flying speed
they were easy to land. Some of the scouts weighed, with petrol and two
hours’ fuel, less than 1,000 pounds, whereas the four-motored bombers,
with 127-foot wing spread, weighed over six tons and could carry a
useful load of three tons.
The hydroaeroplane does not differ fundamentally from the aeroplane
as regards flying principles. In structure it may be a biplane or
triplane, but owing to the supports necessary to carry the pontoons it
cannot be easily attached to a monoplane. Structurally, it differs from
the aeroplane only in having pontoons or a boat substituted for wheels
and landing chassis. Owing to the surfaces presented by the pontoons or
the hull of the boat, looping is practically eliminated and the spread
of these flying craft is much slower than land machines.
Although M. Fabre conducted experiments with aeroplanes carrying floats
instead of wheels, Mr. Glenn H. Curtiss was the first to successfully
construct and fly a hydroplane. At the time of his flight down the
Hudson River from Albany to New York he equipped his plane with a light
boat to protect himself in case of a forced landing on the water.
Encouraged by this experiment under the Alexander Graham Bell Aerial
Experiment Association, and by later attaching a canoe, he succeeded in
landing and getting off the water. Later he built a hydroaeroplane and
flew successfully at San Diego, Cal., thus establishing America as the
land which invented and developed the seaplane and flying-boat.
Structurally, the modern seaplane has two small pontoons on the
end of each wing and a small boat in the centre, or sometimes only
two pontoons in all which are side by side near the fuselage. The
flying-boat has one large boat instead of a fuselage, with a small
pontoon on the end of each wing. The former is used for fast flying,
but owing to the air resistance to the pontoons, and especially to the
boats, the speed cannot be compared to that of the scout aeroplanes.
Moreover, they are much harder to do stunts with and few are known to
have looped the loop. Like the big land bombers the flying-boats may be
equipped with as many as three motors. One of these has carried as many
as fifty passengers at one time.
Contrary to the accepted notion, these flying-boats are very hard to
land on the sea because it is so difficult to calculate the position of
the wave when you strike—both are moving so rapidly.
As we have already seen that due to the fact that a heavier-than-air
machine must be moving at least 35 miles an hour to get off the ground
or water, a strong and powerful motor is absolutely essential to make
aeroplane flying possible. We have already discovered that the Wrights
had to construct their own motor because none was light enough for an
aeroplane. Their 16 horse-power single-cylinder engine weighed over 200
pounds. To-day the Liberty is rated at from 400 to 450 horse-power, and
it weighs less than two pounds per horse-power. An Italian aeronautical
engine develops 700 horse-power, and one sixteen-cylinder American
motor generates 900 horse-power. This shows the tremendous development
of the motor for modern flying.
[Illustration: A Shortt “pusher” seaplane equipped with a
one-and-a-half-pounder gun.]
[Illustration:
_From a photograph by Bain News Service._
British-built Curtiss flying-boat, at Brighton, England.]
But, aside from the matter of weight and horse-power, the aeromotor has
been called upon to perform at altitudes of as high as 30,000 feet as
efficiently as on the ground. Since the atmospheric pressure at that
height weighs a great deal less than at sea-level the flow of gasoline
and lubricants is very much decreased, so that the efficiency of the
motor may fall off proportionately. To meet these requirements the
aviation motor must be especially designed, and since the vibration of
the propeller shakes the frail frame on which the engine is mounted,
the materials must have the greatest strength and resistance.
Nevertheless, in both types of motor, the rotary air-cooled and the
stationary V type, the engineers have succeeded in making engines that
would climb still higher than the 30,500 ceiling already made, if the
aviators could stand the cold or have enough hydrogen to keep them from
fainting.
The motor then is the heart of the heavier-than-air machine, and when
it stops the aeroplane must volplane or fall to the earth, a slave to
the laws of gravity.
CHAPTER IV
LEARNING TO FLY
EARLY METHODS—DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOLS—STUDYING STRUCTURE OF
PLANES, MOTORS, THEORY OF FLIGHT, AERODYNAMICS, MAP READING—FRENCH
SYSTEM—GOSPORT SYSTEM
From the time of the first flight of the Wright brothers in 1903 to
the breaking out of the Great War in July, 1914, the art of flying
an aeroplane was not taught systematically either in private or
military schools, primarily because flying in a heavier-than-air
machine was regarded by civilians as a very dangerous sport and by
military authorities as hardly more than a dubious scout for locating
troop or train movements. For that reason very few civilians were
induced to take up aviation except a few of the more daring sportsmen.
Consequently, civilian flying on a large scale did not flourish.
It is true, however, that several small schools attached to
manufacturing plants did attempt to teach the rudiments of flight and
aircraft construction. These schools did not prosper because only a few
pupils who wished to give exhibition flights attended, and the art of
flying and aircraft development suffered.
In England several schools were started with indifferent success for
the same reason as obtained in America, and in France and Germany,
aside from a few aviators who were striving for new world’s records,
most of the flying training was in the army. Therefore most of the
great fliers, like the Wrights, Beachy, Martin, Curtiss, Farman,
Bleriot, Garros, Vedrines, Graham-White, Sopwith, A. V. Roe—to mention
only a very few—learned to fly themselves. For that reason the toll of
lives taken in flying was high. Nevertheless, that did not stop these
daring fliers from stunting and exploring all the aerial manœuvres
possible with a heavier-than-air machine. As a result Pegout looped
the loop; Ruth Law flew at night; Bleriot crossed the channel; Garros
the Mediterranean Sea; Vedrines flew from Paris via Constantinople to
Cairo; and in July, 1914, Heinrich Oelerich climbed to 26,246 feet
altitude in Germany, and in the same month another German flew for
twenty-four hours one minute, without stopping.
Meanwhile France had trained several hundred aviators for her army
and Germany had five or six hundred trained fliers, including those
in the Zeppelin service. The United States army had hardly more than
fifty fliers when the Mexican trouble broke out, and only half a dozen
aeroplanes to use on the Mexican border.
As soon as the war began and aircraft demonstrated that the side
which got control of the air could put out the eyes of the opposing
army and that the great struggle might be decided in the air, all the
belligerent nations began to train aviators for the war in the air.
France was the first to develop a school of flying, and the French
method, with slight variations, was adopted by England and the United
States. A description of their method will give a comprehensive
conception of the training necessary for a military flier in the war.
Early in the war most of the army, navy, and private aviation schools
of the United States adopted the penguin system of learning to
fly. That method, invented by the French, consisted of using as a
training-machine an aeroplane that had so small a wing spread or so
weak a motor that it merely hopped five or six feet off the ground when
the motor was wide open. The small wing spread caused it to zigzag
along the ground like a drunken man. For those reasons, perhaps, it was
named after the penguin, which does not remain long on the ground or in
the air and which has an irregular gait.
The first step in learning to fly consists in studying the structure of
the aeroplane and of the aeronautical engine, and aerodynamics, or the
science of the forces that aid or hinder the flight of heavier-than-air
machines. During the last half-dozen years many of the manufacturers
of aircraft maintained schools in order to encourage men to learn the
art of flying, and have given their pupils the chance to study at first
hand the designing, the building, and the assembling of aeroplanes
and hydroplanes. That has given the pupils a thorough knowledge of
every detail of the aircraft—an invaluable asset to an aviator who
has been compelled to make a forced landing far from a repair-shop.
In the “ground” schools conducted by the United States Government
for instructing aviation officers at the various institutions, like
Cornell, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Princeton, a great
deal of time was devoted to assembling aeroplanes.
Most of the manufacturers of aircraft in this country do not make
the motors used to propel their aeroplanes. The aeronautical motor
is one of the most difficult machines to build successfully. A motor
that runs as smoothly as a watch on the ground may hesitate and
sputter at an altitude of a thousand feet, and at three thousand feet
may stop altogether. Engineers say that that is because the change
in temperature and in atmospheric pressure causes a difference in
carburization. All these things the prospective flier had to learn as
well as the reasons for the same.
Contrary to the general notion, the construction of the aeronautical
motor differs radically from that of the automobile engine. In point
of weight the difference is marked. Seldom is any stipulation made
that limits the weight of the automobile motor in proportion to the
amount of horse-power; a few pounds more or less is not an important
consideration in a pleasure-car or a motor-truck. But in an aeroplane
every ounce of superfluous weight must be eliminated from the engine,
which must nevertheless be strong enough to withstand the most violent
strain.
The aeroplane motor is subject to far greater strains than the
automobile motor is. Except during a race, one rarely runs the engine
of an automobile at its maximum speed; the aeroplane motor, on the
contrary, usually runs at full speed from the moment the aeroplane
starts until the motor is shut off and begins to volplane down to the
earth. It is true that you can regulate the aeroplane engine by the
throttle to run from as low as three hundred revolutions a minute to
as high as sixteen hundred; but except when testing the motor there is
rarely any reason for slowing it up while in the air. The load that the
propeller of an aeroplane carries is much less than the load that the
shaft of an automobile carries, but, on account of the frail structure
of the plane, the vibration is much more violent. A battle plane seldom
weighs more than two thousand pounds, and a scouting machine of the
Nieuport type tips the scales at not more than one thousand pounds.
For these reasons aircraft require special kinds of motors. The V type
is so called because the cylinders are set in the form of that letter;
the rotary motor has the cylinders arranged in a circle like the spokes
of a wheel, and it revolves on its shaft like the propeller. The rotary
motor is used in scouting machines because it is light. The revolving
engine also revolves on its shaft, but it has a great many more
cylinders arranged side by side like the cylinders of an automobile
engine. It is much heavier than the rotary type; it may have as many as
thirty-two cylinders.
Of course, a knowledge of the automobile engine was an aid to the
prospective aviator; for, except in the process of cooling and the
revolution of the cylinders, the principles of the automobile motor and
those of the aeroplane are identical.
At aviation schools the pupils went thoroughly into all those
things and supplemented their knowledge by continually mounting and
dismounting engines and examining their most intricate parts. The
schools also kept on hand large aeroplane models, which the students
took apart and put together again. In the classroom the prospective
aviators studied the mathematics and the theory of aerodynamics.
All this work was very important, for an aeroplane is such a nicely
balanced machine that if it is not perfectly constructed mathematically
it will not fly safely.
For example, if the tail plane or flat, finlike surface that projects
from the sides of the tail of the body, or fuselage, has too much
“incidence,” or, in other words, is slanted at too sharp an angle
downward, it has a tendency in flight to lift the rear of the machine
and to make it dive. A seaplane, when properly constructed, is so
evenly balanced that, when the crane that lifts it off the mother
ship holds it suspended in the air, the machine is equipoised like a
bird with wings spread in flight. If the plane is heavier on one side
than on the other, it will, while “banking,” or turning a corner,
slide toward the centre of the circle; that sometimes causes a “tail
spin,” in which the machine whirls round as if it had been caught in a
whirlpool. That is a very difficult situation, for an aviator usually
ends in a smash at the bottom of the whirlpool unless the pilot has
altitude enough to flatten out his plane before it gets too close to
the ground. These things were all taught before the novice went up in
the air.
Map reading and air navigation were the next studies in military
aviation schools. First, the student learned how to judge the height
of hills and the size of towns from different altitudes, so that when
flying he could tell what part of the country he was passing over. Many
of the schools perched the prospective fliers high in the air in a
classroom and spread out a miniature landscape made of dirt and sand on
a map beneath them so they could get practice in perspective.
Of course, when an aviator is lost in the fog or above the clouds he
needs to use all the instruments on board to find his position. For
that purpose drift instruments are mounted on aircraft; those tell how
much the air-currents, which have the same effect on aircraft as the
tide has on a boat, have driven him off his course. A compass indicates
the direction in which he is travelling, and other instruments show
him whether his machine is climbing, diving, or “banking”; the aneroid
barometer indicates the altitude. It is essential, of course, for the
aviator to know how to read those instruments correctly. Without the
information they give him, he might not know, if flying at night or
in a cloud, that his craft was climbing at a dangerous angle until
wrenches or other loose implements began to fall out of the machine.
As the next step in the training the student learns the controls. To
do that he runs the “taxi” or “lawn-mower,” as the training-machine
is called, up and down the field. The “hopping” of this machine
familiarizes him with “getting off” and landing, and with the noise of
the propeller. After he has learned to steer his machine in a straight
line, he takes longer “hops” until he is thoroughly familiar with
the “joy stick” which pulls the elevators or ailerons up or down or
operates the rudder.
Soon afterward the student went up with an instructor for a long
flight. The purpose of the flight was to get the pupil used to higher
altitudes and to the motion of the aeroplane, and to give him a chance
to watch his teacher actually running the machine. Strange to relate,
many who have felt an uncontrollable desire to jump off high buildings
have no such feeling while in an aeroplane. That is because they sit
and look out horizontally instead of perpendicularly downward, and
because they move at such tremendous speed.
After several trips of that kind, the instructor let the student handle
the controls until he could climb, dive, and “bank,” or turn the
machine in the air. But the pupil was not permitted to land a machine
until near the end of his course; for next to getting out of a tail
spin, a dive, or a side slip, landing was the hardest task in flying.
Statistics show that more aviators have been killed in making landings
than in any other way. Many of the accidents, of course, were caused
by the nature of the ground, for when the engine of the aeroplane
stops, the aviator has to volplane or glide down wherever he can.
One of the difficulties of landing is owing to the fact that even
training-machines cannot land at a slower speed than thirty-five miles
an hour. If the wheels of the aeroplane, when they first touch ground,
do not skim over the surface of the field, the machine is liable to
“nose in” and turn a somersault. Indeed, that is why the pusher type of
training-machine, with the propeller in the rear of the pilot, is being
abandoned for the tractor machine, which has the propeller in front. If
an accident does occur with a tractor the engine does not “climb your
back.” One of the greatest dangers of flying a seaplane is due to the
fact that the engine is installed not in the hull but high above the
aviators’ heads, upon which it is apt to fall in case of a crash.
The student was next permitted to fly alone. Most machines were so
strongly built that accidents were seldom caused by breakage, although,
of course, before each flight the aviator and his mechanic critically
examined his machine for broken parts. With a reasonable amount of care
straight flying by daylight was comparatively safe.
In the French aviation schools, before the military birdman could pass
his final examinations, he had to climb twice to an altitude of six
thousand feet and spend an hour at a ten-thousand-foot altitude. If he
passed that test successfully, he had to fly over a triangular course
of one hundred and fifty miles and land at each corner of the triangle.
Before he could fly his machine on the battle-front the French flier
had to know how to loop, to fall or dive at such a steep angle that
his machine actually dropped through the air for several hundred
feet before it flattened out—a tremendous strain on the wings of a
machine—to side slip or round a curve with his machine banked at such
an angle that it gradually slid toward the centre of the circle, to
climb or tail dive at such a pitch that the aircraft actually slips
backward tail foremost. Indeed, in the last days of training the
student was encouraged to practise all kinds of stunts and tricks, for
when an enemy descended on you from the clouds above and was sitting
on your tail weaving a wreath of bullets from a machine-gun round you,
your only chance of escape was by means of a loop, a dive, a side slip,
or a roll.
Another interesting test a pilot had to undergo before he got his
license to do battle was to ascend fifteen hundred feet, cut off all
power, and volplane down in a spiral to a fixed point. To perform the
manœuvre successfully required great skill. All the members of the
famous Lafayette Escadrille had to undergo those tests before becoming
fighting aviators, and Americans who received their final training in
France had to go through the same training.
In our government flying-schools at Mineola in Long Island and the
other flying-fields in Texas and other parts of the country, at San
Diego in California, the students were put to similar tests of skill.
In the private civilian schools, however, instructors rarely attempt
to teach their pupils more than straight flying. But most aviators
agree that every flyer ought to know the “stunts” in order to meet
successfully any extraordinary situation that may confront him.
Of course the training for aerial observers, wireless operators, and
photographers was very different from that of the pilots. In each case
the instruction was peculiar to the science they were to practise, and
it had little to do with aviation, only in so far as it was actually
affected by flying. The men who took the pictures had to make a study
of the science of photography. The same was true of the wireless
operator. The observer, however, had to study topography and the use
of the machine-gun, and target practice such as characterized the work
of the pilot. In different countries this differed with the methods
developed there. In England the pilot often shot at toy balloons in the
air while chasing them with his machine or at targets on the ground.
The same method was employed by the United States. Nearly all the great
aces in the war were very clever shots, and Major Bishop attributed
most of his success to his skill with the machine-gun.
Finally the Gosport system of training aviators was adopted by the
British and the American armies because it permitted the training of
tens of thousands of fliers at the same time. The principles taught
were the same as those enumerated above. The system, however, reduces
the time spent on each operation to the minimum, specifying the number
of hours to be spent on each step in the course. Here is a sample of
the outline of the training under that system:
STANDARD OF TRAINING
PART 1. PILOTS—FLYING WINGS
1. _Ground Instruction._
1. Buzzing and Panneau
2. Artillery Observation
3. Gunnery
4. Aerial Navigation
5. Engine Running
6. Photography
7. Bombing and Camera Obscura
8. Air Force Knowledge
9. Engines and Rigging, Workshops Course
10. Drill and P. T.
2. _Air Tests._
1. Flying Instruction
2. Formation Flying
3. Cross Country
4. Reconnaissance
5. Photography
6. Bombing (Camera Obscura)
7. Ring Sights and Camera Gun
8. Altitude Test and Cloud Flying
9. Aerial Navigation
3. _Appendices._
A Flying Instruction
B Formation Flying
C Cross Country
D Bombing
E Wireless
F Gunnery
G Ring Sights and Camera Gun
H Aerial Navigation
I Photography
To insure a certain amount of continuous practice the following
minimum times will be spent on ground subjects. It must be realized,
however, that efficiency, and not time spent, is the ultimate passing
standard.
Buzzing and Panneau 30 hours
Artillery Observation 20”
Gunnery 60”
Aerial Navigation 20”
Engine Running 3”
Photography 2”
Bombing and Camera Obscura 1 hour
Engines and Rigging 12 hours (Workshops Course)
Military Knowledge 3”
Lectures will be given covering—
(1) All questions on above subjects.
(2) Practical wireless covering knowledge useful to a pilot.
(3) All ground signals as given on new Artillery Observation card,
40-W.O.-2584.
Thus every step in the education of the flier was provided for and thus
the United States turned out over 10,000 aviators.
CHAPTER V
AEROPLANE DEVELOPMENT, 1903 TO 1918
ADER’S EXPERIMENTS—MAXIM’S MULTIPLANE—DUMONT’S AEROPLANE—WRIGHTS’
1908 PLANE—VOISIN PUSHER—BLERIOT’S MONOPLANE—AVRO
TRIPLANE—FARMAN’S AILERONS—OTHER TYPES
Although the Wright brothers made their first flight in a
heavier-than-air machine in December, 1903, it was not until September
15, 1904, that Orville Wright, flying the Wright biplane, succeeded in
making the first turn, September 25 before they made the first circle,
and October 4, 1905, before they managed to stay in the air for over
half an hour. Moreover, it was not until 1908 that they made their
first public flights.
Long before the Wrights first flew at Kitty Hawk military men realized
the value of observation from the air, and balloons attached to cables
had been used for that purpose in the Franco-Prussian and Boer wars
for discovering the movement and disposition of troops. Clement Ader,
however, was the first to succeed in securing an appropriation for
the construction of a heavier-than-air machine which was to fly in
any direction like a bird. In 1890 he induced the French Government
to appropriate $100,000 for the construction of such an engine. After
many experiments his machine failed to get off the ground, and in
1897, after seven years of hard work, the French Government refused to
appropriate any more money.
In 1905, however, as soon as the same government heard of the sustained
manœuvred flight of 33 minutes, 17 seconds, done by the Wrights, they
negotiated for the acquisition of the machine, provided it could attain
a height of 3,000 feet. But at that time the Wrights had not flown over
three hundred feet, nor risen above one hundred feet, and could not
promise to fill the French requirements.
The British Government had also given Sir Hiram Maxim an appropriation
for constructing a flying-machine about the same time that the French
Government was financing Ader. Maxim built one of the multiplane type,
measuring 120 feet, equipped with two steam-engines of 170 horse-power
and weighing 7,000 pounds, but like Ader’s experiment it never got off
the ground.
We have already noted the appropriations made by the United States
Government to Samuel P. Langley for his aerodrome. It was the United
States Government, upon the recommendation of President Theodore
Roosevelt, which first ordered a military aeroplane in December, 1907,
giving definite specifications for the same. The machine was required
to carry two persons weighing 350 pounds and fuel enough for a 125-mile
flight, with a speed of at least 40 miles per hour.
The Wrights were the only persons to submit bids and they delivered a
machine which Orville Wright flew at Fort Myer in September, 1908,
making a new record of one hour, fourteen minutes, twenty seconds.
An accident prevented the fulfilling of the two-passenger-carrying
requirement. In August, 1909, however, the Wright biplane, with a wing
spread of 40 feet and equipped with a 25 horse-power engine, flew
one hour and twenty-three minutes with Lieutenant Frank P. Lahm as a
passenger.
The success of the Wrights naturally stimulated the French, Alberto
Santos-Dumont, the Brazilian, who had experimented successfully with
lighter-than-air craft, first circling the Eiffel Tower, while Louis
Bleriot, the Voisin brothers, Captain Louis Ferber, Henry Farman, Leon
brothers, Delagrange, and others began to experiment with aeroplanes.
In 1906 Santos-Dumont flew 700 feet in an aeroplane in one sustained
flight and in 1908 the Wrights visited France and gave public
demonstration flights at Pau and other places. Their machine was a
biplane driven by a small four-cylinder water-cooled engine and two
large propellers. These were both actuated by chains gearing on the
engine-shaft, one chain being crossed so as to make its propeller
revolve in the direction opposite to the other, thus giving proper
balance to the driving force. Alongside the engine and slightly in
front of it was the pilot’s seat, and there was also a seat for a
passenger in between, exactly in the centre, so that the added weight
would not alter the balance.
Unlike present-day aeroplanes, this machine had no horizontal tail
behind the main planes, and so it was called the “tail-first” type,
or “Canard” or “duck,” owing to its long projection forward which
resembled the neck of that bird. This type did not steer easily and was
abandoned.
THE 1908 WRIGHT PLANE
The Wright machine had vertical rudders aft, and relied on the two big
elevator planes forward for its up and down steering. Its lateral, or
rolling, movements were controlled by warping or twisting the wings
so that while the angle of the wings on one side was increased and
gave more lift, the angle on the other side decreased and gave less
lift, thus enabling the pilot to right the machine. The elevators were
controlled by means of a lever on the left-hand side of the pilot, the
warp by a lever on his right, while by waggling the jointed top of the
right-hand lever he also controlled the rudder. This complicated system
of control was very difficult to master.
In 1910 the Wrights attached a horizontal tail at right angles to their
rudder, and in 1911 they dropped the front elevators entirely. When
the United States entered the war, Orville Wright, as engineer for the
Dayton-Wright Company, supervised the building of the famous DH4’s,
making several thousands of them for shipment to France.
Unlike many machines that followed, the Wright 1908 was launched from a
carriage which ran on a rail until the planes were lifted into the air,
leaving the carriage on the ground. This same principle was used for
launching planes from battleships, although it is now abandoned.
Meanwhile Charles and Gabriel Voisin had successfully developed their
machine. On March 21, 1909, Mr. Farman flew a little over a mile at
Issy, near Paris, successfully turning, and on May 30 Leon Delagrange
covered eight miles at Rome, and finally on September 21 he flew
forty-one miles without stopping at Issy.
This Voisin biplane differed from the Wrights’ in that it followed the
box-kite principle. It had a box-kite tail to which the rudders were
mounted, while the wings had vertical partitions and the plane had no
lateral controls, with the result that it could not fly in any kind of
a wind without coming to grief. The first machine had a 50 horse-power
Antoinette engine and the latter ones a 40 horse-power Vivinus—an
ordinary automobile engine, heavy but reliable.
In 1909 the famous Gnome rotary engine appeared. It had 11 cylinders
set like the spokes of a wheel; one was fitted to a Voisin biplane by
M. Louis Paulhan. There were several innovations on this machine. The
under-carriage and tail-booms and much of the understructure was made
of steel tubing. Its greatest contribution to the modern aeroplane was
the steering-wheel. This was operated by a rod or joy stick, which
ran from the front elevator to a wheel in front of the pilot which
was pushed forward to force the nose of the machine down, and pulled
back to force it up. This made steering much easier. The rudders were
worked by wires leading to a pivoted bar on which the pilot’s feet
rested. Pushing the right foot steered to the right, pushing the left
foot steered to the left—which was also a very natural motion. This
method of construction has been maintained to this day on all machines.
The Voisin was the first “pusher” type of machine with single propeller
in the rear of the engine and the plane. The Voisin was always heavy,
but in 1915 it was built in large numbers for bombing purposes because
the forward nacelle or nest which held the observer and gunner afforded
such an unobstructed range of vision for the observer.
To M. Louis Bleriot goes the honor of first constructing monoplanes and
of putting the engine in the nose of the machine with a tractor screw
in front of it. He also first designed the fish-shaped, or stream-line,
body, with the tail and elevator planes horizontally and the vertical
rudder fixed at the rear end of the fuselage. This was the first
successful tractor aeroplane with the propeller in front.
In 1909 M. Bleriot came to the fore with his type X1 machine, the
prototype of all successful monoplanes. In this he incorporated the
Wright idea of warping the wings to give lateral control, and so
produced the first monoplane to be controllable in all directions. With
this type of machine, equipped with a 28 horse-power three-cylinder
Anzani air-cooled engine, M. Bleriot himself flew over the Channel on
July 25, 1909. His type X1 model, with a few structural details, was
the first to loop the loop regularly in 1912. After 1909, when fitted
with Gnome or Le Rhone rotary engines, the performance of the machine
was greatly improved. Since the Bleriot under-carriage, excellent for
its purpose, could not be made so as to be pushed rapidly through the
air, it was abandoned.
M. Bleriot introduced the stick form of control, so that by moving the
control stick forward or backward the nose of the machine moved down or
up. Pushing the stick to the right forced the right wing down, moving
it to the left pushed the left wing down. The rudder was worked by the
feet as in the Voisin. Thus a natural movement was given to all the
controls and a great step forward was made.
THE 1909 AND 1910 AVRO
Meanwhile in England Aylwin Verdon Roe was experimenting under strictly
limited conditions. In 1908 he had got off the ground in a Canard-type
biplane, and in the fall of that year he built a tractor biplane, and
in the summer of the next year he had it completed. His engine was a 9
horse-power J. A. P. motorcycle engine, the lowest power which has ever
flown an aeroplane. It was also the first successful triplane.
In general lines and plan the machine is the prototype of the modern
tractor biplanes and triplanes; it had warping wings, tail elevators,
and a rudder astern, while the control was by rudder and stick, similar
to the Bleriot.
This little machine was further developed in 1909 and 1910. Later Mr.
Roe abandoned the triplane for the biplane, which he fitted with a
Green engine of the vertical-cylinder type, which was the first of its
kind installed in an aeroplane. Thereafter the triplane practically
disappeared till it was revived by Glenn Curtiss, as well as British,
French, and German designers during the war.
They are great climbers and attain great speed in flying. The small
1910 Avro, equipped with a V water-cooled engine, was the forerunner of
the single-seated fighters of the last days of the war.
Because of its fast-climbing ability the 80 horse-power Avro and the
Sopwith Snipe were used for the defense of such cities as London
and Paris against Zeps and aeroplanes. The large two-seater Avro,
with only an 80 horse-power Gnome, flew over 80 miles an hour. As
a war-machine early in the conflict it did excellent work bombing.
Later, with slightly higher power, it was a very good training-machine.
Among two-seated biplanes it marked as great an advance as did the
Sopwith Tabloid. Among single-seaters, for the reason that it had
been carefully lightened without loss of strength and all details for
stream-line had been observed, the same is true.
THE FARMAN BROTHERS’ PLANE
While M. Bleriot was developing his monoplanes, Henry Farman left the
Voisin brothers and began experimenting on his own account. The result
of his experiments was first seen at the Great Rheims meeting when his
Gnome-engine biplane appeared, and on November 9, 1909, he made a new
world record of 145 miles in four hours, eighteen minutes, forty-five
seconds! Like the Wrights’, his machine had a front elevator stuck out
forward, but the vertical partitions had disappeared from the wings,
though retained in the tail. The whole machine was built of wood, so
that it was very much lighter than the Voisin. Its most remarkable step
forward, however, was the use of balancing flappers, usually called
ailerons, fitted into the rear edge of each wing. These ailerons were
pulled down on one side to give that side extra lift when the machine
tilted down on that side. Thus the ailerons had the same effect as
warping the wings, and as it then became unnecessary to twist the wing
itself, it became possible to build the whole wing structure as a fixed
box-girder structure of wood and wire. This was lighter and stronger
than was safe with a warping wing. For this reason aileron control is
used on all aeroplanes of to-day.
The Farman biplane was fitted with the stick control used by M.
Bleriot, the stick working wires fore and aft for the elevator and
lateral for the ailerons. A rudder-bar for the feet operated the rudder
wires. This was the beginning of the present-day idea of the pusher
biplane.
In 1911 Farman abandoned the front elevator and used only the elevator
control that was used by monoplanes, and he put the pilot and observer
out in front of the machine so that the range of vision was entirely
uninterrupted. Later this was covered and called a nacelle or nest by
the French. Here the machine-gun was mounted in the days of the World
War.
In 1912 Maurice Farman, a brother of Henry, built a machine independent
of his brother. He constructed a deep nacelle, giving greater comfort
to the pilot. It had a forward rudder, and because long horns supported
the rudder, it was called the mechanical cow. When this front elevator
was abolished later, it was known as the “Shorthorn.” This was the
prototype of the “gun busses” and early war training-machines in
England.
In 1913 Henry Farman’s pusher design began to take on its ultimate
form. The whole machine was more compact. The nacelle sheltered the
pilot better, and the machine did not look as detached from tail and
elevator as formerly. The general effect was more workmanlike and less
flattened out. This type was ultimately combined with the “Shorthorn”
by Maurice Farman into a machine nicknamed the Horace, a combination
of Henry and Maurice. In 1917 it was used as a means of training and
aerial travel rather than as a fighting-machine.
THE 1909 ANTOINETTE MONOPLANE
The Antoinette monoplane was evolved from the early experiments of MM.
Gastambide and Mangin, and designed by the famous M. Levavasseur, the
engine as well as the aeroplane. This is the plane in which Herbert
Latham failed to cross the English Channel by only a few hundred yards.
At the Rheims meeting in August, 1909, it was in full working order,
and during the last few days of the meet there was a continual fight
for the distance and duration records between Latham of the Antoinette,
Henry Farman of the Farman, and Paulhan of the Voisin. The Antoinette
was much the fastest, but its engine always failed to hold out long
enough to beat the others. However, the Antoinette proved in other
respects to be the fastest flying-machine of the year.
It was the first machine in which real care was taken to gain a correct
stream-line form. The wings were king-post girders. The body was
largely a box-girder composed of three-ply wood. The tail was separated
from the rest of the plane by uncovered longerons.
Unfortunately, the internal structure of later machines of this type
was weak, so that there were many fatal results from breaking in the
air. The control was also very hard to learn. One wheel worked the
warping of the wings, another worked the elevator, and there was a
rudder-bar for the feet. In spite of this the plane was very beautiful
to look at.
THE 1910 BREGUET
The first successful machine of this type was designed by M. Breguet, a
French engineer, who had begun experimenting in 1908, and it appeared
the latter part of 1910. The first of the year he produced a machine
which was nicknamed the “coffee-pot,” because it was enclosed entirely
in aluminum. This was developed later into a bombing-machine which
had many interesting features. It was almost entirely constructed of
steel tubes covered with aluminum plates, which led some to call it an
armored aeroplane, which it was not. The tail, which was one piece with
the rudder, was carried on a huge universal joint at the tip of the
body, so that it swivelled up or down or sideways in response to the
controls. The wings had one huge steel tubular spar, and as a result
only one row of interplane struts.
The under-carriage had a shock-absorber of a pneumatic-spring
construction, which was highly satisfactory, and was the prototype of
the elastic-rubber devices.
The machine was heavy, but it was fast and a great weight-carrier.
Because of minor defects in detail the machine never was generally
used, but it was the first step toward the big tractor biplane of
to-day. The Breguet 1913 seaplane, equipped with a Salmson engine, 200
horse-power, was one of the first to utilize large horse-power and was
thus the forerunner of the huge flying-boat of to-day.
THE NIEUPORT
In 1911 the brothers Charles and Edouard de Nieuport produced the
monoplane more commonly known as the Nieuport. The fuselage was a
very thick body, tapering well to rear. The pilot and passenger sat
close together, with only their heads and shoulders visible above
the fuselage. All unnecessary obstruction was removed to reduce head
resistance. The under-carriage consisted only of three V’s of steel
tube, of stream-line section, connected to a single longitudinal skid,
thus diminishing it to a noteworthy degree.
This made a very fast machine. With only a seven-cylinder, 50
horse-power Gnome engine it travelled 70 miles an hour, and with a
fourteen-cylinder, double-row, 50 horse-power Gnome, rated at 100
horse-power but actually developing 70 horse-power, it reached between
80 and 90 miles an hour. M. Weyman, in the James Gordon Bennett race
in the Isle of Sheppey, made an average speed of 79.5 miles an hour,
so that allowing for the corners, he must have done around 90 miles an
hour on straights.
The fast modern tractor biplanes show the influence of the flat
stream-lined, all-inclusive body of the Nieuport.
The most remarkable of the small machines of 1916 was the Nieuport
biplane, with the 90 horse-power engine and later the 110 horse-power
Le Rhone engine. This was similar to the German Fokker, an excellent
fighting-machine, and a direct successor of the Sopwith Tabloid. It was
noteworthy for the odd V formed by the struts between the wings.
THE 1912 B. E. (BRITISH EXPERIMENTAL)
In 1912 the British Government, realizing the importance of the
aeroplane as a war-machine for scouting purposes, established the Royal
Aircraft Factory at Farnborough, with Geoffrey de Havilland, one of the
early British experimenters, as designer. Machines of his invention
have been called D. H.’s. His 1912 aeroplane contains some of the
ideas embodied in the Avro, Breguet, and the Nieuport. The machine
had the lightness of a Nieuport, the stream-line of a Breguet, and the
stability of an Avro. It was very light for its size and capacity,
and with a 70 horse-power Renault engine it attained a speed of about
70 miles an hour, and it responded in the air and on the ground in a
manner never before attained. It was the prototype of a long line of
Royal Aircraft Factory designs, through all the range of B. E.’s on to
the R. E. series and the S. E. series.
The initials B. E. originally stood for Bleriot Experimental, as M.
Bleriot was officially credited with having originated the tractor-type
aeroplane. Later B. E. was understood to indicate British Experimental.
The subsequent development into R. E. indicated Reconnaissance
Experimental, these being large biplanes with water-cooled engines and
more tank capacity, intended for long-distance flights. S. E. indicates
Scouting Experimental, the idea being that fast single-seaters would be
used for scouting. They were, however, only used for fighting.
Another R. A. F. series is the F. E. or large pusher biplane, descended
from the Henry Farman. The initials stood originally for Farman
Experimental, but now stand for Fighting Experimental, the type being
variants of the Vickers Gun Bus.
THE 1914 B. E. 2C
Just before the war broke out the British R. A. F. produced an
uncapsizable biplane nicknamed “Stability Jane.” Officially she was
known as the B. E. 2c and was another type of Mr. De Havilland’s
original B. E. Once it was in the air the machine flew itself and the
pilot had only to keep it on its course. It was so slow in speed and
manœuvring that it was called the “suicide bus,” yet the type was
useful for certain purposes.
THE 1912 DEPERDUSSIN
A very small monoplane, designed by MM. Bechereau and Koolhoven for the
Deperdussin firm to compete in the James Gordon Bennett race at Rheims,
proved to be the fastest machine built to the close of 1912. It was
a tiny plane with a fourteen-cylinder, 100 horse-power Gnome engine.
It covered 126½ miles in an hour—the first time a man had ever
travelled faster than two miles a minute for a whole hour—and won the
race. Allowing for corners, it must have flown well over 130 miles an
hour on the straight course.
The little machine was stream-lined, even to the extent of placing a
stream-lined support behind the pilot’s head. Two wheels, an axle, and
four carefully stream-lined struts made up the under-carriage. The
plane was remarkable for having its fuselage built wholly of three-ply
wood, built on a mould without any bracing inside. It was the prototype
of all the very high-speed machines of to-day. In 1916-17 the three-ply
fuselage was adopted in all German fighting-machines and this country
is gradually appreciating the improvement and has made many fuselages
of three-ply wood.
THE 1912 CURTISS FLYING-BOAT
But perhaps the most remarkable achievement of 1912 was the Curtiss
flying-boat. Glenn Curtiss, who won the James Gordon Bennett race in
1909, had succeeded in rising from the water in 1911 with a similar
biplane fitted with a central pontoon float instead of a wheeled
under-carriage. This he made into a genuine flying-boat, consisting
of a proper hydroplane-boat, with wings and engine superimposed. All
the great modern flying-boats have descended from this, and it is the
forerunner of the great passenger-carrying seaplanes of the future.
Curtiss is also credited with the invention of ailerons.
THE 1912 SHORT SEAPLANE
Another type of seaplane was also developed in 1912 when, after many
trials, the Short brothers, of Eastchurch, England, built a successful
seagoing biplane, equipped with twin floats instead of the ordinary
landing-gear. This, with only an 80 horse-power Gnome engine, was the
first flying-machine to arise from or alight on any kind of sea.
THE 1912 TAUBE
The German Taube was yet another development of 1912. This plane is
so called because the wings are swept back and curved up at the tips
like those of a dove. The builders were Herr Wels and Herr Etrich, of
Austria, in 1908. Herr Etrich took the design to Germany, where it was
adopted by Herr Rumpler.
This machine was designed to be inherently stable, that is,
uncapsizable, and it was successful to a great degree. If it had
altitude enough it generally succeeded when falling in recovering its
proper position before striking the ground. Other builders had striven
for inherent stability, but had failed to get beyond a certain point.
Owing to the greater financial support obtainable in Germany the 1912
type Taube lasted, with small changes, far into 1915, when it was
succeeded by the large German biplanes, which had greater speed and
carrying power. Several machines in Britain and the United States have
attained a considerable reputation as having inherent stability.
THE 1913 SOPWITH TABLOID
T. O. M. Sopwith, Harry G. Hawker, the Australian pilot who first went
to Newfoundland to fly the Atlantic, and Mr. Sigrist, Mr. Sopwith’s
chief engineer, turned out early in 1913 an extremely small tractor
biplane, equipped with an 80 horse-power Gnome engine, which surprised
the aeronautical world by doing a top speed of 95 miles per hour and
a climb of 15,000 feet in ten minutes, while it could fly as slowly
as 45 miles per hour. It was achieved by skilfully reducing the
weight, paying close attention to the designing of the wings, and by
carefully stream-lining external parts. All the modern high-speed
fighting-biplanes, such as the “Camels,” “Snipes,” “Kittens,”
“Bullets,” “Hawks,” and others, are descended from the original
“Tabloid,” so called because it had so many good points concentrated in
it. Because of its fast-climbing ability it was used for the defense of
such cities as London and Paris against the Zeps and aeroplanes.
THE 1914 VICKERS GUN BUS
The first genuine gun-carrying biplane, designed and built by Vickers,
London, came early in 1914. Clearly of Farman inspiration, it had an
especially strong nacelle to stand the working of a heavy gun. Equipped
with a 100 horse-power Gnome engine it made over 70 miles an hour. It
was known everywhere as the “Gun Bus,” and the name stuck to the whole
class.
THE 1914 GERMAN ALBATROSS BIPLANE
Meanwhile the Germans were busy developing machines, so that another
development of 1914 was the Albatross tractor biplane, with a
six-cylinder vertical water-cooled Mercedes engine of 100 horse-power.
This engine was the ancestor of the Liberty engine and of all the big
German tractor biplanes. The plane resembled the French Breguets and
British Avros of 1910.
THE 1915 TWIN CAUDRON
The first aeroplane to fly with consistent success equipped with more
than one engine was the twin-motored Caudron, with two 110 horse-power
Le Rhone engines. Various other similar experiments had been
made and some machines were designed which afterward made good. The
French twin Caudron, however, may claim to be the first twin-engined
aeroplane. The engines were placed one on each side of the fuselage but
inaccessible to the pilot.
[Illustration: The huge four-motored Handley Page bomber.
This machine carried 40 passengers at one time over London and has
flown from London, via Cairo and Bagdad, to India. It has a wing spread
of 126 feet.]
THE 1916 TWIN HANDLEY PAGE
In 1916 the British Handley Page machine with 100-foot wing spread,
driven by two Rolls-Royce motors of 250 horse-power, performed many
remarkable bomb-carrying feats for long distance. A later machine,
with 127-foot wing spread and four engines, flew via Cairo and Bagdad
to Delhi, India, and still another carried a piano over the Channel.
A large fleet of these bombers were ready to attack Berlin when the
armistice was signed.
THE 1917 SPAD
The Spad was designed by M. Bechereau, of Deperdussin fame. It and
the Albatross D3 model were both descended from the Deperdussin, the
Nieuport, and the Tabloid. The Spad superseded the Nieuport as a
fighting scout on the West Front because of its superior speed when
driven by a Salmson engine.
THE 1917 D. H. 4
The 1917 D. H. 4 was designed by De Havilland, and the S. E. 5 was
built by his successors at the Royal Aircraft Factory. Both were
descendants of the B. E., as is the Bristol Fighter, built by the
British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, of British, and designed by
Captain Barnwell.
The German Gotha, which bombed London so often, was a descendant of the
Caudron and the Handley Page twin-engine planes.
In 1917 Italy produced her famous three-engined Caproni triplane,
driven by three Fiat 1,000 horse-power engines. It had 150-foot wing
spread and was used for bombing purposes. S. I. A. and Pomilio were
smaller fighting-machines, equipped with Fiat engines. All of these
machines were exhibited in the United States and many Caproni triplanes
were built in this country.
CHAPTER VI
DEVELOPMENT OF THE AEROPLANE FOR WAR PURPOSES
GERMAN AERIAL PREPAREDNESS—PRIZES GIVEN FOR AERONAUTICS BY VARIOUS
GOVERNMENTS—FIRST USE OF PLANES IN WAR—FIRST AIRCRAFT ARMAMENT
There is no gainsaying the fact that Germany, in her eagerness to
develop every engine of war further than any other nation, so that when
“Der Tag” came she would be mechanically superior and thus able to
quickly crush any adversary, instantly saw the advantage that control
of the air would give her.
For that reason, as soon as the Wrights began to demonstrate in
France, in 1908, the feasibility of the aeroplane as a scout, the
Germans realized the importance of the aeroplane as an adjunct of
the dirigible, whose development they had already been committed
to since 1900, when Count Ferdinand Zeppelin built his first rigid
lighter-than-air craft. Since aeronautic motors had to be used on both
types of aircraft, and since the speed and flying radius depended on
the efficiency of the engine, the Germans set about to develop them.
The French War Department had in 1910 laid down rules and regulations
for a competition to develop aeronautics. They specified that the
aeroplane and engine should be made in France, and that the distance
of flight must at least be 186 miles, carrying 660 pounds of useful
load, or three passengers, and to attain an altitude of 1,640 feet. The
sum of 100,000 francs was to be paid for the machine which accomplished
this feat, and 20 other machines of the same type were to be bought for
40,000 francs each. In the lists of that year 34 aeroplanes of as many
designs were built, but only 8 passed the tests. Weyman’s Nieuport with
a Gnome engine attained an average speed of 116 miles an hour.
As a result of this contest England, Germany, and Austria established
aeroplane meets for 1912. England offered 10,000 pounds in prizes.
Prince Henry of Prussia urged the German Government to appropriate
$7,000,000 for military aeronautics. On January 27, 1912, the Kaiser
offered 50,000 marks in prizes to develop aeromotors. The Aerial League
of Germany started a public subscription which brought in 7,234,506
marks. The purpose of the league was to train a large number of pilots
for a reserve and to encourage general development of aeronautics in
Germany.
This proved to be a great success, for by the end of 1913, 370
additional German pilots had been trained, making a total of over 600.
Meanwhile, German constructors increased from 20 to 50 in the same
period of time.
The development of aeronautics under the auspices of the Aerial League
induced the Reichstag to appropriate $35,000,000 to be expended during
the next five years for military aeronautics. This was by far the most
liberal appropriation made for war aeronautics by any government in
Europe.
Under this encouragement, by the middle of July, 1914, the German
aviators broke all the world’s records, making a total of over 100 new
records of all kinds. The non-stop endurance record of 24 hours, 12
minutes was made by Reinhold Boehm, and Heinrich Oelrich attained a
new ceiling at 26,246 feet. Herr Landsman covered 1,335 miles in one
day, making the world’s record for distance covered by one man in one
day. Roland Garros held the world’s record of 19,200 feet before Otto
Linnekogel made 21,654.
The stream-lining of aircraft and the development of the Mercedes and
Benz gasoline motors under the incentive to win the Kaiser’s prize was
the big factor in this aeronautic progress. Not only did the Germans
make new aviation records, but they also won the Grand Prix race in
Paris, 1913, with engines the details of which were most jealously
guarded, defeating the best English and French machines. Indeed, the
Mercedes motor used on Zeppelin, aeroplane, and automobile was the same
in fundamentals.
To Americans who are familiar with the difficulties we experienced in
the early days of our entrance into the World War in getting quantity
production with the Liberty motor, it is evident from the fact that the
Germans had three large factories filled with tools, dies, gigs, etc.,
for quantity production of the Benz, Mercedes, and Maybach engines,
that Germany believed that she had control of the air in June, 1914.
She had already broken all the world’s records in road-racing, as well
as in the air, and she had more than a score of Zeppelins and over 500
standardized planes.
Naturally, the preparations of the Germans did not fail to attract
attention in France. Races and aeronautic contests at military
manœuvres, besides aero expositions, were held by the French, and the
success of the Paris-Madrid and Paris-Rome race in 1911 influenced
the French Chamber of Deputies to appropriate 11,000,000 francs for
military aviation. The Kaiser’s prize and Prince Henry of Prussia’s
recommendation of $7,500,000 appropriation for German aviation caused
the Paris _Matin_ to start a national subscription by donating 50,000
francs for an aeronautic fund similar to that subscribed by Germany.
In 1911 Mr. Robert J. Collier loaned his aeroplane to the United States
Government to be used for scout duty on the Mexican frontier.
In February, 1912, during the Italian-Turkish War, the Italians used
one aeroplane for locating the position of the Arabs, and several bombs
were dropped without any attempt to do any more than guess at the place
where they would land. As a matter of fact, they fell far from their
objectives, and served no military purpose further than to frighten the
horses. In locating the distribution of troops, however, this aeroplane
was most valuable.
For that reason many military men even thought that the aeroplane,
because of the velocity at which it moved, could not be of much value
other than for scouting, and as no guns had been successfully mounted
on aircraft before the World War, the aeroplane was not regarded as an
offensive weapon. Indeed, that was one of the developments of the war.
The first attempts to mount a machine-gun on an aeroplane were made in
France on a Morane monoplane. In order to shoot over the propeller a
steel scaffolding was erected, and the pilot was supposed to stand up
to sight his gun. This was impracticable, and the structure retarded
the vision of the pilot and the speed of the aeroplane.
In the early days of the war pilots seldom flew over 3,000 feet high,
and since there were no machine-guns mounted in a practical way,
the pilots could only content themselves with firing revolvers at
one another. The only thing they had to fear was rifle-shot and the
trajectory of artillery. The few antiaircraft guns had no greater range
than 3,000 feet, and, as a matter of fact, most of the reconnaissance
work done at Verdun in the first six months of 1916 was at 3,000 feet
altitude.
The first historic record of a machine-gun mounted on an aeroplane was
in the despatch telling of the death of the French aviator Garaix on
August 15, 1914, by the aerobus Paul Schmitt. Garaix had 200 rounds
of ammunition. In December of that year the 160 horse-power Breguet
piloted by Moineau mounted a machine-gun. The French pusher Voisins,
with no obstruction of vision to the gunner in the nacelle, afforded
an excellent opportunity for the use of machine-guns. Moreover, most
of the aeroplanes brought down in the early days of the war were the
victims of engine trouble or shots from rifles on the ground. A staff
report of October 5, 1914, of the Germans relates that the French
aviator Frantz, flying a Voisin with his mechanic Quenault, shot down
a German Aviatic plane with two aviators from 1,500 metres altitude,
killing the two Germans. For this feat Sergeant Frantz received the
Military Medal, the first decoration given a French flier in the war.
On October 7 Captain Blaise and Sergeant Gaubert, in a Maurice Farman,
with a rifle shot down Lieutenant Finger, a Boche who had defended
himself with a revolver. Captain Blaise expended eight shots before he
got the German flier.
The first recorded equipment of a machine-gun on a German machine was
on October 25, 1914, when a Taube near Amiens opened fire on a Henry
Farman machine piloted by Corporal Strebick and his mechanic, who were
directing artillery-fire. The Germans first used a Mauser gun for their
aeroplanes.
Meanwhile, the need for having a machine-gun fixed stationary on the
aircraft and armed by manœuvring the aeroplane became more evident.
Roland Garros, who was the first to fly across the Mediterranean Sea
from France to Tunis, Africa, mounted a gun to shoot through the
propeller on February 1, 1915. In order to protect the blades from
the bullets, he had the propeller-tip covered with steel. Thus, when
the bullets hit, they were deflected. Only 7 per cent hit the blades,
however.
This was a crude way of mounting the gun, and it was Garros’s
mechanician who worked out the method of gearing up the machine-gun so
that it shot its 600 bullets between the revolutions of the propeller.
This enabled the so-called single-seater scout tractors, with propeller
in front, to fly armed with a machine-gun mounted over the hood of the
engine, directly in front of the aviator. It was also the beginning of
the use of the aeroplane as a fighter in aerial duels and in contact
patrol of later days when it descended to attack troops in the trenches
and trains on the tracks.
January 1, 1915, was the date of mounting the first Lewis machine-gun
on a Nieuport aeroplane to shoot over the propeller. The Germans copied
this with their Parabellum light gun, but it was not till July, 1915,
that the German Fokker first appeared with a synchronized machine-gun
mounted on it. Since a propeller revolves 1,400 times a minute, a blade
passes the nose of the gun 2,800 times a minute, and the machine-guns
were geared to shoot about 400 shots a minute, so that one shot passes
through to every seven strokes of the propeller-blade. Sometimes,
however, as many as two guns were synchronized to shoot through the
same propeller. A push-button on the steering-bar fires the gun while
the pilot keeps his eye on the enemy through the telescope in front of
him.
The Lewis gun is an air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed gun,
weighing 26 pounds with the jacket and 18 pounds without. The facility
with which the gun can be manœuvred into any position or angle makes
it a very efficient aeroplane gun. The ability of this gun to function
automatically, and the speed with which it operates, is due to the use
of a detachable drum-shaped, rotating magazine which holds 47 or 97
cartridges each. When the magazine is placed in position it needs no
more attention until all the cartridges are empty, when the magazine
is snatched off and another is stuck on. This gun is the invention of
Colonel Isaac Lewis, a retired American army officer.
The Vickers is an English gun, belt-fed, water-cooled, recoil-operated.
It can shoot from 300 to 500 shots a minute. Since all the shells are
in a belt it can be fired continuously until the 500 shots have been
used up. Its water-cooled devices were dispensed with on the aeroplanes.
The German Maxim is similar to the Vickers. The Lewis shoots .33 and
Vickers and Maxim .30 ammunition. In the beginning of the war the
Colt gas-operated gun was also used on aeroplanes, as were also the
Hotchkiss and Benet-Mercier. The first gun shooting 400 shots a minute
was similar to the Vickers.
Owing to the ease with which the cotton-belts containing the cartridges
on Vickers guns jam, it was used only for fixed positions in front,
whereas the Lewis was employed in the observer’s nacelle and other
positions which required sudden change in the aim. As many as half a
dozen machine-guns were mounted on some of the large bombers in the
last days of the war.
Many attempts to mount cannon on aircraft have been made, but owing to
the recoil, the room necessary for mounting and manipulating, and the
speed with which the gunner and the target move through the air, not
much success was attained.
Captain Georges Guynemer, the first great French flier to down more
than fifty Hun planes, is credited with mounting a one-pounder on his
Nieuport, single-seater. It could not shoot through the propeller, so
it was arranged to shoot through the hub. The gun was built into the
crank-case, the barrel protruding two inches beyond the hub. It is said
that Guynemer brought down his forty-ninth, fiftieth, fifty-first, and
fifty-second victims with this type of gun; but because of the fifty
pounds extra weight above that of the machine-gun it was an impediment.
Attempts to use on aeroplanes the Davis non-recoil gun, invented by
Commander Davis of the United States navy, have not been entirely
successful. The two-pounder is 10 feet long, weighs 75 pounds, and
shoots 1.575 shell with a velocity of 1,200 feet a second. The 3-inch
Davis fires a 12-pound shell and weighs 130 pounds.
Several other guns have been used, and with the increase in the size of
planes there ought to be much increase in the size of aeroplane guns.
CHAPTER VII
DEVELOPMENT OF THE LIBERTY AND OTHER MOTORS
DEBATE IN REGARD TO ORIGIN OF LIBERTY MOTOR—LIBERTY-ENGINE
CONFERENCE, DESIGN, AND TEST—MAKERS OF PARTS—HISPANO-SUIZA
MOTOR—ROLLS-ROYCE—OTHER MOTORS
There has been more discussion of the Liberty motor than any other
motor made during the war. This was due to the publicity given to the
motor by the publication of a romantic story of the motor, issued from
Washington over the signature of Secretary of War Baker, to the effect
that the motor was conceived in a few days, and built and perfected
within a month. Of course every engineer knows that that could not
be done, and it took at least six months before the Liberty engine
was perfected, and this was long after the Creel Publicity Bureau in
Washington issued its statement.
As we have pointed out elsewhere, if the Aircraft Production Board
had taken the patterns of a standard motor like the Hispano-Suiza,
which had been flown for nearly three years under all kinds of war
conditions, and which was being built in this country, and if they
had ordered gigs, dies, and tools, and when we entered the war had
requested our engineers to follow Chinese patterns in the making of
the same, the dies, gigs, etc., could have been made at once instead of
months later, and many American-made aircraft could have been operating
over the lines when the Americans began to fight at Château-Thierry,
and not months later, as was the case. Undoubtedly this delay cost
the lives of thousands of American soldiers, and set back the Allied
victory by just so much. The failure to deliver aircraft on schedule
was the reason why General Pershing had to demand haste in the
production of machines. Regardless of the fact that the aeroplane
motor is radically different from the automobile motor, because it
must be much lighter, nevertheless automobile men were called in by
the Aircraft Production Board to design the Liberty motor, and many of
the engine-building companies that had been constructing aeronautical
motors were not consulted.
After the Liberty engine was completed a lively debate was instituted
as to which of the two companies that was represented at the designing
of the engine deserved the most credit for the job. One of the
automobile companies advertised the fact that they were responsible for
the Liberty motor, and the other company immediately replied, trying to
prove that because they had built successful motors before the war that
they were the real designers of the motor.
To be sure, no one would have objected to the construction of a Liberty
motor on the side, but to delay the construction of motors in quantity
until September, 1917, put the United States back just six months in
production, for a number of factories were already producing parts for
Rolls-Royce engines, and the Wright-Martin Company had been building
the Hispano-Suiza motor since January, 1916.
Be that as it may, the facts regarding the Liberty motor appear to
be that General Squier, E. A. Deeds, Howard E. Coffin, S. D. Waldon,
of the Aircraft Production Board, called in to consultation on May
29, 1918, E. J. Hall, chief engineer of the Hall-Scott Motor Company,
builders of a number of 4, 6, 8, and 12 cylinder aeroplane engines,
and Jesse G. Vincent, experimental engineer of the Packard Motor Car
Company, who had just completed a design and an experimental aeroplane
engine, which had never up to that time been in a plane.
Both these gentlemen were in Washington attempting to interest Signal
Corps officials in the aeroplane engine each had designed.
LIBERTY-ENGINE CONFERENCE
A five-day conference between Mr. Hall and Mr. Vincent, called by Mr.
Deeds and Mr. Waldon of the Aircraft Production Board to consider
aeroplane-engine design and production, was held. The two engineers got
together in designing a standardized, directly driven, five-bearing
crank-shaft engine of 8 cylinders, and one of 12 cylinders, with a
seven-bearing crank-shaft. After a session of twenty hours’ work in
a room at the New Willard Hotel, in Washington, during which meals
were served the two men, and both lived, worked, and slept in the
apartments of Mr. Deeds, a new 8-cylinder 230 horse-power aeroplane
engine was laid out, described, and drawings of transverse and
longitudinal sections were made by Vincent and Hall themselves. This
was the first Liberty motor designed.
On the morning of May 30, 1917, near the close of the designing
session, Mr. Vincent dictated a joint report to the Aircraft Production
Board. The salient points and a rough draft had been agreed upon the
night before. It was dated May 31, 1917, and signed jointly by E. J.
Hall and Jesse G. Vincent.
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 31, 1917.
AIRCRAFT PRODUCTION BOARD,
WASHINGTON, D. C.
_Gentlemen_: At your request we have made a careful study of the
aircraft motor situation and hasten to submit our report as follows:
In order to get this report in your hands promptly we have condensed
it as much as possible and have covered the essentials only.
In view of the fact that there are a number of good motors for
training-machines available, we have disregarded this type of motor
and have confined our attention strictly to the high-efficiency,
low-weight per horse-power type, such as is necessary at the front.
In order that any motors that are built by this country may be of
any value when received at the front, it is, of course, absolutely
necessary that their efficiency be brought up to or a little beyond
the best now available in Europe. This, of course, made it necessary
for us to know just what has been accomplished in Europe. The French
and English Commission has enabled us to obtain this information by
answering our questions very clearly and completely.
From information obtained from these gentlemen and from other sources,
we believe that the Loraine Dietrich is the coming motor in Europe.
This motor has not been built in large quantities as yet, but some
thirty had been constructed and carefully tested out at sea-level and
also at about 6,000 feet elevation. The important facts about this
motor are as follows:
Eight cylinders: 120 mm. bore by 170 mm. stroke.
Cylinders made of steel with water-jackets welded on. Motor is
direct-driven and develops 250 horse-power at 1,500 r. p. m., and
270 horse-power at 1,700 r. p. m. The weight of the bare motor is
240 kilos, or approximately 528 pounds, while the weight of the
motor complete with radiator and water is 305 kilos, or 671 pounds.
There seems to be a reasonable doubt regarding the exact weight of
the bare motor, as while the French Commission gave us the figure of
528 pounds, information from other sources indicates a weight of 552
pounds; probably some intermediate figure is more nearly correct,
but in any event the motor gives a horse-power for approximately two
pounds of weight when figured at its maximum output of 270 horse-power.
After obtaining this information and considering the matter very
carefully, we next investigated the matter of testing such a motor,
as we knew that a motor of this type could not be run at full power
for long periods of time without developing serious trouble. Here
again the French Commission gave us valuable information. They stated
that in using a motor of this type it is only run at full power for
short periods of time while climbing or fighting, and that all other
times it is run at speeds 200 to 300 r. p. m. slower. In view of the
fact that the motor is built to run under these conditions, it is, of
course, necessary to test it under similar conditions, and they stated
when trying out a new model of motor it is their practice to mount a
propeller which will just hold the motor down to maximum speed under
full throttle. The motor is then run for fifty hours, in periods of
six to eight hours each, but the motor is not run up to full speed for
more than a total of ten hours during this entire period, nor is it
run more than thirty minutes at any single time under this condition.
The other forty hours’ running is under throttled conditions, turning
the same propeller 200 to 300 r. p. m. less than maximum speed.
This information is of the utmost importance, as it enables us to
reduce all factors of safety and make possible the light-weight per
horse-power now being obtained in Europe.
After obtaining this information we immediately laid down a proposed
motor which we believe can be produced promptly in large quantity in
this country. Built carefully out of proper materials, this motor will
have approximately the following characteristics and be as good, or a
little better, than the Loraine Dietrich, which is not as yet really
available abroad.
In laying down this motor we have without reserve selected the best
possible practice from both Europe and America. Practically all
features of this motor have been absolutely proved out in America by
experimental work and manufacturing experience in the Hall-Scott and
Packard plants, and we are, therefore, willing to unhesitatingly stake
our reputations on this design, providing we are allowed to see that
our design and specifications are absolutely followed.
The motor is to be of the eight-cylinder type, with cylinders set at
an included angle of 45 degrees. The cylinders are of the individual
type, made out of steel forgings with jackets welded on. The bore is
five inches and the stroke seven inches, giving a piston displacement
of 1,100 cubic inches. The crank-shaft is of the five-bearing type
with all main bearings 2⅜ inches in diameter, and all crank-pin
bearings 2¼ inches in diameter. The connecting-rods are of the
I-beam straddle type. This motor is of the direct-driven type with a
maximum speed of 1,700 r. p. m. This motor will have a maximum output
of 275 horse-power at 1,700 r. p. m. It will weigh 525 to 550 pounds,
but we feel very sure of the lower figure. It will have a gasoline
economy of .50 pounds of fuel per horse-power hour or better; it will
have an oil economy of .04 pounds of oil per horse-power hour or
better. Complete with water and radiator, this motor will not weigh
more than 675 pounds, if a properly constructed radiator is used and
placed high above the motor.
To obtain the above-mentioned weights it will be necessary to use the
fixed type of propeller hub which has been thoroughly proved out by
Hall-Scott practice. In order to obtain the above-mentioned weights
it will also be necessary, as mentioned above, to use the very best
material, workmanship, and heat treatment.
Complete detail and assembly drawings, as well as parts list and
material specifications, can be completed at the Packard factory under
our direction in less than four weeks. We believe that a sample motor
can also be completed in approximately six weeks if money is used
without stint. As soon as the drawings, specifications, and sample
motor have been finished, complete information would, of course, be
available so that any high-grade manufacturer could either make parts
for this motor or manufacture it complete.
In laying down this design we have had in mind the extreme importance
of interchangeability, as a well-laid, comprehensive programme
which has for its base interchangeability of important parts,
such as cylinders, will speed output and reduce ultimate cost to
an astonishing extent. Europe is suffering right now from lack of
uniformity of design, but it is too late for them to change their
plan. We, however, can take a leaf out of their book and start right.
In the design which we have laid down, the cylinder, for instance,
can be used to make four, six, eight, and twelve cylinder motors. As
this is the most intricate part to make, immense facilities could
be provided to produce them in large quantities for the use of many
concerns who could manufacture the balance of the motor. Nearly all
small parts and numerous large and important ones would also be
interchangeable. This would not only speed up production but would be
of the utmost importance in connection with repairs and replacements.
A full line of motors made according to this plan would line up about
as follows:
Rated Maximum Weight per
Type Horse-power Horse-power Weight Horse-power
4 110 135 375 2.7
6 165 205 490 2.3
8 225 275 535 1.9
12 335 410 710 1.7
Respectfully submitted,
(_Signed_) J. G. VINCENT.
(_Signed_) E. J. HALL.
On June 4 Hall and Vincent finished a layout of an 8-cylinder engine,
and presented the drawings and received an order to build ten sample
engines, and on June 8 the Packard Company arranged for pattern-making,
production work, etc.
This motor after intensive work on detail drawings was put into
preliminary production. The first one was delivered to Washington,
July 3, 1917. In the making of the sample engine Mr. Vincent’s company
placed its factory organization at the disposal of the government, and
through Mr. Vincent’s untiring efforts and enthusiasm the first motor
was completed within the sixty days.
The other companies which aided in the work of building this motor were:
The General Aluminum and Brass Manufacturing Company of Detroit made
bronze-backed, babbitt-lined bearings and aluminum castings.
The Cadillac Motor Car Company of Detroit made the connecting-rods,
connecting upper-end bushings, connecting-rod bolts, and rocker-arm
assemblies. The Cadillac Company had perfected the design of
connecting-rods of the forked or straddle type, and had been using them
for several years in their 8-cylinder engines.
The Parke Drop Forge Company of Cleveland made the crank-shaft
forgings. These forgings completely heat-treated were produced in three
days, simply because Mr. Hall gave them permission to dig out the
Hall-Scott dies which were used in making the first Liberty crank-shaft
forgings.
Hall-Scott Motor Car Company of San Francisco supplied all the
bevel-gears out of its stock for the standardized line of Hall-Scott 4,
6, 8, and 12 cylinder aeroplane engines.
The L. O. Gordon Company of Muskegon made the cam-shafts.
The Hess-Bright Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia made the
ball-bearings.
The Burd High Compression Ring Company of Rockford, Ill., supplied
the piston-rings out of stock made up for the Hall-Scott line
of standardized aeroplane engines, for which it had perfected a
piston-ring.
The Aluminum Castings Company of Cleveland supplied the die-cast alloy
pistons, and machined them up to grinding, as they had been engaged in
making them for several years for the Hall-Scott line of standardized
aviation engines.
The Rich Tool Company made the valves.
[Illustration: The Martin bomber.
This plane is equipped with two Liberty engines and has many
long-distance records. It flew from Pittsburgh to Washington, a
distance of 175 miles, in 1 hour and 15 minutes. It also flew from the
Atlantic to the Pacific.]
The Gibson Company of Muskegon made the springs.
The Packard Company made the patterns and several dies in order to
obtain drop-forgings of the proper quality. It also machined the
crank-shafts.
After the preliminary tests passed by the 8-cylinder engine, August
25, 1917, Government Inspector Lynn Reynolds said “that the design has
passed from the experimental stage into the field of proven engines.”
The machine was tested at Pike’s Peak, Colorado, for altitude in
August, 1917. Reports from the battle-field decided the board to build
12-cylinder engines. Thereupon standardized parts made interchangeable
for all types of Liberty engines were detailed, and orders placed with
the various firms named to build the same. Production was started on a
large scale.
On October 17 the production of the Liberty motor started, over six
months after we entered the war.
The delivery of the first Liberty 12 was made on Thanksgiving Day, 1917.
One of the unrecorded incidents of this period concerned the
“scrapping” of $400,000 worth of semi-finished parts of an automotive
aircraft engine, which was assumed O. K., and parts had been ordered
for 250 motors. It was actually in production at the time Hall and
Vincent were ignoring practically all its features and “laying out” the
designs for the Liberty 8 and Liberty 12. It had never been tested in a
plane, and its design and all its parts were rejected.
Owing to the slowness of production due to the new gigs, dies, tools,
etc., necessary to build the engines, much criticism was directed at
the lack of shipments of Liberty engines for army air service in the
winter months of 1917.
Charged with the necessity of protecting the American army transport,
the Navy Department had first call on all air-service equipment. As
a result it received the first Liberty 12’s turned out. These were
installed in navy aeroplanes, where they did good work.
The preliminary Liberty 8 was delivered to the Bureau of Standards,
Washington, D. C., July 3, 1917, by the group of industrial concerns
named. A 54-hour test was made of a Liberty 12 on August 25 by
the Bureau of Standards. The Liberty 12 was detailed for quantity
production, and the actual work was begun, and the work done by
these companies in producing Liberty-engine parts is above praise.
It was then that the mighty energies of their splendid organizations
demonstrated the ability of American industrial life to fight the
battle behind the lines.
WAR DEPARTMENT STATEMENT
Departing from its policy of secretiveness concerning all things of a
military character, the United States War Department on May 15, 1918,
issued an authorized statement dealing with the technical features
and characteristics of the Liberty 12, then in quantity production.
This statement was published in the _Congressional Record_ of an early
subsequent date.
Secretary of War Baker in his report published elsewhere in this book
gives the following account of Liberty motors built:
PRODUCTION OF SERVICE ENGINES
In view of the rapid progress in military aeronautics, the necessity
for the development of a high-powered motor adaptable to American
methods of quantity production was early recognized. The result of
the efforts to meet this need was the Liberty motor—America’s chief
contribution to aviation, and one of the great achievements of the
war. After this motor emerged from the experimental stage, production
increased with great rapidity, the October output reaching 4,200, or
nearly one-third of the total production up to the signing of the
armistice. The factories engaged in the manufacture of this motor, and
their total production to November 8, are listed in Table 21.
TABLE 21.—PRODUCTION OR LIBERTY MOTOR TO NOVEMBER 8, 1918, BY
FACTORIES:
Packard Motor Car Co 4,654
Lincoln Motor Co 3,720
Ford Motor Co 3,025
General Motors 1,554
Nordyke & Marmon Co 433
———
Total 13,396
Of this total, 9,834 were high-compression, or army type, and 3,572
low-compression, or navy type, the latter being used in seaplanes and
large night bombers.
In addition to those installed in planes, about 3,500 Liberty engines
were shipped overseas, to be used as spares and for delivery to the
Allies.
Other types of service engines, including the Hispano-Suiza 300
horse-power, the Bugatti, and the Liberty 8-cylinder, were under
development when hostilities ceased. The Hispano-Suiza 180
horse-power had already reached quantity production. Nearly 500
engines of this type were produced, about half of which were shipped
to France and England for use in foreign-built pursuit planes.
Table 22 gives a résumé of the production of service engines by
quarterly periods:
TABLE 22.—PRODUCTION OR SERVICE ENGINES IN 1918:
Jan. 1 to Apr. 1 to July 1 to Oct. 1 to
Name of engine Mar. 31 June 30 Sept. 30 Nov. 8 Total
Liberty 12, Army 122 1,493 4,116 4,093 9,824
Liberty 12, Navy 142 633 1,710 1,087 3,572
Hispano-Suiza 180 h.p. ... ... 185 284 469
Later the Statistical Department of the War Department issued the
following. The number of planes and engines shipped by the Bureau of
Aircraft Production to depots and storehouses from the date of the
armistice to February 14:
Liberty 12 service engines 4,806
OX-5 elementary training-engines 1,261
Le Rhone advanced training-engines 994
De Havilland-4 observation planes 524
Hispano 180 advanced training-engines 343
Hispano 150 advanced training-engines 254
JN6-H advanced training-planes 174
JN4-D elementary training-planes 131
The Packard Motor Car Company made the final deliveries of Liberty
12 motors during the week ended March 21, 1919. This completes all
contracts. The following shows the number and per cent produced by
each factory:
Number P.C.
Firm produced of total
Packard Motor Car Co. 6,500 32
Lincoln Motor Co. 6,500 32
Ford Motor Co. 3,950 19
General Motors Co. 2,528 12
Nordyke & Marmon Co. 1,000 5
———
Total 20,478
THE HISPANO-SUIZA
It is evident from the records made by the German Mercedes, which
are given in another chapter, that it was the best aviation motor
in existence in July, 1914. Naturally, this motor had considerable
influence on the aeronautical engineers of the Allies. Mr. Marc
Birkright, a Swiss engineer to the Hispano-Suiza Company, automobile
builders in Barcelona, Spain, and Paris, designed the aviation motor
which now holds the world’s record for altitude—28,900 feet. When he
designed the motor he had in mind the construction of the machine-tools
necessary to build the same.
In the summer of 1915 the first motor of 150 horse-power was delivered
to France after a test of 15 consecutive hours. The next two were
tested for 50 hours, and proved satisfactory. France placed a large
order, and the Hispano-Suiza factory began production at the end of
1915. Before the end of the war three Italian, fourteen French, one
British, one Japanese, and one Spanish factory, besides 25,000 people
in America, were producing Hispano-Suiza engines.
The motor had great success in the single-seater fighters flown by
such men as Captain Georges Guynemer, Lieutenant Fonck, Nungesser, and
dozens of other aces.
With the exception of increasing the horse-power from 150 to 180, 200,
300, very few changes were made in this motor in this country.
Four hundred and fifty engines were ordered by the French Government
of the General Aeronautic Company of America early in 1916. When the
Wright-Martin Aircraft Company was formed in September of that year,
less than 100 motors had been delivered. At the end of July, 1917,
1,000 motors were on their books.
From July, 1917, the American factory concentrated on the 150
horse-power engine. The Wright-Martin Company had to build its own
plant for aluminum castings for the engine. In November of that
year the company was ordered to build 200 horse-power engines, and
later the 300 horse-power was ordered. In May, 1918, the French and
British Governments decided to use the 300 horse-power motor in
large quantities, and by October the factories of the company in New
Brunswick and Long Island City were tooled up to produce 1,000 motors
a month, which represented a $50,000,000 order. Early in the spring of
1918, 15 motors a day were produced, and in August of that year the
company was committed to a schedule of 30 engines a day.
THE ROLLS-ROYCE MOTOR
“There is no doubt,” says _London Motor_, “that the conception of
the Rolls-Royce aeronautic engine is extremely good, but no one will
gainsay the fact that the care exercised in manufacture and the
elaborate operations through which the various parts have to pass are
in part the reason for its success. This refinement necessitates the
passing of certain parts through fifty or sixty operations that might
be easily carried out in a comparatively small number if superfine
finish were not desired or required.
“The Rolls-Royce ‘Eagle’ engine, originally designed as a 200
horse-power unit, developed 255 horse-power on the first brake test.
Diligent research and experiment were pursued with extraordinary
results, as will be seen in the following record of official brake
tests, all made without any enlargement of the dimensions or radical
alteration in design. A 12-cylinder engine, 4½-inch bore by
6½-inch stroke, developed in March, 1916, 266 horse-power at
1,800 R. P. M. By July the power was increased to 284 horse-power;
nine months from this date, in September, 1917, it had risen to 350
horse-power, and in February, 1918, 10 more horse-power was added,
making the total 360 horse-power. In addition to the ‘Eagle,’ a smaller
engine giving 105 horse-power at 1,500 R. P. M. was turned out under
the name of the ‘Hawk.’
“The ‘Eagle’ engine was used in the large Handley Page machine, and
in the successful long-distance bombing raids into Germany. In 1916
another engine for fighting planes was added to the list, under the
name of ‘Falcon,’ and was almost exclusively used in the Bristol
fighting plane. The increase in the power developed by the ‘Falcon’
engine, which has a 4-inch bore, was as follows: April, 1916, 206
horse-power at 1,800 R. P. M.; July, 1918, 285 horse-power at 2,000 R.
P. M.
“From the stamping-plant through the machine, gear-cutting, and
grinding shops and welding department, the care with which each engine
is turned out is apparent. Take apart a cylinder which has a stamped
sheet-metal water-jacket welded externally, and the original billet is
found out of which the cylinder was made, but reduced almost by half
when it is ready to receive the valve cages, and during the process
of removal of the metal and forming into proper shape the piece is
subjected to several heat treatments so as to bring the metal to that
stage of perfection needed for the work it has to perform. The elbow
cages that are fitted to the cylinders might be cast and cored, but
the valve cage is an actual solid stamping, and the right-angle bend
through the elbow has to be bored out by special machines.
“One point illustrates the care in the choice of metal and the
multifarious operations through which each part has to pass. A
crank-shaft stamping with extension piece on the rear and about one
foot long is cut off, and test pieces of this metal, properly numbered
with each crank-shaft, are passed through the same treatment as the
crank-shaft itself, and then subjected to minute examination by highly
skilled engineers. The actual manufacturing side of the work would
naturally be very similar to the manufacture of a car engine, but one
obtains a better perspective of what an engine is subjected to by
passing from the erecting and manufacturing shops to the engine-testing
shop, where the ear-splitting reports from the open exhausts of a
number of engines being tested at the same time are heard. Here one
sees how dissimilar the aviation engine is from the car engine. It is
almost impossible, without having actually witnessed it, to picture
to oneself a 12-cylinder engine running at 2,200 R. P. M. against a
brake test. As the exhaust ports are on either side of the engine, the
cylinders being placed in the form of a V, it is possible, by passing
on either side, to look into the combustion-chamber and see the valves
rising and the spit of the exhaust, and, what is almost incredible,
that the exhaust valves are actually red-hot and run in this condition
for hours. Little wonder is it that the valves have to be made of
superfine material and of particular form.
“The variation in the color of the flame of the exhaust, due to strong
and weak mixtures, makes it quite possible to test the good running of
an engine by the color of its exhaust. The strength of the mixture has
necessarily to be altered according to atmospheric conditions and the
altitude to which the pilot desires to climb.
“No doubt airplane-engine practice of the last four years and the
advance that it has made will be reflected in a very marked degree
in the automobile, not necessarily by fitting large airplane engines
in cars, but by applying to car practice the knowledge that has been
gained in manufacture.
“The Rolls-Royce works had in 1907 an area of 5,312 square yards,
and during the war this was increased to 67,935 square yards. At the
present time the payroll is somewhere in the neighborhood of 8,650.”
CHAPTER VIII
GROWTH OF AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING IN UNITED STATES
THE 1912 EXPOSITION—THE FIRST PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION—THE
MANUFACTURERS AIRCRAFT EXPOSITION—DESCRIPTIONS OF EXHIBITORS—GROWTH
OF AIRCRAFT FACTORIES—NAVAL AIRCRAFT FACTORY
As soon as the Wright brothers demonstrated the feasibility of aerial
flight in 1908 a great many companies were organized to manufacture
heavier-than-air machines. Naturally, most of the designers and
builders were young men who learned to fly, as there was no science of
aircraft construction taught in the universities or colleges in the
pioneer days. At first little capital was obtained, and as the use
of the aeroplane was confined to sporting purposes, the demands for
the same were small. Nevertheless, by May, 1912, the manufacturing of
aircraft had developed to such an extent that a show was held at the
Grand Central Palace, New York, from May 9 to 18. The exposition was
held under the auspices of the International Exposition Company. Nine
monoplanes and twelve biplanes and one quadriplane were exhibited.
The Wright brothers exhibited a two-seater biplane. It differed little
from the regular headless models, the only change being the two
long, narrow, vertical planes in front and a larger vertical rudder
in the rear and wing-warping. The gasoline-tank is placed behind the
passenger-seat, while the radiator was put in the rear of the engine.
On the Wright stand was also to be seen for the first time one of
their new 6-cylinder 6 horse-power aeroplane motors, as well as a new
three-step hydroplane, designed expressly for use on their machines.
CURTISS
The Curtiss Aeroplane Company showed three of their latest biplanes and
two motors.
The centre of attraction of the Curtiss exhibit was the new
small-spread headless machine. This machine had a spread of only 21
feet 3 inches, and a chord of 4½ feet, and an over-all length of 32
feet. It was equipped with a 75 horse-power 8-cylinder V water-cooled
Curtiss motor. A Curtiss hydroaeroplane was also shown.
In addition to the hydro and racer the Curtiss Company showed a
two-passenger military-type machine, fitted with a shift control.
BURGESS
The Burgess Company showed three biplanes, one a large two-seater
military tractor, a regular Burgess-Wright hydroaeroplane, and the
“Flying Fish,” the original Burgess.
The military type was a large tractor biplane having the engine and
propeller mounted in front of the fuselage. The seats for the aviator
and passenger were arranged tandem fashion behind the gasoline-tanks
and immediately between the two planes. Near the rear of the fuselage
was attached a stationary horizontal stabilizing tail, while at the
extreme rear was the horizontal rudder.
The power-plant consisted of an 8-cylinder V air-cooled 70 horse-power
Renault motor, which drove through under gearing a large Chauviere
tractor propeller.
In addition the machine was equipped with a very complete wireless set
for receiving and sending messages, the current being generated by a
small dynamo, which was placed underneath the fuselage and was driven
by the engine.
The Burgess-Wright shown was of the regular two-passenger type, capable
of being started from the seat, and fitted with a 6-cylinder 50
horse-power silenced Kirkham motor in place of the usual 35 horse-power
Wright.
SCHILL
Paul Schill, of the Max Ams Company, exhibited a large Farman-type
hydroaeroplane, equipped with a 100 horse-power 8-cylinder Max Ams
motor, which could be cranked from the seat. This biplane had a
covered-in cabin with seats for three persons. The hydroplanes were
fitted to the regular skid struts and were of the single-step type.
COFFYN
Frank T. Coffyn exhibited a hydroaeroplane. This machine was the
regular standard Wright pattern, but fitted with Coffyn’s own
hydroplanes. Coffyn was the first man to successfully fit double
hydroplanes to an aeroplane.
Another improvement made by Coffyn was the fitting of a starting-crank
to permit starting the motor from the front without having to turn the
propellers.
CHRISTMAS
The Christmas Aeroplane Company showed a biplane. The wings of this
biplane were set at a double dihedral angle, with an opening about two
feet wide in the centre of the top plane, to take up the blast of air
made by the propeller. The edges of the wings were flexible like a
bird’s. The controlling-gear consisted of a semicircular wheel, which
by rotating worked the ailerons, while a twisting movement of the whole
on its axis turned the vertical rudder, and a fore-and-aft movement,
operated by warping, the large horizontal rudder in the rear. The motor
used was a 7-cylinder 50 horse-power Gyro.
GRESSIER
The Gressier Aviation Company exhibited a “Canard” type machine which
was fitted with a 50 horse-power Gnome. This machine has an elevator
in front of the fuselage, while the main planes and motor were in the
rear. The seats for pilot and passenger were situated just in front of
the main biplane cellule.
The biplane shown was fitted with three skids and six Farman-type
shock-absorbing wheels.
REX
The Rex Monoplane Company exhibited an all-American monoplane. This
machine had a long, graceful fuselage, which carried at its front end
the motor and gasoline-tank, the wings and the pilot’s seat, and at
its rear the flat, non-lifting tail plane and elevator flaps with the
vertical rudder immediately behind them. The landing-gear was quite
novel, and consisted of a single skid and two shock-absorbing wheels.
These wheels were attached to the fuselage through telescopic tubes
having springs inside them to absorb shocks. The axle also strapped to
the landing-skid by rubber bands, the whole forming the first flexible
and efficient shock-absorbing landing-gear.
The main planes had a peculiar reverse curve in them, and were pivoted
to a centre upright in the fuselage, thus permitting of warping the
whole wing instead of only the tips.
ANTOINETTE
Harry S. Harkness exhibited the Antoinette monoplane with which he
carried the first war-despatch in the United States, on February 7,
1911. This machine was fitted with an 8-cylinder 50 horse-power
Antoinette motor and Normale propeller.
BALDWIN
Captain Thomas S. Baldwin showed the biplane with which he has toured
in many parts of the globe. This machine was a cross between an early
Farman and a Curtiss. The power-plant consisted of a 60 horse-power
8-cylinder Hall-Scott motor.
MULTIPLANE LTD.
The Multiplane Limited, of Atchison, Kan., showed a large quadruplane
built under the patents of H. W. Jacobs and R. Emerson. The machine
was of the headless type, having four main planes in front, with four
lifting tail planes in the rear, and an elevator immediately behind
the two. The propellers were mounted on the same axis and placed
midway behind the main planes, and were driven by leather-covered
flat steel belts from two 8-cylinder 80 horse-power staggered V-type
air-cooled motors. The machine was designed for weight-carrying, and
was fitted with a large cabin having a double row of seats, capable
of holding five people comfortably. The landing-chassis consisted of
one long centre skid, having two large 48-inch wheels in front, and a
single swivelling wheel in the rear. These wheels were not fitted with
pneumatic tires, but instead had a broad, flat, strip steel rim. The
wing spread was 37 feet; length, 29 feet 8 inches; height, 17 feet.
GALLAUDET
The Gallaudet Engineering Company exhibited a speed monoplane named the
“Bullet.”
The fuselage was torpedo-shaped, having a section four feet square at
the point where the aviator sat, and tapering sharply to a point in
the front, and more gradually toward the rear. The nose of the machine
was made up of sheet aluminum, having a series of holes stamped in
it to permit of efficient cooling of the 14-cylinder Gnome. The main
planes were attached to the centre of the fuselage in a position just
behind the engine, while at the rear of the fuselage were the small
triangular-shaped elevator and the vertical rudder. A three-bladed
propeller was used. The dimensions were: length over all, 20 feet 6
inches; spread, 32 feet; width of wings, 8 feet wide at the body,
tapering slightly toward the tips.
TWOMBLY
Mr. Irving W. Twombly exhibited a Bleriot-type monoplane which was
fitted with one of his 45 horse-power 7-cylinder air-cooled revolving
motors. The planes were covered with transparent celluloid in the
vicinity of the body for the purpose of affording the pilot a good view
of the ground immediately below and in front of him.
Another exhibit of Mr. Twombly’s was a shock-absorbing safety harness
of his own invention for strapping aviators in their machines. This
harness was so constructed as to prevent the aviator from being
lurched out of his seat, and yet at the same time permitting him to
quickly detach himself from the harness in case of emergency.
NIEUPORT
The Aero Club of America exhibited a 50 horse-power Gnome Nieuport
aeroplane.
QUEEN
The Queen Aeroplane Company exhibited two machines, one an aero-boat
designed by Grover C. Loening, and the other a Bleriot-type monoplane
equipped with a 30 horse-power Anzani motor.
The aero-boat consisted of an aluminum-covered boat, to which were
attached in front on an upright structure the main wings, with the
motor and propeller just behind them. The power-plant consisted of a
50 horse-power Gnome, which was placed in the boat proper, and drove
through a chain the propeller, which was just behind and a little above
the main planes. The controlling arrangement was quite novel, and
consisted of two horizontal levers resembling the tillers of a boat,
which the operator grasped one in each hand.
NATIONAL
The National Aero Company exhibited a Bleriot-type monoplane which was
equipped with a 4-cylinder 40 horse-power Rubel “Gray Eagle” motor and
Rubel propeller. The motor was fitted with an acetylene self-starter,
which was controlled from the seat.
AMERICAN
The American Aeroplane Company exhibited a large monoplane with a very
low centre of gravity. It was fitted with two 50 horse-power 2-cycle
air-cooled revolving motors and self-starters, and was designed to fly
with either motor, and to carry six to ten persons.
THE FIRST PAN-AMERICAN AERO SHOW
It is notable that no engine exhibited at this exposition had more
than 80 horse-power, whereas the Liberty motor of 1917 developed 450
horse-power and the Fiat 700 horse-power.
The first Pan-American aero exhibit was held at the Grand Central
Palace, February 8 to 15, 1917. By that time the war had demonstrated
the value of aircraft for scouting, bombing, reconnaissance, and
contract patrol, and because of the exploits performed by famous aces,
had attracted the attention of huge numbers of people.
During the five years that had elapsed from the time of the former
exhibit the construction of aircraft had advanced fully a decade,
due to the intensive acrobatics aircraft had to be put through in
aerial fighting. America was, of course, far from the seat of the war,
but owing to the orders placed with the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor
Company and other companies by the British and other governments,
constructors were kept more or less in touch with developments in
Europe. It is true that owing to the rapid changes in designs of motors
and aeroplanes, due to the competition between the Central Powers and
the Allies for control of the air, the speedier planes like the scouts
and battle-planes were built in England, France, and Italy, while the
United States manufacturers produced seaplanes for hunting submarines,
and training-machines, of which there was a tremendous demand.
The Curtiss Company immediately turned their energies to building J.
N. 4 training-machines, and large seaplanes, like the “America,” which
Captain Porte was to attempt to fly across the Atlantic for the British
Government.
A large number of accessories were also exhibited. President Wilson
opened the convention by wireless, and Governor Whitman delivered an
address.
The next aero show was held by the Manufacturers Aircraft Association
at Madison Square Garden, March 1-15, 1919. This organization had been
effected on February 15, 1917. The following were the incorporators of
the association: The Aeromarine Plane and Motor Company, John D. Cooper
Aeroplane Company, L. W. F. Engineering Company, S. S. Pierce Aero
Corporation, Standard Aero Corporation, Sturtevant Aeroplane Company,
Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation, Witteman-Lewis Aircraft Company,
Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation.
In the meantime the United States had entered the war. At the beginning
a great many newspaper editors who did not know the difficulties of
constructing aircraft in quantity, and imagining that they could be
produced as easily as automobiles, wrote glowing editorials demanding
the immediate construction of 100,000 aeroplanes to invade Germany in
the air and destroy her manufacturing industries, as well as terrorize
the people into surrender. The Aircraft Production Board, however,
realizing in a measure the difficulty of constructing aeroplanes in
quantity, especially as there were very few aircraft factories in
the country at that time which could deliver quantity production,
planned to build only one-fourth that number. As a matter of fact,
the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company was the only organization
that was constructing aircraft on a large scale at Buffalo, N. Y.,
and the Curtiss plant in Toronto, Canada. Nevertheless, the Aircraft
Production Board laid down plans for the production of 22,500 planes.
Even this was too optimistical an estimate, although the Aircraft
Production Board did not at that time realize it. This, however, has
been explained in the official reports of the Aircraft Production Board
by General Kenly, Howard E. Coffin, and John D. Ryan.
To get into _production_ the Aircraft Production Board had the
government take over a number of plants on a cost plus 10 per
cent basis, and those companies immediately began to expand their
manufacturing capacity to make the new orders the government
was placing with them. The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company,
Dayton-Wright, Standard Aircraft, Rubay Company, Springfield Aircraft
Corporation, Aero-marine Plane and Motor Company, the Fowler Aircraft
Company, and a number of others received large orders from the
government. Unfortunately, the Aircraft Production Board did not see
fit to give orders to the smaller manufacturers in proportion to the
size and capacity of their plants. Many of these smaller manufacturers
could have produced a few machines for the government, and this would
have tended to swell the whole to a greater figure. The inability of
some of the manufacturers to increase their plants in proportion to the
orders, naturally delayed the manufacture of aircraft.
In the matter of the Liberty motor the same mistake was made. Instead
of taking patterns and blue-prints of a good foreign motor, like the
Hispano-Suiza, which was already being built in this country, and
producing them in quantity, the government stopped to design a new
motor—the Liberty motor—which the Aircraft Production Board evidently
thought could be built in a day. This was not done—as a matter of
fact, it took almost six months to complete the first production
motor—whereas a good foreign motor could have been put in quantity
production almost immediately, and with the failure of manufacturers
of aircraft to turn out the desired number of planes, this caused a
tremendous outcry from the disappointed American public, who thought
100,000 aeroplanes could be built as easily as 100,000 automobiles.
This led to an aircraft investigation. Judge Hughes was appointed by
President Wilson to conduct the investigation. The report failed to
find any one libel to prosecution. Indeed, most of the errors were
those of judgment or lack of ability. Later President Wilson pardoned
those who might have been prosecuted.
Another error was caused by the delay in determining on the type of
aeroplane which should be built in quantity in this country. Several
types were adopted and then cancelled. Finally, however, the Curtiss J.
N. 4’s were adopted as the standard training-machine and the standard
J. was discarded. The D. H. 4’s were turned out in large quantities
by the Dayton-Wright; Curtiss produced some Bristol machines in
addition to their training-machine and seaplanes. The Standard Aircraft
Corporation built a few Capronis and Handley Pages, Curtiss-H-boats.
Owing to a failure to adapt the Liberty engine to the Bristol fighter
after three pilots lost their lives, the machine was abandoned. If the
war had lasted another year these companies would have been in quantity
production, and undoubtedly America would have delivered a portion of
the thousands of machines which were promised on the West Front.
As nearly every company which had built for the army or the navy
was represented at the March, 1919, aero show, a description of the
exhibits will give the best idea of the types of machines produced:
AEROMARINE PLANE AND MOTOR COMPANY
Model 50 flying-boat, similar to the Model 40 except that in the latter
machine the cabin is closed in by a transparent hood, and it is driven
by an Aeromarine 130 horse-power type-L engine. The Model 50 is a sport
machine designed for pleasure flying.
The upper plane has a span of 48 feet 4 inches, lower plane 37 feet 4
inches. Fully loaded the machine weighs about 2,500 pounds. Unloaded
the weight is about 2,000 pounds.
BOEING AEROPLANE COMPANY
The Type C-1 F. Navy Training Hydroaeroplane was flown from Hampton
Roads, Va., to Rockaway, N. Y., for exhibition at the aero show. This
machine is equipped with a Curtiss OXX-5 100 horse-power motor. It is
an experimental type built for the navy, and has single float instead
of the double floats usually employed on Boeing seaplanes.
Span, both planes 43′ 0″
Over-all length 24′ 0″
Speed range 36-65 M. P. H.
BURGESS COMPANY
The Burgess Company exhibited a car designed for one of the “C” class
twin-motored navy dirigibles. The car is of streamline form, 40 feet
long, 5 feet in maximum diameter, with steel tube outriggers carrying
an engine at either side. Over-all width of outriggers, 15 feet.
Complete weight of car, 4,000 pounds.
Seven passengers may be carried, but the usual crew consists of four.
The engines are made by the Union Gas Engine Company, and are 150
horse-power each. Fuel capacity, 240 gallons; oil, 16 gallons. Four
bombs, totalling 1,080 pounds, are carried at the side.
The dirigible for which the car was designed is 192 feet long, 43 feet
wide, and 46 feet high; it has a capacity of 180,000 cubic feet. Its
high speed is 59 miles per hour, at which speed it has an endurance of
10 hours. Cruising speed, 42 miles per hour; cruising radius, 12½
hours. Climb, 1,000 feet per minute.
THE CANTILEVER AERO COMPANY
The Christmas Bullet has caused a great deal of comment in aeronautical
circles because of its freedom from struts and wires. It is the first
heavier-than-air machine built on the Cantilever truss principle, and
is the result of years of painstaking investigations and experiments
made by the inventor, Doctor William Whitney Christmas.
The wings of the Christmas Bullet are flexible and resemble true
bird form. Because of this yielding principle the machine is
absolutely immune from all strain and resistance, as are “stiff-wing,”
parallel-strut machines.
The Christmas Bullet has a horse-power of 185.
Span 28′ 0″
Length over all 21′ 0″
Weight, machine empty 1,820 lbs.
Weight, fully loaded 2,100 lbs.
A Liberty “6” is used, giving 185 horse-power at 1,400 R. P. M.
CAPRONI COMPANY
The Caproni Company exhibited a giant triplane which has been famous
since 1915, when it made its first appearance. This triplane has a
spread of 130 feet. It is equipped with three 400 horse-power engines,
two of them in tractor position at the nose of the fuselage, and one a
pusher at the rear of the central nacelle. This machine has climbed to
an altitude of 14,000 feet with a ton of useful load, and with only two
of the engines running. The triplane was used as a bomber, and carries
a bomb compartment below the lower plane.
CURTISS AEROPLANE AND MOTOR COMPANY
_Curtiss J N 4 D_
The J N 4 D Tractor shown by the Curtiss Company. General
specifications are as follows:
Span, upper plane 43′ 7″
Length over all 27′ 4″
Net weight, empty 1,430 lbs.
Gross weight, machine loaded 1,920 lbs.
Useful load 430 lbs.
The motor is Model OX 5, 90 horse-power. Speed range of 75-45 miles per
hour. Climb in 10 minutes, 2,000 feet.
_The Curtiss M F Flying-Boat_
The Curtiss M F Flying-Boat, a sportsman’s model, is the smallest of
the Curtiss boats, a development of the popular “F” boat, carrying two
persons side by side.
Span, upper plane 49′ 9″
Over-all length 28′ 10″
Weight, empty 1,796 lbs.
Useful load 636 lbs.
Maximum speed 69 M. P. H.
Minimum speed 45 M. P. H.
Maximum range 325 miles
Engine, Curtiss OXX 100 H. P.
_The Curtiss H-A Hydro_
The Curtiss H-A Hydro, a two-place single-float seaplane. The upper
wing has a dihedral of 3 degrees and the lower plane a dihedral of 1
degree. Both planes have an incidence of 2 degrees and a sweep-back of
4½ degrees. In official tests by the Navy Department this machine
has made a speed of 131.9 miles per hour with a full load. Its climbing
speed is 8,500 feet in 10 minutes.
The float is 20 feet long, 3 feet 6 inches wide, and 2 feet 6 inches
deep. It has three planing steps.
The engine is a Liberty 12, giving 330 horse-power. It is directly
connected to a two-bladed propeller 9 feet 2 inches in diameter, with a
7 foot 7 inches pitch, or a three-bladed propeller 8 feet 6 inches in
diameter and 7 feet 6 inches in pitch, depending upon whether speed or
quick climb is required.
Upper plane, span 30′ 0″
Over-all length 30′ 9″
Net weight, machine empty 1,012 lbs.
Weight, full load 2,638 lbs.
DAYTON-WRIGHT AEROPLANE COMPANY
_De Havilland 4_
The De Havilland 4 Aeroplane, exhibited by the Dayton-Wright Aeroplane
Company, was the first De Havilland 4 battle-plane to be built in
America, having been completed October 29, 1917, at Dayton, Ohio. This
machine has been in continuous service since that time, and has been
used in 2,500 flying tests of various kinds.
With this machine a distance of about 111,000 miles has been covered in
a time of about 1,078 hours. Twenty-eight cross-country trips have been
made in it, including Dayton to Washington, Dayton to New York, Dayton
to Chicago, Dayton to Cleveland, etc.
The battle-plane is exhibited with all its military equipment,
including two Marlin machine-guns fixed on the front cowling and fired
through the propeller at a rate of 750 rounds at 1,650 R. P. M. of the
engine, and two movable Lewis machine-guns at the rear cockpit which
fire 650 rounds per minute. The wireless carried has a range of eleven
miles to another aeroplane and a receiving radius of forty-seven miles
by a ground-station. A camera located to the rear of the observer is
worked by means of wind-vane. Photographs are taken at the rate of
twenty-four per minute, and magazine carries six dozen plates.
A full complement of twelve bombs are carried under the lower wings,
and flare-lights for night-landing are suspended from the wing-tips.
Red and green guide-lights are carried on the lower plane, and a white
light is located on the fuselage deck aft of the gunner. The engine is
one of the first Libertys to be built.
_The T-4 Messenger_
The “Messenger” was designed as a war-machine, but after being modified
in small details it makes an ideal machine for commercial and sporting
purposes. As a war-machine its use was to have been in carrying
messages from the front lines to headquarters and in general liaison
work.
The machine is exceptionally light and easy to fly, making it possible
to make landings in places that have been heretofore inaccessible.
The fuselage has absolutely no metal fittings nor tie-rods of any sort,
strips of veneer being used exclusively for the bracing.
The machine comes within the means of the average sportsman, for its
cost is said to be not much over $2,000.
Span, upper plane 19′ 3″
Length 17′ 6″
Weight, unloaded 476 lbs.
Weight, loaded 636 lbs.
Engine, air-cooled De Palma 37 H. P.
The engine is a 4-cylinder air-cooled V type, manufactured by the
De Palma Engine Company of Detroit. Its weight is 3.7 pounds per
horse-power. The engine consumes 4 gallons of gasoline per hour, and
tank has a capacity of 12 gallons. Oil is carried in the crank-case.
GALLAUDET AIRCRAFT CORPORATION
_Gallaudet E-L 2 Monoplane_
Striking originality in design was shown in the twin-pusher monoplane
exhibition by the Gallaudet Aircraft Corporation. Mr. Gallaudet’s 1919
Sport Model has a high factor of safety and is easily maintained.
Two stock “Indian” motorcycle engines are located in the nose of the
fuselage, connected to a common transverse shaft, and resting on the
top of the plane, and driving twin-pusher propellers on longitudinal
shafts driven by bevel-gears.
Engines are “oversize” models, giving 20 horse-power each at 2,400
R.P.M. Weight, 89 pounds each. Propellers are 3-bladed, 4 feet 8 inches
in diameter, and 7 feet in pitch. Propellers run at one-half engine
speed, 1,200 R. P. M.
The plane has a span of 33 feet.
The body is of monocoque construction, 3-ply spruce being used. Two
seats are provided, side by side, with single stick control.
Over-all length of machine, 18 feet 7 inches.
Eight gallons of fuel are carried, sufficient for two hours.
_Gallaudet D-4 Bomber_
The machine is powered with a Liberty motor, driving a pusher propeller
attached to a ring surrounding the fuselage.
THE L. W. F. COMPANY
The L. W. F. Model V Tractor was equipped with 125 horse-power Thomas
engine, is convertible from a land machine to a hydro. The machine
exhibited at the show had twin floats.
The L. W. F. Company also exhibited one of the H S 1 L Coast Patrol
Flying-Boats, with a 350 horse-power Liberty engine. The machine has
a span of 62 feet. Over-all length is 38 feet 6 inches, and overall
height is 14 feet 7 inches. The hull weighs 1,265 pounds. Gross weight,
5,900 pounds, and weight, empty, 4,810 pounds. Fuel and oil, 750
pounds, and crew, 360 pounds.
_The L. W. F. Model G-2 Fighter_
Model G-2 is a two-place armored fighter, carrying seven machine-guns
and four bombs. Guns are arranged to be fired downward through an
opening in the bottom of the fuselage.
Span over all 41′ 7½″
Length over all 29′ 1¼″
Total, full load (fighter) 4,023 lbs.
Weight, light (bomber) 2,675.5 lbs.
Total, full load (bomber) 4,879.5 lbs.
THE GLENN L. MARTIN COMPANY
_The Martin Bomber_
The Martin Twin-Engine Bomber has a speed of 118.5 M. P. H., made on
the first trial with full bombing load. The climbing time with full
bombing load was 10,000 feet in 15 minutes, and a service ceiling of
16,500 feet was attained. As a military machine the Martin Twin is
built to fill requirements of a night-bomber, day-bomber, long-distance
photographer, or a gun-machine. As a night-bomber it is equipped with
3 Lewis guns, 1,500 pounds of bombs, and 1,000 rounds of ammunition.
A radiotelephone set is carried on all four types. Fuel capacity
sufficient for six hours. Full power at 1,500 feet.
As a day-bomber two additional guns are carried, and the bomb capacity
cut to 1,000 pounds. The Martin Twin is easily adaptable to commercial
uses which are now practical: they are mail and express carrying,
transportation of passengers, and aerial map and survey work. As an
example of its capacity, twelve passengers or a load of merchandise
weighing a ton may be carried.
General dimensions are as follows:
Span, both planes 71′ 5″
Over-all length 46′ 0″
With a ton of useful load, speed of 100 to 150 M. P. H. is made. Two
400 horse-power Liberty engines are used.
PACKARD MOTOR CAR COMPANY
The Packard two-place tractor was designed around, and made a complete
unit with, the Model 1-A-744 Packard Aviation Engine. This machine
will make about 100 M.P.H. with full load, on account of its light
weight and clean-cut design, and yet its landing speed is as low as the
average training aeroplane.
Packard 8-cylinder 160 horse-power at 1,525 R.P.M. Weight, complete
with hub starter, battery, and engine water, 585 pounds.
STANDARD AERO CORPORATION
_Handley Page Bomber_
The American-built Handley Page shown at the Garden was similar to
the British, except that Liberty “12” 400 horse-power engines are
employed in the former, and the Rolls-Royce, or Sunbeam, in the latter.
Accommodations are made for one pilot and two or three gunners, and an
observer, who operates the bomb-dropping device. Two guns are located
at the top of the fuselage, and a third is arranged to fire through an
opening in the under side of the fuselage, and a pair of flexible Lewis
machine-guns is operated at the forward end of the fuselage. One gunner
may have charge of all rear guns, although usually two gunners man them.
Span, upper plane 100′ 0″
Length over all 62′ 10″
Height over all at overhang cabane 22′ 0″
Height over all at centre panel 17′ 6″
Width, wings folded 31′ 0″
Machine, empty 1,566 lbs.
Machine, loaded 14,300 lbs.
Each of the two engines gives 400 horse-power at 1,625 R. P. M.
Speed at ground, 92 M. P. H.
_The “E-4” Mail Aeroplane_
The “E-4” Mail Plane, built by the Standard Aero Corporation, is
particularly adaptable to the work of carrying mail because of the
special features of its design. The machine exhibited has seen
considerable service, having been brought directly to the show after
completing one of its regular mail-carrying trips.
The engine is a Wright-Martin Model L Hispano-Suiza, giving 150
horse-power at 1,500 R.P.M. and 170 horse-power at 1,700 R.P.M. The
Model 1 is an 8-cylinder V type, with a bore of 120 mm. (4.724 inches)
and a stroke of 130 mm. (5.118 inches).
Span, upper plane 31′ 4¾″
Length over all 26′ 2″
Height over all 10′ 10-3/16″
Machine, empty 1,566 lbs.
Machine, loaded 2,400 lbs.
Machine, loaded with overhang 2,450 lbs.
THE THOMAS-MORSE AIRCRAFT CORPORATION
Four aeroplanes shown by the Thomas-Morse Company: the Type S-6, S-7,
S4-C Scout, and the M-B-3 Fighter.
The M-B-3 Fighter is equipped with a 300 horse-power Hispano-Suiza
engine. It is a single-seater, and is said to be the fastest climbing
aeroplane in the world.
The S4-C is an 80 horse-power Le Rhone Scout, used for advanced
training. It has been used at most of the army training-schools
throughout the United States.
The S-6 is a Tandem two-seater, very similar to the S4-C in general
appearance. With an 80 horse-power Le Rhone, this machine has a speed
range of 33-105 M.P.H. In ten minutes its climb is 7,800 feet.
The S-7 is a side-by-side Tractor, with an 80 horse-power Le Rhone
engine. The side-by-side seating makes it especially desirable
for pleasure flying. The cockpit contains numerous comforts and
conveniences.
The principal dimensions and specifications of the S-7 are:
Span, both planes 32′ 0″
Over-all length 21′ 6″
THE UNITED AIRCRAFT ENGINEERING CORPORATION
This company is showing a Canadian-Curtiss training-plane, such as used
by the Royal Flying Corps for instruction in Canada and England.
A number of Curtiss OX-5 100 horse-power engines are also on display,
together with other equipment, which the company has purchased from the
Imperial Munitions Board of Canada.
UNITED STATES ARMY
_Langley Experimental Flying-Machine_
The model of the Langley aeroplane is a copy of the original Langley
Flying-Machine which is now in the United States National Museum at
Washington, D. C. This machine made the first successful flight by
heavier-than-air machine driven by its own power. The machine was
launched May 6, 1896, at Quantico, Va. It rose to a height of 70 to 100
feet, and travelled half a mile at 20 to 25 M. P. H., with propellers
revolving at 1,500 R. P. M.
The total weight of the machine is 26 pounds. It is driven by a
single-cylinder engine, using gasoline as fuel.
_Foreign Aeroplanes_
Among the foreign aeroplanes sent to the aero show by the War
Department are the French Spad, French Nieuport, British SEV, and a
German Albatross D11.
The Spad is a single-seater scout, with a Hispano-Suiza engine.
The Nieuport Single-Seater is equipped with a rotary Gnome engine.
The SEV, which was put into limited production in the United States,
has a Hispano-Suiza engine.
The Albatross Scout was one of Germany’s best fighters. It has a
Mercedes engine.
UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT
The F-5-L constructed by the Naval Aircraft Factory at Philadelphia has
a span of 107 feet wing, chord of 8 feet, and an over-all length of 50
feet.
Two 400 horse-power Liberty engines are used, connected to tractor
propellers 10 feet 6 inches in diameter. Five hundred gallons of
gasoline are carried, sufficient for a duration of 10 hours at full
speed, near sea-level, and a speed of 102 M. P. H. is maintained.
Fully loaded the machine weighs 14,000 pounds. This weight included a
crew of 5 men, 1 Davis and 4 Lewis machine-guns, 4,230 pounds bombs,
radio apparatus, telephone system with 6 stations, carrier-pigeons, and
500 gallons of gasoline.
The machine is exhibited with one half covered and the other half
exposed to show the interior construction.
In the making of this machine there are 6,000 distinct pieces of wood,
50,000 wood screws, 46,000 nails, braces, and tacks, and 4,500 square
feet of cotton fabric. The hull requires 600 square feet of veneer.
The 250 pieces of steel tubing total 1,000 feet in length; 5,000 feet
of wire and cable, 500 turnbuckles, 1,500 each of bolts, nuts, and
washers, and 1,000 metal fittings are necessary in the construction of
this flying-boat.
_Navy M-2 Baby Seaplane_
The M-2 Seaplane designed by the Navy Department, and built by Grover
Cleveland Loening, was to have been used for submarine-patrol work. It
is easily set up, and occupying so little space, can be stored aboard a
submarine.
The machine is a tractor monoplane with twin floats. The plane has a
span of 19 feet and a total wing area of only 72 square feet. The wing
section is a modified R. A. F. 15. Over-all length of machine, 13 feet.
The floats are 10 feet long and weigh 16 pounds each. They are
constructed of sheet aluminum with welded seams. The interior of the
floats is coated with glue, and outside is not painted but coated with
oil.
The engine is a 3-cylinder Lawrence 60 horse-power air-cooled engine,
driving a 6-foot 6-inch propeller with a 5-foot pitch. Twelve gallons
of gasoline and 1 gallon of oil are carried, sufficient for two hours’
flight. Fully loaded with pilot and fuel, the complete machine weighs
but 500 pounds. The maximum speed is about 100 M. P. H., and the low
speed is 50 M. P. H.
_Helium-Filled Model Airship_
The model dirigible exhibited by the Navy Department is inflated with
helium. Another item that is of interest is the fact that this model
dirigible, 32 feet long and 7 feet in diameter, contains more helium
than has ever been placed in an envelope of any kind.
_Astra-Torres Dirigible_
The dirigible car shown by the Navy Department is from a ship of the
“Astra-Torres” type. The airship was built by the French in 1916, and
turned over to the Americans in March, 1918, at Paimbœuf, France, the
American naval station commanded by Commander L. H. Marfield, U. S. N.
It was used until November, 1918, for coast patrol on the west coast of
France.
The car is 45 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 7 feet high. The envelope
(which is not exhibited) is 221 feet long and 47 feet in diameter,
having a capacity of 252,000 cubic feet. Speed, 45.5 miles per hour.
With a crew of Americans, this ship has stayed aloft for 25 hours, 40
minutes. At its cruising speed of 45.5 miles the endurance is 10 hours.
The car accommodates a crew of 12. Two 150 horse-power Renault engines
with two-bladed tractor propellers are used. They are placed on
outriggers. Two Lewis machine-guns are carried.
The ship is one of several large dirigibles purchased by the United
States navy and brought to this country for the purpose of development.
B. F. GOODRICH COMPANY
The principal exhibit by the Goodrich Company consisted of one of the
first dirigibles put into the United States Naval Service. This is a
“Blimp” that was completed in August, 1917, and used for seventeen
months in coast-patrol work in the vicinity of New York City. The
dirigible is 167 feet long, 33 feet in maximum diameter, and contains
80,000 cubic feet of gas. This dirigible held the record for continuous
flight.
A Curtiss OX motor is used. The car is arranged to carry a crew of
three men. In cruising a speed of from 40 to 50 M. P. H. is maintained.
Other exhibits by the Goodrich Company are a model spherical
balloon, relief throttle-valves perfected by the Goodrich Company,
and principally the Grammeter valve, shock-absorber cords, special
parachute attachments, fabrics and cloths for aeronautical use, etc.
Another feature of the exhibit will be a short motion-picture, showing
how the balloons are manufactured.
THE GOODYEAR TIRE AND RUBBER COMPANY
The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio, was the most
extensive aerostatic exhibit of the show. The outstanding feature of
the booth was the dirigible pusher-car, completely equipped, of a
type which has many sisters in service. A 35,000-cubic-foot type “R”
military kite-balloon is suspended and equipped complete. Attractive
models of the twin-engine navy dirigible and a transcontinental
passenger dirigible car are on display. These models are complete in
every detail, including full set of instruments and controls, lockers,
and upholstery.
A full-sized dirigible car equipped with dual control, indicating
devices, including manometers, tachometers, air-speed indicators,
incidence and bank indicator, clock, driven by an 8-cylinder OX-2
Curtiss motor, of the type used on the FC training dirigible, having a
cubic capacity of 85,000 feet, form an interesting part of the Goodyear
exhibit. Models of “R” type kite-balloon, military free balloons, and
of the U dirigible are also on display.
GROWTH OF AEROPLANE PLANTS
The growth of the aeroplane factories during the war was enormous. The
Aeromarine Plane and Motor Corporation, which was located in a small
plant at Nutley, N. J., moved to Keyport, N. J., and on a property of
66 acres erected sixteen fireproof buildings, with a total space of
125,000 feet. Most of the work of this plant was done for the navy.
Three types of training-machines were produced, 39-A type, a turn-float
hydroplane, 39-B, a single-float machine, and Model 40, a flying-boat.
The Dayton-Wright Aeroplane plant was incorporated on April 9, 1912,
to build aircraft for war purposes. In August, 1917, a contract for
400 training-planes was awarded to the company, and later an order for
5,000 De Havilland 4 battle-planes was received from the government.
By November 11, 1918, the 400 training-machines were delivered and
2,700 D.H.4’s, and the 5,000 order was cut to 3,100, which were to
be completed. One thousand eight hundred D.H. S-4’s were shipped to
France. The three plants were located near Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Orville
Wright was the consulting engineer of the company. In addition to
the three large plants which the company operated at the South Field
Experimental Station, which had a total of 65,000 square feet, 8,000
people were employed by the company.
The Curtiss Aeroplane Company were making land-machines, seaplanes, and
engines for the British Government when the United States entered the
struggle. Mr. Curtiss, the inventor of the flying-boat, and the winner
of many aeronautical prizes and trophies, was the chairman of the board
of directors and Mr. John North Willys president.
In January, 1916, the company was incorporated, and in February of
the same year the stock of the Burgess Company of Marblehead, Mass.,
was acquired by the Curtiss Company. It also controlled the Curtiss
Aeroplane Motors, Ltd., of Canada and the flying-fields at Miami, San
Diego, Hammondsport, Newport News, and the Atlantic Coast Aeronautical
Station. The company had nine plants and four flying-fields in 1918.
The main plant was at Buffalo, N. Y. The chief plant is now at Garden
City, Long Island. The plants consisted of 2,000,000 square feet, and
employed 18,000 persons.
The company reached a quantity production of 112 complete machines a
week, and 50 a day was to be expected had not the armistice been signed
on November 11, 1918. Before and during the war the Curtiss plants
manufactured 10,000 aeroplanes and flying-boats and 15,000 motors. The
Curtiss plants produced a great variety of machines, including Spads,
Bristols, and Nieuports. The famous NC-1-2-3-4, which participated in
the transatlantic flight, were constructed for the navy by Curtiss
Company at Garden City, Long Island.
The Burgess Company was also doing business when the war broke out. The
firm was organized in 1909. The company supplied machines to the United
States Government for work on the Mexican border in 1914, and many
types of seaplanes were also constructed. In 1913 the company secured
the rights to manufacture under the Dunne patents, covering inherent
stability.
The Burgess plant at Marblehead, Mass., was one chosen by the navy to
build training-seaplanes producing N-9 and N-9-H seaplanes. The company
started producing one plane a day, but finally got up to four a day,
and employed 1,100 men and women. The company also built turn-engine
dirigible cars for the navy.
The Glenn L. Martin Company of Cleveland, Ohio, was organized in the
fall of 1917 with the idea of building a gigantic American bomber
for work with the Allies in Europe. The first machine was flown in
August, 1918. Mr. Martin had been the organizer of the Glenn L. Martin
Company of Los Angeles in 1910, and had also been interested in the
Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation of New York and New Brunswick, N. J.
The Martin bomber constructed by this company had a wing spread of 71
feet and length of 45 feet. It carried 11 passengers and pilot, and
made several records.
The factory consisted of a single structure of 300 by 200 feet. The
war ended before the company got into quantity production of the huge
bomber.
The L-W-F Engineering Company, Inc., was organized in December, 1915,
and the plant was located at College Point, Long Island, N. Y. The
factory has a floor space of 250,000 square feet. The company built
training-machines and flying-boats for the government. The L-W-F
fuselage is of the monocoque type, which means “one shell” as regards
the body. It is of streamline laminated wood.
The Standard Aero Corporation began life in May, 1912. Later it
occupied several buildings at Plainfield, N. J. The company was
reorganized under the name of the Standard Aircraft Corporation in
1917, and acquired the thirty-four buildings of a manufacturing company
in Elizabeth, N. J. The total floor space was 614,190 square feet. The
company built several thousand Standard J training-machines, which
were bought by the government, but later discarded. The company also
constructed the first Handley Page machines in this country, and also
the first American constructed Caproni triplanes. Mr. Harry B. Mingle
was the president and Mr. Charles H. Day the engineer.
The Standard model J. H. was a hydroaeroplane, and a number of H.
S.-1-1 and H. S.-2-1, and D. H. 4’s. Flying-boats were made by this
company. Model J. R.-1-B. was used by the Post-Office Department for
aero mail service between New York-Philadelphia-Washington, making a
most excellent record.
The St. Louis Aircraft Corporation was organized in the fall of 1917.
The Huttig Sash and Door Company of St. Louis and the St. Louis Car
Company facilities were used for making J. N. 4-D training-planes,
which were being turned out in quantity in May, 1918. Nine hundred
people were employed, and machines at the rate of 30 per week were
being produced.
The Springfield Aircraft Corporation came into being on September 27,
1917, and began to manufacture J. N. 4-D and VE-7 type machines. The
company leased the Mason Company’s plants, with 200,000 square feet
capacity, at Springfield, Mass.
The plant reached a capacity of from 5 to 8 machines per day when the
war ended. Over 1,000 were employed.
The Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation was organized in September,
1916, to take over the General Aeronautic Company of America, the
Simples Automobile Company, and the Wright Company. The General
Aeronautic Company had received an order for 450 Hispano-Suiza engines
in 1916, but less than 100 motors had been delivered by July, 1917.
In May, 1918, the General Vehicle Company’s plant at Long Island City
was bought by the United States Government and given over to the use
of the Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation. Fifteen thousand men were
employed by the company, and the first production engine was tested in
November, 1918. The company also set up a gauge plant at Newark, N. J.
The company had orders for delivery of 2,000 motors a month in 1919,
totalling $50,000,000. The company reached a production of 30 engines a
day in October, 1918. This engine holds the altitude record of 29,500
feet, made by Captain Schroeder in December, 1918. The company produced
no aeroplanes during the United States’ participation in the war.
In 1915 the Sturtevant Aeroplane Company was organized by Mr. Noble
Foss and Mr. Benjamin Foss. The original plant at Jamaica, Mass.,
had 24,000 square feet. The company built 25 machines before the
United States entered the war. Experiments were made with an all-steel
fuselage. The B. F. Sturtevant Company had built many aeroplane
engines, and it had been organized by the same two brothers. At the end
of the war the company had erected a new three-story building of 35,000
square feet. They had over 1,000 employees at the two plants. The
Aeroplane Company was engaged primarily in manufacturing spare parts
for the J. N. 4-D and D. H. 4, etc.
The Thomas Brothers Aeroplane Company was organized in 1912 at Bath, N.
Y., and built many types of machines, both seaplanes and land-machines,
before the war. The Thomas Aeromotor firm came to life in August,
1915. In January, 1917, the two companies were combined into the
Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation at Ithaca, N. Y., and a factory of
three large buildings was constructed. The plant has a floor space
of 190,000 square feet. The S-4-E, the S-5 scouts, the M-B-1 and the
M-B-2 fighters, B-3 flying-boat, and D-2 hydro are well known as the
Thomas-Morse machines.
OTHER MACHINES MADE
A number of other manufacturers were given orders to construct
aircraft. The Packard Motor Company established a department and
Captain Le Pere, the French military aircraft engineer, designed a
number of machines which were built for the government. Among them was
the G. H.-11, an armored plane, the U.S. Le Pere Triplane, and the Le
Pere combat machine, which flew from Detroit to New York to attend
the aero show at Madison Square Garden, March 1, 1919. None of these
machines were put into quantity production.
The Fowler Aircraft Factory at San Francisco had fifteen planes in
construction when their plant was destroyed by fire in May, 1918, with
a loss of a million dollars.
Other factories which were building aircraft to submit to the
government were the Lawson Aircraft Factory at Green Bay, Wis., The
Whitteman-Lewis Company at Newark, N. J., The Alexandria Company at
Alexandria, Va., to mention only a few.
The S. S. Pierce Company at Southampton, Long Island, had an order for
300 “penguins,” as the training-machines were called, but they were not
delivered.
The Goodyear and Goodrich Tire and Rubber Companies built a great many
kite, observation, and propaganda balloons for the army, and blimps for
the navy. Their exhibit at the Manufacturers Aircraft Show, described
elsewhere, gives an excellent idea of their product.
THE NAVAL AIRCRAFT FACTORY
Owing to the fact that the United States Government gave little support
to the aircraft industry, despite the fact that we had been on the
verge of war with Mexico, and that the Great War was on in Europe,
when the United States was finally forced into the struggle the
aircraft manufacturers were not tooled up to manufacture seaplanes
and flying-boats in quantity, so the navy immediately made plants to
establish a naval aircraft factory at Philadelphia.
When war was declared on April 6, 1917, only 93 heavier-than-air
seaplanes had previously been delivered to the navy, and 135 were
on order. Of the number that had previously been delivered, only
21 were in use, the remainder having been worn out or lost. The
seaplanes were of the N-9 and R-6 types, which are now considered as
training-seaplanes.
After eliminating types which had been tried and found unsuitable,
the Navy Department fixed upon two sizes for war purposes, which had
been perfected in the United States in anticipation of the development
of a high-powered engine. The engine developed was the Liberty. The
flying-boat is an American conception, and it has not been found
necessary to copy foreign patterns to insure our flyers being supplied
with the best.
With the development of suitable planes and engines the navy was able
to select the type of aircraft which was best suited for its service,
and to frame a large and complete building programme. As a result over
500 seaplanes were put in use at naval air-stations in the United
States, and up to December, 1918, over 400 seaplanes had been sent
abroad. Other aircraft at stations, both in this country and abroad,
included airships and kite-balloons.
The demand for aircraft necessitated an enormous increase of production
facilities, and, as a part of this extension, the Navy Department
undertook to build and equip a naval aircraft factory at the
Philadelphia Navy-Yard. Within 90 days from the date the land had been
assigned the factory was erected and the keel of the first flying-boat
was laid down. In August, 1918, the factory was producing 50 per cent
more seaplanes than it had been two months previous. In addition, at
least five plants were devoted to navy work, and a large proportion of
the output of several other factories had been assigned to the navy.
The delivery of seaplanes for training purposes has been sufficient
to more than meet the requirements. The training of personnel and
providing of stations and equipment to carry out this training had
expanded sufficiently so that the output of pilots, observers,
mechanicians, and men trained in special branches was keeping abreast
or ahead of requirements.
The navy aircraft factory produced aircraft valued at $5,435,000
up to the time the armistice was signed. It had completed, ready
for shipment, 183 twin-engine flying-boats, at an average cost of
$25,000. It had also produced 4 experimental Liberty-engine seaplanes,
carrying the Davis non-recoil gun, at a cost of $40,000 each, and 50
sets of twin-engine flying-boats’ spare parts worth $10,000 per set.
In addition considerable minor experimental work and overhauling of
machines from other stations was done.
The main factory at Philadelphia had a capacity of 50 boats, and could
turn out an average of 5 machines a day when the armistice was signed.
On October 1, 1917, the first mechanic was hired at the navy aircraft
factory. On November 1, 1918, there were 3,642 men and women employed
in building flying-boats for the navy.
About 1,500 Liberty engines were delivered to the navy and assigned
to naval air-stations in this country and abroad. Since the number
of Liberty engines produced were too small for the needs of the army
alone, it had been necessary for the navy to purchase others, to the
number of about 700, which were utilized while awaiting a full supply
of Liberty engines.
In addition to these a large number of engines of less power were
bought for use in training-planes, all of which were distributed to the
flying-schools.
One of the very important duties devolving on the Bureau of Steam
Engineering was the equipment and maintenance of stations for the
generation of hydrogen for use in airships. A number of stations were
established, and a full equipment of hydrogen cylinders provided, so
that any calls might be promptly met.
CHAPTER IX
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AERO MAIL
FIRST MAIL CARRIED BY AIRCRAFT—NEW YORK-PHILADELPHIA-WASHINGTON
SERVICE—NEW YORK-CLEVELAND-CHICAGO SERVICE—FOREIGN AERO MAIL ROUTES
As soon as the aeroplane demonstrated that it could travel at least
twice as fast as the fastest express-train, even when going in the same
direction, and that in addition it could traverse mountains, rivers,
forests, swamps in a straight line, its possibilities as a mail-carrier
were immediately realized, and steps were taken in most countries to
establish aero mail routes.
In the United States the first attempt to carry mail was made by Earl
Ovington from the Nassau Boulevard aerodrome near Mineola, N. Y.,
September, 1911. Postmaster-General Hitchcock delivered a package
to Mr. Ovington to be carried to Brooklyn, N. Y. The machine was a
Bleriot. The distance of five and one-half miles was made in six
minutes. Two trips a day were made by Mr. Ovington—one to and one
from Mineola. On Sunday, September 23, 6,165 post-cards, 781 letters,
55 pieces of printed matter were carried. Captain Beck using a Curtiss
biplane also carried 20 pounds of mail, and T. O. M. Sopwith, using a
Wright machine, also carried some mail.
The first regular permanent aero mail service was started on May 15,
1918, at Belmont Park, New York, and at the Polo Grounds, Washington,
D.C. Leaving Belmont Park, New York, at 11.30 in the forenoon with a
full load of 344 pounds of mail, Lieutenant Torry S. Webb flew in one
hour to Philadelphia, from which point the mail was relayed through the
air by Lieutenant J. C. Edgerton, who delivered it in Washington at
2.50 P.M. The actual flying time of the two couriers, deducting the six
minutes’ intermission in relaying at Philadelphia, was three hours and
twenty minutes. This record was considered highly satisfactory for the
initial trip with new machines.
Owing to a broken propeller Lieutenant George Leroy Boyle was forced
to descend in Maryland with the aero mail bound for Philadelphia
and New York. On May 16 Lieutenant Edgerton flew from Washington to
Philadelphia with the mail, making the first continuous connection in
that direction. President Wilson and official Washington were present
at the Polo Grounds to see the first aero mail off.
During the year the aero mail service has been in operation between
Washington, Philadelphia, New York, it has demonstrated the practical
commercial utility of the aeroplane.
On the anniversary the Post-Office Department released the following
summary, which gives us the first complete account of commercially
operated air service, dating over the period of a year:
ONE YEAR’S AERO MAIL SERVICE
The two aeroplanes that took to the air to-day, one leaving Washington
and one leaving New York, are the same that carried the mail a year
ago, and have been constantly in the service, and they are propelled
by the same motors. One of these has been in the air 164 hours, flying
10,716 miles, and has carried 572,826 letters. It has cost, in service,
per hour, $65.80. Repairs have cost $480. The other plane has been
in the air 222 hours, flying 15,018 miles, and has carried 485,120
letters. It has cost, in service, per hour, $48.34. Repairs to this
machine have cost $1,874.76.
The record of the entire service between New York and Washington shows
92 per cent of performance during the entire year, representing 128,037
miles travelled, and 7,720,840 letters carried. The revenues from
aeroplane mail stamps amounted to $159,700, and the cost of service,
$137,900.06.
The operation of the aeroplane mail service every day in the year
except Sunday, encountering all sorts of weather conditions and meeting
them successfully, has demonstrated the practicability of employing
the aeroplane for commercial service, and the air mail organization
has been able to work out problems of great value in the adaptation of
machines to this character of service. From the inauguration of the
service until the 10th of August, the flying operations were conducted
by the army, in connection with its work of training aviators for the
war. Since August 10 it has been operated entirely by the Post-Office
Department, with a civil organization. When the service was started
there was great divergency of opinion among aeronautical experts as to
the possibility of maintaining a daily service regardless of weather
conditions, and the opinion was held by many that it would have to
be suspended during the severe winter months. The service has been
maintained, however, throughout the year with a record of 92 per cent,
gales of exceptional violence and heavy snow-storms being encountered
and overcome. Out of 1,261 possible trips, 1,206 were undertaken, and
only 55 were defaulted on account of weather conditions. During rain,
fog, snow, gales, and electrical storms, 435 trips were made. Out of
a possible 138,092 miles, 128,037 miles were flown. Only 51 forced
landings were made on account of weather, and 37 on account of motor
trouble. It has been demonstrated that flying conditions for such a
commercial service as this, which is regulated by a daily schedule
regardless of the weather, are very different from those of military
flying. Aeroplanes designed wholly for war purposes are not suitable
for commercial service, as they lack the strength necessary for daily
cross-country work, with its incidental forced landings. Aeronautical
engineers have developed for the Post-Office Department a stronger and
more powerful plane suitable for commercial service while retaining
the excellent flying qualities of the De Havilland machine. The De
Havilland 4’s, which were transferred to the Post-Office Department
after the signing of the armistice, are being reconstructed to fit them
for commercial requirements. In specially constructed mail-carrying
planes, for the building of which the department has called for bids
to be opened June 2, a form of construction is called for which will
enable a mechanic to make important minor repairs in flight, making it
possible with a multiple motor to avoid forced landings.
DANGER ELIMINATED
One of the lessons learned from the operation of the air mail
service during the year is that the element of danger that exists
in the training of aviators in military and exhibition flying is
almost entirely absent from commercial flying. Second Assistant
Postmaster-General Praeger, in reporting to the postmaster-general the
operations for the year, says that the record of the air mail service,
which includes flying at altitudes of as low as 50 feet during periods
of marked invisibility, throws an interesting light on this question.
During the year, more than 128,000 miles having been travelled, no
aeroplane carrying the mail has ever fallen out of the sky, and there
has not been a single death of an aviator in carrying the mail. The
only deaths by accident which have occurred were that of an aviator
who made a flight to demonstrate his qualifications as an aviator and
that of a mechanic who fell against the whirling propeller of a machine
on the ground. But two aviators have been injured seriously enough
to be sent to a hospital. Other accidents consisted mainly of bruises
and contusions sustained by planes turning over after landing. Of the
three types of planes operated regularly in the mail service, one type
was more given than the others to turning over on rough ground, and
it was principally on planes of this type that pilots were shaken up
or bruised by the plane turning turtle. One type of machine in the
mail service which has performed almost half of the work has never
turned turtle. The record of the air mail service with respect to
accidents will compare favorably with that of any mode of mechanical
transportation in the early days of its operation.
One of the first studies to be taken up by the air mail service was
to determine whether visibility is absolutely necessary to commercial
flying. The first step necessary was the refinement of the existing
radio direction-finders so as to eliminate the liability of 3 to 5
per cent of error. This has been successfully worked out by the Navy
Department on an air mail testing-plane. The second problem was that
of guiding the mail plane after it had left the field to the centre of
the plot for landing. This problem has been solved by the Bureau of
Standards in experiments conducted on the air mail testing-plane in
connection with the radio directional compass. This device is effective
up to an altitude of 1,500 feet, and with the further refinements of
the device another thousand feet is expected to be added. Aeronautical
engineers are working upon a device for the automatic landing of a
mechanically flown plane which would meet the condition of absolute
invisibility that could exist only in the most blinding snow-storm or
impenetrable fog.
A year’s flying in the mail service, with all types and temperaments
of aviators, has established the fact that 200 feet visibility from
the ground is the limit of practical flying, although a number of runs
have been made with the mail between New York and Washington during
which a part of the trip was flown at an altitude as low as 50 feet.
The objection of aviators to flying above a ground-fog, rain, snow, or
heavy clouds with single motor-planes is the possibility of the motor
stopping over a village, city, or other bad landing-place, with the
radius of visibility so little as to afford no opportunity to pick out
a place for landing. It is generally accepted that with two or more
motors, forced landings under such conditions can be avoided.
FLYING IN ROUGHEST WEATHER
A number of severe gales have been encountered during the flights
between New York and Washington. Gales of from 40 to 68 miles an
hour have been encountered and overcome. Pilot J. M. Miller, who was
formerly a naval flier, made the flight from Philadelphia to New York
in a Curtiss R4 with a 400 horse-power Liberty motor, rising from
the field against a 43-mile gale and arriving in New York through
a blinding snow-storm with a wind velocity reported by the Weather
Bureau to be 68 miles an hour and which was 15 per cent greater at the
altitude at which he flew.
Mr. Praeger says in his report that from experience it is learned to be
useless to send against a 40-mile gale a plane having a top speed of
no more than 75 or 80 miles. “The two types of planes in the air mail
service of this speed,” he said, “are the Standard JR 1 mail plane,
having a wing spread of 31 feet 4 inches, and the Curtiss JN 4, having
a wing spread of 43 feet 7⅜ inches. Each plane of this type is
equipped with a (Hispano-Suiza) 150 horse-power motor, which does not
provide enough reserve power to combat the disturbed air conditions at
the surface in a wind of more than 40 miles an hour, especially if the
wind comes in descending columns or gusts. Under these conditions it is
possible to make headway only with a Liberty engine, which has plenty
of reserve power. A plane equipped with a 150 horse-power motor, if it
succeeds in breaking through the surface winds, can make only slow and
laborious headway against a full or a quartered head wind of about 40
miles. There have been many instances where the planes equipped with
150 horse-power motors have been held down to a speed of between 30 and
37 miles an hour; and also many instances where a hundred-mile-an-hour
plane equipped with a Liberty motor has been held to between 55 and 60
miles. A few wind-storm conditions were encountered where the planes at
the height of the gust were actually carried backward.”
The same six planes that were in operation at the inauguration of the
service, and have been in continuous employment during the year, are in
operation to-day, and the one which made the initial flight from New
York to Washington, May 15, 1918, made the flight May 15, 1919. This
is regarded as throwing a new light on the question of the life of an
aeroplane and as demonstrating that the mechanical requirements and the
operation in commercial flying are more economical and safer and in
many instances more practical than in exhibition or military flying.
The fact that there were only 37 forced landings due to mechanical
troubles during flights makes a record not heretofore approached
in aviation and is creditable in the American-built aeroplane and
mechanics who keep them in fine condition. Especially is this record a
strong tribute to the American-built Liberty and Hispano-Suiza motors.
The transportation by aeroplane is ordinarily twice as fast as by
train, and on distances of 600 miles or more, no matter how frequent
or excellent the train service, the aeroplane mail at the higher rate
of postage should equal the cost of its operations. Wherever the train
service is not as frequent or as fast as it is between Washington and
New York the aeroplane operations should show an immense profit on all
distances from 500 miles up.
Again, with large aeroplanes and over greater distances, substantial
saving in the cost of mail transportation on railroads would be made,
besides cutting down the time of transit by one-half.
BOSTON-NEW YORK PATHFINDER AERO MAIL
Another step in the evolution of the aero mail service was made on
June 6, 1918, when Lieutenant Torry S. Webb carried 4,000 letters
from Belmont Park, Long Island, N. Y., to Boston in three hours and
twenty-two minutes, the distance being 250 miles.
With R. Heck, a mechanician, as passenger, Lieutenant Webb got away
from Belmont Park at 12.09 o’clock.
Two hours later, as the aviator neared Haddon, Conn., he found that his
compass was working badly, and he descended at Shailerville and fixed
it.
At 3.31 o’clock Lieutenant Webb circled over Saugus, Mass., near Revere
Beach and Boston, and then planed down on the estate of Godfrey Cabot,
now the Franklin Park Aviation Field.
For some reason or another, presumably lack of funds, the service was
not made permanent.
NEW YORK-CHICAGO AERO MAIL
September 5, 1918, the Post-Office Department started the first
pathfinding mail service between New York, Cleveland, Chicago. Mr.
Max Miller was scheduled to leave Belmont Park, Long Island, at 6
A. M., but owing to a storm and the breaking of a tail-skid he did
not leave until 7.08 A. M. After flying through a fog he landed at
Danville, N. Y., 155 miles from New York City, and after getting his
bearings Lieutenant Miller next landed at Lock Haven, Pa., because his
engine was missing. At 11.45 A. M. he left for Cleveland. But the fog
continued, and he finally was forced to land in Cambridge, Pa., owing
to a leaking radiator. After some delay he flew to Cleveland, but owing
to the darkness he had to remain there overnight.
At 1.35 P. M. Lieutenant Miller left for Bryon, which he reached and
left at 4.35 P. M., and he arrived at Grant Park at 6.55 P. M. The
distance was 727 miles in a direct line.
On his return trip he left Chicago on September 10 at 6.26 A. M. with
3,000 pieces of mail, and he landed at Cleveland, and leaving there
at 4.30 P. M., reached Lock Haven, Pa., that night. He left there on
September 10 at 7.20, and reached Belmont Park at 11.22 A. M.
Mr. Edward V. Gardner left Belmont Park at 8.50 A. M., Thursday,
September 5, 1918, two hours after Max Miller had started in a Curtiss
R. plane, with a Liberty motor, taking Mr. Radel as mechanic, and
carrying three pouches of mail, containing about 3,000 letters.
Gardner landed at Bloomburg, Pa., near Lock Haven. He reached Cleveland
before dark, and after spending the night there, on September 6 Mr.
Gardner left Cleveland and landed at Bryon at 5.15 P. M., leaving there
for Chicago at 5.50 P. M., but was compelled to land at Westville, Ind.
He left there the next morning and reached Grant Park, Chicago, at 7.30
A. M. On his return trip Mr. Gardner flew from Chicago to New York in
one day, September 10. Leaving at 6.25 A. M., he landed at Cleveland,
Lock Haven, and landed at Hicksville, Long Island, in the dark.
The record non-stop for the 727 miles between the two, Chicago and New
York, was made by the army pilot Captain E. F. White in six hours and
fifty minutes, on April 19, 1919, flying a D. H. 4 army plane.
[Illustration:
_Courtesy of Aerial Age Weekly._
The pathfinding aerial mail flight, New York-Cleveland-Chicago.
Max Miller starting in a Standard Aircraft plane equipped with a 150
h.-p. Hispano-Suiza motor.]
On May 15, 1919, the postal authorities intended to inaugurate aero
mail service between New York and Chicago, but owing to the fact that
some of the machines which were being renovated from war-machines to
mail-machines were not ready, that branch of the service had to be
postponed for a few days.
The aero mail between Chicago and Cleveland and Cleveland and Chicago
was inaugurated. The delivery at Cleveland and Boston will be reduced
to some sixteen hours, and to New York some six hours. Letters mailed
in New York City in time for the train leaving at 5.31 P. M. will reach
Chicago in time for the 3 o’clock carrier delivery instead of the
following morning carrier delivery, as would be the case if sent all
the way by train.
Mail from San Francisco and the entire Pacific coast States put on
Burlington train No. 8, mail from South Dakota and northern Illinois
put on Illinois Central No. 12, mail from northern Minnesota and
northern Wisconsin put on Northwestern train No. 514, mail from
Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana put on Chicago, Milwaukee, and St.
Paul train No. 18, and mail from Kansas City and the entire southwest
put on Sante Fé train No. 10, will reach Chicago in time to make
connection with the air mail eastbound. The air mail from these trains
will be taken direct to the air mail field. At Cleveland the air mail
will catch the New York Central train at 4 P. M. for the East.
Under this arrangement the air mail will be delivered in Cleveland and
Boston on afternoon deliveries instead of the following morning. At
Albany, N. Y., and Springfield, Mass., this mail will catch the morning
delivery instead of the afternoon following.
The aero mail stamps for this service are the same as for the aero
mail service between Washington and New York. It will be recalled that
originally the amount necessary to carry a letter was 24 cents. This
was reduced to 16 cents, and finally to 6 cents, where it now is.
Without a doubt when large bimotored machines have been put into aero
mail service, letters will be carried for 3 cents apiece between New
York and Chicago.
One company has already made a proposal to the postal authorities to
supplement the mail service between Chicago and New York.
The aero mail service between Chicago and Cleveland started off on
schedule. Pilot Trent V. Fry left Chicago at 9.35 A. M., and arrived at
Cleveland at 12.48 P. M., in a rebuilt D. H. 4, carrying 450 pounds of
mail. The opening trip was made in very good time, with a five-minute
stop at Bryon, Ohio.
Another plane with Edward Gardner as pilot left Cleveland at 9.30 A.
M., carrying 300 pounds of mail, arrived at Chicago at 1.25 P. M.
[Illustration:
_Courtesy of Aerial Age Weekly._
The reconstructed De Haviland biplane, showing the limousine
accommodations for passengers.
The De Haviland 4’s were built in large numbers by Dayton Wright
Company and equipped with Liberty engines for fighting on the western
front. Some of these rebuilt machines are being used for aero mail
service between Chicago, Cleveland, and New York.]
FOREIGN AERO MAIL SERVICE
Aero mail service has been started in nearly every country in Europe,
and many South American countries are also making plans for carrying
mail by aeroplane. In May, 1919, Mr. Joaquin Bonilla, son of the
President of Honduras, visited the United States to see about arranging
to use New Orleans as one base and Tegucigalpha as another for the aero
mail landing-places.
Mr. V. H. Barranco, of Cuba, is also in this country for President
Menocole, of Cuba, to arrange aero mail between Key West and Havana,
Cuba.
The French aerial mail service officially started on March 1, 1919,
between Paris and Bordeaux, Marseilles, Toulouse, Brest, and St.
Nazaire, under the supervision of the director of civilian aeronautics.
THE PARIS-LILLE MAIL SERVICE.—The aeroplanes engaged in the
Paris-Lille mail service which had been instituted in April, 1919,
started from the Le Bourget aerodrome. The machines and pilots engaged
had been lent to the postal authorities by the military authorities.
A daily postal service has been started between Avignon and Nice also.
An aeroplane carries mails for Nice left at Avignon by the Paris-Lyons
train which arrives at midnight. A machine will also deliver mails from
Nice at Avignon in time for the midnight train for Paris. A regular
postal service by aeroplane is also announced between Rabat (Morocco)
and Algiers.
GREAT BRITAIN.—London-Paris (240 miles). Daily passenger service,
weather permitting, by means of twin-engined D. H. 10 biplanes. Now
being jointly organized by the Aircraft Transport and Travel (Ltd.),
of London, and the Compagnie Generale Transaerienne, of Paris. Average
time, two and one-half to three hours.
British aerial highways now in operation: (1) London to Hadeigh (79
miles). (2) London to Dover (65 miles). (3) London to Easteigh (53
miles) to Settenmeyer (152 miles). (4) London to Bristol (95 miles).
(5) London to Witney (55 miles) to Bromwich (51 miles) to North
Shotwick (72 miles), and to Dublin, Ireland (143 miles). (6) London
to Wyton (63 miles) to Harlaxton (41 miles) to Carlton (28 miles) to
Doncaster (28 miles) to York (27 miles) to Catterick (38 miles) to
Redcar (26 miles). Catterick to New Castle (42 miles) to Urnhouse,
Scotland (95 miles) to Renfrew, Scotland (40 miles). New Castle to
Renfrew (124 miles). (7) London to Hucknall (114 miles) to Sheffield
(50 miles) to Manywellheights (97 miles). Hucknall to Didsbury (52
miles) to Scalehall (50 miles) to Luge Bay (99 miles) to Aldergrove and
Belfast, Ireland (55 miles). Luge Bay to Renfrew, Scotland (72 miles).
ITALY.—(1) Civitavecchia-Terranova, Sardinia (150 miles). Daily
mail service by means of flying-boats. Inaugurated June 27, 1917;
temporarily discontinued during the winter of 1917-18; reopened in
March, 1918. Average time, 2 hours. (2) Venice-Trieste (170 miles). (3)
Venice-Pola (80 miles). (4) Ancona-Fiume (130 miles). (5) Ancona-Sara
(90 miles). (6) Brindisi-Cattaro (150 miles). (7) Brindisi-Valeona (100
miles).
Organized shortly after the signing of the armistice with Austria;
operating (8) Genoa-Nice (100 miles). (9) Genoa-Florence (120 miles).
(10) Florence-Rome (140 miles). (11) Rome-Brindisi (290 miles).
Air mail lines (8) to (11), now being worked out, will constitute the
Italian section of an interallied air mail service to be established
between London, Paris, Rome, and Constantinople.
FRANCE.—(1) Paris-Mans-St. Nazaire (250 miles). Daily mail service
by means of twin-engined Letord biplanes (Hispano-Suiza engines).
Inaugurated August 15, 1918. Average time, 3 hours. Postage, 75
centimes (15 cents). (2) Paris-London (240 miles). (3) Paris-Lyons (240
miles). (4) Lyons-Marseilles (165 miles). (5) Marseilles-Nice (140
miles).
Air mail lines (3) to (5), now being organized, will constitute the
French section of an interallied air mail service to be established
between London, Paris, Rome, and Constantinople.
(6) Nice-Ajaccio, Corsica (150 miles). Daily air mail service by means
of flying-boats about to begin operations.
Various air mail lines, operated by the military, are functioning
in southern Algeria and Morocco, chiefly for carrying official
correspondence. The organization of an air mail line from Marseilles
via Algiers to Timbuctoo is now being worked out. The sections
Biskra-Wargia (240 miles) and Wargia-Inifel (211 miles) and
Inifel-Insala (223 miles) are in operation.
GREECE.—(1) Athens-Janina (200 miles). Daily mail service;
inaugurated August 8, 1918. (2) Athens-Salonica (220 miles). Daily mail
service projected.
DENMARK.—(1) Copenhagen-Odense-Fredericia-Esierg (170
miles). (2) Copenhagen-Kalundborg-Aarhus (105 miles). (8)
Copenhagen-Gothenburg-Christiania (330 miles). Daily mail service
projected.
AUSTRIA.—Vienna-Budapest (140 miles). Daily mail service; inaugurated
July 5, 1918. Postage, 5.10 kronen ($1).
NORWAY.—(1) Christiania-Stavanger-Bergen-Trondhjem (670 miles).
Oversea route. (2) Christiania-Bergen (200 miles). Overland route. (3)
Stavanger-Bergen (100 miles). Oversea route.
Projected air mail lines to be operated by the Norwegian Air Routes
Company.
SPAIN.—(1) Madrid-Barcelona (320 miles). (2) Barcelona-Palma, Balears
(170 miles).
Projected air mail lines to be operated by a Spanish company.
GERMANY.—Berlin-Munich (350 miles). Daily mail and passenger service,
weather permitting. Average time, four and one-half hours; passage, $1
per mile.
Several other mail and passenger services are operating between the
larger cities, but no details are available.
CHAPTER X
KINDS OF FLYING
NIGHT FLYING—FORMATION FLYING—STUNTING—IMMELMAN TURN—NOSE
DIVING—TAIL SPINNING—BARREL—FALLING LEAF, ETC.
Owing to the fact that skilful landing is the most difficult thing for
a flier to acquire, and because more accidents occur to the novice when
he brings his machine to the ground than at any other time except,
perhaps, when stunting too near the ground, night flying is especially
hazardous. With properly lighted landing-fields in peace-times much of
the peril of landing after dark can be eliminated, provided the night
is clear and no fog or mist has settled over the aerodrome since the
aviators set out. If a mist has settled over the landing-place the
flier must take his chances and come down by guesswork, unless his
machine is equipped with wireless telephone, for the compass and other
instruments cannot tell him exactly where he is with regard to hangars
or take-off on an aviation-field. Indeed, if the telephone operator on
the ground cannot exactly locate the flier, it is exceedingly difficult
to direct the airman to the exact corner of the field in which he
should come down.
On a clear night, however, with flambeaux, search-light flares, etc.,
a pilot has little trouble in landing, for the straightaway can be
as illuminated as it is in broad daylight. Nevertheless, when the
aircraft is high in the sky, owing to the vast distances of infinite
space, the speed at which an aeroplane moves, and the drift out of its
regular course, due to the wind, it is often difficult for the flier
to keep his bearings. For that reason aviators try at night to locate
the lights on a railroad-track, the reflection of light on a river or
stream, and follow them to their destination. The Germans in their
raids on London usually tried to locate the Thames River, which they
then followed until they reached the metropolis, which they usually
succeeded in doing on moonlight nights despite the British long-rayed
search-lights, swift-climbing Sopwith Camels, and the barrages formed
by the thousands of anti-aircraft guns. As a matter of fact, no
adequate means of preventing aeroplane raids was developed by any of
the countries involved in the Great War, for the simple reason that
there is no way of screening off a metropolis so that those modern
dragon-flies cannot fly around, over, or through the screen. That is
another reason why a huge commercial aerial fleet will always be a
tremendous danger and perpetual threat to any contiguous country or
neighboring city, because these aerial freighters can be loaded with
inextinguishable incendiary bombs as easily as with passengers, and
10,000 such aeroplanes could drop on a city within a hundred miles of
its border enough chemical explosives to raze it by fire.
Considering all the chances taken by the Hun and the Allied fliers
during the Great War, and the kinds of machines they flew, and the
circumstances under which they flew, it is amazing how successful
they both were in their night-raids on one another’s territory, and
the amount of damage they wrought. Every night, rain or shine, the
British and French and Americans dumped from forty to fifty tons of
high explosives on German objectives, and it is truly amazing how few
machines were lost.
Night flying for commercial purposes, though, might easily be developed
into a comparatively safe means of aerial transportation. The machines,
however, ought to be constructed like the Sopwith Camel, with a very
fast climbing and a very low landing speed, in order to get clear of
obstacles quickly and to come to a stop as soon as it reached the
earth. The wing-tips should be equipped with lights, and small red and
green lights, called navigation lights, should be installed on port and
starboard struts. Under the fuselage a signalling light could be used,
and Very lights, rockets, parachute flares, or Borse flares could be
employed, as in war, to illuminate the fields, give the pilot a clew to
his whereabouts, and at the same time reveal to the wireless-telephone
operator on the ground the position of the ship in the air. This would
also prevent collisions. Care should be exercised so as not to blind
the pilot when he makes his landing. An electrically lighted “T” with
observation-towers would also aid in the safe landing of an airship at
night.
With the growth of flying, lighthouses and captive balloons poised
high above the fog or clouds will undoubtedly be established all over
the land, equipped with different lights so as to indicate to the flier
just where he is located. The French have already developed such a
system.
Of course a forced landing at night is very dangerous, and this may
happen at any moment. It was reported that a pilot was killed every
night patrolling over the cities of Paris and London looking for
Boches. It was also reported that every Hun plane brought down during
a raid on Paris cost the French Government $3,000,000 in ammunition,
aircraft, etc.
With the establishment of municipal aerodromes at regular intervals,
equipped with proper lights, signalling devices, wireless telephones,
night flying can be made as safe as night sailing along the coasts, and
with the increase in the size and number of aircraft, night flying will
become as commonplace as day flying.
STUNTING
There is no gainsaying that stunt flying, or aerial acrobatics, was
absolutely essential to the flying of scout and combat machines in
the Great War, for in order to survive in the war in the air it was
necessary for the pilot to be able to manœuvre and dodge about in the
sky as easily as a fish in the water; otherwise, the flier would be
shot down by a more agile machine or clever aviator. Clouds offered
such excellent cover for aeroplanes to ambush unsuspecting novices, and
decoys were often placed to induce some adventurous combat machine to
dive down on the decoy, only to find that a formation of five or more
aeroplanes were diving down on him. To escape from such a predicament
required knowledge of all the manœuvres an aeroplane could possibly
make.
[Illustration: Diagram showing the stages of a “tail slide.”
1. Normal flying position. 2. Preparing to “stall.” 3, 4, 5. The
machine falling by the head after being “stalled.” 6. Straightening
up. (Alternatively it could have continued its dive.)
The evolution of a “spinning dive.”
1. Stalling the machine. 2. The machine falling by the head. 3.
Gyrations of a “spinning dive.”
Diagram showing how an “aerial skid” is effected.]
Moreover, every pilot ought to know how to perform these stunts even in
peace-time flying, so that, if his engine stalls and he falls into a
spinning nose dive, he will know just what to do in order to get out of
it. The same is true of banking, side-slipping, etc.
Finally, since an aeroplane moves through the air as a submarine passes
through water, it should be designed so as to be able to take stresses
from every quarter, so that if the machine loops or flies upside down a
vital part will not break because the pressure is reversed.
Stunting should never be performed less than 2,000 feet above the
ground. It has been done by reckless pilots in exhibition flights
countless times with impunity; nevertheless, many of the most daring
and clever pilots have lost their lives just by taking such foolhardy
chances. Altitude is absolutely essential to recover equipoise
necessary to a safe landing, especially when a forced landing must be
made. Eventually a law will be passed preventing, on pain of forfeiting
of a license, looping, spinning, etc., below a certain altitude. The
result will be a decrease in the number of flying casualties and a
proportionate increase in the confidence of the public in the aeroplane
as a safe and sane medium of aerial transportation.
A VERTICAL BANK
This term is applied to all turns or banks made at 45 degrees or over.
With proper speed there is no particular danger in this manœuvre, and
is performed by putting the rudder and control lever farther over than
in an ordinary turn. To come out of a vertical bank is to give opposite
rudder and to pull the control lever central again and slightly
forward. When the machine continues around the circle it becomes a
spiral.
SPIRAL
A spiral descent is made with the engine cut off, and the pilot
should always keep his eyes on the centre of the circle. When the
angle becomes too steep, he flattens her out a little so that he does
not side-slip or skid, and if the descent is too rapid, he pulls the
control lever back slightly. When the bank is too pronounced, the
rudder and elevator change functions, and the pilot must bring them
back to their proper positions at once.
ZOOMING
Zooming is really making an aeroplane suddenly jump several hundred
feet into the air after flying near the ground. This is essential
sometimes in order to clear a hangar or telegraph-pole near the ground.
Fliers in the Great War did it when attacking aerodromes. No zoom,
however, can be made unless the machine has got up full speed, for it
is only this momentum that permits the aeroplane to climb so steeply
and suddenly. The stunt is done by jerking the control lever back
suddenly, which causes the nose to climb steeply. The control is then
pushed forward equally as suddenly, just as the machine has reached the
stalling-point and is about to fall over on its side. To avoid that,
the control lever must be pushed forward, forcing the nose down, and
allowing the machine to gain its velocity, otherwise it will lose its
flying speed and crash.
[Illustration: The so-called “Immelman turn.”
The lower machine is turning on its back, while travelling forward,
preparatory to diving.]
LOOPING
This stunt is nothing more or less than continuing the zoom until the
machine flies upside down and completes a complete circle perpendicular
to the ground. It is a very simple manœuvre, and was very necessary in
aerial duels. Some machines were built so that they could loop easily.
To loop, a machine must always get momentum enough in its descent to
complete the circle. To start the loop, the control lever must be
pulled far back, so that the nose rears vertically upward and over, and
remains in an upside-down position for a few seconds. In this position
he must cut off his engine, ease up the stick, slowly centring the
control. The engine can be switched on again as soon as the steepness
of the circle has decreased.
Before looping, a machine should be carefully inspected because of the
reversing of stresses, which may cause the breaking of a vital part.
Another danger in looping is the stalling or stopping of the engine
anywhere before the first half of the loop has been made, thus causing
the aeroplane to fall over on its side and into a tail spin or spinning
nose dive.
NOSE DIVES
Owing to the fact that a pilot must have altitude in order to get
out of a nose dive, it is well not to try them near the ground. The
pilot should be well strapped in so as not to be thrown forward on the
controls. It is made by pulling the nose straight down. The engine
should be shut off to minimize the strain on the machine. Many nose
dives end in a zoom, and they were very common performances in air
duels. A machine whose wings are not sufficiently strong may fold up
like a book when levelled out at the end of a dive and crash.
IMMELMAN TURN
This stunt consists of completing the first half of a loop, then
turning the machine completely about and facing the other direction.
This manœuvre was named after the famous German ace. The engine can be
cut out when the machine turns about and dives.
The cart-wheel, boot-lacing, falling leaf, the roll and the barrel are
all parts of this same stunt, and are often mistaken for one another.
The cart-wheel is done by diving or getting up speed, then making the
machine zoom. When the aeroplane is almost standing on its tail, but
before it has lost flying speed and controllability, the rudder forces
the ship into a bank in the same direction, forming a complete cart-wheel,
coming out and facing the opposite direction.
[Illustration: Diagram illustrating the reversal of position effected
by a “loop.”]
[Illustration: Diagram illustrating the execution of the so-called
“Immelman turn.”
1. First position of the machines. 2. The forward machine preparing
to turn over. 3. Partially over. 4. The forward machine upside down
but still travelling forward. 5. Beginning the dive. 6. Completing the
dive and straightening up.]
The falling leaf is done by a modification of this manœuvre, causing
the machine to fall over on one wing-tip, and then bringing it into
control again, thus causing the machine to turn over like a leaf in
the air. This is a hazardous manœuvre, and requires pulling the rudder
violently from side to side.
Upside-down flying and tail spinning is difficult except to certain
types of machines; of course it cannot be done for any length, and
usually terminates in a tail spin, when the machine descends like the
threads of a screw.
Naturally, there are air disturbances about a machine when performing
these stunts, and bumps are frequent owing to that phenomena. They
ought never to be tried by a novice close to the ground. They are,
however, very spectacular, and for that reason often seen at aerodromes
or flying exhibitions. Indeed, Lieutenant B. C. Maynard has a record of
318 consecutive loops.
FORMATION FLYING
Flying like ducks in the form of a spear-head and in groups of from 3
to 300 or more was inaugurated by the German ace of aces, the Baron
Von Richthofen, who was credited with shooting down eighty Allied
planes in the Great War. Before this, however, it was discovered that
flying in pairs was more safe than flying alone. With the development
of the wireless telephone the numbers in the formation were increased
until, in October, 1918, the Americans made a raid on Waville with 350
machines in formations.
These formations were called circuses, first because of the gaudy
camouflage which covered the red baron and his German machines; often
they placed decoys beneath clouds, and when an unsuspecting scout
descended on the decoy, the circus dived on the scout. This was done
by both sides, so that it became very unsafe to fly alone, or even in
pairs, on the West Front.
The flight commander’s machine was usually marked with a trailing
colored streamer, and he usually flew at the apex of the spear-head.
The second in command usually had his machine also specially marked,
so that if anything happened to the leader he could take command. The
commander often signalled by firing Very pistols. These same formations
were also used for bombing and reconnaissance. Formation flying was
also very useful for strafing the enemy on the ground during the last
four drives of the Germans in 1918. Groups of six machines were used
for this manœuvre with great effect. Whether or not formation flying
will become popular in peace-times remains to be seen. In case of a
crash of one machine the others could bring aid quickly, or carry the
occupants to their original destination.
CHAPTER XI
AERIAL NAVIGATION
ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS—WINDS AND THEIR WAYS—CLOUD FORMATIONS, NAMES,
AND ALTITUDES
Just as the navigator must know the sea, so the aviator must have a
knowledge of the heavens and the basic principles of aerodynamics
in order to become a successful pilot. Although the air is volatile
like the water, the aviator flies through it as a fish moves through
water. Therefore the aerial navigator must know enough about the medium
through which he travels to know what to do in an emergency. Through a
knowledge with the fundamental principles of meteorology the fliers may
know what to expect in the form of disturbances to the atmosphere, and
how to meet those conditions.
For aeroplane flight a calm clear day is the best. Then eddies and
storms are not encountered, although the air is never absolutely free
from the former in some degree. Even a strong gale is not a hindrance
to flying, as the United States aero-mail and hundreds of machines
on the battle-fronts have repeatedly demonstrated. Mists, fogs, and
low-hanging clouds are the greatest impediments to flying where the
machines are not fitted up with wireless telephones or directional
wireless. For first flights the early morning and late evening afford
the calmest atmospheric conditions.
Air, like water, seeks the level where the lowest pressure exists. It
is 1,600 times lighter than water, and it extends to some 50 miles
above the earth. One half of its weight is below the three-mile limit.
Atmospheric pressure is variable, and the temperature of the air
usually decreases with the altitude, so that it is often very cold up
in the air when it is comparatively cold on the ground. For that reason
electrically heated clothing or cabins, heated from the engine, are
used to keep the pilot and passengers warm.
The change in the temperature of the earth sets the air in motion,
so that portions that are heated by the sun’s rays faster than
other portions affect the atmosphere more quickly in that locality
than in others, for the heated air rushes up by expansion and the
cooler air will rush into the vacated place. With the repetition of
this the movement of the air increases. Thus high-pressure areas
and low-pressure areas are formed. A glance at a United States
Weather-Bureau map will show the location and the atmospheric pressure
at various places in the United States, and the intelligent reading of
the same will be of infinite usefulness to the aviator. The atmospheric
pressure is measured by a barometer. It is measured by a column of
mercury necessary to balance it. This same atmospheric pressure is
used to operate the altimeter, which tells the aviator how high he has
climbed.
A falling barometer indicates the approach of a storm and a rising
barometer fair weather. Wind strength is usually indicated by miles at
which the storm is raging. In the early days of aviation the aviator
used to wet his finger to see if the wind was stirring and what quarter
it was from. If it was blowing many miles an hour, he would not venture
forth.
In starting or landing a machine it is always desirable to head into
the wind. It is true that in forced landings pilots have come down with
the wind, but for every foot they must make an allowance.
Atmospheric pressure also has much to do with the flying efficiency of
the wings. The heat generated on the surface of the planes used by the
United States army in Mexico caused the dope to peal in some cases and
rendered the planes unfit to fly.
The flier should, however, know something about the kinds of winds
which prevail and the times of the day when the most violent are to be
encountered. At the earth’s surface the day winds are stronger than the
night winds, and the average velocity of the day wind is about eleven
miles an hour. Because of the similarity of the movements of the winds
to those of water, many of the terms applied to air movements are the
same.
When an upward movement of wind rises from barren land or conical
hills, it is called an aerial fountain. Sometimes this air rises at a
velocity of twenty-five feet per second. Sometimes an aeroplane when
caught in one of these fountains will rise like a cork on the top of a
water-spout, or the wing will be tilted if it is hit by this column of
hot air.
An aerial cataract is caused by descending cold air, and has the
opposite effect on an aeroplane flying through the air to that of the
fountain. These are encountered in flying over very broken ground.
Aerial cascades are encountered often in flying over narrow valleys
or steep hills. The contours of the land cause the air to follow down
into the valleys suddenly, thus often making it dangerous for fliers
to attempt to land on rivers enclosed in steep banks, unless of course
they fly up or down the river.
With aerial torrents the same principle applies, except that the area
of disturbance is broader and more powerful. Great velocity is attained
near open valleys, due to the cold air rushing to replace the hot air
moving upward. A cross, choppy wind will cause choppy air surfaces and
bad eddies, and can be discerned on a cloudy day by rips in the surface
of clouds.
Over the crests of hills vertical eddies are encountered. They are
usually called pockets by fliers. Often the machine drops straight
down, and the pilot should immediately head his machine into the
current. Sometimes winds will be found blowing in different directions
and passing in layers above one another. These have a tendency to turn
the ship about, and is one of the reasons why the aviators prefer to
get altitude before doing any stunt flying. Except close to the ground
these contrary winds are not dangerous. So just as a vessel is safest
far from a coast in a storm, so an aeroplane is safest at a reasonable
altitude where the wind is not so bumpy.
Clouds and mist are two of the worst enemies of the aerial navigator;
first because it shuts off the observer’s vision of the terrain,
preventing him from knowing exactly where he is, and because it makes
it difficult for him to locate his landing-field. Directional wireless
and the wireless telephone do help a great deal in giving information
about the lay of the land beneath the clouds or mist, but of course
it cannot visualize the ground on which the aeroplane is to land for
the pilot to see exactly where he should set the wheels down. For that
reason a knowledge of clouds is essential to piloting aircraft.
There are many different kinds of clouds, but they are all formed by
condensation when an ascending volume of moist air mingles with another
mass of a different temperature, or when a mass of arising vapor
condenses. With a knowledge of the direction clouds are moving in it
will reveal certain facts about the weather to the pilot. Clouds take
almost every conceivable shape.
A general knowledge of the movement of the clouds is a valuable asset
to the flier, for they indicate the air-currents and also the condition
of the atmosphere in their neighborhood. Unbroken clouds indicate
smooth-flowing air, while the more a cloud is broken the more bumpy the
air-currents are in that neighborhood. From the formation of clouds
then the atmospheric conditions may be realized by the pilot before he
flies into them. In general the following types of clouds indicate
certain specific facts to airmen.
A mackerel sky, called technically Cirro-Cumulus, which is formed of
small globular masses, or white flakes showing only light shadows,
or at most only very light ones, or arranged in groups or in lines,
usually at a height of 10,000 to 25,000 feet, denote fine weather, and
for commercial flying afford ample opportunity for smooth flying below
that altitude.
Very light, whitish wisps of clouds, fibrous in appearance, with no
shadows which appear at 30,000 feet altitude, or more, are the highest
clouds in the firmament, are called Cirrus or Mare’s Tails, because
they are scattered like hair over the sky. They indicate wind and a
cyclonic depression.
The next clouds in altitude are the Cirro-Stratus, which float 29,500
feet, and look like a thin sheet of tangled web structure. They are
whitish, and sometimes completely cover the heavens, giving it a milky
appearance. This cloud is one of the most beautiful, and often creates
moon and sun halos. It indicates bad weather.
The Alto-Stratus is a thick extensive sheet of bluish or gray cloud,
sometimes composed of a thick fibrous structure which is very dense and
impossible to penetrate with the eye. They are at an average height
of from 10,000 to 23,000 feet, and cause a luminous crown or aureole
around the sun or moon.
Woolpack Clouds, or Cumulus, as they are designated, are thick, and
the upper surfaces are dome-shaped, with many sharp protuberances,
and with horizontal bases. They are low-lying and indicate violent
disturbances of the air, and are dangerous for any kind of aircraft
when passing above them or through them.
Thunder-Clouds, or Cumulo-Nimbus, are formed in heavy masses rising
in the forms of turrets, mountains, or animals. They are usually
surrounded by a screen or sheet of fibrous appearance, having its base
in a similar formation. The highest points of these clouds reach an
altitude of 10,000 to 26,000 feet, and they are as low as 4,000 feet at
the base. They indicate lightning and terrific gusts of wind, and are
very dangerous to aerial navigators.
The whitish-gray globular masses partly shaded, piled up in groups and
lines, and often so thickly packed that their edges appear confused,
are called Alto-Cumulus. They are arranged in groups at an elevation of
from 10,000 to 23,000 feet. They do not look unlike the mackerel sky.
The cross-lines indicate strong currents of air.
Strato-Cumulus are dark globular masses of large clouds, often covering
the whole heavens in the fall and the winter. They hang as low as 6,000
feet, and always predict changing weather.
The lowest-hanging cloud of all is the Stratus, which is uniform at a
height anywhere from 100 to 3,500 feet. It may be either drifting or
stationary. It is a uniform layer, and resembles a fog, but, unlike the
latter, it does not rest on the ground.
The Nimbus is a thick layer of dark clouds with ragged edges but
without shape. Rain or snow usually falls from this formation. There
are many rifts in these clouds, and through them many higher clouds are
seen. The Nimbus usually occupy altitudes from 300 to 6,500 feet.
CHAPTER XII
COMMERCIAL FLYING
BUSINESS POSSIBILITIES OF THE AEROPLANE—SOME CELEBRATED AIR
RECORDS—GERMANY’S INITIAL ADVANTAGE—A HUGE INVESTMENT—CAUSES OF
ACCIDENTS—DISCOMFORTS OVERCOME—INEXPENSIVE FLYABOUTS—THE SPORTS
TYPE—ARCTIC FLIGHT—NO EAST OR WEST
In the face of the extraordinary development of the aeroplane and what
it has accomplished in the Great War, both for the Hun and the Ally,
it seems almost incredible that it was only as recent as December 17,
1903, that the Wright brothers made man’s first successful sustained
and steered flight in a heavier-than-air machine driven by a gas-engine
over the sand-dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina! Upon that historic
occasion Wilbur Wright flew 852 feet in fifty-nine seconds, and his
four-cylinder gas-engine could generate only 12 horse-power!
Since then an aeroplane has carried an aviator from Paris via
Constantinople to Cairo, Egypt; a biplane driven by a 300 horse-power
gas-engine has climbed to an altitude of 28,900 feet; another with a
450 horse-power engine has ascended with two men to an altitude of
30,500 feet; still another, with a wing spread of 127 feet, propelled
by four twelve-cylinder motors developing 450 horse-power each, has
lifted forty people to an altitude of 6,000 feet for an hour’s cruise
over London. Still another machine of the same type, but with only 100
feet of wing spread, and propelled by only two 400 horse-power engines,
has transported five men and a useful load of a ton all the way from
London to Constantinople and back to Saloniki, a distance of more than
2,000 miles, and has carried six people from London via France, Italy,
Egypt, Palestine, Arabia to Delhi, India, a distance of over 6,000
miles. A two-seater, with a pilot and mechanic, has flown from Turin to
Naples and back, a distance of 920 miles, without stopping! On April
25, 1919, an F-5 U.S. Naval seaplane, carrying four aviators, flew
1,250 miles in twenty-four hours and ten minutes without stopping. A
late report from Italy says that a huge triplane, measuring 150 feet,
weighing many tons, and driven by three 700 horse-power engines has
taken seventy-eight people up for a ride at one time. A piano has been
freighted in another aeroplane from London to Paris. The Alps, the
Pyrenees, and the Taurus Mountains have been aerially transnavigated
by aeroplane. The Sahara Desert, the Pyramids, the English Channel,
the Mediterranean and the Adriatic Seas have been flown over in
heavier-than-air machines.
[Illustration:
_Courtesy of Flying Magazine._
Interior view of the Graham White twenty-four-seater aeroplane in
flight.
The sound of the motors is shut out by padding. The room is
electrically heated.]
In the war zone the aeroplane has been put to the most astonishing
uses. It has spied out the most hidden secrets of the enemy; it
has dropped spies behind his lines; it has photographed thousands
of square miles of European and Asiatic terrain; it has directed
the fire of artillery and the march of hundreds of thousands of
troops; it has scattered cigarettes over advancing soldiers; it
has dropped cans of tomatoes to thirsty and hungry men in isolated
stretches of the desert; it has carried food to besieged camps; it
has bombed trains, concentrations of soldiers, ammunition-dumps and
ammunition-factories, gas-plants, and innumerable other military and
manufacturing objectives. It has performed more manœuvres in the air
than the tumbler pigeon. It has fought the most extraordinary battles.
It has descended so low as to rake soldiers in the trenches, transports
on the highways, trains on the railroads, and even officers in their
automobiles. Indeed, by bombing manufacturing cities over a belt of a
hundred miles along the Rhine it has done more to break down the morale
of the German people than any other factor. Truly this new engine of
man has developed, under the intense necessity of war, farther in this
short space of time than any other mechanical device—not excepting the
automobile—which man has ever invented or fostered.
But with all the wonderful things the aeroplane has accomplished
and with all the stupendous advance it has made as a carrier of man
and his chattels, even though it does travel the shortest distance
between any two points on this planet with the greatest speed,
nevertheless, much must yet be done to make the aeroplane a safe,
comfortable, popular, and inexpensive means of aerial transportation.
Therefore, before we attempt to demonstrate how this fastest engine
of flight can be made to do man’s will as easily and comfortably
as the powerful steam-engine, the mysterious electric dynamo, and
the subtle gasoline motor, let us first examine in detail what has
already been accomplished in aeroplane transportation. Then, with our
feet firmly planted on the ground but with our heads up in the clouds
so that we may see over the highest mountains, let us look down the
corridors of the ages and discern through the mists of time some of
the transportation feats which this new invention of man will most
certainly perform.
From the time of the first flight of the Wright brothers till the
beginning of the Great War, owing to the lack of commercial incentive,
the development in aviation was similar to that of any other science
that involved some physical dangers. It is true that M. Bleriot had
flown across the English Channel on July 25, 1909; that Jules Vedrines
had been carried in an aeroplane from Paris via Vienna, Sofia, and
Constantinople to Cairo, Egypt; and that Roland Garros had flown 500
miles across the Mediterranean Sea from St. Raphael, France, to Tunis,
Africa; but these facts were regarded as sporting events or stunts that
could not be regularly performed by aeroplanes without great loss of
life. For that reason practically no commercial interest was taken in
aviation, and very little military—except by Germany, which was ready
to seize upon and develop anything that would help her to realize _Der
Tag_ when she would be conqueror of the world.
Indeed, few people outside of those connected with aeronautics know
that one of the chief reasons why the Potsdam gang made the Sarajevo
murders a pretext for hurling the whole world into war was the firm
belief that Germany had at that time the complete supremacy of the
air. She had constructed a fleet of twoscore Zeppelins, some measuring
710 feet in length and being buoyed up by over 2,000,000 cubic feet of
hydrogen gas, driven by six Maybach gas-engines, each developing 250
horse-power, and carrying a crew of forty-eight men and a useful load
of four tons.
What destruction those fleets of lighter-than-air machines wrought upon
the open villages, towns, and cities of England, Scotland, France,
Belgium, Rumania, and Russia—not to mention the part they played in
the naval battle of Jutland—constitutes another chapter in the history
of German aerial preparedness and sky-line transportation that is
told in the chapter on the commercial Zeppelin. But just as Germany
seized on the submarine and developed it for polemic purposes, so
she saw the possibilities of the aeroplane as a scout, fighter, and
bombing subsidiary to the Zeppelin. With the object of developing the
aeronautic branch of the service beyond any other country the German
Government gave every encouragement to aviation. In 1914 the Huns
offered the sum of $55,000 to be awarded for the best water-cooled
and air-cooled aeromotor of 80 to 200 horse-power. Among the points
to be avoided in its construction was the “use of material from any
other country than Germany.” Under the auspices of the Aerial League
of Germany the Kaiser also put up fifty thousand marks in prizes
for the best altitude, cross-country, and non-stop records made by
standardized aeroplanes taken from stock. Subsidized as the German aero
manufacturers were by their government, it was not difficult for their
flyers to carry off all the prizes at this meet, so that before the end
of July, 1914, they had made the following new world’s records:
Otto Linnekogel on July 9 climbed to 21,654 feet, breaking Roland
Garros’s record of 19,032; on July 14 Heinrich Oelrich reached 26,246
feet; and Reinhold Boehm flew for twenty-four hours and two minutes
without stopping his engine!
Those who realize how much time, money, and energy have been expended
by this country during the time we were in the war in getting quantity
production of aeroplanes and aeromotors will appreciate what it meant
to Germany in July, 1914, when she declared war on the world, to have
all her experimentation done and her aeronautical factories tuned up
and nearly a thousand standardized planes equipped with standardized
Benz, Mercedes, and Maybach motors while England had barely 250
planes of almost as many different types, and France was in a similar
condition with about 300 aeroplanes and engines!
With command of the land and the air Germany felt she could neutralize
or overcome Britain’s command of the sea by overrunning France, seizing
the Channel ports, and by flying over the British fleet land an army
in England and conquer the “tight little isle.” Indeed, for three years
after the first battle of the Marne the fear of just such a contingency
compelled England to keep a large standing army at home while Germany
with her Zeppelins and aeroplanes, even from distant Belgium,
terrorized Scotland and England with almost daily bombing air raids.
But as soon as the war broke out the governments of the world began
to appreciate what could be accomplished by these little toys of
sportsmen, and to realize that the side which built and equipped the
largest and fastest fleet of scouts and fighters could put out the
eyes of his opponent and win the gigantic struggle; for an army or a
navy cannot feel its way forward like a worm without being destroyed!
This precipitated an enormous economic and manufacturing race to make
enough aircraft and to train enough skilful aviators to drive the enemy
from the air and get control of the third dimension. The fighting and
bombing possibilities of the aeroplane were not then fully appreciated;
that came afterward. Consequently the two objectives first sought in
the actual designing and building of the aeroplanes were manœuvring
ability and speed, and later bombing capacity. Inherent stability and
sufficient factors of safety, the two chief considerations in peace
construction of aircraft, were only secondary or entirely neglected.
For nearly four years this war of tools and this war in the air went on
with fluctuating vicissitudes for Hun and Ally. First came the German
scouting and fighting Fokkers equipped with motors which owing to their
superior horse-power made them faster and more easy to manœuvre than
anything the Allies had until the famous French Baby Nieuports with
110 horse-power Le Rhone engines appeared in 1916 and began to equal
the Boche in those two prime requisites. Then, owing to the number of
machines shot down or forced to land through engine trouble, neither
side could long keep any secret of aeromotor construction or aeroplane
design from an opponent. Therefore the struggle for quantity production
began. In the meantime the huge bimotored Caudrons, Voisins, Breguets,
Handley Pages, and Capronis began to be built in large numbers by the
French, British, and Italians, and the Gothas by the Germans. Each
year saw an increase in the horse-power of the motors and in the size
of the aeroplanes; and still, owing to the infinite area of the skies
to manœuvre in and the lack of large aerial fleets flying as a unit,
neither side could prevent the scouting-machines or the bombing raiders
from spying out or bombing any objective within a flying radius of two
hundred miles of their aerodromes.
With the advent of the United States into the struggle it became more
and more apparent to the German military leaders that they must win the
war before the tremendous manufacturing and aviator resources of this
country could be felt on the West Front. That, of course, was one of
the cardinal reasons for the series of great German drives beginning
with March 21, 1918.
The Allies, too, now fully realized that the Great War would be won
in the air, so they expended every effort and resource to build
aeroplanes to clear the German machines from the skies and to bomb
Germany from the air. How much these raids behind the Boche lines had
to do with the breaking down of the morale of the German people and
Teuton soldier cannot yet be properly estimated. However, to give an
idea of the severity of this war in the air and destruction wrought
by bombing-machines in Germany we know that the British Independent
Air Force sent out over the enemy territory squadrons of five to
one hundred aeroplanes, which dumped daily, rain or shine, sixty
to one hundred tons of high explosives on military objectives and
manufacturing plants scattered over a belt a hundred miles wide all
along the Rhine Valley. These raids penetrated as far as Essen and
Heidelberg. They destroyed ammunition-dumps, railroad-yards, chemical
and gas works. By blowing up railroad communications with the rear
they virtually cut the arteries of the German army. Moreover, by their
repeated excursions into Holland they disrupted the sleep, the rest,
and the working capacity of the people in the manufacturing towns and
cities in southern Germany.
In the battles in the air, too, the Allies were rapidly becoming
supreme. On October 18, 1918, the British air force alone destroyed
sixty-seven Hun machines and brought down fifteen more out of control,
losing only fifteen machines themselves. Thus these fliers blinded
the German artillery, and in contact patrol swept the Teuton trenches,
bombed their motor and rail transports, and dispersed concentrations of
their troops. Indeed, the only place to escape these relentless dragons
of the air was actually under ground.
Meanwhile, after much delay and many mistakes, American-built
aeroplanes were beginning to appear in quantity on the West Front. Here
is the record of what the Americans accomplished during the short time
in which they had machines: 926 German aeroplanes and 73 balloons were
destroyed. The Americans lost 265 aeroplanes and 38 balloons.
Finally, in October, 1918, 350 American-built aeroplanes in one single
formation dropped thirty-two tons of high explosives on Wavrille. When
the armistice was signed, there were actually engaged on the West Front
740 American aeroplanes, 744 pilots, 457 observers, and 23 aerial
gunners. Of these, 329 were pursuit machines, 296 observation machines,
and 115 were bombers.
How much damage the French and Italians did to German aerial supremacy
and manufacturing efficiency is difficult to summarize. It was very
considerable and, taken in conjunction with the others, sufficient
to convince the German military leaders that the Allied production
of aircraft was so rapid that within less than a year at most the
Allies would sweep the Huns from the skies and not even Berlin would
escape the fate the Huns had so often visited upon London, Paris, and
Bucharest. Finally the plea issued by the German Government to the
Allies, about a month before the end, to confine air raids to within
a fifty-mile zone of the fighting-line was a complete confession that
the Allied supremacy of the air was one of the most deciding factors in
causing Germany to surrender.
But though the primary uses of the aeroplanes during the last four
years were polemic, nevertheless, several of the startling new feats
demonstrate clearly what may be expected when the same aircraft
manufacturers design and construct machines for the avowed purpose
of commercial aerial transportation. Here are only a few of the most
startling world’s records that suggest these possibilities:
On August 29, 1917, Captain Marquis Giulio Laureati flew in an S. I. A.
from Turin to Naples and return, a distance of 920 miles, establishing
a new non-stop flight world’s record, and a month later he and his
mechanic flew from Turin to London, crossing the Alps at an altitude of
12,000 feet and negotiating a distance of 656 miles at an average speed
of 89 miles an hour. The speed, however, was not remarkable, for 100
miles an hour is the average speed for big machines, and 150 miles was
made by scouting-machines on the West Front during the war. On April
19 Captain E. F. White, U. S. A., in a DH-4, flew from Chicago to New
York, 727 miles, without stopping, in six hours and fifty minutes.
On April 25, 1919, four naval aviators, in a seaplane of the F-5
type, Serial No. 3589, made a new world’s record for an endurance
flight when they flew, officially, 1,250 miles in twenty hours and ten
minutes. The record was made during a continuous flight from 11.42 A.
M. April 25 until 7.52 A. M. April 26. Throughout the entire afternoon
and night, and often bucking a strong breeze over the Chesapeake Bay
and the Virginia Capes, the F-5 described a great circle, extending
northward to the mouth of the Potomac River and then eastward to the
Atlantic Ocean, sweeping over the Capes and then inland to the naval
station.
The four men in the machine ate three meals during the flight.
The machine left the naval base with 850 gallons of gasoline. When it
landed there was scarcely two gallons in its tanks.
The F-5 is an improved type of flying-boat that the Navy Department
intended using in patrol duty for war purposes. It has a wing spread
of 105 feet. The machine was built by Curtiss, and is known as a “kite
boat,” equipped with twin Liberty motors.
At Wright Field, near Dayton, Ohio, on September 18, 1918, Major R.
W. Schroeder, of the United States Air Service, in an American-built
aeroplane driven by an American-made Hispano-Suiza motor, climbed to
a new world’s altitude record of 28,900 feet, only 102 feet short of
the highest peak of the Himalaya Mountains. In December, 1918, Captain
Lang and Lieutenant Willets claimed to have ascended to 30,500 feet in
a Bristol aeroplane, but the record has not been homologed. On November
19, 1918, an aeroplane flew from Combes la Villa to Paris and return, a
distance of eighty miles, carrying thirty-eight passengers. Two days
before a Handley Page, with a wing spread of 127 feet and a fuselage
measuring sixty-five feet, propelled by four motors and piloted by an
American, carried nine women and thirty-one men to a height of 6,000
feet during an hour’s cruise over London, England. A year ago another
type of this same machine, but with only a 100-foot wing spread and
driven by only two 275 horse-power motors and carrying five men, flew
across country from London to Constantinople, dropped bombs on the
German cruiser _Goeben_ anchored there, and then flew back to Saloniki,
covering a total distance of more than 2,000 miles and remaining in the
air a total of thirty-one hours. The flight was via Paris, Lyons, and
Marseilles—in order to avoid the Alps—and from there to Pisa, Rome,
Naples, and then across 250 miles of mountainous country, often at a
height of 10,000 feet.
Near the close of the year a huge triplane Caproni, with its 150-foot
wing spread, driven by three 700 horse-power Fiat motors, developing a
total of 2,100 horse-power, has carried seventy-eight people in trial
flights at the factory!
A Model F-5 flying-boat, with a wing spread of only 102 feet, driven
by two Liberty motors, and lifting a 50-foot boat, has carried 12,900
pounds over many hundreds of miles looking for German submarines, and
another flying-boat, with 123 feet of wing spread, carried fifteen
officers and a pilot from Washington, District of Columbia, to Newport
News, Virginia.
On November 27, 1918, a Curtiss N C 1 carried fifty people for a short
flight at Rockaway Beach, New York. It was drawn by three Liberty
motors. The flying weight of the machine was 22,000 pounds, and the
machine had a wing spread of 126 feet, and the NC-3 and NC-4, which
flew from Rockaway, New York, to Halifax, 520 miles for the first leg
of the transatlantic, weighed 28,000 pounds, and were driven by four
Liberty motors.
The War Department on December 23 also announced that a squadron
of four army training-machines flew from San Diego, California, to
Mineola, Long Island, a distance of 4,000 miles, in the actual flying
time of fifty hours.
The infamous German bimotored pusher Gothas, measuring 78 feet, driven
by six-cylinder Mercedes 260 horse-power engines, and carrying three
men and five hundred pounds of explosives, flying by night from the
aerodromes near Ghent, Belgium, a distance of nearly two hundred miles,
have raided London more than a hundred times despite the opposition
of fleets of British aeroplanes and seaplanes and thousands of
antiaircraft guns.
For some time aerial mail has been carried from London to Paris in two
and a half hours. Mail is also being transported by air route regularly
between Washington, Philadelphia, and New York, and between Rome and
Turin. Mail was carried through the air from Chicago to New York in ten
hours and five minutes; and Second Assistant Postmaster-General Praeger
says the sky-line mail will be extended to the Pacific coast, and in
the year 1919 fully fifty aero mail routes will be in operation.
How many aeroplanes that might be used for peace purposes were
completed by all the Allies and in service of some kind at the end
of the war is problematic. Judging by the Allied demand that Germany
surrender 1,700 aeroplanes, the Allied military authorities surely
estimated that Germany must have had far more than that number in
active service on the West Front. Counting the training-machines
necessary to teach enough aviators to fly and the planes discarded
as unsafe for battle flying, Germany must have had 8,000 or more
heavier-than-air machines. The British surely had close to 5,000 of all
kinds on the different fronts, with possibly 10,000 used for training
and other purposes. Indeed, Britain was making over 4,000 a month, or
50,000 a year, when the war ended, according to the statement made by
General Seely in Parliament in April, 1919. Perhaps the French and
Italians combined did not have so many as the Germans because of the
physical limitations on their manufacturing facilities. The Americans,
we know, had nearly 2,000 on the front when the war ended. A thousand
De Havilland 4’s had been delivered up to October 4, and more than
6,000 training-machines had also been constructed. We were just getting
into a factory production of about 1,200 a month when the war ended.
Indeed, to be exact, on November 11, 1918, a total of 33,384 planes had
been ordered; subsequent to that date 19,628 ordered were cancelled,
and up to December 27, 1918, a total of 13,241 planes had been shipped
from United States factories.
With the exception of the training-machines and the two-seater
fighters, like the De Havilland 4’s, most of these American machines
could hardly be used for anything except aero mail service. The large
Caproni and Handley Page bombers will do some passenger carrying.
Indeed, the peace planes, unlike the war planes, are constructed with
stability, safety, capacity carrying, and comfort as the chief factors.
At the close of the Great War, fortunately for the aeronautic
industry, approximately ten billion dollars has already been invested
by European, American, and Asiatic countries in aeronautics. Part of
this has been expended in constructing aircraft factories, aeronautic
engines, aeroplanes, dirigibles, hangars; in obtaining raw materials
and landing-fields; in training aviators and mechanics, and in
making aeronautic machinery, equipment, and accessories. Thousands
of furniture and piano factories, boat-building shops, and similar
establishments have been manufacturing propellers, struts, ribs,
pontoons, flying-boats, and so on; and hundreds of automobile-makers
and engine manufacturers have given over their plants, or a goodly
portion of them, to making motors, spars, and tools.
Varnish, linen, cotton, castor-oil, goggles, clothes, and a hundred and
one other things have also been used either in the direct manufacture
of aircraft or in the equipment of the aviators or mechanics, so that
there are to-day tens of thousands of skilled and unskilled artisans,
aviators, mechanics, who are wondering how far the aeronautic engine,
with its remarkable development from 16 horse-power, which the Wright
brothers used, to the 700 horse-power of the Fiat, will be used in
commercial aeronautics and how far the frail little Wright glider,
which has grown into a machine weighing six tons, can be made a
profitable means of aerial transportation.
Moreover, all the scientific knowledge, trained technic, all the
enormous investments in fixed property, and the tens of thousands of
aircraft built or building is being turned to commercial purposes.
They were not, and everything is being done to make the aeroplane do
man’s bidding as easily and as readily as the steamboat, electric car,
steam-engine, and automobile.
Even though the aeroplane does travel the shortest route in the
shortest time between any two given points, before a sufficient number
of passengers can be induced to travel via the aerial line to make it
financially profitable to the transportation company the public must be
assured that it is reasonably safe; that they can fly in comfort; and
that the price is reasonable. So let us first see what has been done
and what is being done to satisfy those three requisites.
The dangers of aeroplane flight have been grossly exaggerated by
newspapers, which record only the unusual. Moreover, flying in the
war zone was done under the most adverse and dangerous circumstances.
Also the machines were built for manœuvring ability and speed, and
not for stability and safety factors. Furthermore, all the scouts and
most of the reconnaissance and battle planes were driven by only one
motor, so that if engine trouble developed they had to volplane to the
ground at the mercy of the antiaircraft guns and the aerial fighters.
Finally, they often had to land in shell-scarred terrain. Naturally the
casualties were high. Indeed, the war in the air was meant to be as
perilous and dangerous as it could be.
Nevertheless, in spite of these hazards it is remarkable how many
machines, even when shot down with some vital part out of commission,
in many cases falling several thousand feet, have righted themselves
before reaching the ground and made a safe landing, due to the
precision and accuracy of construction with regard to lateral and
longitudinal balance. And all in all, judging from the wonderful
records already made by aeroplanes, even the single-motored machine is
very reliable.
With the bimotored plane, of course, casualties were not so high, for
even if one motor was put out of commission the other could bring the
aviators back to the aerodrome. Major Salonone, the Italian ace, on
February 20, 1916, flew a hundred miles back to his own lines with one
of the motors on his Caproni shot out of commission!
On the aviation training-fields, owing to the novices who were
learning to fly, the natural recklessness of youth, and sometimes the
faulty construction of planes—hastily built and often superficially
inspected—the casualties were higher. Stunting too near the ground
and in machines constructed primarily for straight flying so that the
stresses should come from only one flying angle, enemy treachery, and
the absolute necessity of discovering the best manœuvres and newest
types of aeroplanes also augmented the honor roll. But stunting
eliminated, with machines equipped with two or more reliable aeronautic
motors built according to standardized specifications as to materials,
methods, stability, and the required number of safety factors, steered
by tried and true pilots, flying between regular landing-fields and
aerodromes and directed in the dark and in foggy weather from the
ground by radiotelephones, such as flight commanders used in giving
instruction to the members of the flying squadron, the dangers of
flying can be reduced to proportions commensurate with the desire
of the public to get from place to place in the quickest and safest
vehicle.
Of course, the present high landing speed of an aeroplane is the
cause of many accidents. Thirty-five miles an hour, except where the
head resistance is great, is the slowest speed now made in landing a
heavier-than-air machine. The invention of a device or the discovery
of a means of reducing the speed to ten miles an hour when touching
the ground, though still only in the realms of the probable, is by no
means diametrically opposed to the inherent laws of the aeroplane. This
accomplished, the danger of flying in an aeroplane will be reduced to
infinitesimal proportions—at least to a degree no more precarious than
riding in an automobile.
Already the War Department has ordered flyers to map the country, and
large stretches of the United States have already been mapped. The
Wilson Aerial Highway, from New York to Chicago and San Francisco, has
been laid out. Aerial transportation companies have been formed to
provide planes. Thousands of skilled pilots have secured jobs; many
chambers of commerce have built landing-places near their towns and
cities. Needless to say, aerial laws will be passed to prevent stunting
with passengers and requiring machines to fly at the altitude necessary
to glide to the nearest aerodrome in case a motor stalls. Already a
dozen different aeronautical motors have been developed which will run
twenty-four to one hundred hours without stopping. Recently the Caproni
biplane at Mineola, Long Island, climbed to 14,000 feet with one of the
three motors completely shut off all the way.
On August 9 the Italian poet Gabriele d’Annunzio flew from Venice to
Vienna via the Alps with his motor wide open all the way. Indeed,
thousands of equally sensational flights have been made, in all kinds
of weather and under the most adverse circumstances of a great war. Of
the hundred-odd air raids on London by the Gothas some were conducted
in broad daylight, when the Germans had to fly through squadrons of
British scouts and fighters, through or over three barrages in order to
get to the metropolis; and yet seldom more than one or two Hun machines
out of the thirty usually constituting the squadron were forced to land
or were shot down. The same thing was true of the British Independent
Air Force in the raids they made over the German cities, citadels,
factories, ammunition-dumps, and other military objectives, though they
often flew in fleets of fifty to a hundred.
Of the 350 machines constituting the American air raid on Wavrille in
October, 1918, only one aeroplane failed to return, though twelve Hun
machines were shot down. The German flying-tank which shot down Major
Lufbery, the most famous American ace, was driven by five engines,
which were protected, as well as the fuselage, with bullet-proof steel
three-eighths of an inch thick. Major Lufbery emptied his machine-gun
against this aerial monster from close range and from many angles
before his gas-tank was pierced and his machine went down in flames.
Therefore a bimotored machine, flying under peace conditions, should be
able to make its aerodrome safely nearly every time.
There were three discomforts of air travel—the cold, the noise of
the motor, and the lack of room in moving about. Electrically heated
clothes eliminate the cold; ariophones, which shut out the noise of
the motor but permit the passengers or aviators to converse together,
are in universal use on aeroplanes. With the increase in the size
of the aeroplanes and the number of motors, the nacelles and the
enclosed roomy cabins can be constructed as they were on the famous
Sykorsky aerobus, which was built in Russia before the war. This
aeroplane carried twenty-one people to an altitude of 7,000 feet. On
this trip they had ample room to move about and to observe the sky
and the landscape. On Thanksgiving Day, 1917, a half-dozen guests of
an American aircraft factory had their turkey dinner served in a huge
aeroplane above the clouds.
The Handley Page and Farman aerial transport busses now flying between
London and Paris carry the passengers entirely housed in.
It is true that owing to the cost of the aeroplanes and the aeromotors,
their upkeep and the number of skilled men required to fly and maintain
them, all aerial travel is expensive. The two-seater training-machines,
equipped with one motor, cost five to seven thousand dollars, and
the huge bimotored bombing-machines averaged forty to sixty thousand
dollars. This price was due to the necessity for hurried construction.
For everything that went into the building of the aeromotor and the
machine itself and also for the labor the very highest price had to
be paid. Tools, machinery, factories, fields, hangars, and a thousand
other things had to be purchased, and a great body of skilled workmen
had to be trained before aircraft could be turned out in quantity.
Now all this skill and billions of money have been invested in the
industry so that the plants in this country have the capacity to
manufacture nearly two hundred a day. With this nucleus to start a
peace-construction programme the price of even the biggest machines
must soon shrink to that of a high-priced automobile or private yacht.
Plenty of sporting machines with a small wing spread and a two-cylinder
motor that will sell for five hundred dollars are now being made;
and since these machines can average twenty-two miles on a gallon of
gasoline the expense of maintaining one of these will not be out of the
means of hundreds of the young flyers who have returned from flying on
the West Front. Moreover, since there will be no maintenance of roads,
rails, live wires, and so on, such as there is in the railroad and
electric road industries, the cost of aero maintenance is infinitely
smaller, so that aerial travel may become cheaper than any other known
to man.
Fundamentally, the hydroaeroplane is the same as the aeroplane except
that pontoons instead of wheels are used to land upon. The cost of
these airships over the land machines is noticeable only where boats
are used instead of pontoons. Consequently, their price above the
aeroplane will depend on the size and the kind of furnishings used in
the boat. Owing to the fact that no landing-field has to be bought
and maintained and that the flying-boat can come down on a river or
a lake with comparative ease, and also the fact that altitude does
not have to be maintained in order to glide to an aerodrome or a safe
landing-field, this type of aerial navigation bids fair to be fast,
cheap, and absolutely safe. Moreover, the size and passenger-carrying
capacity of these flying-boats will be limited only by the construction
of wings strong enough to maintain them in the air, for the size of the
hulls and the number of motors can be increased indefinitely.
Perhaps the best indication of what we may expect of the aeroplane
as a commercial carrier is embodied in the present plans of
the manufacturers of aircraft. Using the past history of the
heavier-than-air machines’ performance and their own experience and
the experience of tens of thousands of flyers under all imaginable
circumstances and conditions as a basis, they are building various
types of aircraft. More than a score of American and British firms have
already built and are putting upon the market large numbers of sports
models. These machines are single and double seaters after the type of
the famous Baby Nieuports, Spads, and British Sopwith Pups. They have
a wing spread of anywhere from seventeen to thirty feet. The fuselage
measures between ten and twenty feet. Some are equipped with one small
motor generating from twenty horse-power up to ninety horse-power. Most
of these motors are upright, like the ones used on motorcycles, and
range from two to four cylinders. The whole machine will not weigh more
than five hundred pounds and these models are able to fly at eighty
to one hundred miles an hour and make an average of twenty miles or
more on a gallon of gas. The price of these will depend on the demand,
but most manufacturers believe they will sell for five hundred to a
thousand dollars. These machines are so small that they can be landed
on any road or field. Besides, the small amount of space they occupy
will make it possible to house them inexpensively, and they can be used
for any kind of cross-country flying or sporting purposes.
The second type of the sports model has a wing spread of twenty-six
to thirty-eight feet. These wings can be folded back so that the
aeroplane can be housed in a hangar ten by thirty feet with ample
room for the owner to work indoors on the machine. The fuselage is
proportionately larger than that on the smaller machine. This aeroplane
is equipped with a four-cylinder upright motor or an air-cooled rotary
motor of the Gnome style with nine or eleven cylinders, generating up
to ninety horse-power. Some also have two small twenty horse-power
engines geared to the one propeller so they can be throttled down, or
in case one stalls the other can take the flyers to their aerodrome
without being forced to land. Some models have two motors on the
smaller machines. These aircraft will sell for about the price of a
medium-cost automobile.
The two-passenger models are similar in design to the army
training-machines. They have more powerful upright and V-type four or
eight cylinder motors and generate two to three hundred horse-power.
The fuselage is built so that the pilot sits in front of or beside
the passenger. The control is dual. The machines are mostly tractors,
but in a few cases the nacelle is built in front of the plane like a
bomber, and the propeller and engine are behind. These pusher types
obviate all the blind angles and afford an excellent unobstructed
range of vision. They are especially good for hunters, who desire
no obstruction in gunning for birds. In case of a crash, however,
there is the added danger of having the motor crush the passengers
underneath. The Canadian Government has sold over ten thousand of their
training-machines to an American company, which is reselling them at a
low price to men who wish to own an aeroplane.
The aero-mail type is about the same as the two-passenger model in
wing spread and fuselage, but the motor is a twelve-cylinder V type
and generates anywhere from 250 to 450 horse-power. Cost is not so
much a consideration here as carrying capacity. Most of the two-seated
fighting-machines built for war purposes can be adapted by the
Post-Office Department for this purpose, and plans are afoot to extend
the service all over the United States.
The big bombing bus type is designed for carrying great numbers of
people from one aerodrome to another. These machines are biplanes
and triplanes with a wing spread of anywhere from 48 to 150 feet.
They are driven by V-type, twelve-cylinder engines generating 400
to 700 horse-power. They have one or two fuselages in the centre
but the nacelles are usually forward of the wings, so that nothing
obstructs the vision of the passengers. These machines will be sold to
transportation companies, which will make a business of carrying people
from aerodrome to aerodrome. They are so large and are equipped with so
many motors that they are not intended to be landed anywhere except on
properly prescribed flying-fields. Several transportation companies are
already organized for that purpose.
All the above types of aircraft are so designed that pontoons or
flying-boats can be substituted for wheels and landing-gear, and so
that most aircraft manufacturers can make both. Of course, in most
cases the boats and the motors are made by different manufacturers.
Several companies, however, construct aeroplanes complete with motors.
Naturally no manufacturing industry can exist without a potential
market. Aircraft manufacturers are sure the majority of the twenty
thousand flyers and hundred thousand aero mechanics who have learned
their trade in the Great War will want to fly either machines of
their own or of somebody else or of some transaerial company. The
aeronautical engineers have, therefore, designed the sports type for
the young fellows who wish to race in the air, travel from country
town to country town, from lake to river, or to commute from country
to city. Since these machines fly faster than the fastest bird or the
fleetest animal, they will afford great sport for gunners. Indeed, the
machines have already been used with such disastrous effects upon the
bird that many hunters say it is not good sportsmanship to hunt from
them. In that case, perhaps, the farmers will hire the daring young
aviators to hunt down the crows and hawks with these dragons of the air.
Be that as it may, this sports type is a great convenience for a
person who works in a city located on a large lake or on a river and
who wishes to live far in the country. Indeed, he may live a hundred
miles up or down that body of water and in less than an hour he can
fly to or from his work. If it is cold he can put on his electrically
heated clothing and keep as warm as in a limousine. If he has engine
trouble he can land anywhere and fix his machine and then fly on. Since
air resistance is much less than road resistance he can traverse the
distance much cheaper than in an inexpensive automobile. If there is no
body of water near his place of business he can land his cross-country
flier in the park or flying-field just as easily as on the water. This
same machine will lend itself to all kinds of pleasure flying, and no
other sport gives so much exhilaration, scenic view, and adventuresome
excitement as the aeroplane; and the price will be within the means of
many young men.
The two-passenger models are being sold to persons of means who
have flown or wish to fly and take up friends. After a few years
the manufacturers expect there will be a considerable body of these
enthusiasts. The greatest sale of these machines, however, will be to
the government for the aero mail service. At first two machines will be
necessary for every flier in that service, and one in every aerodrome
for every one in the air, so with fifty established routes we shall
require several hundred machines. Moreover, the manufacturers expect
that these machines fitted with either a fuselage or a boat will be
employed very extensively by mining companies for carrying precious
metals in South America and Alaska. At the present time llamas are
used to carry copper down from the Andes. They are so slow and have
to descend to the smelters by such devious routes that valuable time
is lost in the transportation. By loading the ore into the hold of a
flying-boat, which can land on the lakes and ponds in case of engine
trouble, the time will be so materially diminished as to reduce the
cost of the metal very considerably. Besides, flying in a straight
line as the bird flies, at a speed of not less than a hundred miles an
hour, will expedite the work of the engineer and the surveyor over the
jungles and unexplored and inaccessible portions of South America and
Africa, as well as in other distant countries.
The conditions in Alaska are analogous, though the climate is
different. Dogs and sleds are now used, and they, too, have to travel
roundabout routes from mine to town. Of course, an aeroplane fitted
with skids or runners can be landed on snow or ice as easily as on
land. It now takes two days to sled gold down from one mine in the
Yukon to Nome, which could be brought out in three hours by aeroplanes
flying over the tops of the mountains.
At the time this goes to press Captain Robert Bartlett is so convinced
of the feasibility of flying in the arctic regions that he plans to try
to fly across the north pole in an aeroplane. During the summer months
there are plenty of open spaces on which seaplanes can land in the
arctic regions, and flying at 100 miles an hour, it would not take many
hours to cross the ice-bound region of the pole itself.
Already on the plains of the West and Southwest this type of aeroplane
has been found to be more serviceable than the horse in discovering the
whereabouts of lost cattle or sheep, because of the range of vision it
gives to the shepherd or cowboy and because of its speed and the short
distance it covers in reaching its objective.
The big bombing bus type is being built primarily for companies or
clubs intending to carry passengers from city to city or for cruises
from the club-houses.
General Menoher, director of military aeronautics, has announced that
the army will co-operate with the aero mail department in developing
municipal aerodromes in thirty-two different cities in the United
States, extending from coast to coast and from Canada to Mexico.
Meantime the aircraft manufacturers are contemplating establishing a
line of huge flying-boats between New York and Boston, carrying fifty
people each way. The distance of two hundred miles could be covered
in two hours, or less than half the time taken by train. Only four
machines will be used at the beginning, one leaving Boston early in the
morning and the other early in the afternoon. Two will leave New York
at the same time. Four more will be kept in reserve, and as the traffic
increases more will be added. The total investment will not require a
million dollars, and the aero mail between the two cities has already
set the pace for this passenger line.
The manufacturers also expect that every life-saving station along the
entire coast of the United States and its possessions will be equipped
with at least one seaplane with which to carry out a life-line to a
ship wrecked on the beach or to rescue any one in distress within
a hundred miles of the station, because these flying-boats can be
launched in any kind of weather and can travel faster than anything
that moves on the water.
The keenest aeronautic interest at the present time is centred in the
aerial crossing of the Atlantic Ocean between America and Europe.
Two possible routes are proposed for the flight. Both start from St.
John’s, Newfoundland, but one stretches from there to Ireland and the
other via the Azores to Portugal. The northern route is 1,860 miles
from land to land, and the other 1,195 miles to the Flores, which is
the nearest one of the Azores. From there to Ponta Delgada to Lisbon
is 850 more. The southern route is preferable because the first leg
is shortest from land to land. Also, less fog prevails in the south
in all seasons of the year. Captain Laureati has already flown in a
single-motored machine 920 miles without landing. The United States
Naval F-5 flying-boat has flown 1,250 miles. Undoubtedly a flying-boat,
equipped with four or more motors, could carry enough gasoline to cover
the 1,200 miles on the Atlantic without stopping. Indeed, only half
the number of motors need be running at one time if necessary, and
since the large bimotored machines make a hundred miles an hour the
flight could be negotiated within the twelve hours of day-light in the
summer-time.
Just before the war broke out Mr. Glenn Curtiss, the inventor of
the flying-boat, was building for Mr. Rodman Wanamaker the seaplane
_America_ with which Captain Porte was to try to fly across the
Atlantic. The beginnings of hostilities terminated the project. The
_America_, however, did cross the Atlantic, but in the hold of another
boat, and it performed very good service in British waters chasing Hun
submarines.
During the four years that have elapsed since the breaking out of the
Great War the construction of aeronautic motors, aeroplanes, and the
science of aviation have advanced at least a quarter of a century,
so that if the proposition was feasible before the war it ought
certainly to be very practicable to-day, as many authorities have
testified. The _Daily Mail_ prize of $50,000 is still beckoning to the
adventurous spirit. The Martinsyde two-seater land-machine and the
two-seater Sopwith have already established themselves at St. John’s,
Newfoundland, to begin the flight to Ireland. The United States Navy
NC-1, NC-3, and NC-4 have flown from Rockaway by the southern route
to the Azores. Once the first flight is negotiated, the aircraft
manufacturers are convinced there will be a greater demand for flying
seaplanes than for ocean liners, for they feel sure that most of the
people going to and coming from Europe would prefer to travel in that
way, and in less than half the time now taken by the fastest ocean
greyhounds.
[Illustration:
_Courtesy of Flying Magazine._
The Vickers-“Vimy” bomber.
This plane carried Captain J. Alcock and Lieutenant A. W. Brown from
Newfoundland to Ireland in 16 hours and 12 minutes.]
In conclusion, then, it may be safely laid down as an axiom that the
conveyance which reduces man’s time in travelling from one place on
this globe to another will sooner or later be adopted by him. No matter
what the discomforts or the dangers or the expense may be in the
beginning, he will eventually find a way to change the inconvenience
into the greatest luxuries, the expense will be reduced to within the
means of all, and the dangers will be diminished to infinitesimal
proportions. It was so in the beginning, it is so now, and it will
be so till the end of recorded time. It was so with the recalcitrant
camel, the ponderous elephant, the wild horse. It was thus that man
transformed the floating log, which he propelled with his feet, into
a floating palace, driven thousands of miles across the greatest of
oceans. Likewise he metamorphosed the puny stationary steam-engine into
a demon that is more powerful than a thousand horses, and that rushes
him across the broad spaces of the earth faster than the fastest deer.
Indeed, with the aeroplane, man has already done what was considered
for countless ages as the acme of the impossible—he has learned
to fly; and in the short space of a decade and a half he has flown
faster, farther, and he has performed more convolutions than the
noblest birds of prey—yes, it may safely be said that he has made the
once marvellous imaginary flight of the magic carpet of the Arabian
Nights—when compared with the aerial exploits of the fliers in the
Great War—fade into the most diminutive insignificance and the tamest
fiction.
Before long then we may reasonably expect that all the capitals of the
world will be connected by air lines. Already regular landing-places
have been established from London via Paris, Rome, and Constantinople
to Bagdad and Cairo. Peking and Tokio will next be added. The flight
from London to New York will also soon be an accomplished fact. Then
all the capitals of Central and South America will be joined up.
The distance from South America to Africa is about the same as that
between America and Europe. By reducing the time of travel between all
those places to hours the aeroplane will make mountains dwindle into
ant-hills, rivers to creeks, lakes to mud-holes, and oceans and seas
to ponds. The globe will be aerially circumnavigated. Tokio and Peking
will be as accessible to New York as London now is, and vice versa.
Then there will be no east or west and with the new aerial age will
come a new internationalism founded on speedy intercommunication and
good-will toward all man-kind.
[Illustration:
_Courtesy of Aerial Age Weekly._
The C-5 leaving its hangar at Montauk Point en route to accompany the
NC’s on their trans-Atlantic flight.
After reaching the vicinity of Halifax the “Blimp” broke away from her
moorings and was blown out to sea. The Blimps are equipped with one
Hispano-Suiza motor. They measure 200 feet.]
CHAPTER XIII
THE COMMERCIAL ZEPPELIN
THE AMBITION OF THE AGES REALIZED—A GIANT GERMAN DIRIGIBLE—ZEPPELIN
ACCOMPLISHMENTS—HIGH COST OF ZEPPELINS—SAFETY OF TRAVEL—SOME
BRITISH PREDICTIONS—THE FUTURE OF HELIUM—THE LIFE-BLOOD OF COMMERCE
Almost daily during the winter of 1918-1919 reports were coming out of
Europe to the effect that Zeppelins were being converted into aerial
merchantmen to fly regularly between New York and Hamburg.
Because these gigantic lighter-than-air machines, measuring more
than 700 feet in length, 70 feet in diameter, buoyed up by more
than 2,000,000 cubic feet of hydrogen gas, and driven by six
Maybach-Mercedes engines, generating a total of 1,400 horse-power,
had carried, in all kinds of weather and under adverse circumstances
of war, a crew of forty-eight men and a useful load of four tons from
Germany over the British fleet and the North Sea and the anti-aircraft
guns and by hostile fleets of Allied aeroplanes, and had successfully
raided England and Scotland more than a score of times, returning
safely to their home ports, often having flown a total distance of
approximately 800 miles—the eyes of the aeronautical world, like
search-lights in the night, were sweeping the heavens over the
Atlantic seaboard to discover whether these leviathans of the air or
the little dragon-flies of aeroplanes were to be the first to appear in
the firmament, aerially transnavigating the 1,195 miles of water that
separates the Old World from the New.
Indeed, ever since man has learned to fly he has become such an
exalted creature that he has ceased to regard any mechanical feat as
impossible. This is, in a measure at least, pardonable when we stop
to consider that ever since man got up off his hands and learned to
walk upright he has longed to be able to fly as a bird through the
heavens in any direction he chose, without let or hindrance, boundary
or border. Though he expended every effort to accomplish this feat, and
often lost his life in the attempt, for countless ages the privilege to
soar aloft was denied him.
In point of time it was, as we have seen, September, 1783, before
the Montgolfier brothers succeeded in sending up even a paper bag
inflated with hot air, and it was November of the same year before
two Frenchmen, the Marquis d’Arlandes and Pilâtre de Roziers, made
the world’s first trip in any kind of aerial vehicle—namely, a free
balloon.
But these and most of the attempts to navigate the air in the next
century were unsuccessful, primarily due to the lack of power adaptable
to propelling a gas-bag through the air. In 1852. Henri Gifford,
another Frenchman, made the first successful directed flight in a
dirigible 143 feet long and 39 feet in diameter. It was inflated
with hydrogen and driven by a three-horse-power steam-engine, an
eleven-foot screw propeller, and it made six miles an hour relative to
the wind. Owing to the fuel, fire, and weight problems the steam-engine
was then impractical as a means of propulsion for lighter-than-air
machines.
In 1884 Captain Charles Renard went a step farther in the right
direction by installing a 200-pound electric motor, generating nine
horse-power. The battery, composed of chlorochromic salts, delivered
one shaft horse-power for each eighty-eight pounds of weight, but in
spite of such a handicap he flew over Paris at fourteen and a half
miles an hour. Nevertheless, the electric motor was also impractical,
even for a rigid dirigible. As a matter of fact, every gas-bag was at
the mercy of the winds, and could not steer a direct course, until the
gasoline motor was invented and developed to generate more than a dozen
horse-power.
The first man to build a rigid dirigible with an aluminum framework
and drive it with a gasoline motor was an Austrian named Schwartz, but
the first man to build, equip, and perform the necessary evolutions
with a rigid dirigible was Santos-Dumont, the famous Brazilian. He
accomplished this feat in September, 1898, when he set out from
the Zoological Gardens at Paris and in the face of a gentle wind
steered his airship in nearly every point of the compass. In 1901 he
circumnavigated the Eiffel Tower, thus demonstrating the feasibility of
the lighter-than-air ship as a practical means of locomotion through
the air.
The world’s first successful flight in a man-carrying heavier-than-air
machine, made by the Wright brothers two years later at Kitty Hawk,
North Carolina, only went further to confirm man’s belief that the
conquest of the air and the age of aerial navigation were at hand.
Since then in a heavier-than-air machine man has climbed to 30,500
feet and has flown 920 miles without stopping. In a free balloon man
has drifted 1,503 miles through the air—from Paris to Kharkoff,
Russia—and to an altitude of over 38,000 feet. In a rigid dirigible
the Germans have transported machinery for making munitions all the
way from Austria-Hungary over Bulgaria—while that country was still
neutral—to Constantinople, a distance of 500 miles; within a radius of
350 miles of Germany, despite all military and naval opposition on land
and sea, the Huns have flown with tons of high explosives and dropped
them on London, Paris, and Bucharest. In the last days of the war a
super-Zeppelin flew from Jamboli, in Bulgaria, to Khartum, in Egypt,
and back, a distance of more than 6,000 miles each way, carrying a crew
of twenty-two men and twenty-five tons of medicine and munitions. It
was intended to transport the supplies to General Lettow-Vorbeck in
German East Africa, but a wireless received when the Zeppelin was over
Khartum notified its commander to return, for Lettow-Vorbeck had been
captured.
On March 22, 1919, the British Government officially announced that the
US-11, a non-rigid type of dirigible, had flown 1,285 miles over the
North Sea without stopping, the actual flying time being forty and a
half hours. The voyage took the form of a circuit, embracing the coast
of Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein, Heligoland, North Germany, and Holland.
The trip was characterized by extremely unfavorable weather, and
therefore is regarded as ranking as perhaps the most notable flight
of the kind ever undertaken. The airship started from the Firth of
Forth, laying a straight course toward Denmark. There was a northwest
wind of fifteen to twenty miles an hour, and the night was dark, but
the airship was only a mile from her course when she passed the Dogger
Bank Lighthouse. After passing the lighthouse the velocity of the wind
increased, and calcium flares were dropped into the sea frequently to
determine the location.
The airship’s troubles began on the return journey. The wind became
stronger and more tempestuous. At midnight one engine became useless
and the ship was forced a considerable distance to leeward.
The captain contemplated landing in France, but finally decided to hold
on in the hope that the wind would abate. The wind abating somewhat, a
“land fall” was made at North Forel. At this time the gasoline supply
was running low.
In two radically different types of flying-machines man has in the last
decade aerially transnavigated great natural and geographic barriers
in the form of the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Taurus Mountains, and
the North, the Baltic, the Adriatic, and the Mediterranean Seas. He has
made these flights in all kinds of winds, weather, and atmospheric and
polemic conditions.
At last he has ascended higher than the lark and flown faster than the
eagle and farther than the mightiest bird of prey. Small wonder then
that he should consider the flight across the Atlantic by either the
aeroplane or the Zeppelin as nothing but a question of time.
As a matter of fact, man does not doubt that eventually not only the
Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Seven Seas, but even the globe itself
will be aerially transnavigated. His only concern is how soon these
feats will be accomplished facts.
Several preparations—but only one real attempt—to fly across the
Atlantic had been made up to January, 1919. The first effort to cross
the ocean from America to Europe by air was made by Walter Wellman and
a crew of five men in the dirigible _America_ on October 15, 1910. The
airship measured 228 feet in length and 52 feet in diameter, with a
lifting capacity of twelve tons. The envelope carrying the gas weighed
approximately two tons. Attached to the bag was a car 156 feet long.
The nine thousand pounds of gasoline necessary for the trip were
stored under the floor of the car. The _America_ carried three eighty
horse-power gasoline engines, one of which was a donkey, the two others
being used to drive the propellers. Beneath the car hung a 27-foot
lifeboat that was to be used in case they had to abandon the airship.
A 330-foot equilibrator, consisting of a long steel cable on which
were strung thirty spool-like steel tanks each carrying 75 pounds of
gasoline, and forty wooden blocks, trailed from the cabin. The blocks
were about twenty inches long.
The object of the equilibrator was to eliminate ballast. It was
intended that the balloon should sail along at a height of about two
hundred feet; if it settled close to the water the wooden blocks and
the tanks would float on the water and relieve it of some of its
weight. The _America_ was also equipped with sextants, compasses, and
other instruments for locating its position, the same as an ocean-liner.
Besides Walter Wellman, the explorer and writer, were Melvin Vaniman,
chief engineer; F. Murray Vaniman, navigator of airships; J. K. Irwin,
wireless operator; Albert L. Loud and John Aubert, assistant engineers.
They left Atlantic City in a dead calm and were towed out to sea by a
motor-boat. Three days later, on October 18, after many vicissitudes
the engines broke down and the huge gas-bag was at the mercy of the
winds. Wellman and his crew were picked up by the steamer _Trent_ 375
miles east of Cape Hatteras. The dirigible had been carried out of its
course because of insufficient power to navigate against the winds and
had to be abandoned, a total loss.
A year later, financed by the Chamber of Commerce of Akron, Ohio, and
one of the large rubber companies, a balloon called the _Akron_, 268
feet long and 47 feet in diameter, with a gas capacity of 350,000 cubic
feet, was built to be flown across the Atlantic by Melvin Vaniman. It
had two 105 horse-power engines.
Unfortunately, on July 2, 1912, while making a trial flight over
Absecon Inlet, near Atlantic City, the balloon took fire and exploded,
killing Melvin Vaniman and the four members of his crew. This disaster
put an end to building dirigibles in this country for transatlantic
flight.
The preparation for another attempt to cross the Atlantic was made
by Glenn H. Curtiss through the generosity of Rodman Wanamaker, who
financed the building of the flying-boat _America_. Owing to the
breaking out of the war this project was abandoned.
Neither of these two American-built lighter-than-air ships could be
compared in size, engine power, lifting capacity, or flying radius
with the dirigibles constructed by the German Government and people
under the direction of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. Indeed, his first
airship, constructed in 1900, measured 410 feet and contained 400,000
cubic feet of hydrogen, whereas the super-Zeppelins were many times
larger than either Wellman’s or Vaniman’s airship.
A description of the giant dirigible brought down in the summer of
1916 in Essex, England, will give an excellent idea of the gigantic
proportions, the buoyancy, the engine power, and the accommodations of
these leviathans of the air.
The airship measured 650 feet to 680 feet in length and 72 feet in
diameter. The vessel was of cigar-shaped stream-line form, with a
blunt rounded nose and a tail that tapered off to a sharp point. The
framework was made of longitudinal latticework girders, connected
together at intervals by circumferential latticework tires, all made
of aluminum alloy resembling duraluminum. The whole was braced and
stiffened by a system of wires. The weight of the framework was about
nine tons, or barely a fifth of the total of fifty tons attributed to
the airship complete with engines, fuel, guns, and crew. There were
twenty-four balloonets arranged within the framework, and the hydrogen
capacity was 2,000,000 cubic feet.
A cat walk—an arched passage with a footway nine inches wide—running
along the keel enabled the crew, which consisted of twenty-two men, to
move about the ship and get from one gondola to another. The gondolas,
made of aluminum alloy, were four in number: one was placed forward on
the centre line; two were amidships, one on each side, and the fourth
was aft, again on the centre line.
The vessel was propelled at 60 miles an hour in still air—by means
of six Maybach-Mercedes gasoline engines of 240 horse-power each,
or 1,440 horse-power in all. Each had six vertical cylinders with
overhead valves and water cooling, and weighed about a thousand
pounds. They were connected each to a propeller shaft and also to a
dynamo used either in lighting or for furnishing power to the wireless
installation. One of these engines with its propeller was placed at
the back of the large forward gondola; two were in the amidships
gondolas, and three were in the after gondola. In the last case one of
the propellers was in the centre line of the ship, and the shafts of
the two others were stayed out, one on either side. The gasoline-tanks
had a capacity of two thousand gallons, and the propeller shafts were
carried in ball bearings.
Forward of the engine-room of the front gondola, but separated from
it by a small air space, was first the wireless-operator’s cabin and
then the commander’s room. The latter was the navigating platform, and
in it were concentrated the controls of the elevators and rudder at
the stern, the arrangement for equalizing the levels in the gasoline
and water tanks, the engine-room telegraphs, and the switchboards
of electrical gear for releasing the bombs. Nine machine-guns were
carried. Two of these, of half-inch bore, were mounted on the top of
the vessel, and six of small caliber were placed in the gondolas—two
in the forward, one each in the amidships ones, and two in the aft one.
The ninth was carried in the tail.
The separate gas-bags were a decided advantage over the free balloon
and earlier airships, which carried all the gas in one compartment;
for if the latter sprung a leak for any reason it had to descend,
whereas the Zeppelin could keep afloat with several of the separate
compartments in a complete state of collapse.
Since the Zeppelin, like all airships, is buoyed up by hydrogen
gas—which weighs one and one-tenth pounds per two hundred cubic
feet as compared with sixteen pounds which the same amount of air
weighs—the dirigible is sent up by the simple expedient of increasing
the volume of gas in the envelopes until the vessel rises. This was
done by releasing the gas for storage-tanks into the gas-bags. In order
to head the nose up, air was kept in certain of the rear bags, thus
making the tail heavier than the forward part, which naturally rose
first. Steering was done by means of rudder or the engines, or both,
and the airship was kept on an even keel by use of lateral planes. The
airship could be brought down by forcing the gas out of the bags into
the gas-tanks, thus decreasing the volume, and by increasing the air in
the various compartments.
This airship had a flying radius of 800 miles, could climb to 12,000
feet, could carry a useful load of 30 tons, and could remain in the air
for 50 hours.
Because so many Zeppelins were lost to Germany and because so much
time and money were necessary to construct the enormous airships, many
people have jumped to the conclusion that the rigid dirigible was an
absolute failure even as an offensive war weapon. Yet despite its bulk
and the fact that it could not fly faster than seventy miles an hour,
and though more than a hundred Zeppelins raided England at some time or
another during the war, only two were shot down by aeroplanes and only
a few by antiaircraft guns. Most of them were destroyed because they
ran out of fuel and consequently became unmanageable and were blown out
of their course and forced to land or had to descend so low that they
came within easy range of aircraft guns of the land batteries or the
naval guns.
This record is truly surprising when we stop to consider that the
Zeppelin had to navigate entirely by compass and mostly at night over
hundreds of miles of hostile sea and land, opposed by the guns of a
huge Allied fleet and thousands of antiaircraft guns, without lights or
landmarks to aid them and often with untrained and inexperienced pilots
to guide them! No wonder that some of these airships met disaster—like
the L-49, which had to land in France; or the L-20, which was forced to
land on the Norwegian coast near Stavanger; or others, which came down
so low over the North Sea that they became easy targets for the British
torpedo-boat guns.
But this is judging the Zeppelins purely as offensive weapons of
war. Even as such they forced the British Empire to maintain a large
standing army and a huge armament of guns and aeroplanes in England
by threatening to land a mammoth army of invasion there from Belgium.
What they did to spread terror in Belgium and to keep the German army
informed by wireless of the conditions behind the British and French
and Belgian lines in the first advance to the Marne is a matter of
history. Also what they performed in disorganizing the armies and in
disconcerting the people of Antwerp and Bucharest, not to mention many
Russian cities and Paris itself, during the Hun advance against those
cities, is almost too horrible to relate. Over the Rumanian capital
alone they descended so low—because there were no antiaircraft guns
to defend the city—that they scarcely flew clear of the buildings as
they rained down hundreds of tons of high explosives on the frightened
inhabitants, and even bombed a part of the imperial palace, where the
Queen was nursing the Crown Prince.
This unlawful use of these giant aircraft does not detract from what
they demonstrated could be done in the way of aerial navigation and
transportation under the frightful opposition of war, and it is only
an augury of what will be accomplished when the same vessels of the
air will be put to carrying man up and down the aerial highways of the
heavens, which know no barriers, obstructions, or hostile opposition.
Their greatest service to the Germans was as aerial scouts rather than
as ethereal battleships or cruisers; and if these rigid dirigibles had
performed no other feats for the Huns, from the Teutonic point of view
at least, their work in planning and directing every move of the German
high-seas fleet in the great naval battle off Jutland amply repaid
Germany for the time and money and effort expended in building those
air cruisers.
On May 30 in the first stage of that battle it will be recalled that
Admiral Sir David Beatty was cruising with his scout fleet looking for
the Germans several hundred miles east of the British grand fleet,
which was under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, somewhere off the Orkney
Islands. Flying out under the protection of a fog-bank that was moving
down over the North Sea a German naval Zeppelin discovered the isolated
position of Admiral Beatty’s scout fleet and sent a wireless message
to the German high-seas fleet, which came out under Admiral Von Scheer
with the sole object of cutting off and destroying Admiral Beatty’s
fleet before it could unite with the British grand fleet. Undoubtedly,
had it not been for a seaplane launched from the mother ship _Engadine_
and flown by Flight Lieutenant Frederick J. Rutland, who discovered the
entire German navy coming out, the British scout fleet might have been
cut off and completely destroyed before Admiral Jellicoe could come to
the rescue.
In the meantime another Zeppelin was hovering over the British grand
fleet far to the north and was keeping the German Admiral Von Scheer
fully informed by wireless of every ship in the squadron. It was this
Zeppelin which finally warned the German admiral to return to the
protection of secure fortresses and defenses of the great German naval
base of Helgoland. By thus saving the Hun fleet from annihilation
in this naval encounter it was possible for the Germans to hold a
complete, continuous, and dangerous threat that their navy might again
come out to attack England or France and cut off English troops from
the Continent. This possibility alone compelled the Allies to maintain,
until the close of the war, an enormous fleet at all times in the North
Sea.
There is no gainsaying that in time of war the aeroplane has many
advantages over the Zeppelin. The heavier-than-air machine can be
produced in quantity much more readily than the lighter-than-air craft.
Exact figures on the cost of Zeppelins are not available. W. L. Marsh,
in the British publication _Aeronautics_, gives half a million dollars
as the estimated cost of a superdirigible of sixty tons, having a lift
of thirty-eight tons. This high cost is due, among other things, to the
enormous building in which the airship must be constructed, for it must
be borne in mind that one of these dinosaurs of the air extends its
bulk along the ground farther than the Woolworth Building towers in the
air. Indeed, it could not descend in an ordinary city street because of
its bulk, and if it did it would extend more than three city blocks of
two hundred feet frontage! Moreover, the plant necessary to generate
the hydrogen gas sufficient to inflate a bag of two million cubic
feet capacity would cost fifty thousand dollars alone. The amount of
aluminum in the L-49, forced to land in France in the spring of 1918,
would make a foot-bridge over the East River as long as the famous
Brooklyn Bridge!
To land and house such an elusive and buoyant monster requires many
winches and some two hundred men. Even then some have been known to
run away. This happened in the winter of 1907, when the _Patrie_, a
French semirigid dirigible, which was only a third as large as the
German super-Zeppelins, was caught in a gale of wind near Verdun and in
spite of the two hundred soldiers who held her in leash she broke her
moorings and, flying over France, England, Wales, Ireland, shedding a
few fragments on the way, finally disappeared into the sky above the
North Atlantic.
On the other hand, a six-ton aeroplane can carry a useful load of two
tons and does not cost more than $50,000. Also the wing spread of 150
feet of the largest aeroplane is small compared to a 700-foot Zeppelin.
Consequently, aeroplanes can be more readily produced in quantity, can
be housed, and require only a half-dozen men to take care of them.
Because of the small size of the scout machine—with only a
26-foot wing spread—and its speed of more than a hundred miles an
hour—compared to the Zeppelin speed of 60 or 70 miles—the aeroplane
was invaluable for scouting over short distances, for duels in the
air, for directing artillery-fire, for contact patrol; and the larger
aeroplanes were useful for bombing in huge fleets.
In all other purposes of war the Zeppelin is far superior to the
aeroplane. Even the contention that the aeroplanes stopped the Zeppelin
raids on England is absurd. It is true that two Zeppelins were brought
down over England by aeroplane, but it was September 3, 1916, two years
after the breaking out of the war, when young Leefe Robinson brought
down the first Hun dirigible over London. It was June 3, 1915, when a
Canadian sublieutenant, R. A. J. Warneford, flying a Morane monoplane
for the Royal Naval Air Service, got above a dirigible returning to its
aerodrome in Belgium from a raid on England and dropped a bomb upon
the gigantic gas-bag, blowing it up and killing the crew; but before
that came to pass thirteen Zeppelin raids had already been visited upon
England, 408 bombs had been dropped, twenty-one persons had been killed
and a thousand injured. In both this case and in the case of Lieutenant
Robinson, more than a year later, the aeroplanes happened to be in the
air above the Zeppelins before they came along, and the aeroplanes in
both instances were blown completely upside down by the force of the
explosion. Needless to say, a moment later Lieutenant Robinson looped
the loop for joy when he saw what destruction he had wrought.
In other words, because the Zeppelins could put out their lights, shut
off their motors, and drift through clouds unheard in the night at two
thousand feet altitude, and because the dropping of the bombs, like
the throwing out of ballast, allowed the dirigibles to jump suddenly
up to much higher altitudes, they were as a rule far too elusive for
the aeroplanes to get near enough even to shoot incendiary bullets into
them.
In point of flying comforts and safety, time that can be spent in the
air, flying distances and useful load carried, the Zeppelin is far in
advance of any kind of heavier-than-air machine ever built.
Before the war the passenger-carrying Zeppelins _Schwaben_ and
_Victoria Louise_ were equipped with cabins for the accommodation of
twenty-four passengers and crew. Meals were served à la carte; two rows
of easy-chairs were arranged before the windows, with a passageway
between; and there was a wash-room with water-faucets; which will
give an idea of the completeness of the appointments for the comfort
of passengers. In the super-Zeppelins constructed since then, and now
being fitted to fly the Atlantic, there is ample room for a promenade
of four to five hundred feet in the keel. Moreover, there is even a
greater opportunity for the giant sky-liners to provide luxurious
cabins and other comforts for the travellers, such as of course cannot
possibly be supplied on a heavier-than-air machine, where even the
chief engineer cannot so much as leave his seat to examine the engine
once the machine is in flight!
The ability of the airship to cruise at low heights is another comfort
the dirigible enjoys over the aeroplane, which, to insure a safe
landing in event of engine trouble, usually navigates across country at
five thousand feet altitude or more. The most pleasurable height for
air cruising is between five hundred and one thousand feet, for from
there the perspective of the countryside is not too diminutive.
As regards the safety of travel in lighter-than-air machines,
naturally there have been several disasters such as are inevitable
in perfecting a new science. The disasters that occur in the air are
closely analogous to those of the sea. The greatest dangers to the
airship are the wind, storms, and fire. Of these the last is the most
dangerous, because hydrogen gas is so highly explosive. That was what
caused the destruction of the _Akron_, with Vaniman and his companions.
What caused the explosion that annihilated the crew of twenty-five of
the L-11 in September, 1913, is not known. Perhaps the absorption of
the rays of the sun caused the gas to expand, bursting the gas-bags.
Glossed surfaces now deflect the rays and help to avoid that danger.
The extraordinary point in the long experimentation with Zeppelins was
the immunity of the actual crews of the airships from death, until the
thirteenth year of the Zeppelin’s existence. Despite the ever-recurring
accidents and the frequent loss of life and serious injury among
landing parties and the workshop hands, not a single fatality occurred
to any of the navigators until September, 1913, when naval Zeppelin
L-1, which was actually the fourteenth Zeppelin to be constructed,
was wrecked in the North Sea by a squall, her crew of thirteen being
drowned.
Most of the minor accidents to Zeppelins were due to poor landings
and high winds. At first this was not to be avoided, because of the
huge bulk of these air-liners and their great buoyancy and the ease
with which the wind could blow them against their moorings. With
experience, though, this was eliminated. Indeed, the officers of the
passenger-carrying _Schwaben_ never bothered about the weather, and
went out when aeroplanes would not dare go up. The _Parseval VI_ made
224 trips about Berlin within two years’ time, remained in the air a
total of 342 hours, carried 2,286 passengers, and travelled a distance
of 15,000 miles.
To compare this record with the long list of those who have lost their
lives in aeroplane flying and experimentation is impossible and of no
avail. The radical differences of construction make it much easier for
the balloon to avoid disaster than the aeroplane.
Whenever a wing breaks on an aeroplane or whenever the engine on a
single-motored machine stops, the aeroplane must fall down or glide
to a landing. These defects will undoubtedly be greatly overcome with
standardized construction of aircraft and the establishment of proper
landing-fields. The hazard, nevertheless, will always be there in some
degree.
Such an accident is not frequent with a lighter-than-air machine,
which does not depend on its motor but upon gas to keep it afloat.
Indeed, an airship may drift hundreds of miles with the wind with all
its motors completely shut off—which, by the way, is another reason
why the transatlantic fight with the air-currents, which move from
America to Europe, seems to be a very feasible possibility for the
lighter-than-air craft. The conservation of fuel under such a condition
is tremendous.
[Illustration:
_Courtesy of Flying Magazine._
The R-34, the British rigid dirigible.
The R-34 flew from East Fortune, Scotland, to Mineola, New York, a
distance of 3,300 miles, in 108 hours and 10 minutes, and returned to
Pulham, Norfolk, England, in 75 hours and 3 minutes, non-stop flight.]
“It is unquestionably her long endurance and great weight-carrying
capacity which gives the airship her chief advantage over the
aeroplane,” says W. L. Marsh, the eminent authority on dirigibles
previously referred to. “It will no doubt be conceded that in spite
of the stimulus of war the airship is little further advanced in
development than the aeroplane was at the beginning of 1915; and
already airships have visited this country”—England—“which could with
ease fly from England to America, carrying a considerable load
of merchandise. A present-day Zeppelin has a gross lift of sixty-five
tons, of which some 58 per cent is available for crew, fuel, ballast,
merchandise, and so on. If we take the distance across the Atlantic in
a direct line as two thousand miles we get the following disposition of
our load of thirty-eight tons:
TONS
Crew of 30 2.3
Ballast 2.0
Gasoline 12.0
Oil 2.0
Extras [food, and so on] 1.0
——
Total [say, 20 tons] 19.3
“This leaves eighteen tons available for freight. These figures are
based on the ship maintaining a constant speed of fifty miles an hour,
at which she would do the journey in forty hours, consuming 650 pounds
of gasoline an hour.
“This represents what a rigid airship of slightly over capacity can
do to-day, and is given as an indication of what is possible in a
comparatively early stage of development.
“No one who has considered rigid airship design and studied rapid
strides which aeroplanes have made in the last three and a half years
can doubt for a moment that an airship could be built in the course
of the next two years which would have a disposal lift—or, in
aeroplane parlance, a ‘useful load’—of over two hundred tons, giving
it an endurance of anything up to three weeks at a speed of forty to
forty-five miles an hour.
“I am endeavoring to state the case as moderately as possible, and
am therefore purposely putting the speed at a low figure. I believe
I am correct in estimating the full speed of a modern Zeppelin at
seventy-five miles an hour. I shall not be too optimistic in claiming
eighty miles as a conservative figure for the future. There is little
doubt that a ship of some 800,000 cubic feet should be able to carry
twenty or thirty passengers, having a full speed of about seventy miles
an hour, which it could maintain for two days or more, the endurance at
forty-five miles an hour being probably in the neighborhood of five or
six days. This ship would be able to cross the Atlantic. A present-day
Zeppelin could carry some eighteen tons of freight across to America,
and the really big ship—it must be remembered that up to the present
we have been talking of lighter-than-air midgets—could transport at
least 150 tons the same distance.”
But Mr. Marsh is not the only British authority on aerodynamics who
has gone on record as to the practicability of transnavigation of the
Atlantic. The British Aerial Transport Committee, consisting of some of
the most representative men of Great Britain, such as G. Holt-Thomas,
Tom Sopwith, H. G. Wells, Brigadier-General Brancker, Lord Montagu of
Beaulieu and Lord Northcliffe—to mention only a few—in its report of
November, 1918, to the Air Council of the British Parliament, says:
“Airships now exist with a range of more than 4,000 miles, and they can
travel at a speed of 78 miles an hour. By running their engines slower
a maximum range of 8,000 miles can be obtained. On first speed Cape
Town, South Africa, is to-day aerially only a little more than three
days from Southampton. This ship could fly across the Atlantic and
return without stopping. The committee points out that the airship will
soon develop a speed of 100 miles an hour, that it will be fitted with
ample saloons, staterooms, an elevator to a roof-garden, and it will be
able to remain in the air for more than a week.”
Mr. Ed. M. Thierry, Berlin correspondent of the N. E. A., under date
of December, 1918, says: “I recently visited the immense works outside
Berlin at Staaken. The new super-Zeppelin which is now building has a
gas capacity of 100,000 cubic metres. It will have nine engines and
eight propellers. This transatlantic Zeppelin is 800 feet in length. It
will cost nearly $1,000,000, and it will have a carrying capacity of
100 passengers and forty-five tons of mail and baggage, and thirty tons
of petrol, oil, and water and provisions. The first machine for the
transatlantic service is to be completed in July, 1919. For maintenance
of the service planned, eight active machines and four reserved will
be required. As soon as the international situation is clarified it is
proposed to establish the service with a hangar in New York.”
Major Thomas S. Baldwin, U. S. A. C., considered one of the best
authorities in regard to balloons and dirigibles in the United States,
said that the Germans had constructed aircraft that could stay in the
air for two weeks and could make upward of 75 miles an hour. Major
Baldwin stated that the relatively small American Blimps were capable
of 60 miles an hour. Only recently one of these flew from Akron, Ohio,
to New York without stopping, a distance of more than 300 miles, and
the Naval NC-1 flew from New York to Pensacola, Florida, a distance of
over 1,000 miles, stopping at Norfolk, Virginia, and Savannah, Georgia.
On December 12 an interesting experiment of launching a plane from a
dirigible was conducted at Rockaway Beach, New York. The dirigible
rose about one hundred feet above the sand-field near Fort Tilden.
An aeroplane was attached to the roof. After discharging ballast and
starting the motor the dirigible ascended to three thousand feet and
released the aeroplane, which dived about one thousand feet and then
flew off to Mineola. Lieutenant George Crompton, Naval Flying Corps,
piloted the dirigible, assisted by J. L. Nichols and G. Cooper. The
plane was piloted by A. W. Redfield.
In the flight of the British naval dirigible R-23 over the North
Sea, in April, 1919, the aeroplane was hung suspended from the keel
amidships and launched when near the British coast.
The above experiment is cited only as an indication of what the
possibilities are of combining the aeroplane with the dirigible
in landing mail or express from dirigibles crossing the Atlantic.
Undoubtedly aeroplanes weighing only a thousand pounds, with a flying
radius of 600 miles and making 150 miles an hour, will be launched
from superdirigibles 500 miles from the journey’s end, especially when
airships are to be constructed with 10,000,000 cubic feet of gas, with
a 60 per cent gross lift for crew, fuel, freight, and so on, as Mr.
Marsh says is quite possible in the immediate future.
Experiments for launching aeroplanes from ocean-liners for a like
purpose are already under way. The object is to fly the mail for London
or New York from the ocean greyhounds as soon as they get within five
hundred miles of either coast. This will, of course, cut the flight
time from New York to London considerably. As a matter of fact the
dirigible might fly over only the great expanse of water from land’s
end to land’s end, while the aeroplanes negotiated the remainder of the
distance. It is granted that for short flights over land the aeroplane
is twice as fast as the Zeppelin, whereas the latter, because it can
stay in the air for weeks, is the best adapted for long cruises over
large bodies of water. Moreover, the removal of the weight of an
aeroplane from a dirigible six hundred miles from its journey’s end
would facilitate the remaining flight of the Zeppelin by just so much;
it would be equivalent to throwing out ballast to keep a balloon in the
air.
Perhaps of all the revolutionary scientific developments of the Great
War—especially in the field of chemistry—the one that may perform the
greatest service to mankind is the steps taken by the Bureau of Mines
to produce helium, the non-inflammable gas which has 92 per cent of
the lifting power of hydrogen, in sufficient quantities to be used in
floating airships!
A non-inflammable gas with such a lifting capacity as helium has been
the dream of the aeronaut and the dirigible engineer ever since the
Robert brothers first conducted their experiments in France in 1784 and
found that hydrogen had greater buoyancy than any other gas available
in large quantities for balloons; for with it they could jump over the
highest peaks of the Himalaya Mountains and the broadest expanses of
the Pacific Ocean without danger of the gas igniting from the sun or
the engine.
It will be recalled that we pointed out that the greatest danger to
people riding in dirigibles was the possibility of heat expanding and
exploding the hydrogen gas. One of the first airships to experience
this fate simply passed through a cloud into the hot sun, whose rays
expanded and exploded the gas, blowing the airship and its crew into
smithereens before they could open the gauges and release the pressure.
The same thing may have caused the explosion of the German dirigible
L-2, which killed its crew of twenty-five; and the American airship
_Akron_, which blew up, destroying Vaniman and his companions. The
substitution of helium entirely eliminates that danger and makes it
possible to carry heating devices for the comfort of passengers in
high altitudes where it is so cold.
Of course, the lifting power of helium was known to students of
aerostatics before the war, but the mechanical difficulties and cost
involved in producing this gas on an industrial basis were so great
that it would hardly pay to produce it for commercial purposes. Indeed,
the largest amount of helium in any one container up to the beginning
of 1918 was five cubic feet, and it cost between fifteen hundred and
six thousand dollars, whereas under the new system it is expected that
one thousand cubic feet can be produced for one hundred dollars!
In war, however, cost is nothing—results are everything. As there was
a possibility that helium might be one of the chief factors in winning
the war, the joint Army and Navy Board on Rigid Airships in August,
1917, provided the Bureau of Mines with the requisite funds to do the
necessary experiment work.
This, however, is not the time or the place to go into a detailed
description of this wonderful gas or how it was obtained, further than
to state that apparatus had to be designed on entirely new lines for
the liquefaction of nitrogen into natural gases, at temperatures as low
as -317 degrees Fahrenheit; that the natural gas of Kansas, Oklahoma,
Texas, and Ontario contains 1 per cent of helium; that a $900,000
building was constructed for the Navy Department at Fort Worth, Texas,
and a ten-inch pipe-line ninety-four miles long was laid, at a cost of
more than a million dollars, from the wells at Petrolia, Texas, for
supplying the plant with natural gas; and that the first production of
it was in operation April 1, 1918.
Within a comparatively short time, then, we ought to see many companies
organized in this country for aerial transnavigation of the globe by
helium airship! Before the year 1919 has come to a close we ought to
see aeroplanes and dirigibles jumping the Atlantic from shore to shore.
Who knows, it may even come to pass that man shall become as much a
creature of the air as the birds! As a world of exploration and travel
the heavens offer him many adventures. It presents to him the shortest
distance and the line of least resistance between any two given
points on this planet. By the aircraft he has already designed he has
penetrated to a height of 38,000 feet and flown a thousand miles in a
straight line without stopping.
Is there any reason to doubt that in a very short time man will extend
the capacity of these airships or the distance they can travel? The
monetary and laudatory incentives are there. For affording to his
fellow man and his chattels faster transportation, man’s reward has
been great and commensurate with his success. In order to win that
remuneration he has enslaved and domesticated the beasts of the
fields; he has harnessed the river and the streams; he has sought out
the secrets of nature and devised ways and means to make her hidden
forces transport him up and down the highways and byways of the globe;
for that reward he has invented machines and engines to rush him
over the land and across the seven seas at an ever-increasing rate.
When mountains have raised their ponderous bulk between him and his
objective he has climbed over them or tunnelled under them or cut them
down; when rivers, lakes, or oceans have intervened he has spanned them
by bridges or boats; when isthmus or even continents have injected
their lengths between him and his markets he has cut them asunder that
his ships might pass through.
In short, transportation is the life-blood of commerce, and by it and
through it the perishable fruits of India, Africa, and America are
carried from the tropics to the remotest corners of the frigid zone;
likewise the foods or minerals or other materials confined by nature
to the temperate zone are taken to the balmy tropics. In fact, every
instrument and every force in nature is enslaved so that man may enjoy
all the blessings of the earth at one time and in one place. Taken all
in all, the speed of transportation has increased man’s pleasures and
years proportionately.
But how many people to-day realize that when aerial transportation of
passengers and freight has become an actual accomplished fact in the
sense that water and land transportation of man and his goods now is, a
complete redistribution and reconcentration of the cities, people, and
nations and a new internationalism in the form of customs and language
will have become a historic fact! This statement may seem like an
absurd phantasy, but if history repeats itself in the future as it has
in the past this will take place as surely as the sun rises.
Ever since man transported his goods from one place to another he has
followed the lines of least resistance and the greatest speed. For that
reason rivers were his first natural highway. At the stopping-places
along these routes and waterways he built for himself villages, towns,
and cities. The biggest of these, however, have always been located at
some favorable terminus or harbor. Nineveh, Babylon, Carthage, and Tyre
were ancient cities that grew and flourished because they were either
the termini or the harbors of advantageous trade routes or excellent
stopping-places on great waterways. With the change in the rivers of
commerce those cities decayed and passed away.
The rise of such cities as Venice and Genoa in the Middle Ages, when
they afforded the best ports for the sailing-vessels that connected
the caravan routes which came across Asia from the East for their
distribution of goods to Europe and the West, was due to the same
cause. With the changing of those routes those cities lost their
importance and prestige and became what they are to-day.
At the present time most of the largest cities of the world are
located near inviting harbors or in river-mouths where the great
ships of commerce come and go and find refuge. London, Liverpool, New
York, Hamburg, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Calcutta, Bombay, Havana,
Buenos Aires—to mention only a very few—depend primarily upon their
strategic geographic position for their business and their very life.
If in time, then, the nearest points of land between continents and
countries become the great landing-places for the new passenger and
freight ships of the air, it is quite conceivable that the great
centres of population and commerce may grow up themselves round those
havens.
Moreover, if, as the British Civil Aerial Transport Committee and most
of the world’s aeronautical authorities are convinced, Cape Town, South
Africa—to take but one example—is only three days’ flight by aircraft
from Southampton, England, and if all the remotest capitals of the East
are only hours or days instead of weeks away from those of the West,
there will be such rapid and constant intercommunication that customs
practices will become obsolete and one international language may have
to be adopted for trade and convenience. Indeed, the only impediment
originally put in the way of the Handley Page Company’s London-to-Paris
air-line was the violation of customs practices, which is delaying the
aeroplanes from making the round trip between breakfast and dinner.
Furthermore, with the coming of such rapid inter-communication it is
conceivable that foggy and damp countries like the British Isles may be
abandoned—save by the workers of minerals—as living and manufacturing
places for more beautiful and delightful climates, such as France or
Spain. Indeed, the pleasantly located gardens and plateaus of the
world—like the one in Mexico, for instance—may be the favorite
dwelling-places of the peoples of the world when all the fruits and
foods and goods of the earth can be aerially transported to such
places in a matter of hours.
Needless to say that when each country possesses a fleet of commercial
aircraft numbered by tens of thousands, inherently convertible into
bombers large enough to annihilate whole cities entirely—as French
aeronautic military authorities have already stated they feared
Germany would be able to do with ten thousand aeroplanes and Zeppelins
in the next ten years unless she was limited in her construction
programme—when many countries can be flown over in a matter of hours
without anything to prevent them, then undoubtedly a league of nations
will have been organized for self-preservation and war abolished as
too horrible to contemplate. Thus by levelling boundaries and borders
of nations and countries the aircraft promises to perform the greatest
blessing of mankind by abolishing war, destroying nationalism, and
establishing internationalism and the brotherhood of man throughout the
world.
CHAPTER XIV
THE REGULATION OF AIR TRAFFIC
IMPORTANCE OF SAME—LAWS FORMED BY BRITISH AERIAL TRANSPORT COMMISSION
LIKELY TO BE BASES OF INTERNATIONAL AERIAL LAWS—COPY OF SAME
With aircraft flying over cities, towns, countries, continents, and the
oceans, carrying passengers, it is becoming absolutely essential that
a code of laws for aerial navigation should be adopted by the United
States, and an international code should also be adopted by the nations
of the earth.
In the United States laws should be adopted to regulate the inspection
of aircraft which carry passengers, just as sea and river navigation
is now regulated, in order to protect the lives of the passengers,
and also to protect the lives of the people living in the cities
where these machines are apt to descend, on account of damages that
could be collected, etc., in case a machine fell upon and destroyed
private property. Unless this is done, with the tremendous increase
of the number of aircraft in the United States, there is apt to be
a considerable number of lives lost unnecessarily, and a great deal
of damage done to private property, for which no compensation can be
awarded.
In the matter of international regulation of aircraft it is a great
deal more important because of the ease with which commodities could
be smuggled in from one country to another, even though mountains
or rivers intervene at the borders. Flying at one hundred miles per
hour, carrying two or three tons, smuggling could be carried on very
extensively between different countries of the world.
The aerial police and aerial navigation laws could restrain and stop
such unlawful flying, but an international code is necessary to
determine their rights.
It is more important, however, to determine and prescribe the places
at which foreign aircraft could cross the border or land for customs
inspection. In these regulations should also be incorporated a code of
international law. The conditions under which the fleet should pass
from one country to another should be prescribed. Unless this was done
it would be possible for any country in Europe, operating a fleet of
10,000 or more commercial aircraft, to convert them into bombers, each
carrying tons of inextinguishable incendiary bombs, which could destroy
a city like Paris, Brussels, or London within a few hours. A menace
of this last possibility is so great that the leading aeronautical
authorities in Paris and London have asked for a specified written code
of aerial navigation laws, to be adopted by the League of Nations. In
conformity to that object of controlling all kinds of aircraft, the
British Aerial Transport Committee have drawn up a draft of a bill for
the regulation of aerial navigation. The principles laid down in this
bill are so universal in their application that they could be very
well adopted by the United States and other nations of the earth.
Prior to the war, as early as 1905, and forever afterward, the
International Aeronautical Federation was organizing laws regulating
aerial navigation, and making it the chief topic of discussion.
In 1910 the International Convention held in Paris drew up aerial acts
restricting navigation over forbidden zones. There was not at that time
sufficient aircraft navigating to make these regulations as important
as they are at the present time.
Some of our own States passed some absurd laws to restrict aerial
navigation to their own States. These were absurd because of the fact
that no limits should be placed on the interstate flying to aircraft
because most States in the Union could be flown over in a matter of
hours. Federal laws only are sufficient to deal with this situation.
The Department of Commerce, which has charge of both registration and
inspection, is the logical department to have charge of the regulation
of aircraft.
In 1914 the Department of Commerce took charge of regulating aircraft,
and Dean R. Van Kirk, Washington, D. C., was fined $550 for disobeying
its rules. These regulations should aim to do what the Motor Boat Act
does in the case of vessels of not more than sixty-five feet in length.
Since the preponderance of aircraft shall be commercial, it is absurd
to delegate this power to the Division of Aeronautics.
Herewith follows the draft of the bill regulating aerial navigation
submitted to the British House of Parliament and later submitted to the
Peace Conference for adoption by that body in Paris.
DRAFT OF A BILL
FOR THE REGULATIONS OF AERIAL NAVIGATION
WHEREAS the sovereignty and rightful jurisdiction of His Majesty
extends, and has always extended, over the air superincumbent on all
parts of His Majesty’s dominions and the territorial waters adjacent
thereto:
And whereas it is expedient to regulate the navigation of aircraft,
whether British or foreign, within the limits of such jurisdiction,
and in the case of British aircraft to regulate the navigation thereof
both within the limits of such jurisdiction and elsewhere:
Be it therefore enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and
with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and
Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of
the same, as follows:—
POWER TO REGULATE AERIAL NAVIGATION
1—(1) The Secretary of State may by order regulate or prohibit aerial
navigation by British or foreign aircraft or any class or description
thereof over the British Islands and the territorial waters adjacent
thereto, or any portions thereof, and in particular, but without
derogating from the generality of the above provision, may by any such
order—
(_a_) prescribe zones (hereinafter referred to as prohibited zones)
over which it shall not (except as otherwise provided by the order) be
lawful for aircraft to pass;
(_b_) prescribe the areas within which aircraft coming from any place
outside the British Islands shall land, and the other conditions to be
complied with by such aircraft;
(_c_) prohibit, restrict, or regulate the carriage in aircraft of
explosives, munitions of war, carrier pigeons, photographic and
radio-telegraphic apparatus and any other article the carriage of
which may appear to the Secretary of State to be dangerous to the
State or to the person or property of individuals;
(_d_) prohibit, restrict, or regulate the carriage in aircraft of
merchandise or passengers;
(_e_) make such provision as may appear best calculated to prevent
damage and nuisance being caused by aircraft.
(2) If any person does anything in contravention of any of the
provisions of any such order he shall in respect of each offence be
guilty of a misdemeanour:
Provided that if it is proved that the contravention was committed with
the intention of communicating to any foreign State any information,
document, sketch, plan, model, or knowledge acquired, made or taken or
with the intention of facilitating the communication at a future time
of information to a foreign State any information, document, sketch,
plan, model or knowledge acquired, made or taken or with the intention
of facilitating the communication at a future time of information to
a foreign State, he shall be guilty of a felony, and on conviction
on indictment be liable to penal servitude for life or for any term
not less than three years, and this proviso shall have effect and be
construed as if it were part of the Official Secrets Act, 1889.
(3) Every order under this section shall have effect as if enacted in
this Act, but as soon as may be after it is made shall be laid before
each House of Parliament, and if an address is presented to His Majesty
by either House of Parliament within the next subsequent twenty-one
days on which that House has sat next after any such order came into
force, praying that the order may be annulled, His Majesty may annul
the order and it shall thenceforth be void, without prejudice to the
validity of anything previously done thereunder.
QUALIFICATIONS BY OWNING AIRCRAFT
2—An aircraft shall not be deemed to be a British aircraft unless
owned wholly by persons of the following descriptions (in this Act
referred to as persons qualified to be owners of British aircraft),
namely:—
(_a_) Natural-born British subjects;
(_b_) Persons naturalised by or in pursuance of an Act of Parliament
of the United Kingdom, or by or in pursuance of an Act or Ordinance of
the proper legislative authority in a British possession;
(_c_) Persons made denizens by letters of denization;
(_d_) Bodies corporate established under and subject to the laws
in force in some part of His Majesty’s dominions and having their
principal place of business in those dominions, [all of whose
directors and shareholders come under one of the aforementioned heads]:
Provided that any person who either—
(1) being a natural-born British subject has taken the oath of
allegiance to a foreign Sovereign or State or has otherwise become a
citizen or subject of a foreign State; or
(2) has been naturalised or made a denizen as aforesaid; shall not be
qualified to be an owner of a British aircraft, unless after taking
the said oath or becoming a citizen or subject of a foreign State, or
on or after being naturalised or made a denizen as aforesaid, he has
taken the oath of allegiance to His Majesty the King and is during
the time he is owner of the aircraft either resident in His Majesty’s
dominions or a partner in a firm actually carrying on business in His
Majesty’s dominions.
REGISTRATION OF BRITISH AIRCRAFT
3—(1) Every British aircraft shall be registered in such manner as the
Board of Trade may by regulations prescribe:
Provided that an aircraft which is registered under the law of any
foreign nation as an aircraft belonging to that nation shall not also
be registered as a British aircraft.
(2) Regulations under this section may provide for—
(_a_) the appointment and duties of registrars;
(_b_) the keeping of registers and the particulars to be entered
therein;
(_c_) the procedure for obtaining the registration of aircraft by
the owners thereof, including the evidence to be produced as to the
qualifications of applicants;
(_d_) the issue, form, custody, and delivery up of certificates of
registration;
(_e_) the transfer and transmission of British aircraft;
(_f_) the fees to be paid;
(_g_) the application with the necessary modifications for any of the
purposes aforesaid of any of the provisions contained in sections
twenty to twenty-two, twenty-five, twenty-seven to thirty, thirty-nine
to forty-six (except so far as those sections relate to mortgages),
forty-eight to fifty-three, fifty-six, fifty-seven, sixty, sixty-one,
and sixty-four of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894.
(3) If an aircraft required under this Act to be registered is not so
registered it shall not be recognised as a British aircraft, and shall
not be entitled to any of the benefits, privileges, or advantages,
or protection enjoyed by British aircraft, nor to assume the British
national character, but so far as regards the payment of dues, the
liability to fines and forfeitures, and the punishment of offences
committed on such aircraft, or by any person belonging to it, such
aircraft shall be dealt with in the same manner in all respects as if
she were a recognised British aircraft.
(4) If any person required under the regulations to deliver up a
certificate of registration fails to do so, he shall be guilty of an
offence under this Act.
(5) If the owner or pilot of an aircraft uses or attempts to use a
certificate of registry not legally granted in respect of the aircraft,
he shall in respect of each offence be guilty of a misdemeanour.
CERTIFICATION OF AIRWORTHINESS
4—(1) An aircraft (if not exempted from the provisions of this section
by the regulations made thereunder) shall not be navigated unless its
airworthiness has been certified in accordance with regulations made
by the Board of Trade and the certificate of airworthiness in respect
thereof is for the time being in force.
(2) The regulations of the Board of Trade under this section may,
amongst other things—
(_a_) prescribe the conditions to be fulfilled (including the
equipment to be carried) and the tests to be applied in determining
airworthiness;
(_b_) provide for the conduct on behalf of the Board of Trade by other
bodies of tests and examinations of aircraft;
(_c_) provide for the issue form, custody, and delivery up of
certificates of airworthiness;
(_d_) provide for the recognition of certificates of airworthiness
granted under the laws of any British possession or foreign nation
which appear to the Board of Trade effective for ascertaining and
determining airworthiness;
(_e_) prescribe the fees to be paid in respect of the grant of such
certificates and in respect of applications therefor;
(_f_) provide for the exemption from the provisions of this section of
aircraft of any particular class or under any particular circumstances
prescribed by the regulations.
(3) The regulations of the Board of Trade under this section may in
the prescribed manner require the owner of any aircraft in respect of
which a certificate of airworthiness has been issued or is recognised
under those regulations to submit his aircraft at any time for such
tests and examinations as may be prescribed for determining whether the
conditions of airworthiness continue to be fulfilled, and may authorise
endorsement on any such certificate of the result of such tests or
examinations, and the cancellation of any such certificate, or the
withdrawal of the recognition thereof, on its being found that such
conditions have ceased to be fulfilled, or on failure to comply with
any such requirement as aforesaid.
(4) If any person navigates or allows to be navigated any aircraft
(other than an aircraft of an exempted class) in respect of which a
certificate of airworthiness granted or recognised under this section
is not for the time being in force, or navigates or allows to be
navigated an aircraft in respect of which such a certificate is for
the time being in force, knowing that the prescribed conditions of
airworthiness have ceased to be fulfilled, he shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour:
Provided that this sub-section shall not, nor shall any proceedings
taken thereunder, affect any liability of any such person to be
proceeded against by indictment for any other indictable offence.
CERTIFICATION OF OFFICERS
5—(1) Every aircraft when being navigated shall be provided with a
navigator duly certificated in accordance with this section, and also,
in such cases as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Board of
Trade, with such other officers so certificated as may be prescribed.
(2) The Board of Trade may make regulations—
(_a_) as to the issue and form of certificates of competency under
this section;
(_b_) prescribing the cases in which officers other than the navigator
are to be certificated, and the number and character of such officers;
(_c_) prescribing the qualifications to be possessed for obtaining a
certificate as navigator or as officer serving in any other capacity;
(_d_) for holding examinations of candidates for certificates and for
such examinations being conducted on behalf of the Board of Trade by
other bodies;
(_e_) as to the issue of new certificates in place of certificates
which have been lost or destroyed;
(_f_) as to the cancellation, suspension, endorsement and delivery up
of certificates of competency;
(_g_) as to the recognition of certificates of competency issued to
navigators and other officers under the laws of any British possession
or foreign nation which appear to the Board effective for ascertaining
and determining their competency;
(_h_) as to the fees to be paid on the grant of a certificate and by
candidates entering for examination.
(3) The regulations shall provide for different certificates of
competency being issued in respect of different classes of aircraft,
and a navigator or other officer shall not be deemed to be duly
certificated in respect of an aircraft of any class unless he is
the holder for the time being of a valid certificate of competency
under this section in respect of that class of craft, and of a grade
appropriate to his station in the aircraft or of a higher grade.
(4) If any person—
(_a_) navigates or allows to be navigated any aircraft not provided
with a duly certificated navigator, and, in the case of any aircraft
which is under the regulations required to be provided with other
certificated officers, without such other officers; or,
(_b_) having been engaged as a navigator or other officer required to
be certificated, navigates, or takes part in the navigation of, an
aircraft without being duly certificated; or
(_c_) employs a person as a navigator or as an officer in
contravention
of this section without ascertaining that the person so serving is
duly certificated;
that person shall be guilty of an offence under this Act.
COLLISION REGULATIONS
6—(1) The Board of Trade may make regulations (hereinafter referred to
as collision regulations) for the prevention of collisions in the air,
and may thereby regulate the lights to be carried and exhibited, the
fog signals to be carried and used, and the steering and flying rules
to be observed by aircraft.
(2) All owners and navigators of aircraft shall obey the collision
regulations, and shall not carry or exhibit any other lights or use any
other fog signals than such as are required by those regulations.
(3) If an infringement of the collision regulations is caused by the
wilful default of the owner or navigator of the aircraft, the owner or
navigator of the aircraft shall in respect of each offence be guilty of
a misdemeanour.
(4) If any damage to property arises from the non-observance by any
aircraft of any of the collision regulations, the damage shall be
deemed to have been occasioned by the wilful default of the person
in charge of the aircraft at the time, unless it is shown to the
satisfaction of the Court that the circumstances of the case made a
departure from the regulations necessary.
_Alternative for Subsections (3), (4)_
(3) If an infringement of the collision regulations is caused by the
wilful default of the owner or navigator of an aircraft or of any
person in charge of the craft at the time, that owner, navigator or
person shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
(4) If the infringement of the collision regulations is caused by any
wilful default, the wilful default shall be deemed to be the wilful
default of the navigator. Provided that if the navigator proves to
the satisfaction of the Court that he issued proper orders for the
observance and used due diligence to enforce the observance of the
collision regulations, and that the whole responsibility for the
infringement in question rested with some other person, the navigator
shall be exempt from any punishment under this provision.
(5) The collision regulations may provide for the inspection of
aircraft for the purpose of seeing that the craft is properly provided
with lights and the means of making fog signals in conformity with the
collision regulations [and the seizure and detention of any craft not
so provided].
IDENTIFICATION REGULATIONS
7—(1) The Board of Trade may make regulations providing generally for
facilitating the identification of aircraft, and in particular for
determining and regulating generally the size, shape, and character of
the identifying marks to be fixed under the regulations, and the mode
in which they are to be affixed and rendered easily distinguishable
[whether by night or day], and any such regulations may provide for the
recognition of identifying marks complying with the law of any British
possession or foreign nation which appears to the Board of Trade
equally effective for facilitating the identification of aircraft.
(2) The regulations under this section may provide for the seizure and
detention of any aircraft which is not marked in accordance with those
regulations.
(3) If any person navigates or allows to be navigated any aircraft in
respect of which any of the requirements of the regulations made under
this section are not complied with, he shall be guilty of an offence
under this Act [_qu._ he shall be guilty of a misdemeanour].
AIRCRAFT PAPERS
8—(1) The Board of Trade may make regulations—
(_a_) requiring logs and such other papers as may be prescribed to be
carried in aircraft;
(_b_) prescribing the form of such logs and other papers;
(_c_) prescribing the entries to be made in logs and the time at which
and the manner in which such entries are to be made;
(_d_) as to the production, inspection, delivery up, and preservation
of logs and other papers.
(2) If any person contravenes any of the provisions of the regulations
under this section he shall be guilty of an offence under this Act.
SIGNALS OF DISTRESS REGULATIONS
9—(1) The Board of Trade may make regulations as to what signals shall
be signals of distress in respect of the various classes of aircraft,
and the signals fixed by those regulations shall be deemed to be
signals of distress.
(2) If a pilot of an aircraft uses or displays or causes or permits any
person under his authority to use or display any of those signals of
distress except in the case of an aircraft in distress such of those
signals as are appropriate to the class to which the aircraft belongs,
he shall be liable to pay compensation for any labour undertaken, risk
incurred, or loss sustained in consequence of any person having been
deceived by the signal [_qu._ he shall be guilty of an offence against
this Act].
CUSTOMS REGULATIONS
10—The Commissioners of Customs and Excise may, subject to the consent
of Treasury, make such regulations as they may consider necessary
for the prevention of smuggling and safeguarding the interests of
the State with respect to the importation or exportation of goods in
aircraft into or from the British Islands, and may for that purpose
apply, with the necessary modifications, all or any of the enactments
relating to Customs, and may by those regulations, with the consent of
the Secretary of State and upon such terms as to payments to police
authorities as he may sanction, require officers of police to perform
in respect of aircraft all or any of the duties imposed on officers of
Customs and may for that purpose confer on police officers all or any
of the powers possessed by officers of Customs.
POST OFFICE REGULATIONS
11—The Postmaster-General may make regulations with respect to the
conveyance of postal packets in aircraft, and may for that purpose
apply, with the necessary modifications, all or any of the enactments
relating to mail ships and the conveyance of postal packets in ships.
TRESPASS AND DAMAGES FOR INJURY CAUSED BY AIRCRAFT
12—(1) The flight of an aircraft over any land in the British
Islands shall not in itself be deemed to be trespass, but nothing in
this provision shall affect the rights and remedies of any person in
respect of any injury to property or person caused by an aircraft, or
by any person carried therein, and any injury caused by the assembly
of persons upon the landing of an aircraft shall be deemed to be the
natural and probable consequence of such landing.
(2) Where injury to property or person has been caused by an aircraft,
the aircraft may be seized and detained until the owner thereof has
given security to the satisfaction of a justice or an officer of police
not below the rank of inspector to pay such damages as may be awarded
in respect of the injury and any costs incidental to the proceedings.
SALVAGE OF WRECKED AIRCRAFT
13—(1) If any person finds, whether on land or at sea, an aircraft
which has been wrecked or lost, he shall as soon as may be communicate
with the police or other proper authority, and the police or authority
shall communicate the information to the owner of the aircraft if he
can be ascertained.
(2) Where any such aircraft is salved then—
(_a_) if the owner of the aircraft does not abandon his right to the
aircraft he shall pay to any persons whose services have contributed
to the salvage of the aircraft, including any person or authority who
has given or communicated such information as aforesaid, any expenses
incurred by them for the purpose and five per cent. of the value of
aircraft as salved, after deducting from that amount the amount of the
expenses of salvage payable by the owner, to be distributed among
those persons in such manner as, in default of agreement, the Court
having cognisance of the case may think just; and
(_b_) if the owner abandons his right to the aircraft, it shall be
sold or otherwise dealt with for the benefit of the salvors.
(3) The Board of Trade may make regulations for the purpose of carrying
this section into effect, and in particular may prescribe what
authority shall be deemed the proper authority, the manner in which
communications are to be made, the manner in which an owner may abandon
his right to an aircraft, and the manner in which aircraft may be sold
or otherwise dealt with for the benefit of the salvors.
SEARCH
14—(1) If any officer of police has reason for suspecting that an
offence against this Act or any regulations made thereunder has been
or is being committed on board any aircraft, he may enter and search
the craft, and may search any person found therein or who may have been
landed therefrom:
Provided that before any person is searched, he may require to be taken
with all reasonable despatch before a justice, who shall, if he sees no
reasonable cause for search, discharge that person, but if otherwise
direct that he be searched, and if a female she shall not be searched
by any other than a female.
(2) If any person assaults or obstructs any officer of police in
searching an aircraft, or in searching any person in the aircraft, or
who may have landed therefrom, he shall be guilty of an offence against
this Act, and if any officer of police without reasonable ground causes
any person to be searched, that officer shall be guilty of an offence
against this Act.
SEIZURE AND DETENTION OF AIRCRAFT
15—The Secretary of State may make regulations as to the manner in
which aircraft, liable to seizure and detention under this Act may be
seized and detained.
FORGERY, ETC., OF CERTIFICATES, ETC.
16—If any person—
(_a_) forges or fraudulently alters, or assists in forging or
fraudulently altering or procures to be forged or fraudulently
altered, any certificate of registration, airworthiness, or competency
under this Act or any log or other papers required under this Act to
be carried in an aircraft; or,
(_b_) makes or assists in making or procures to be made any false
representation for the purpose of procuring the issue of a certificate
of airworthiness, or of procuring either for himself or for any other
person a certificate of competency; or
(_c_) fraudulently uses a certificate of registration, airworthiness,
or competency which has been forged, altered, cancelled, or suspended,
or to which he is not entitled; or
(_d_) fraudulently lends his certificate of competency, or allows it
to be used by any other person; or
(_e_) forges or fraudulently alters or uses or assists in forging
or fraudulently altering or using, or procures to be forged or
fraudulently altered or used, or allows to be used by any other
person, any mark for identifying an aircraft,
he shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
PUNISHMENT FOR OFFENCES
17—(1) An offence against this Act declared to be a misdemeanour shall
be punishable with a fine or with imprisonment not exceeding two years,
with or without hard labour, but may, instead of being prosecuted
on indictment as a misdemeanour, be prosecuted summarily in manner
provided by the Summary Jurisdiction Acts, and if so prosecuted shall
be punishable only with imprisonment for a term not exceeding three
months, with or without hard labour, or with a fine not exceeding one
hundred pounds, or with both such imprisonment and fine.
(2) An offence against this Act not declared to be a misdemeanour shall
be prosecuted summarily in manner provided by the Summary Jurisdiction
Acts, and shall be punishable with a fine not exceeding one hundred
pounds or with imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, with
or without hard labour, or with both such imprisonment and fine.
(3) Where a person is beneficially interested otherwise than by way of
mortgage in any aircraft registered in the name of some other person
as owner, the person so interested shall as well as the registered
owner be subject to all the pecuniary penalties by this Act imposed on
owners of aircraft, so nevertheless that proceedings may be taken for
the enforcement of any such penalties against both or either of the
aforesaid parties with or without joining the other of them.
PROVISIONS AS TO PUBLIC FOREIGN AIRCRAFT
18—It shall not be lawful for any aircraft in the service of any
foreign State to pass over or land on any part of the British Islands
or the territorial waters adjacent thereto except on the invitation of
His Majesty [or of some department of His Majesty’s Government], and
any person carried in an aircraft contravening the provisions of this
section shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and, unless the Secretary
of State otherwise orders, the aircraft may be seized, detained, and
searched, and the persons carried therein or landed therefrom may be
searched in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
POWER TO FIRE ON AIRCRAFT FLYING OVER PROHIBITED AREAS
19—If any aircraft flies or attempts to fly over any prohibited
zone or being an aircraft in the service of a foreign State flies or
attempts to fly over any part of the British Islands or the territorial
waters adjacent thereto in contravention of this Act, it shall be
lawful for any commissioned officer in His Majesty’s Navy, Army, or
Marines [not below the rank of], to cause a gun to be fired as a
signal, and if, after such gun has been fired, the aircraft fails to
respond to the signal by complying with such regulations as may be made
by the Secretary of State under this Act for dealing with the case,
to fire at such aircraft, and any such commissioned officer and every
other person acting in his aid or by his direction shall be and is
hereby indemnified or discharged from any indictment, penalty or other
proceeding for so doing.
JURISDICTION
20—(1) For the purpose of giving jurisdiction under this Act every
offence shall be deemed to have been committed in the place in or over
which the same was actually committed or in any place in which the
offender may be.
(2) Where any person, being a British subject, is charged with having
committed any offence on board any British aircraft in the air, over
the high seas, or over any foreign country, or on board any foreign
aircraft to which he does not belong, or not being a British subject
is charged with having committed any offence on board any British
aircraft in the air over the high seas, and that person is found within
the jurisdiction of any Court in His Majesty’s dominions which would
have had cognisance of the offence if it had been committed on board a
British aircraft within the limits of its ordinary jurisdiction, that
Court shall have jurisdiction to try the offence as if it had been so
committed.
(3) Where any offence is committed in any aircraft in the air over the
British Islands or in the territorial waters adjacent thereto, the
offence shall be deemed to have been committed either in the place in
which the same was actually committed or in any place in which the
offender may be.
SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS AS TO BRITISH AIRCRAFT
21—(1) If any person assumes the British national character on an
aircraft owned in whole or in part by any person not qualified to
own a British aircraft for the purpose of making the aircraft appear
to be a British aircraft, the aircraft shall be liable to be seized
and detained under this Act unless the assumption has been made for
the purpose of escaping capture by an enemy or by any person in the
exercise of some belligerent right.
(2) If the owner or pilot of a British aircraft does anything or
permits anything to be done, or carries or permits to be carried any
papers or documents, with intent to conceal the British character of
the aircraft or of any person entitled under this Act to inquire into
the same, or with intent to assume a foreign character, or with intent
to deceive any person so entitled as aforesaid, the aircraft shall be
liable to be seized and detained under this Act, and the pilot, if he
commits or is privy to the commission of the offence, shall in respect
of each offence be guilty of a misdemeanour.
(3) If an unqualified person acquires as owner, otherwise than in
accordance with this Act or the regulations made thereunder, any
interest, either legal or beneficial, in an aircraft assuming the
British character, that interest shall be subject to forfeiture.
APPLICATION OF FOREIGN ENLISTMENT ACT
22—The Foreign Enlistment Act, 1870, shall have effect as if the
expression “ship” included any description of aircraft, and as if the
expression “equipping” in relation to an aircraft included, in addition
to the things specifically mentioned in that Act, any other thing which
is used in or about an aircraft for the purpose of fitting or adapting
her for aerial navigation.
EXTENT OF ACT
23—(1) The provisions of this Act and of the regulations made
thereunder shall, except so far as they are expressly limited to the
British Islands and the territorial waters adjacent thereto, apply to—
(_a_) all British aircraft wheresoever they may be; and
(_b_) all foreign aircraft whilst in or over any part of His Majesty’s
dominions and the territorial waters adjacent thereto;
and in any case arising in a British Court concerning matters arising
within British jurisdiction foreign aircraft shall, so far as respects
such provisions, be treated as if they were British aircraft.
Provided that no such provisions, except those relating to the
registration of aircraft and those contained in collision regulations,
aircraft papers, regulations, and signals of distress regulations,
shall apply to aircraft whilst in or over any part of His Majesty’s
dominions outside the British Islands or in or over the territorial
waters adjacent to any such part.
(2) Subject as aforesaid, nothing in this Act shall be construed
as limiting the power of the legislature of any British possession
outside the British Islands to make provision in relation to the
possession and the territorial waters adjacent thereto with respect to
any of the matters dealt with by this Act.
EXEMPTION OF GOVERNMENT AIRCRAFT
24—This Act shall not, except so far as it may be applied by Order in
Council, apply to aircraft belonging to His Majesty.
CHAPTER XV
THE TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT
THE NC’S—THE LOSS OF THE C-5—READ’S STORY—BELLINGER’S STORY—THE
GREAT NAVAL FLIGHT—HAWKER’S STORY—ALCOCK’S STORY—THE R-34
Ever since the Wright brothers demonstrated that a heavier-than-air
machine could rise from the ground with its own power and carry a man
aloft through the air, aeronautical engineers have been ambitious to
build an aircraft that would fly across the Atlantic Ocean from the
Old World to the New, or from the New World to the Old. Exactly one
hundred years to the very month after the first steam-driven vessel
crossed the Atlantic, from Savannah, Georgia, to England, NC-4, U.
S. naval flying-boat, flew from Rockaway, Long Island, via Halifax,
Trepassey Bay, Newfoundland, Azores, Lisbon, Portugal, Ferrol, Spain,
to Plymouth, England; and on June 13 the “Vimy”-Bomber, built by the
Vickers, Limited, England, made a non-stop flight from St. John’s,
Newfoundland, to Clifden, Galway, Ireland; and on July 2 the R-34,
the British rigid dirigible, flew from East Fortune, near Edinburgh,
Scotland, via Newfoundland to Mineola, Long Island, in 108 hours and 12
minutes; and it made the return trip to Pulham, Norfolk, England, in 75
hours and 3 minutes. The NC-4 flew from Trepassey Bay to Plymouth in
59 hours and 56 minutes, and the Vickers Bomber made its flight in 16
hours and 12 minutes. The distance of the first flight from Trepassey
Bay to Plymouth was about 2,700 miles; the distance of the one taken by
the Vickers was 1,950 miles. The distance covered by the R-34 was 3,200
miles each way.
On May 16, 1919, three U. S. naval seaplanes, the NC-1, NC-3, and
NC-4, set out to fly from Trepassey Bay, Newfoundland, to the Azores.
The NC-4 alighted at Horta the next day. The NC-1, under command of
Lieutenant-Commander Bellinger, did not quite complete the flight owing
to fog, and after the crew was rescued by a destroyer, had to be towed
into Horta, where it sank. The NC-3, with Commander Towers, was lost
for 48 hours in the fog, but finally taxied to Ponta Delgada on its own
power. Owing to the damaged condition of the boat, it could proceed no
farther. On May 16 Commander Read flew the NC-4 to Ponta Delgada; on
May 27 from there to Lisbon; on May 30 to Ferrol, Spain; and on May 31,
to Plymouth, England, thus completing the transatlantic flight in 46
flying hours.
On May 18 Harry Hawker and Mackenzie Grieve flew from St. John’s in a
single-motored Sopwith, and after 15 hours in the air had to alight on
the ocean, 1,000 miles east of where they started and 900 miles from
their goal.
On June 14 Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur W. Brown, in a
bimotored Vickers aeroplane, flew from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to
Galway, Ireland, without stopping, through fog and sleet and rain, in
16 hours and 12 minutes.
PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS TO FLY ACROSS THE ATLANTIC
The first actual attempt to fly across the North Atlantic from America
to England was made by Walter Wellman, in 1910, when he set sail in
the rigid dirigible _America_ from Atlantic City. The engines were not
strong enough to force the huge gas-bag against the breeze, and it was
blown out of its course and came down in the sea, 1,000 miles off Cape
Hatteras, where the balloon was abandoned and the crew was picked up.
During a test flight of a second dirigible called the _Akron_, on July
2, 1912, Mr. Melvin Vaniman and four of his crew were killed by an
explosion of the hydrogen gas with which the gas-bag was inflated.
In 1894 Glenn L. Curtiss, through the generosity of Mr. Rodman
Wanamaker, constructed a flying-boat, in which Captain Porte was to fly
across the Atlantic. The seaplane was completed and tests were being
made when the war broke out, and the enterprise had to be abandoned.
Nevertheless, the seaplane did go to England, but in the hull of
another boat. There it performed excellent service for the British
Government hunting Hun submarines.
As soon as the armistice was signed, France, England, and the United
States began to lay plans to use some of the airships designed for war
for the purpose of flying across the Atlantic. Captain Coli, who flew
from France across the Mediterranean, started from Paris to fly to
Dakar on the extreme point of Cape Verde, and from there across the
South Atlantic to Pernambuco, Brazil. Owing to engine trouble, he did
not reach Dakar.
THE NC’S
The giant navy flying-boats built for the transatlantic flight were not
only of extraordinary size but of unusual construction, and represent
a wholly original American development. The design was conceived in
the fall of 1917 by Rear-Admiral D. W. Taylor, Chief Constructor
of the Navy, who had in mind the development of a seaplane of the
maximum size, radius of action, and weight-carrying ability, for use
in putting down the submarine menace. Had the German submarines gained
the upper hand in 1918, the war would still be going on, and these
great flying-boats would be produced in quantity and flown across the
Atlantic to the centres of submarine activity.
The first of the type was completed and given her trials in October,
1918, and since that time three more have been completed.
The flying-boats were designated NC, the N for navy, and C for
Curtiss, indicating the joint production of the navy and the Curtiss
Engineering Corporation. Being designed for war service, the boats are
not at all freak machines put together to perform the single feat of a
record-breaking flight, but are roomy and comfortable craft, designed
and built in accordance with standard navy practice. The NC-1 has
been in service seven months, and received rough handling when new
pilots for the other NC boats were trained on her, but is still in good
condition.
The term flying-boat is used for the NC type because it is actually a
stout seaworthy boat, that ploughs through rough water up to a speed of
60 miles per hour, and then takes to the air and flies at a speed of
over 90 miles per hour.
The hull or boat proper is 45 feet long by 10 feet beam. The bottom
is a double plank Vee, with a single step somewhat similar in form to
the standard navy pontoon for smaller seaplanes. Five bulkheads divide
the hull into six water-tight compartments with water-tight doors in
a wing passage for access. The forward compartment has a cockpit for
the lookout and navigator. In the next compartment are seated side by
side the principal pilot or aviator and his assistant. Next comes a
compartment for the members of the crew off watch to rest or sleep.
After this there are two compartments containing the gasoline-tanks
(where a mechanician is in attendance) and finally a space for the
radio man and his apparatus. The minimum crew consists of five men,
but normally a relief crew could be carried in addition. To guarantee
water-tightness and yet keep the planking thin, there is a layer of
muslin set in marine glue between the two plies of planking.
The wings have a total area of 2,380 square feet. The ribs of the wing
are 12 feet long, but only weigh 26 ounces each.
The tail in this craft is unique and resembles no other flying machine
or animal. The tail surface is made up as a biplane, which is of the
general appearance and size of the usual aeroplane. Indeed, this tail
of over 500 square feet area is twice as large as the single-seater
fighting-aeroplanes used by the army.
ENGINES
The four Liberty engines which drive the boat are mounted between
the wings. At 400 brake horse-power per engine, the maximum power
is 1,600 horse-power, or with the full load of 28,000 pounds, 17.5
pounds carried per horse-power. One engine is mounted with a tractor
propeller on each side of the centre line, and on the centre line the
two remaining engines are mounted in tandem, or one behind the other.
The front engine has a tractor propeller, and the rear engine a pusher
propeller. This arrangement of engines is novel, and has the advantage
of concentrating weights near the centre of the boat so that it can be
manœuvred more easily in the air.
CONTROLS
The steering and control in the air are arranged in principle exactly
as in a small aeroplane, but it was not an easy problem to arrange that
this 14-ton boat could be handled by one man of only normal strength.
To insure easy operation, each control surface was carefully balanced
in accordance with experiments made in a wind-tunnel on a model of
it. The operating cables were run through ball-bearing pulleys, and
all avoidable friction eliminated. Finally, the entire craft was
so balanced that the centre of gravity of all weights came at the
resultant centre of lift of all lifting surfaces, and the tail surfaces
so adjusted that the machine would be inherently stable in flight. As
a result, the boat will fly herself and will continue on her course
without the constant attention of the pilot. However, if he wishes to
change course, a slight pressure of his controls is enough to swing the
boat promptly. There is provision, however, for an assistant to the
pilot to relieve him in rough air if he becomes fatigued, or wishes to
leave his post to move about the boat.
In the design of the metal fittings to reduce the amount of metal
needed a special alloy steel of 150,000 pounds per square inch tensile
strength was used. To increase bearing areas, bolts and pins are made
of large diameter but hollow.
A feature that is new in this boat is the use of welded aluminum tanks
for gasoline. There are nine 200-gallon tanks made of sheet aluminum
with welded seams. Each tank weighs but 70 pounds, or .35 pounds per
gallon of contents, about one-half the weight of the usual sheet-steel
or copper tank.
Loaded, the machine weighs 28,000 pounds, and when empty, but including
radiator, water, and fixed instruments and equipment, 15,874 pounds.
The useful load available for crew, supplies, and fuel is, therefore,
12,126 pounds. This useful load may be put into fuel, freight, etc.,
in any proportion desired. For an endurance flight there would be a
crew of 5 men (850 pounds), radio and radiotelephone (220 pounds), food
and water, signal-lights, spare parts, and miscellaneous equipment (524
pounds), oil (750 pounds), gasoline, 9,650 pounds. This should suffice
for a flight of 1,400 sea miles. The radio outfit is of sufficient
power to communicate with ships 200 miles away. The radiotelephone
would be used to talk to other planes in the formation or within 25
miles.
The principal dimensions and characteristics of the NC type may be
summarized as follows:
Engines 4 Liberty
Power 1,600
Wing span 126 upper—94 feet lower
Length 68 feet 5½ inches
Height 24 feet 5⅛ inches
Weight, empty 15,874 lbs.
Weight, loaded 28,000 lbs.
Useful load 12,126 lbs.
Gravity-tank 91 gals. capacity
Fuel-tanks 1,800 gals. capacity
Oil-tanks 160 gals. capacity
FIRST AERIAL STOWAWAY
In connection with the trials of NC-1, the first of the type completed,
two significant happenings are recorded.
The first concerns the first aerial stowaway. At Rockaway Naval
Air-Station arrangements were made to take 50 men for a flight to
establish a world’s record; the 50 men were assembled, weighed, and
carefully packed in the boat. The flight was successfully made, and
upon return to the beach the officer-in-charge counted the men again
as they came ashore. He was astonished to find there were 51. An
investigation was made at once, which revealed the fact that a mechanic
who had been working on the boat before the flight had hidden in the
hull for over an hour before the actual departure in order to go on the
flight. This man is, no doubt, the world’s first aerial stowaway.
RECORD OF THE FLIGHT
The NC-1, 3, and 4 left Rockaway at 10 A. M. on May 8 for Halifax. The
NC-4, owing to engine trouble, had to land at sea near Chatham, Mass.;
the other two continued on their way, and reached Halifax at 7.55 P.
M. (6.55 New York time) on May 8; after waiting until the morning of
May 10, the NC-1 and 3 left Halifax at 8.44 A. M. After travelling 38
miles, the NC-3 was forced to return to Halifax due to the cracking of
a propeller. The NC-1 arrived at Trepassey Bay on May 10 at 3.41 P. M.
The NC-3 arrived at 7.31 P. M.
After being refitted with a new engine the NC-4 left Chatham at 9.25
A. M., Wednesday, May 14, and arrived at Halifax at 2.05 P. M. It left
there on Thursday, May 15, at 9.52 A. M., and arrived at Trepassey Bay
at 6.37 P. M. (New York time 5.37 P. M.).
On the morning of Friday, May 16, the three flying-boats left Trepassey
Bay at 6.05 P. M. It was a clear moonlight night, and as 21 United
States destroyers were stationed along the route from North latitude
46-17 to 39-40, the airships were in communication with the fleet all
the way over.
Because of a thick fog which obtained near the Azores the NC-4 landed
at Horta of the eastern group at 9.20 A. M., just 13 hours and 18
minutes after starting. The NC-1 landed at sea and sank, and the NC-3,
which flew out of its course, landed at Ponta Delgada.
TIME OF NC-4’S FLIGHT TO LISBON
The NC-4 in its flight from Trepassey to Lisbon covered a distance
of 2,150 nautical miles in 26.47 hours’ actual flying time, or at
an average speed of 80.3 nautical miles. The three seaplanes left
Trepassey at sunset on May 16, and the NC-4 reached Lisbon soon after
noon on May 27, the eleventh day after its “hop” from Newfoundland. Its
record in detail is as follows:
Distance, Speed,
Course Date Knots Time Knots
Rockaway-Chatham (forced
landing about 100 miles off
Chatham) May 8 300 5.45 52
Chatham-Halifax May 14 320 3.51 85
Halifax-Trepassey May 15 460 6.20 72.6
Trepassey-Horta May 16-17 1,200 15.18 78.4
Horta-Ponta Delgada May 20 150 1.45 86.7
Ponta Delgada-Lisbon May 27 800 9.44 82.1
Trepassey-Lisbon ... 2,150 26.47 80.3
The total flying time from Rockaway, N. Y., to Lisbon, Spain, was
42.43.
The fastest previous passage of the Atlantic was made by the giant
Cunard liner _Mauretania_, which made the trip from Liverpool to New
York in four days, 14 hours, and 27 minutes.
Here is the log of the last leg of the transatlantic flight, completed
with the arrival of the NC-4 at Plymouth, based on wireless and cabled
despatches received at the Navy Department.
1.21 A. M., from Plymouth: “NC-4 left Lisbon 6.23 (New York 2.23 A.
M.), May 30, and landed Mondego River, getting underway and proceeding
to Ferrol, where landed at 16.46 (12.46 New York time). Destroyers
standing by NC-4; will proceed to Plymouth to-morrow if weather
permits.”
6.50 A. M.—From Admiral Knapp at London: “From the Harding: ‘U. S. S.
_Gridley_ to U. S. S. _Rochester_, NC-4 expects to leave Ferrol for
Plymouth at 6 A. M. to-morrow morning, signed Read.’”
7.22 A. M.—From Admiral Knapp at London: “NC-4 left Ferrol at 06.27
(2.27 A. M. New York time).”
8.11 A. M.—From Admiral Knapp at London: “Following received from
U. S. S. _George Washington_: ‘From U. S. S. _Stockton_, NC-4 passed
station two at 07.43 (3.43 A. M. New York time).’”
9.24 A. M.—From Admiral Knapp at London: “NC-4 passed station four at
09.06 (5.06 New York time).”
9.50 A. M.—From Admiral Knapp: “NC-4 arrived at Plymouth at 14.26.31,
English civil time (9.26 A. M. New York time).”
11.56 A. M.—From Admiral Knapp: “NC-4 passed Mengam at 12.13 local
time.”
3.17 P. M.—From Admiral Plunkett, commander of destroyer force
at Plymouth: “NC-4 arrived at Plymouth 13.24 (9.24 A. M. New York
time) in perfect condition. Joint mission of seaplane division and
destroyer force accomplished. Regret loss of NC-1 and damage to
NC-3; nevertheless, information of utmost value gained thereby. Has
department any further instructions?”
The members of the crews were:
NC-1—Commanding officer, Lieutenant-Commander P. N. L. Bellinger;
pilots, Lieutenant-Commander M. A. Mitscher and Lieutenant L. T.
Barin; radio operator, Lieutenant Harry Sadenwater; engineer, Chief
Machinist’s Mate C. I. Kesler.
NC-3—Commanding officer, Commander John H. Towers; pilots, Commander
H. C. Richardson and Lieutenant David H. McCullough; radio operator,
Lieutenant-Commander R. A. Lavender; engineer, Machinist L. R. Moore.
NC-4—Commanding officer, Lieutenant-Commander A. C. Read; pilots,
Lieutenants E. F. Stone and Walter Hinton; radio operator, Ensign H. C.
Rodd; engineer, Chief Machinist’s Mate E. S. Rhodes.
THE LOSS OF C-5 NAVAL BLIMP
The C-5 naval dirigible, called “Blimp,” was 192 feet long, 43 feet
wide, 46 feet high, and contained 180,000 cubic feet of hydrogen. It
was driven by two 150 horse-power union aero engines.
It left Montauk Point early Wednesday morning, May 14, and was in the
air continuously for 25 hours and 45 minutes.
It arrived at Halifax at 9.50 A. M., Thursday morning, New York time.
On Thursday afternoon the C-5 burst from her moorings in a gale and was
swept to sea. Lieutenant Little was hurt in an attempt to pull the rip
cord of the dirigible in order to deflate her. The cord broke, and he
received a sprain when he jumped from the C-5 as she began to rise.
The C-5 arrived at the Pleasantville base, near St. John’s, after being
in the air continuously for 25 hours and 40 minutes. A perfect landing
was made within the narrow confines of the old cricket-field, which was
chosen as the anchorage for the airship. Lieutenant J. V. Lawrence was
at the wheel at the completion of the voyage, and the manner in which
he handled the ship while the landing was being performed evoked a
cheer of admiration from the crowd which had gathered.
As soon as she had been secured at her anchorage, a big force,
under Lieutenant Little, was set to work preparing the ship for the
transatlantic flight. It was not long before the treacherous wind began
to play upon the dirigible, and early in the afternoon she was torn
from her anchorage, but was recaptured and secured again.
Immediately after arrival, Lieutenant-Commander Coil and his crew
got out of the car and prepared to take twelve hours’ sleep before
continuing their flight across the Atlantic. Before turning in,
however, he told the story of the trip to Newfoundland.
In it he gave all the credit to Lieutenant Campbell and Lieutenant J.
V. Lawrence, both of whom, he said, were weary “and almost seasick,”
but stuck to their posts. He also described the period of several hours
during which the airship was “lost” over Newfoundland.
“We made a ‘landfall’ at St. Pierre,” he said, “but found ourselves on
the west instead of the east shore of Placentia Bay. From this point we
attempted to follow the Chicago’s radio directions, but they did not
work. For the moment we were lost.
“We started ‘cross lots’ and saw about all of Newfoundland, and I
must say that this is the doggonedest island to find anything on I
ever struck. Eventually we hit the railroad track and followed it to
Topsails, which we identified, and then continued on to St. John’s.
There was considerable fog, but it did not trouble us.
“Throughout the time we were trying to find ourselves we had difficulty
with our wireless set, and part of the time it was out of commission.
“Our troubles started just after midnight, when the sky became
overcast. Before then we had been flying under a full moon at an
altitude of 1,000 feet. We lost our bearings while approaching Little
Miquelon Island, off the south coast of Newfoundland, about 170 miles
from St. John’s.”
Commander Coil praised the work of the landing crew which moored the
dirigible. Rear-Admiral Spencer S. Wood, commander of the aviation
base, greeted the C-5’s commander.
The C-5 is 192 feet long, 43 feet wide, and 45 feet high; it has a
capacity of 180,000 cubic feet. Cruising speed, 42 M. P. H.; climb,
1,000 feet per minute.
The car is of stream-line form, 40 feet long, 5 feet in maximum
diameter, with steel tube outriggers carrying an engine at either side.
Over-all width of riggers, 15 feet. Complete weight of car, 4,000
pounds.
Seven passengers may be carried, but the usual crew consists of four.
At the front the coxswain is placed; his duty is to steer the machine
from right to left. In the next compartment is the pilot, who operates
the valves and controls the vertical movement of the ship, and aft of
the pilot are the mechanicians controlling the engines. At the rear
cockpit is the wireless operator.
LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER READ’S STORY OF TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT
(_Reprinted from “New York World”_)
Horta, the Azores, May 18.—“The NC-3 left the water at Trepassey Bay
at 10.03, Greenwich civil time, on the afternoon of May 16; the NC-4 at
10.05, and the NC-1 some time later. The Three and Four together left
Mistaken Point on the course for the Azores at 10.16, and ten minutes
later sighted the One, several miles to the rear, and flying higher.
“We were flying over icebergs, with the wind astern and the sea smooth.
Our average altitude was 800 feet. The NC-4 drew ahead at 10.50, but
when over the first destroyer made a circle to allow the NC-3 to catch
up. We then flew on together until 11.55, when we lost sight of the
NC-3, her running lights being too dim to be discerned.
“From then on we proceeded as if alone. Our engine was hitting finely,
and the oil pressure and water temperature was right. It was very dark,
but the stars were showing. At 12.19 on the morning of the 17th the May
moon started to appear, and the welcome sight made us all feel more
comfortable.
“As it grew lighter the air became bumpy, and we climbed to 1,800 feet,
but the air remained bumpy most of the night.
“Each destroyer was sighted in turn, first being located by
star-shells, which, in some cases, we saw forty miles away; then by the
search-lights, and finally by the ships’ light. All were brilliantly
illuminated. Some were apparently in the exact position designated.
Others were some miles off the line, necessitating frequent changes of
our course so that we might pass near.
“At 12.41, when we were passing No. 4 destroyer, we saw the lights of
another plane to port. We kept the lights in sight for ten minutes.
After that we saw no other plane for the remainder of our trip.
“So far, our average speed had been 90 knots, indicating that we had a
12-knot favorable wind. At 1.24 the wind became less favorable and we
came down to 1,000 feet.
“At 5.45 we saw the first of the dawn. As it grew lighter all our
worries appeared to have passed. The power-plant and everything else
was running perfectly. The radio was working marvellously well.
Messages were received from over 1,300 miles, and our radio officer
sent a message to his mother in the States via Cape Race.
“Cape Race, then 730 miles away, reported that the NC-3’s radio was
working poorly. The NC-3 was ahead of the NC-1, and astern of us, we
learned by intercepted messages. Each destroyer reported our passing by
radio.
“Sandwiches and coffee from the thermos bottles and chocolate candy
tasted fine. No emergency rations were used. They require too great an
emergency to be appreciated. I made several inspection trips aft and
held discussions with the radio man and the engineer. Everything was
all right.
“At 6.55 we passed over a merchant ship, and at 8 o’clock we saw our
first indications of possible trouble, running through light lumps
of fog. It cleared at 8.12, but at 9.27 we ran into more fog for a
few minutes. At 9.45 the fog became thicker and then dense. The sun
disappeared and we lost all sense of direction. The compass spinning
indicated a steep bank, and I had visions of a possible nose dive.
“Then the sun appeared and the blue sky once more, and we regained an
even keel and put the plane on a course above the fog, flying between
the fog and an upper layer of clouds. We caught occasional glimpses
of the water, so we climbed to 3,200 feet, occasionally changing the
course and the altitude to dodge the clouds and fog.
“We sent out a radio at 10.38 and at 10.55 to the nearest destroyer,
thinking the fog might have lifted. We received replies to both
messages that there was thick fog near the water. At 11.10 we ran into
light rain for a few minutes.
“At 11.13 we sent a radio to the destroyer and could hear Corvo reply
that the visibility was ten miles. Encouraged by this promise of better
conditions farther on, we kept going. Suddenly, at 11.27, we saw
through a rift what appeared to be a tide-rip on the water. Two minutes
later we saw the outline of rocks.
“The tide-rip was a line of surf along the southern end of Flores
Island. It was the most welcome sight we had ever seen.
“We were 45 miles off our calculated position, indicating that the
speed of the plane from the last destroyer sighted had been 85 knots.
The wind was blowing us east and south.
“We glided near to the shore and rounded the point. Finding that the
fog stopped 200 feet above the water, we shaped our course for the next
destroyer, flying low, with a strong wind behind us. We sighted No. 22
in its proper place at 12 o’clock. This was the first destroyer we had
seen since we passed No. 16.
“The visibility then was about 12 miles. We had plenty of gasoline and
oil, and decided to keep on to Ponta Delgada. Then it got thick and we
missed the next destroyer, No. 23. The fog closed down.
“We decided to keep to our course until 1.18, and then made a 90-degree
turn to the right to pick up Fayal or Pico. Before this time, at 1.04,
we sighted the northern end of Fayal, and once more felt safe.
“We headed for the shore, the air clearing when we neared the beach. We
rounded the island and landed in a bight we had mistaken for Horta.
“At 1.17 we left the water and rounded the next point. Then we sighted
the _Columbia_ through the fog and landed near her at 1.23.
“Our elapsed time was 15 hours and 18 minutes. Our average speed 81.7
knots. All personnel is in the best of condition. The plane requires
slight repairs.
“The NC-1 is being towed to port here. Its personnel is on board the
_Columbia_, all in fine shape.
“The Three has not yet been located, but will be. We will proceed to
Ponta Delgada when the weather permits.”
Ponta Delgada, May 20.—“Exceptionally bad weather, which was totally
unexpected, was the sole reason for the failure of all three of the
American navy’s seaplanes to fly from Trepassey, Newfoundland, to
Ponta Delgada on schedule time,” said Commander John H. Towers to the
correspondent of the Associated Press to-night.
“Individually, the members of the crew of the NC-3 virtually gave up
hope of being rescued Saturday night, but collectively they showed no
signs of fear, and ‘carried on’ until they arrived in port here Monday
and heard the forts firing salvoes in welcome, and witnessed the scenes
of general jubilation over their escape from the sea.
“Having run short of fuel and encountered a heavy fog, the NC-3 came
down at 1 o’clock Saturday afternoon in order that we might obtain our
bearings. The plane was damaged as it reached the water, and was unable
to again rise. While we were drifting the 205 miles in the heavy storm
the high seas washed over or pounded the plane, and the boat began to
leak. So fast did the water enter the boat that the members of the crew
took turns in bailing the hull with a small hand-pump, while others
stood on the wings in order to keep the plane in balance. Meanwhile we
were steering landward.
“That our radio was out of commission was not known to the crew until
our arrival here. Communication had been cut off since 9 o’clock Monday
owing to our having lost our ground-wire.
“We ate chocolate and drank water from our radiator. This was our only
means of subsistence. The crew smoked heavily in order to keep awake
while we were drifting. No one of us obtained more than four hours’
sleep after leaving Trepassey until Ponta Delgada was reached.
“The hands of all the members of the crew of the NC-3 were badly
swollen as a result of their heroic work at the pump; otherwise they
did not undergo much suffering. The men have now fully recovered from
their trying experience.
“The NC-3 encountered heavy clouds at 1 o’clock Saturday morning.
The light instruments on board failed, and we sailed the plane above
the clouds in order to get the benefit of a moonlight reading of the
instruments.
“We kept in sight of the NC-4 until nearly daylight Saturday, and with
the NC-1 until shortly after daylight. All the planes were flying in
formation, but the NC-1 and NC-4 were underneath the clouds part of the
time because their light instruments were good.
“The NC-3 had no difficulty in being guided by star-shells,
search-lights, and smoke from the station ships until we reached
Station 14, which was not seen.
“I assumed that we were off our course, but did not know on which side,
and began flying a parallel course in what I thought was the direction
of Corvo. Shortly after daylight we encountered a heavy fog, rain
squalls, and high winds, all of which continued until the NC-3 went
down upon the water.
“Before alighting on the surface of the sea my calculations showed us
to be in the vicinity of land, but with only two hours’ fuel supply on
hand and with the weather clearing it was decided to land and ascertain
our exact position.
“Our radio kept up sending messages, assuming that the torpedo-boat
destroyers were picking them up. We did not know the radio was useless
and that the destroyers had not been receiving the messages.
“All the crew thought the sea would moderate, but the plane was so
badly damaged in the high billows that we were unable to rise again.
“We were 60 miles southwest of Pico when we alighted, the position
being where we had figured we were before coming down.
“The clearing of the weather proved only temporary, for later a storm
came up and continued for 48 hours. With both lower wings wrecked,
the pontoons lost, and the hull leaking, and the tail of the machine
damaged, the plane was tossed about like a cork.
“In order to conserve the remaining 170 gallons of fuel we decided to
‘sail’ landward, hoping to sight a destroyer on the way. But we did
not pass a single ship until we reached Ponta Delgada. Off the port we
declined proffered aid by the destroyer _Harding_, which had been sent
out to meet us, and ‘taxied’ into port under our own power.
“During the two days’ vigil of seeking land or rescue ships we fired
all our distress signals, none of which apparently were seen.
“Without informing the crew of the fear that I had that we would be
lost, I packed our log in a water-proof cover, tied it to a life-belt,
and was prepared to cast it adrift when the NC-3 sank.
“The nervous strain was terrible while we were drifting, and the men
smoked incessantly. This was the only thing that kept them awake.
“I believe a transatlantic flight is practicable without a stop with
planes a little larger than the NC type. The engines of all three of
the planes worked perfectly, and could have run 6,000 miles more if
there had been sufficient fuel on board.
“Wire trouble in the instrument board was the mechanical defect
experienced by the NC-3.”
COMMANDER BELLINGER’S STORY
(_From “New York World”_)
Horta, Azores, May 22.—“At 22.10 Greenwich time (6.10 P. M. New York
time) the NC-1 left the water and took up her position in the formation
astern of the NC-3 and NC-4, bound for the Azores, to land at Horta or
Ponta Delgada, depending on the gasoline consumption.
“The NC-1 got away with difficulty due to the heavy load she carried.
Finally, after a long run on the surface, she reached planing speed and
hopped off. The Three and Four were far ahead. We could just make out
the number ‘4’ in the distance. When night came we lost sight of the
other plane entirely.
“No. 1 station ship we passed on the port hand. It made us feel good to
see our solid friend below us, while we were passing over an array of
icebergs which resembled gigantic tombstones. The course we followed
took us over one iceberg just at dusk. Our altitude then was 1,000
feet, which gave us room and to spare.
“The other station ships, placed 50 miles apart, we passed in their
regular order, some on one side and some on the other. We found that
star-shells fired by the station ships at night were visible for a
much greater distance than were the rays of the search-lights. On one
occasion two ships were visible to us at the same time.
“The night was well on before the moon rose, and we wondered whether
the sky would prove to be clear or overcast. Luckily it was a partially
clear moon that rose bright and full, and though passing clouds
sometimes obscured it, the sky could always be sufficiently defined to
be of inestimable aid to the pilots controlling the plane.
“We flew along at an altitude of 1,200 feet, and got the air drift
during the night from the dropping flares, sighting on them with the
drift indicator. The air was slightly lumpy through the night. A
station ship full in the rays of the moon was almost passed without
being seen by us. Then it focussed its search-light upon us to attract
our attention.
“Nobody on board the NC-1 slept during the entire flight. The time
passed very quickly, and we found the work of watching for the station
ships and checking the air drift very interesting. Hot coffee and
sandwiches were available for all hands throughout the flight.
“Finally, the glow of the dawn appeared in the east and soon thereafter
the sun arose. The motors were hitting beautifully, and we were making
a good 70 miles per hour. Everybody was feeling fine and confident that
nothing could stop us making Ponta Delgada.
_Plane Runs into a Thick Fog_
“But soon we began to encounter thick overcast patches and the
visibility became poor. As we went through one thick stretch, station
ship No. 16 loomed dead ahead of us. Some of the station ships
radioed weather reports to us. We passed No. 17, on the port hand,
at a distance of 12 miles at 10.04 (6.04 New York time), and shortly
thereafter, while we were flying at an altitude of 600 feet, we ran
into a thick fog.
“The pilots climbed to get above the fog, for it was very dense and
bedimmed their goggles and the glass over the instruments very quickly.
It was almost impossible to read the instruments. Pilots Barin and
Mitscher did excellent work and brought the plane to an altitude of
3,000 feet, well above the fog. For a while there the sight was a
beautiful one, but none of us could appreciate it. We could not see
the water through the fog, and we could not determine how far we were
drifting.
“We dodged some fog, but soon encountered more. We continued on,
side-slipping and turning in an effort to keep on our course, until
12.50 (8.50 A. M. New York time), when we decided to come down near the
water and get our bearings, intending then to fly underneath the fog.
We came down to an altitude of 75 feet. The visibility there was about
half a mile. The air was bumpy and the wind shifted from 350 to 290
magnetic.
“We changed our course to conform with the new conditions, and sent
out radio signals requesting compass bearings by wireless. We decided
to land if the fog thickened. A few minutes thereafter we ran into a
low, thick fog. I turned the plane about and headed into the wind,
landing at 13.10 (9.10 A. M. New York time), after flying a total of 15
hours.
“The water was very rough; much too rough to warrant an attempt to get
away again. The outlook was exceedingly gloomy. We realized that we
could not go on, and must wait where we were to be picked up. The wind
and the condition of the water prevented our taxiing over the sea to
windward, and we soon found that radio communication between the plane
and the ships was difficult and unsatisfactory.
“We put over a sea-anchor shortly after we alighted, but it was carried
away almost immediately. Then we rigged a metal bucket as a sea-anchor,
and that did a great deal of good. The wings and tail of the NC-1,
however, got severe punishment from the rough sea, and the fabric on
the outer and lower wings was slit to help preserve the structure. In
an effort to reduce the punishment to the plane, too, I kept one of the
centre motors running, but nevertheless both the wings and the tail
were badly damaged.
“It looked for some time as if the plane would capsize. All hands
realized the danger we were in, but none of them showed the slightest
fear. At 17.40 (1.40 P. M. New York time) we sighted a steamer, hull
down, and sent a radio message to her. Then we taxied in her direction.
The ship proved to be the _Ionia_. She had no wireless. After a little
she sighted us. Then the fog shut down again and the ship disappeared
from view.
“Later, when the fog cleared, we saw that the ship was heading for us.
We got alongside at 19.20 (3.20 P. M. New York time), and at 2.20 were
on board the _Ionia_. An effort was made to tow the plane, but the line
parted. A destroyer came alongside at 00.35 (8.35 P. M. New York time)
and took charge of the NC-1. The _Ionia_ landed us at Horta. The plane
was left at latitude 29 degrees, 58 minutes, longitude 30 degrees, 15
minutes.”
HISTORY OF NAVY’S GREAT OCEAN FLIGHT
November, 1917—Conference between navy and Curtiss engineers at
Washington, D. C.
January, 1918—Working model tested in wind-tunnel. Found practical.
October, 1918—Trial flight of NC-1 at Rockaway Beach, Long Island.
November, 1918—NC-1 makes long-distance trip from Rockaway to
Anacostia, D. C., 358 miles, in 5 hours 19 minutes.
February, 1919—-NC-2 climbs 2,000 feet in five minutes.
February 24, 1919—Secretary of Navy orders four planes to be prepared
for transatlantic flight.
April 3, 1919—-NC-2 found to be impractical in design of hull, and is
taken out of the flight. NC-3 and NC-4 assembled at Rockaway.
May 7—NC-4 damaged by fire while in hangar. Wings replaced. Elevators
repaired.
May 8—Three planes leave Rockaway for Trepassey Bay, Newfoundland.
May 8—NC-3 and NC-4 arrive at Halifax, N. S. (450 miles).
NC-4 forced down by motor trouble. Puts in at Chatham Bay, Mass., for
repairs after riding the waves all night.
May 10—NC-1 and NC-3 proceed from Halifax to Trepassey in 6 hours 56
minutes (460 miles).
May 14—NC-4 flies from Chatham to Halifax in 4 hours 10 minutes at 85
miles an hour.
May 16—Three planes leave Trepassey Bay for Azores, 1,250 miles.
NC-4 lands at Horta, Azores, in 15 hours 18 minutes.
NC-1 drops in ocean half hour from Flores. Crew rescued; seaplane a
total wreck.
NC-3 lost in storm. Forced to descend 205 miles from destination.
May 19—NC-3 arrives at Ponta Delgada riding waves under own power.
Wings and hull wrecked. Engine-struts broken. Out of race.
May 20—NC-4 flies from Horta to Ponta Delgada, Azores, 160 miles, in 1
hour 44 minutes.
May 27—NC-4 flies from Ponta Delgada to Lisbon, Portugal, 810 miles,
in 9 hours 43 minutes. Flying time from Newfoundland to Portugal (2,150
miles), 26 hours 45 minutes.
May 30—NC-4 flies from Lisbon to Ferrol, Spain, 300 miles, after a
halt at Mondego, 100 miles north of Lisbon, owing to engine trouble.
May 31—NC-4 flies from Ferrol, Spain, to Plymouth, England, 400 miles,
without a hitch, thus completing the transatlantic flight as scheduled.
BRITISH EFFORTS TO FLY THE ATLANTIC
Captain Hawker, with his Sopwith, was the first to get to St. John’s on
March 4. He was quickly followed by Captain Raynham and his Martinsyde.
Owing to the constant bad weather which has obtained for seven weeks,
the British fliers had not dared to attempt the flight until Sunday,
May 18, when Hawker and Raynham started. Everything from snow to
the 70-mile gale which blew on April 15 has been experienced at St.
John’s. The storm continued throughout that and the next morning. The
mechanicians at the hangars of the two flying-camps spent the night
watching and guarding the aeroplanes. The Martinsyde plane, which was
housed in one of the portable canvas hangars used by the British army
in the war, was in danger of injury for a time, when the gale ripped up
the pegs that anchored the canvas flies of the hangar, and for a time
threatened to snatch the whole thing into the air. These storms have
made the grounds impossible for taking off, and as the fliers hoped to
take advantage of the full moon, which was beginning to gradually wane,
the opportunities for flying by moonlight disappeared and a second moon
was on the wane before they started.
On March 4 Captain Hawker landed at St. John’s, Newfoundland, with his
Sopwith plane, and his five mechanics began to assemble the machine,
which follows the general lines of construction adopted by the Sopwith
war-plane designers. It is 46 feet wide and 31 feet long, with a flight
duration of 25 hours at 100 miles an hour. During a daylight-to-dusk
duration test Commander Grieve and Pilot Hawker covered over 900 miles
in 9 hours 5 minutes, exactly half the distance between Newfoundland
and Ireland. The Rolls-Royce engine develops 375 horse-power at 1,800
revolutions of the crank-shaft. A four-bladed propeller is used geared
down to 1,281 revolutions. The Sopwith machine weighs 6,000 pounds
fully equipped for the transatlantic flight. In the trial test the
engine consumed 146 gallons of petrol—slightly over one-third the
capacity of the tanks, which are placed behind the engine and in front
of the cockpit in which Major Hawker and Commander Grieve sit.
At the end of the 900-mile tryout the engine developed exactly the same
power as at the start, which leads Major Hawker to believe the engine
will continue to perform the same for the rest of the distance.
Major Hawker proposed leaving St. John’s, Newfoundland, about 4 o’clock
in the afternoon, and travelling through the night they hoped to pass
the south coast of Ireland shortly before noon the following day,
English time, arriving at the Brooklands aerodrome, near London, at 4
o’clock, a total flying time of 19 hours and 30 minutes.
In case they were forced to descend into the sea, the “fairing” of
the fuselage is so constructed that it forms a boat large enough to
support the two men in the water for some time. In addition they wear
life-saving jackets. A medical officer in the British Air Ministry made
up some scientific food sufficient for forty-eight hours. This includes
sugar, cheese, coffee, sandwiches, and tabloids.
MAJOR HARRY HAWKER
Major Harry Hawker is an Australian, just 31. He is the highest paid
flier in the world. He was a bicycle mechanic in Australia when he went
to England in 1912 and became an aeroplane mechanic. In 1912 he joined
the T. O. M. Sopwith Company, and a year later he came to the United
States and flew in “Tim” Woodruff’s Nassau Boulevard meet. Hawker
returned to England, and about a year later entered the famous “round
England flight.”
On October 24, 1912, in a Sopwith biplane, designed after the pattern
of the American Wright, and driven by a 40 horse-power A B C engine,
he put up the British duration record to 8 hours and 23 minutes, thus
winning the Michelin Cup for that year.
On May 31, 1913, in a Sopwith tractor biplane, with an 80 horse-power
Gnome engine, he put up the British altitude record for a pilot alone
to 11,450 feet, and on June 16 of the same year, in the same machine,
he hung up a record, with one passenger, of 12,900 feet.
On the same day he took up two passengers to 10,600 feet, and on July
27 took up three passengers to 8,400 feet, all of which were British
records.
In 1913 and 1914, in a Sopwith seaplane, Hawker made two attempts
to win the _Daily Mail’s_ $25,000 prize for a flight on a seaplane
around Great Britain. The first time he was knocked out by illness at
Yarmouth, and the second time he met with an accident near Dublin.
During the last three years Hawker has been test pilot for the
Sopwiths, receiving $125 for each flight, and sometimes making a dozen
in a single day. His annual earnings in this period are estimated at
$100,000.
COMMANDER GRIEVE
Commander Mackenzie Grieve is 39 years old. He has not been connected
with aeronautics for any great length of time, but is an officer
of the Royal navy, who has specialized on navigation and wireless
telegraphy and telephony. He has been strongly commended by the
Admiralty for his work in this direction, and has been chosen as a
navigator on the cross-sea trip because he has combined two branches of
a naval officer’s work, which are not, as a rule, made the subject of
specialization by one man, but both of which are essential to such a
feat as a transatlantic flight.
TEST FLIGHTS OF THE SOPWITH
On April 11 Major Harry Hawker made a successful test flight at St.
John’s.
The wireless station there sent messages to the aviator which he was
unable to pick up, but the station at Mount Pearl kept in continual
touch with the machine through all the flight. After his flight the
flier said that his speed while in the air had been on an average of
100 miles an hour.
THE MARTINSYDE PLANE ARRIVES
On April 2 Captain Frederick Phillips Raynham, the pilot of the
Martinsyde aeroplane, and Captain Charles Willard Fairfax Morgan,
navigator, arrived at St. John’s and began to make preparations for
setting up their canvas hangar which was to house their aeroplane. The
aerodrome selected was at the Quid Vivi. This site had been selected by
Major Morgan about three months ago, and the tent was set up on that
field as per the plans and specifications.
The biplane weighs, fully loaded, about 5,000 pounds and carries 360
gallons of gas, while the Sopwith weighs about 6,100 pounds and carries
only 350 gallons. Raynham says he has a cruising radius of 2,000 miles
with a twenty-mile head wind against him all the way across. But as the
prevailing winds are from west to east, he expects to fly with the wind
most of the way. The machine was designed by G. H. Handasyde, who has
had many years’ designing experience in co-operation with H. P. Martin,
chairman of Martinsydes.
The reappearance in the transatlantic attempt of a Martinsyde plane as
a competitor for the _Daily Mail_ prize recalls that the firm as early
as 1914 entered for a transatlantic competition, having completed a
monoplane which was to have started from St. John’s, the scene of the
present venture. This machine was to have been flown by Gustave Hamel,
who, it will be remembered, while flying from London to Paris, came
down at Calais, ascended again, and has never since been heard of. He
is believed to have been drowned in the North Sea, for no trace of his
machine was ever found.
CAPTAIN RAYNHAM
Captain Raynham is 25 years old. He began to fly at 17, being the
possessor of half a dozen of the oldest flying licenses in England.
Most of his experience has been in experimental and test flying.
Raynham went with Martinsydes in the early development days of 1907,
and was with them when they began monoplane production in 1908. This
they continued until the war began, when they turned to building
biplanes, the present machine being only a very slight modification of
their latest fighting scout.
The Martinsyde biplane was not especially designed for the
transatlantic flight, but was taken from stock. It still carries its
original fighting equipment, similar to that used during the war. The
machine is named the “Raymor,” a combination of the names Raynham and
Morgan.
The machine has a wing span of 41 feet and a lifting area of 500
square feet; over-all length, 26 feet; height, from ground to top of
propeller, 10 feet 10 inches. The engine is a Rolls-Royce “Falcon,”
which is rated at 285 horse-power. It has a capacity of developing
up to 300 horse-power at a speed of 100 to 125 miles per hour. The
cruising radius is 2,500 miles.
The Martinsyde machine carries no life-saving apparatus of any kind.
Tanks are provided for fuel capacity of 375 gallons, sufficient for a
flight of 25 hours at 100 miles per hour. Raynham’s idea is to make
an ascent at an angle of 3 degrees until an altitude of 1,500 feet is
reached. This altitude would be attained in 24 hours, at which time
land on the other side would be within planing distance.
CAPTAIN WOODS’S ATTEMPTED FLIGHT TO AMERICA
The aeroplane of the Shortt brothers, one of the entries for the
$50,000 race across the Atlantic, was to start from Ireland for
Newfoundland. The machine is expected to make the journey in twenty
hours, but owing to a defective carburetor the machine fell in the
Irish Sea while making the flight from England to Ireland. Captain
Woods was rescued, but no further news has been received of the
preparations for the flight.
The Shortt brothers had chosen the Limerick section of Ireland for
their starting-point. It is considered likely that the Shortt trial
will be the only east-to-west attempt, all of the other entries in
the _Daily Mail’s_ contest having indicated their intention of flying
eastward because of the strong head winds from the west.
The machine entered by the Shortt brothers is the Shortt “Shiel”
aeroplane. It is fitted with a 375 horse-power Rolls-Royce engine,
developing a speed of ninety-five miles an hour. The machine carries a
pilot and a navigator. Of biplane type, the machine, its makers say, is
capable of a 3,200 mile non-stop drive.
In their application to the British Air Ministry, the Shortts
designated Major James C. P. Woods, of the Royal Flying Corps, as
pilot, with Captain C. C. Wylie. In addition to his experience in
the air, Major Woods had considerable experience as a navigator on
destroyers guarding troop-ships through the Atlantic submarine zone.
Major Woods, who has flown more than 10,000 miles, gained fame as a
bomber in France.
The latest contestant to arrive at St. John’s was the Handley Page
Berlin Bomber which was landed on May 10. The biplane is the only one
to be compared with the United States navy flying-boats in size. The
wing spread is 126 feet, the chord 12 feet. The total weight of the
machine is about 16,000 pounds. It carries 3 pilots, 3 mechanics, 2
wireless operators, and 2,000 gallons of gas. The wireless is long
enough to keep in touch with both shores all the way. The route is
to Limerick, Ireland. The machine has four Rolls-Royce motors of 350
horse-power, and the aeroplane is taken from stock. They expect to
travel 90 miles per hour.
One of the pilots is Colonel T. Gran, the Norwegian who first flew from
Scotland to Norway in August, 1914. He was a member of the British R.
A. F. and also with Captain Scott in the South Polar Expedition.
Major Brackley has had perhaps as much experience in night flying as
any living man, and Admiral Mark Kerr is one of the oldest pilots in
England. He was the sixth to be granted a pilot’s license in England.
HAWKER’S STORY OF ATLANTIC FLIGHT
Thurso, Scotland, May 26.—Harry Hawker and Mackenzie Grieve gave the
London _Daily Mail_ an outline of their historic flight. Hawker told
his story simply as follows:
“We had very difficult ground to rise from on the other side. To get
in the air at all we had to run diagonally across the course. Once we
got away, we climbed very well, but about ten minutes up we passed from
firm, clear weather into fog.
“Off the Newfoundland banks we got well over this fog, however, and,
of course, at once lost sight of the sea. The sky was quite clear
for the first four hours, when the visibility became very bad. Heavy
cloud-banks were encountered, and eventually we flew into a heavy storm
with rain squalls.
“At this time we were flying well above the clouds at a height of about
15,000 feet.
“About five and one-half hours out, owing to the choking of the
filter, the temperature of the water cooling out the engines started
to rise, but after coming down several thousand feet we overcame this
difficulty.
“Everything went well for a few hours, when once again the circulation
system became choked and the temperature of the water rose to the
boiling-point. We of course realized until the pipe was cleared we
could not rise much higher without using a lot of motor power.
“When we were about ten and one-half hours on our way the circulation
system was still giving trouble, and we realized we could not go on
using up our motor power.
“Then it was we reached the fateful decision to play for safety. We
changed our course and began to fly diagonally across the main shipping
route for about two and a half hours, when, to our great relief, we
sighted the Danish steamer which proved to be the tramp _Mary_.
“We at once sent up our Very light distress signals. These were
answered promptly, and then we flew on about two miles and landed in
the water ahead of the steamer.
_Impossible to Salve Machine_
“The sea was exceedingly rough, and despite the utmost efforts of the
Danish crew it was one and a half hours before they succeeded in taking
us off. It was only at a great risk to themselves, in fact, that they
eventually succeeded in launching a small boat, owing to the heavy gale
from the northeast which was raging.
“It was found impossible to salve the machine, which, however, is most
probably still afloat somewhere in the mid-Atlantic.
“Altogether, before being picked up, we had been fourteen and a half
hours out from Newfoundland. We were picked up at 8.30 (British summer
time).
“From Captain Duhn of the _Mary_ and his Danish crew we received the
greatest kindness on our journey home. The ship carried no wireless,
and it was not until we arrived off the Butt of Lewis that we were able
to communicate with the authorities.
“Off Loch Eireball we were met by the destroyer _Woolston_ and conveyed
to Scapa Flow, where we had a splendid welcome home from Admiral
Freemantle and the men of the Grand Fleet.”
Commander Mackenzie Grieve, the navigator of the Sopwith, said:
“When but a few hundred miles out a strong northerly gale drove us
steadily out of our course. It was not always possible, owing to the
pressure of the dense masses of cloud, to take our bearings, and I
calculate that at the time we determined to cut across the shipping
route we were about 200 miles off our course.
“Up to this change of direction we had covered about 1,000 miles of our
journey to the Irish coast.”
VICKERS “VIMY” BOMBER MAKES FIRST NON-STOP FLIGHT FROM AMERICA TO EUROPE
Leaving St. John’s, Newfoundland, at 12.13 P. M. New York time on
Saturday, June 14, the Vickers “Vimy” bomber, bimotored Rolls-Royce
aeroplane, with two four-bladed propellers, and piloted by Captain John
Alcock and navigated by Lieutenant Arthur W. Brown, landed at Clifden,
Galway, Ireland, at 4.40 A. M. New York time, aerially transnavigating
1,960 miles of the Atlantic Ocean, from the New World to the Old, in
16 hours and 12 minutes, or at an average rate of 120 miles an hour.
Although the moon was full, the fog and mist was so dense that the
aviators could not see the moon, sun, or stars for fourteen out of
the sixteen hours in the air. During the flight they flew through
atmosphere so cold that ice caked on the instruments. Nevertheless, the
engines functioned consistently throughout the journey, which was, in
many ways, as remarkable as the voyage of “The Ancient Mariner,” whom
Coleridge’s poem of that name describes.
Unfortunately, the small propeller which drives the dynamo and
generates the current for the wireless radio instruments had jarred
loose and blown away shortly after the machine ascended into the air,
and the atmosphere was so surcharged with electricity that Lieutenant
Brown could not get any radio messages through, and the airship was
lost to the world for over sixteen hours. During the flight the men
experienced many thrills, primarily because they had no sense of
horizon, due to the thick fog which prevailed most of the way over.
Under those conditions the navigation was remarkable, and when the
aviators saw the aerials at Clifden they were delighted. In landing
they mistook the bog for a field, and consequently made a bad landing,
for the machine sank into the bog and stuck there badly damaged in the
wing.
CAPTAIN ALCOCK’S STORY
Describing the experiences of himself and Lieutenant Brown, Captain
Alcock, in a message from Galway to the London _Daily Mail_, which
awarded them the $50,000 prize for making the first non-stop flight
across the Atlantic between Europe and America, said:
“We had a terrible journey. The wonder is that we are here at all. We
scarcely saw the sun or moon or stars. For hours we saw none of them.
The fog was dense, and at times we had to descend within 300 feet of
the sea.
“For four hours our machine was covered with a sheet of ice carried
by frozen sleet. At another time the fog was so dense that my speed
indicator did not work, and for a few minutes it was alarming.
“We looped the loop, I do believe, and did a steep spiral. We did some
comic stunts, for I have had no sense of horizon.
“The winds were favorable all the way, northwest, and at times
southwest. We said in Newfoundland that we could do the trip in sixteen
hours, but we never thought we should. An hour and a half before we saw
land we had no certain idea where we were, but we believed we were at
Galway or thereabouts.
“Our delight in seeing Eastal Island and Tarbot Island, five miles
west of Clifden, was great. The people did not know who we were, and
thought we were scouts looking for Alcock.
“We encountered no unforeseen conditions. We did not suffer from cold
or exhaustion, except when looking over the side; then the sleet chewed
bits out of our faces. We drank coffee and ale, and ate sandwiches and
chocolate.
“Our flight has shown that the Atlantic flight is practicable, but I
think it should be done, not with an aeroplane or seaplane, but with
flying-boats.
“We had plenty of reserve fuel left, using only two-thirds of our
supply.
“The only thing that upset me was to see the machine at the end get
damaged. From above the bog looked like a lovely field, but the machine
sank into it to the axle, and fell over on to her side.”
ALCOCK HAS SPENT 4,500 HOURS IN AIR
There are few fliers, living or dead, who have passed as many hours in
the air as Captain John Alcock, the twenty-seven-year-old pilot of the
first aeroplane to make a non-stop flight across the Atlantic. This
officer of the Royal Air Force has flown more than 4,500 hours. The one
man who is known to have passed more time in the air is Captain Roy N.
Francis, U. S. A.
Big, blond, and ruddy, Captain Alcock is typically English in
appearance, voice, and mannerisms. His eyes are blue, and his hair,
brushed straight back, is almost flaxen. He is more than six feet in
height and heavy of frame. Powerful wrists and forearms attest to many
hours of tinkering with heavy machinery.
Alcock, who was born in Manchester in 1892, was apprenticed at
seventeen to the Empress Motor Works, a firm interested at that time
in the development of an aeroplane engine. Alcock helped to build the
first aero engine made at that plant, and meanwhile developed the
flying fever.
Then he started experimenting with gliders, and in 1911 began to fly.
He earned his certificate the following year, and in 1913 won the first
race in which he ever had entered. Shortly afterward he took second
place in the London to Manchester and return competition, at that time
one of the most famous air-races.
In one of those early competitions Alcock beat Frederick Raynham, the
pilot of the Martinsyde which was injured in trying to get off for the
transatlantic flight with Hawker, whose effort to cross the ocean in a
Sopwith ended in mid-ocean a few weeks ago.
From the fall of 1914 to the fall of 1916 Alcock was an instructor of
flying at Eastchurch, where he trained some of the best-known fliers of
England. One of these was Major H. G. Brackley, pilot of the Handley
Page bomber, which has been sent to Newfoundland in the hope that it
could get away first on the “hop” across the Atlantic.
From Eastchurch Alcock went to the Dardanelles. There he won the
Distinguished Service Cross as an ace, and it is the gossip of the air
force that if he had not fallen prisoner to the Turks his rank would
have been much higher. He has seven enemy planes to his credit.
It was his bombing work that attracted most attention, however, for he
made a raid on Adrianople and dropped a ton of bombs, destroying 3,000
houses, blowing up an ammunition-train, and razed a fort. Out of the
thirty-six bombs he dropped on that expedition twenty were incendiary
and sixteen high-explosive. Accurate knowledge of the damage he had
inflicted on that September day in 1917 did not come until after
the armistice was signed, but Alcock did not have to wait until the
armistice to discover that his adventure had been a military success.
Ninety miles from Adrianople on his return flight he could still see
the glare in the sky from the fires his bombs had ignited.
He was the first man to bomb Constantinople, and it was on his return
from his second bombing expedition over the Turkish capital that one
of the engines in his twin Handley Page failed him. He managed to fly
seventy-six miles on the other engine before he was forced to descend
on the island of Imbros, within twelve miles of the home station.
But that twelve miles meant all the difference between friends and
enemies, and the aviator was taken prisoner and confined in the civil
jail. Later he was removed to Constantinople and then to Asia Minor,
where he was held until the armistice was signed. He returned to
England December 16, 1918.
Immediately upon his return Alcock joined the Vickers concern as a test
pilot. It was due to his persuasion that the conservative directors
of the concern, which controls the British Westinghouse works,
committed themselves to the enterprise of entering an aeroplane in the
transatlantic flight for the _Daily Mail_ prize of $50,000 for the
first non-stop flight.
AMERICA SHARES ALCOCK’S TRIUMPH
There is hardly any comparison to be made between Captain Alcock and
his navigator, Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown. While Alcock is large
of frame, Brown is a full head shorter and boyish in build. There are
gray threads in Brown’s hair, mementoes of twenty-three months in a
German prison-camp. His left foot is crippled, too, the result of a
crash when he was brought down by German anti-aircraft guns behind the
German lines at Bapaume.
Brown is an American born of American parents in Glasgow in 1886. His
father was connected with George Westinghouse in the development of an
engine. It was that engine that took him to the British Isles, and he
took part in the organization of the British Westinghouse Company, now
controlled by Vickers, Limited, the concern which built the plane in
which the transocean flight was made.
LIEUTENANT BROWN
Lieutenant Brown’s mother was a member of the Whitten family of
Pittsburgh, and his grandfather fought with the famous Hampden’s
Battery at Gettysburg. Brown himself has lived in Pittsburgh, where he
went to continue the studies at the Westinghouse works that had begun
in the works in England.
He enlisted in the university and public school corps in 1914, and
in 1915 took his wings. Most of his service was as an observer and
reconnaissance officer. One time the machine in which he flew as an
observer was shot down in flames. He says of that experience that he
“was burned a bit,” but was glad enough to escape capture. The machine
he was in crashed. He passed nine months in a German hospital and
fourteen more months in a German prison-camp, and then was repatriated
by exchange. He spent the latter days of the war period in productions
work for the Ministry of Munitions.
Lieutenant Brown has never been a navigator in any but an amateur way.
Navigation with him is simply a hobby, and on his frequent crossings of
the Atlantic, he says, he never failed to persuade the captain of his
ship to allow him on the bridge to take a shot at the sun.
The flight across the Atlantic, Brown said, would be his last, for he
is engaged to be married to Miss Kennedy, the daughter of a major of
the Royal Air Force, and they are planning to pass their honeymoon (and
his share of the prize-money) on a trip around the world. After that
they are coming to America, and Lieutenant Brown plans to engage in the
practice of electrical engineering.
“VIMY” DESIGNED TO BOMB ENEMY TOWNS
The twin-engined Vickers-Vimy plane in which the English pilot and his
American navigator crossed to Ireland has a 67-foot 2-inch wing spread.
The length over all is 42 feet 8 inches; gap, 10 feet; chord, 10 feet 6
inches. It is a bombing-type plane, and its conversion to a peace-time
adventure was accomplished by replacing the fighting equipment with
tanks of a total gasoline capacity of 870 gallons, weighing more than
6,000 pounds.
The two Rolls-Royce Eagle 375 horse-power engines are mounted between
the upper and lower planes on either side of the fuselage.
The outstanding feature of the Vimy is the strength and elasticity of
its construction, accomplished by the use of hollow, seamless steel
tubing. This type of construction extends from the nose to well behind
the planes.
The Vimy has a sturdy double under-carriage, with a two-wheeled
chassis placed directly under each engine. Fully loaded the craft
weighs a trifle more than 13,000 pounds. Even distribution of eight
separate tanks and a cleverly arranged feeding system whereby the
fuel is consumed at the same rate from all eight not only insured a
well-balanced plane but promised an “even keel” had the fliers been
forced down on the surface of the ocean.
A gravity-tank at the top of the fuselage was arranged to be emptied
first, so it could serve as a life-raft any time after the first two
hours of the flight, which period was necessary to exhaust the load of
gasoline contained in that tank.
The Vimy’s radio apparatus is the standard type used by the Royal
Air Force, and was lent to Alcock by the British Air Ministry. It is
similar to that carried by Hawker’s Sopwith. The transmitting radius
of this type of radio is placed at 250 miles. Messages can be received
from a much greater distance.
VIMY FLIGHT SETS NEW WORLD’S DISTANCE RECORD
The 1,690-mile flight of the Vickers “Vimy” Bomber, carrying Alcock
and Brown, establishes a new world’s record, breaking the one made by
Captain Boehm in a Mercedes-driven Albatross plane, which flew for 25
hours and 1 minute and covered 1,350 miles.
The year 1914, just previous to the war, was the most prolific in
long-distance flights. On June 23 the German aviator Basser covered
1,200 miles in a Rumpler biplane in 16 hours and 28 minutes.
The same day Landsmann, another German, drove an Albatross machine
1,100 miles in 17 hours and 17 minutes, and four days later 1,200 miles
in 21 hours and 49 minutes.
The nearest approach to Boehm’s record was made on April 25 last, when
Lieutenant-Commander H. B. Grow, U. S. N., flew a twin-engine F-5-L
flying-boat a total distance of 1,250 miles in 20 hours and 20 minutes.
Lieutenant-Commander A. C. Read, in his hop on the NC-3 from Trepassey
Bay to Horta in the Azores, broke no distance records in the 1,200
nautical miles he flew, but shattered the record for speed, making an
average of 103.5 miles an hour.
The French pre-war record was on April 27, 1914, by Paulet, who flew
950 miles in 16 hours and 28 minutes. Since the war the French aviators
Coli and Roget flew from Villacoublay, near Paris, to Rabat, Morocco,
a distance of 1,116 miles without stopping. The engine was a 300
horse-power Renault, and constitutes the longest single-motor non-stop
flight on record. Miss Ruth Law holds the record for long-distance
flight by a woman. On November 19, 1916, she covered the 590 miles from
Chicago to Hornell, N. Y., in 5 hours and 45 minutes.
THE FIRST TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT OF THE R-34
After a flight of 108 hours, the British dirigible which left Scotland
at 2 A. M. July 2, arrived at Roosevelt Field, Mineola, Long Island,
N. Y., at 9 A. M., Sunday, July 6, after a flight via Newfoundland
and Halifax. Owing to the strong head winds and fog which prevailed
the most of the journey the huge airship was delayed two days in its
flight, and there was for some time grave doubt that she would arrive
on her own gasoline, for the supply was running low, and the aid of
destroyers was requested by wireless from the R-34.
As soon as the airship arrived over Roosevelt Field, Major John Edward
Maddock Pritchard landed upon American soil, after a parachute drop of
2,000 feet.
This completed the longest flight in history, the distance covered
being 3,200 miles, not counting the mileage forced upon the flyers by
adverse winds. The time consumed was a few minutes more than 108 hours.
The big airship brought over thirty-one persons, one of whom was a
stowaway, and a tortoise-shell cat.
A fortunate turn of the wind at about 2 o’clock Sunday morning made the
success of the flight possible. Four times on Friday night and early
Saturday morning heavy squalls and thunder-storms had threatened to
cripple or smash the flying colossus.
During the worst of the storm on Friday night the big airship was
suddenly tossed aloft 500 feet and pitched about like a dory in a heavy
sea. For a time there was great danger that a vital part would be
smashed and a landing forced on the rough water, but the workmanship
and material in every part of the 630-foot air giant proved flawless,
and Commander Scott got his craft safely through.
In response to calls for aid 200 men were sent from Mineola to Montauk
Point, Long Island, where it was at first hoped the R-34 might be towed
by the torpedo-boats sent out to aid the airship. The sudden shift
in the wind decided Major Scott to continue the flight to Mineola as
originally planned.
At 8.35 A. M. the R-34 became visible from Mineola Field, looking
at first like a splinter split off from the bluish horizon in the
northeast. A thin line of light beneath it made it distinguishable at
first at a distance of about twenty miles. Slowly it disengaged itself
from the blurring lines where the earth and sky met, and gradually its
bulk began to develop. As it approached the field it rose for better
observation, and at about 9 o’clock stood out in the sky in its full
super-dreadnought proportions, its painted skin responding to the sun,
which had become bright a few minutes before, and giving off a dull,
metallic gleam between lead and aluminum in tint.
It glided through the air with such smoothness as to give the
suggestion that it was motionless and the spectator moving. Like
the buzz of a midsummer noontime, the hum of its motors produced no
disturbing effect on the quiet.
The ship approached the landing-place at a height of about 2,000 feet,
coming from the east-northeast, and passing first over Mitchel Field.
It swung around the skirts of Roosevelt Field, while its commanders
studied the details of the landing-place. The manœuvres for observation
took the dirigible three times around the field before she came to a
stop. After 9.11 it shut off its motors, and hovered, like a fixed
object, 2,000 feet above the ground.
The time of the R-34 for the transatlantic crossing is slightly
greater than the steamship record made by the _Mauretania_, which, in
September, 1909, made the trip from Queenstown to New York in 4 days,
10 hours, and 41 minutes. This is better by approximately 2 hours than
the time of the dirigible, which took 4 days, 12 hours, and some odd
minutes. The R-34, however, starting from Edinburgh, covered a much
greater distance. The rate of speed of the R-34 in covering the 3,200
miles was 29⅖ knots per hour.
AIRSHIP LANDED
The crew sent the cable on and it made a bull’s-eye in the drop,
falling squarely over the main anchor. The workmen, who rushed to catch
it on the bound, were flung to the ground and rolled about, as if by
the lash of a gigantic whip, but they subdued it in a second and rushed
with it to the iron ring. An instant later it was dragged through this
opening and the gas-bag was secured. A few moments later the crews of
men were pinning it down like Gulliver, attaching anchors all along the
hull to prepared anchorages of concrete and steel, sunk deeply into the
earth.
The British officers, accompanied by their American guest,
Lieutenant-Commander Zachary Lansdowne, climbed out of the gondola to
receive the official greetings of the government of the United States
and the hearty congratulations of brother seamen and flyers in American
and British uniforms. Those who expected to find them worn and wan from
their unparalleled experience were astonished to see them all in the
finest fettle and spirits, ruddy and vigorous, wide-awake, and full of
fun.
The crew followed them to land, on which none had set foot for nearly
five days, all the members being in good health and spirits, except one
man, who had suffered a smashed thumb, the only accident of the cruise.
THE OFFICIAL LOG OF R-34 TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT BY BRIGADIER-GENERAL E.
M. MAITLAND, C. M. G., D. C. O., REPRESENTING THE BRITISH AIR MINISTRY
Atlantic flight by rigid airship R-34, from East Fortune, Scotland, to
Long Island, New York, via Newfoundland:
Distances covered were as follows: East Fortune to Trinity Bay,
Newfoundland, 2,050 sea-miles. Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, to New York,
1,080 sea-miles.
It was originally intended that this flight should have taken place
at the beginning of June, but owing to the uncertainty of the Germans
signing the peace terms the British Admiralty decided to detain her for
an extended cruise up the Baltic and along the German coast-line. This
flight occupied 56 hours under adverse weather conditions, during which
time an air distance of roughly 2,400 miles was covered.
At the conclusion of this flight the ship was taken over from the
Admiralty by the Air Ministry, and the airship was quickly overhauled
for the journey to the United States of America.
The date and time of sailing decided upon was 2 A. M. on the morning of
Wednesday, July 2, and the press representatives were notified by the
Air Ministry to be at East Fortune the day previously.
STARTED AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
At 1.30 A. M. on the morning of Wednesday, July 2, the airship was
taken from her shed and actually took the air 12 minutes later, thus
starting on her long voyage exactly 18 minutes in advance of scheduled
time.
1.42 A. M., Wednesday, July 2.
The R-34 slowly arose from the hands of the landing party and was
completely swallowed up in the low-lying clouds at a height of 100
feet. When flying at night, possibly on account of the darkness, there
is always a feeling of loneliness immediately after leaving the ground.
The loneliness on this occasion was accentuated by the faint cheers of
the landing party coming upward through the mist long after all signs
of the earth had disappeared.
The airship rose rapidly 1,500 feet, at which height she emerged from
the low-lying clouds and headed straight up the Firth of Forth toward
Edinburgh.
A few minutes after 2 o’clock the lights of Rosyth showed up through
a break in the clouds, thus proving brilliantly that the correct
allowance had been made for the force and direction of the wind, which
was twenty miles per hour from the east.
It should be borne in mind that when an airship gets out on a
long-distance voyage carrying her maximum allowance of petrol, she can
only rise to a limited height at the outset without throwing some of it
overboard as ballast, and that as the airship proceeds on her voyage
she can, if so desired, gradually increase her height as the petrol is
consumed by the engine.
An airship of this type, when most of her petrol is consumed, can rise
to a height of about 14,000 feet.
15.8 TONS OF PETROL AT START
For this reason the next few hours were about the most anxious periods
during the flight for Major Scott, the captain of the ship, who, owing
to the large amount of petrol carried (4,900 gallons, weighing 15.8
tons), had to keep the ship as low as possible and at the same time
pass over northern Scotland, where the hills rise to a height of over
3,000 feet.
Owing to the stormy nature of the morning the air at 1,500 feet—the
height at which the airship was travelling—was most disturbed and
bumpy, due to the wind being broken up by the mountains to the north,
causing violent wind-currents and air-pockets.
The most disturbed conditions were met in the mouth of the Clyde,
south of Loch Lomond, which, surrounded by high mountains, looked
particularly beautiful in the gray dawn light.
The islands at the mouth of the Firth of Clyde were quietly passed. The
north coast of Ireland appeared for a time, and shortly afterward faded
away as we headed out into the Atlantic.
The various incidents of the voyage are set down quite simply as they
occurred, and more or less in the form of a diary. No attempt has been
made to write them as a connected story. It is felt that, by recording
each incident in this way, most of them trivial, a few of vital
importance, a true picture of the voyage will be obtained.
Time, 6 A. M., July 2.
EARLY SPEED, 38 KNOTS
Airship running on four engines with 1,000 revolutions. Forward engine
being given a rest. Air speed, 38 knots—land-miles per hour made good,
56.7. Course steered, 298 degrees north, 62 degrees west. Course made
good, 39 degrees north, 71 west. Wind, north-east, 15⅓ miles per
hour. Height, 1,500 feet. Large banks of fleecy clouds came rolling
along from the Atlantic, gradually blotting out all view of the sea. At
first we were above these clouds, but gradually they rose higher, and
we ploughed our way into the middle of them.
7 A. M.—Nothing but dense fog, estimated by Harris, the meteorological
officer, to go down to within 50 feet of the water and up to a height
of about 5,000 feet.
Suddenly we catch a glimpse of the sea through a hole in the clouds,
and it is now easy to see we have a slight drift to the south, which
was estimated by both Scott, the captain, and Cooke, the navigating
officer.
A few minutes later we find ourselves above the clouds, our height
still being 1,500 feet, and beneath a cloud sky with clouds at about
8,000 feet. We are, therefore, in between two layers of clouds, a
condition in which Alcock and Brown found themselves on more than one
occasion on their recent flight from west to east.
An excellent cloud horizon now presents itself on all sides, of which
Cooke at once takes advantage. These observations, if the cloud horizon
is quite flat, ought to prove a valuable rough guide, but cannot be
regarded as accurate unless one can also obtain a check on the sun by
day or the moon and stars by night.
Cooke reckons it is easy to make as much as a fifty-mile error in
locating one’s position when using a cloud horizon as substitute for a
sea horizon.
BREAKFAST AT 1,500 FEET
7.30 A. M.—Breakfast in crew space up in the keel consisted of cold
ham, one hard-boiled egg each, bread and butter, and hot tea. We
breakfast in two watches, generally about fifteen in each.
The first watch for breakfast was Scott, Cooke, Pritchard, Admiralty
airship expert; Lansdowne, Lieutenant-Commander, United States Airship
Service; Shotter, engineer officer; Harris, meteorological officer,
myself, and half the crew.
Conversation during breakfast reverted to the recent flight up
the Baltic, and in the adjoining compartment the graphophone was
entertaining the crews to the latest jazz tunes, such as “The Wild,
Wild Women.”
It might be interesting at this stage to give a complete list of the
crew, showing their various duties:
OFFICERS
SHIP’S OFFICERS
Major G. H. Scott, A. F. C., Captain.
Captain G. S. Greenland, 1st Officer.
Second Lieutenant H. F. Luck, 2d Officer.
Second Lieutenant J. D. Shotter, Engineer Officer.
Brigadier-General E. M. Maitland, C. M. G., D. C. O., representing
Air Ministry.
Major J. E. M. Pritchard (Air Ministry).
Lieutenant-Commander Z. Lansdowne, O. B. E., U. S. Naval Airship Service.
Major G. G. H. Cooke, D. S. C., Navigating Officer.
Lieutenant Guy Harris, Meteorological Officer.
Second Lieutenant R. D. Durant, Wireless Officer.
W. O. W. R. Mayes, Coxswain.
WARRANT OFFICERS AND MEN
ENGINEERS
Flight Sergeant Gent.
Flight Sergeant Scull.
Flight Sergeant Riplee.
Sergeant Evenden.
Sergeant Thirlwall.
Corporal Cross.
Lg. Air Craftsman Graham.
Corporal Gray.
Air Craftsman Parker.
Air Craftsman Northeast.
L. A. C. Mort.
RIGGERS
Flight Sergeant Robinson.
Sergeant Watson.
Corporal Burgess.
Corporal Smith.
L. A. C. Foreath.
L. A. C. Browdie.
WIRELESS-TELEGRAPH OPERATORS
Corporal Powell.
A. C. Edwards.
AIR MINISTRY SENDS GREETINGS
11 A. M.—Still ploughing our way through the fog at 1,300 feet. Sea
completely hidden by clouds and no visibility whatsoever. Stopped
forward and two aft engines, and now running on only two wing engines
at 1,600 revolutions. These are giving us an air speed of 30 knots, or
33.6 miles per hour. This is the airship’s most efficient speed, as she
only consumes on the two engines twenty-five gallons of petrol per hour.
Wind is east, seven miles per hour, and so we are making good forty
miles per hour and resting three engines.
Cooke is now on top of the airship taking observations of the sun,
using the cloud horizon with a sextant. The sun is visible to him but
not to us, the top of the ship being eighty-five feet above us down
here in the fore-central cabin.
Our position is reckoned to be latitude 55 degrees 10 minutes north
and longitude 14 degrees 40 minutes west, which is equivalent to 400
miles from our starting-point at East Fortune and 200 miles out in the
Atlantic from the northwest coast of Ireland.
* * * * *
We are in wireless touch with East Fortune, Clifden, on the west coast
of Ireland, and Ponta Delgada, Azores, and messages wishing us good
luck are received from Air Ministry, H. M. S. _Queen Elizabeth_, and
others.
11.45 A. M.—Lunch—Excellent beef stew and potatoes, chocolate, and
cold water.
The talk, as usual, was mainly “shop,” dealing with such problems as
the distribution of air-pressure on the western side of the Atlantic,
what winds were likely to be met with, what fog we should run into, the
advantages of directional wireless for navigational purposes, cloud
horizons, and the like.
Scott, Cooke, and Harris, in comparing their experiences and expounding
their theories, were most interesting and illuminating.
12 NOON.—Watch off duty turned in for their routine four hours’ sleep
before coming on for their next period of duty—only two hours in this
case, as it is the first of the two dog-watches.
The sleeping arrangements consist of a hammock for each of the men
off watch suspended from the main ridge girder of the triangular
internal keel which runs from end to end of the ship. In this keel are
situated the eighty-one petrol-tanks, each of seventy-one gallons’
capacity; also the living quarters for officers and men, and storing
arrangements for lubricating-oil for the engines, water ballast, food,
and drinking-water for the crew. The latter is quite a considerable
item, as will be seen from the following table of weights:
Gallons Pounds Tons
Petrol 4,900 35,300 15.8
Oil ... 2,070 .9
Water ... ... 3.0
Crew and baggage ... ... 4.0
Spares ... 550 .2
Drinking-water ... 800 .42
————
Total 24.32
Life in the keel of a large, rigid airship is by no means unpleasant.
There is very little noise or vibration except when one is directly
over the power units—a total absence of wind and, except in the early
hours of dawn, greater warmth than in the surrounding atmosphere.
Getting into one’s hammock is rather an acrobatic feat, especially
if it is slung high, but this becomes easy with practice; preventing
oneself from falling out is a thing one must be careful about in a
service airship like the R-34.
There is only a thin outer cover of fabric on the under side of the
keel on each side of the walking way, and the luckless individual who
tips out of his hammock would in all probability break right through
this and soon find himself in the Atlantic.
It is surprising the amount of exercise one can get on board an airship
of this size. The keel is about 600 feet long, and one is constantly
running about from one end to the other. There are also steps in a
vertical ladder at the top of the ship for those who feel energetic
or have duty up there. By the time it becomes one’s turn to go to
bed one generally finds one is very sleepy, and the warmth of one’s
sleeping-bag and hum of the engines soon send one to sleep.
3.15 P. M.—Sea now visible at intervals through the clouds—a deep
blue in color with a big swell on. Our shadow on the water helps us to
measure our drift angle, which both Scott and Cooke worked out to be 21
degrees. Running on the forward and two aft engines, resting the two
wing engines. Speed—making forty-nine miles per hour.
Durant, the wireless officer, reports he has just been speaking to St.
John’s, N. F.—Rather faint but quite clear signals. As we are still in
touch with East Fortune and Clifden, and have been exchanging signals
with the Azores since reaching the Irish coast, our communications seem
to be quite satisfactory.
Remarkable rainbow effects on the clouds. One complete rainbow
encircled the airship itself and the other, a smaller one, encircled
the shadow. Both are very vivid in their coloring.
3.45 P. M.—Excellent tea consisting of bread and butter and green-gage
jam, also two cups of scalding hot tea, which had been boiled over the
exhaust-pipe cooker fitted to the forward engine.
SEE LITTLE OF OCEAN
Fruitarian cake was also tried for the first time—rather sickly to
taste but very nourishing. The whole assisted by Miss Lee White on the
gramophone. We would one and all give anything for a smoke. Greenland,
the first officer of the ship, is vainly trying to discover the culprit
who used his tooth-brush for stirring the mustard at lunch.
4.30 P. M.—Still in fog and low clouds and no sea visible. We have
hardly seen any sign of the Atlantic since leaving the Irish coast,
and we are beginning to wonder if we shall see it at all the whole way
across.
5 P. M.—Tramp steamer S. S. _Ballygally Head_, outward bound from
Belfast, destination Montreal, picked up our wireless on their Marconi
spark set, which has a range of thirty miles only. She heard us but
didn’t see us, as we were well above and completely hidden by the
clouds. She gave her position as latitude 54 degrees 30 minutes north,
longitude 18 degrees 20 minutes west, and reported as follows:
“Steering south 80 west true, wind north, barometer 30.10, overcast,
clouds low.”
“(Signed) SUFFREN, _Master_.”
They were very surprised and most interested to hear we were R-34 bound
for New York, and wished us every possible luck.
5.30 P. M.—Messages were received from both H. M. S. battle-cruisers
_Tiger_ and _Renown_, which had been previously sent by the Admiralty
out into the Atlantic to assist us with weather-reports and general
observation. They reported respectively as follows:
H. M. S. _Tiger_.—“Position 36 degrees 50 minutes north, 36 degrees 50
minutes west, 1,027 millibars, falling slowly, thick fog.”
H. M. S. _Renown_.—“Position 60 degrees north, 25 west, 1,027
millibars, falling slowly, cloudy, visibility four miles.”
Harris’s deductions from these reports were to the effect that there
was no steep gradient, and that therefore there was no likelihood of
any strong wind in that part of the Atlantic.
SET CLOCK BACK HALF-HOUR
6 P. M.—Scott increases height to 2,000 feet, and at this height we
find ourselves well over the clouds and with a bright-blue sky above
us. The view is an enchanting one—as far as one can see a vast ocean
of white fleecy clouds, ending in the most perfect cloud horizons.
Two particularly fine specimens of windy cirrus clouds, of which
Pritchard promptly obtained photographs, appear on our port beam, also
some “cirrus ventosus” clouds (little curly clouds like a blackcock’s
tail-feathers), all of which Harris interprets as a first indication
and infallible sign of a depression coming up from the south.
We hope that this depression, when it comes, may help us, provided we
have crossed its path before it reaches us. If we can do this we may
be helped along by the easterly wind on the northwesterly side of the
depression.
It is interesting to note that as yet we have received no notice of
this depression coming up from the south in any weather-reports.
6.40 P. M.—Put back clock one-half an hour to correct Greenwich mean
time. Time now 6.10 P. M. Position: Latitude 53 degrees 50 minutes
north; longitude 20 degrees west.
We have covered 610 sea-miles, measured in a direct line, in 17 hours,
at an average speed of 36 knots, or 40 miles per hour. Depth of
Atlantic at this point, 1,500 fathoms. At this rate, if all goes well
and if that depression from the south doesn’t interfere, we should see
St. John’s—if visible and not covered in fog as it usually is—about
midnight to-morrow, July 3.
6.55 P. M.—Wireless message from Air Ministry via Clifden states:
“Conditions unchanged in British Isles. Anti-cyclone persistent in
Eastern Atlantic—a new depression entering Atlantic from south.”
This confirms Harris’s forecast and is an admirable proof of the value
of cloud forecasting.
SEA AND SKY INVISIBLE
7 P. M.—The clouds have risen to our height and we are now driving
away through them with no signs of the sky above or the sea underneath.
Scott reckons the wind is northeast by east and helping us slightly.
Airship now very heavy owing to change in temperature and 12 degrees
down by the stern. Running on all five engines at 1,600 revolutions,
height 3,000 feet.
8 P. M.—We are just on top of the clouds, alternately in the sun and
then plunging through thick banks of clouds. The sun is very low down
on the western horizon and we are steering straight for it, making
Pritchard at the elevators curse himself for not having brought tinted
glasses. Ship now on an even keel.
8.30 P. M.—Scott decided to go down underneath the clouds and
increases speed on all engines to 1,800 revolutions to do so. Dark,
cold, and wet in the clouds, and we shut all windows.
SEA 1,500 FEET BELOW
We see the sea at 1,500 feet between patches of cloud. Rather bumpy.
We now find ourselves between two layers of clouds, the top layer 1,000
feet above us and the lower layer 500 feet below, with occasional
glimpses of sea.
The sun is now setting and gradually disappears below the lower cloud
horizon, throwing a wonderful pink glow on the white clouds in every
direction. Course steered, 320 degrees. Course made good, 299 degrees.
Air speed, 44 knots; speed made good, 55 miles per hour.
All through this first night in the Atlantic the ordinary airship
routine of navigating, steering, and elevating, also maintaining the
engines in smooth-running order, goes, watch and watch, as in the
daytime.
The night is very dark. The airship, however, is lighted throughout, a
much enlarged lighting system having been fitted. All instruments can
be individually illuminated as required, and in case of failure at the
lighting system all figures and indicators are radiomized.
LIGHTS NOT NEEDED
The radium paint used is so luminous that in most cases the lighting
installation is unnecessary.
8.20 A. M., Thursday, July 3.—The clock has been put back another hour
to correct our time to Greenwich mean time. Position: Longitude 35
degrees 60 minutes west; latitude 53 degrees north.
Cooke got position by observation on sun and a good cloud horizon, and
considers it accurate to within thirty and forty miles.
Our position is over the west-bound steamship route from Cape Race to
the Clyde and momentarily crossing the east-bound route from Belle Isle
to Plymouth.
We are well over half-way between Ireland and Newfoundland and are back
again on the great circle route, having been slightly to the south of
it, owing to the drift effect of a northerly wind.
Good weather-report from St. John’s.
SPEAKS TO STEAMSHIP
12.45 P. M.—Durant is speaking S. S. _Canada_ on our spark wireless
set, so there may be a chance of our seeing her shortly, as the sea is
temporarily visible. The second wireless operator obtains his direction
on our directional wireless so that we may know in what direction to
look for her. All we know at the moment is that she is somewhere within
120 miles.
Captain David, in command, wishes us a safe voyage. We gaze through our
glasses in her direction, but she is just over the horizon.
2 P. M.—Slight trouble with starboard amidships engine—cracked
cylinder’s water-jacket. Shotter, always equal to the occasion, made a
quick and safe repair with a piece of copper sheeting, and the entire
supply of the ship’s chewing-gum had to be chewed by himself and two
engineers before being applied.
4.30 P. M.—We are now on the Canadian summer route of steamers bound
for the St. Lawrence via Belle Isle Strait and over the well-known
Labrador current. There are already indications of these cold currents
in the fog which hangs immediately above the surface of the water.
HARRIS HURT; NOT SERIOUSLY
Scott and Cooke spend much time at chart-table with protractors,
dividers, stop-watches, and many navigational text-books, measuring
angles of drift and calculating course made good.
Aerial navigation is more complicated than navigation on the surface of
the sea, but there is no reason why when we know more about the air and
its peculiarities it should not be made just as accurate.
5.00 P. M.—Harris unwisely shuts his hand on door of wireless
cabin—painful but not serious. Flow of language not audible to me, as
the forward engine happened to be running.
6 to 7 P. M.—We are gradually getting farther and farther into the
shallow depression which was reported yesterday coming up from the
South Atlantic. For the last four hours the sea has been rising and now
the wind is south-southeast, forty-five miles an hour. Visibility only
a half-mile. Very rough sea and torrents of rain. In spite of this the
ship is remarkably steady.
CLIMBS THROUGH DEPRESSION
At 8 P. M. Scott decides to climb right through it, and we evidently
came out over the top of it at 3,400 feet.
8.30 P. M.—We have now passed the centre of the depression, exactly
as Harris foretold. The rain has ceased and we are travelling quite
smoothly again.
To the west the clouds have lifted and we see some extraordinarily
interesting sky—black, angry clouds giving place to clouds of a
gray-mouse color, then a bright salmon-pink clear sky, changing lower
down the horizon to darker clouds with a rich golden lining as the sun
sinks below the surface. The sea is not visible, and is covered by a
fluffy gray feather-bed of clouds, slightly undulating and extending as
far as the eye can reach. The moon is just breaking through the black
clouds immediately above it.
On the east we see the black, ominous depression from which we have
just emerged, while away more to the south the cloud-bed over which we
are passing seems to end suddenly and merge into the horizon.
VALUABLE METEOROLOGICAL DATA
We are getting some valuable meteorological data on this flight without
a doubt, and each fresh phenomenon as it appears is instantly explained
by the ever-alert Harris, who has a profound knowledge of his subject.
9 P. M.—One of the engineers has reported sick—complains of
feverishness.
A stowaway has just been discovered, a cat smuggled on board by one
of the crew for luck. It is a very remarkable fact that nearly every
member of the crew has a mascot of some description, from the engineer
officer, who wears one of his wife’s silk stockings as a muffler around
his neck, to Major Scott, the captain, with a small gold charm called
“Thumbs up.”
We have two carrier-pigeons on board, which it has been decided not to
use. Anyway, whether we release them or not, they can claim to be the
first two pigeons to fly the Atlantic.
SUNRISE
4.30 A. M., Friday, July 4—Wonderful sunrise—the different colors
being the softest imaginable, just like a wash drawing.
7 A. M.—Height, 1,000 feet. Bright, blue sky above, thin fog partly
obscuring the sea beneath us, sea moderate, big swell.
The fog-bank appears to end abruptly ten miles or so away toward the
south, where the sea appears to be clear of fog and a very deep blue.
Standing out conspicuously in this blue patch of sea we see an enormous
white iceberg. The sun is shining brightly on its steep sides, and we
estimate it as roughly 300 yards square and 150 feet high. As these
icebergs usually draw about six times as much water as their height, we
wondered whether she was aground, as the depth of water at that point
is only about 150 fathoms.
Another big iceberg can just be seen in the dim distance. These are the
only two objects of any kind, sort, or description we have as yet seen
on this journey.
8.15 A. M.
OVER LARGE ICE-FIELD
Fog still clinging to the surface of the water; water evidently must be
very cold. Extraordinary crimpy, wavelike appearance of clouds rolling
up from the north underneath it. Harris has never seen this before.
Pritchard took photograph.
On port beam there is a long stretch of clear-blue sea sandwiched
in between wide expanses of fog on either side, looking just like a
blue river flowing between two wide snow-covered banks. Cause—a warm
current of water which prevents cloud from hanging over it. This well
illustrated the rule that over cold currents of water the clouds will
cling to the surface.
9 A. M.—We are now over a large ice-field and the sea is full
of enormous pieces of ice—small bergs in themselves. The ice is
blue-green under water, with frozen snow on top.
A message reaches us from the Governor of Newfoundland.
“To General Maitland, officers and crew, R-34:
“On behalf of Newfoundland I greet you as you pass us on your
enterprising journey.
“HARRIS, Governor.”
Replied to as follows:
“To Governor of Newfoundland:
“Major Scott, officers and crew, R-34, send grateful thanks for kind
message with which I beg to associate myself.”
“GENERAL MAITLAND.”
12.50 P. M.
LAND SIGHTED BY SCOTT
Land in sight. First spotted by Scott on starboard beam. A few small
rocky islands visible for a minute or two through the clouds and
instantly swallowed up again. Altered course southwest to have a
closer look at them. Eventually made them out to be the north-west
coast-line of Trinity Bay, Newfoundland.
Our time from Rathlin Island—the last piece of land we crossed
above the north coast of Ireland—to north coast of Trinity Bay,
Newfoundland, is exactly fifty-nine hours.
We are crossing Newfoundland at 1,500 feet in thick fog, which
gradually clears as we get farther inland. A very rocky country with
large forests and lakes, and for the most part no traces of habitation
anywhere.
Message from St. John’s to say that Raynham was up in his machine to
greet us. We replied, giving our position.
3 P. M.—Again enveloped in dense fog. Message from H. M. S. _Sentinel_
giving us our position. We are making good thirty-eight or forty knots
and heading for Fortune Harbor.
FRENCH FLAG DIPPED
4.30 P. M.—We have passed out of Fortune Harbor, with its magnificent
scenery and azure-blue sea dotted with little white sailing ships,
and are now over the two French islands, Miquelon and St. Pierre, and
steering a course for Halifax, Nova Scotia. The French flag was flying
at St. Pierre and was duly dipped as we passed over.
7.15 P. M.—Passed over tramp S. S. _Seal_ bound for Sydney, Nova
Scotia, from St. John’s, the first we have seen. 8.15 P. M.—Clear
weather. Sea moderate. Making good thirty miles per hour on three
engines. Northern point of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Just coming
into sight. Lighthouse four flashes. We should make Halifax 2.30 A. M.
to-morrow.
Saturday, July 5, 2.30 A. M.—Very dark, clear night. Lights of
Whitehaven show up brightly on our starboard beam and we make out the
lights of a steamer passing us to the east. Strong head wind against
us. Making no appreciable headway.
LANSDOWNE ASKS FOR DESTROYER
Lieutenant-Commander Lansdowne, United States Naval Airship Service,
sends signal on behalf of R-34 to United States authorities at
Washington and Boston to send destroyer to take us in tow in case we
should run out of petrol during the night.
The idea is we would then be towed by the destroyer during the hours
of darkness, and at dawn cast off and fly to Long Island under our own
power. Let us hope this won’t be necessary.
It is now raining and foggy, which is the kind of weather that suits us
now, as rain generally means no wind.
3 P. M.—Passed Haute Island in Fundy Bay.
3.30 P. M.—For some little while past there had been distinct
evidences of electrical disturbances. Atmospherics became very bad and
a severe thunder-storm was seen over the Canadian coast, moving south
down the coast. Scott turned east off his course to dodge the storm,
putting on all engines. In this, fortunately for us, he was successful,
and we passed through the outer edge of it. We had a very bad time,
indeed, and it is quite the worst experience from a weather point of
view that any of us have yet experienced in the air.
WONDERFUL CLOUDS PHOTOGRAPHED
During the storm some wonderful specimens of cumulo-mammatus were seen
and photographed. These clouds always indicate a very highly perturbed
state of atmosphere and look rather like a bunch of grapes. The clouds
drooped into small festoons.
7.30 P. M.—We are now in clear weather again and have left Nova Scotia
well behind us and are heading straight for New York.
Particularly fine electrical-disturbance type of sunset.
9.30 P. M.—Another thunder-storm. Again we have to change our course
to avoid it, and as every gallon of petrol is worth its weight in gold,
it almost breaks our hearts to have to lengthen the distance to get
clear of these storms.
July 6, Sunday, 4 A. M.—Sighted American soil at Chatham.
4.25 A. M.—South end of Mahoney Island. Scott is wondering whether
petrol will allow him to go to New York or whether it would not be more
prudent to land at Montauk.
5.30 A. M.—Passing over Martha’s Vineyard—a lovely island and
beautifully wooded. Scott decided he could just get through to our
landing-field at Hazelhurst Field, but that there would not be enough
petrol to fly over New York. Very sad, but no alternative. We will fly
over New York on start of our return journey on Tuesday night, weather
and circumstances permitting.
Landed 1.54 P. M. Greenwich mean time, or 9.54 A. M. U. S. A. summer
time, at Hazelhurst Field, Long Island.
Total time on entire voyage—108 hours, 12 minutes.
APPENDIX I
UNITED STATES AIRCRAFT AND ENGINE PRODUCTION FOR THE UNITED STATES AIR
SERVICE
The best rapid survey of the organization of the United States Air
Service and the part which it played in the Great War, as well as
statistics touching upon the materials used in aircraft production,
the number of planes and engines made, and also the number of machines
used for training purposes, and actually put into service at the front,
is contained in the following extracts from the reports of Secretary
Baker, Justice Charles E. Hughes, General Pershing, and Major-General
William L. Kenly.
SECRETARY BAKER’S AIR SERVICE REPORT
In his annual report for 1918, released December 5, the Secretary of
War reported on the Air Service as follows:
AIR SERVICE
ORGANIZATION
The Aviation Section of the Signal Corps, which had charge of the
production and operation of military aircraft at the outbreak of the
war, was created on July 18, 1914. To assist in outlining America’s
aviation program, the Aircraft Production Board was appointed by
the Council of National Defense in May, 1917. In October, 1917,
the Aircraft Board, acting in an advisory capacity to the Signal
Corps and the Navy, was created by act of Congress. In April, 1918,
the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps was separated into two
distinct departments, Mr. John D. Ryan being placed in charge of
aircraft production and Brig.-Gen. W. L. Kenly in charge of military
aeronautics. Under the powers granted in the Overman Bill, a further
reorganization was effected by Presidential order in May, 1918,
whereby aircraft production and military aeronautics were completely
divorced from the Signal Corps and established in separate bureaus.
This arrangement continued until August, when the present air service,
under Mr. Ryan as Second Assistant Secretary of War, was established,
combining under one head the administration of aviation personnel and
equipment.
RAW MATERIALS SECURED
One of the most important problems which confronted the aircraft
organization from the start was the obtaining of sufficient spruce and
fir for ourselves and our allies. To facilitate the work, battalions
were organized under military discipline and placed in the forests
of the western coast. A government plant and kiln were erected to
cut and dry lumber before shipment, thus saving valuable freight
space. To November 11, 1918, the date the armistice was signed, the
total quantity of spruce and fir shipped amounted to approximately
174,000,000 feet, of which more than two-thirds went to the Allies.
The shortage of linen stimulated the search for a substitute
possessing the qualities necessary in fabric used for covering
aeroplane wings. Extensive experiments were made with a cotton product
which proved so successful that it is now used for all types of
training and service planes.
To meet the extensive demands for a high-grade lubricating oil, castor
beans were imported from India and a large acreage planted in this
country. Meanwhile research work with mineral oils was carried on
intensively, with the result that a lubricant was developed which
proved satisfactory in practically every type of aeroplane motor,
except the rotary motor, in which castor oil is still preferred.
PRODUCTION OF TRAINING PLANES AND ENGINES
When war was declared the United States possessed less than 300
training planes, all of inferior types. Deliveries of improved models
were begun as early as June, 1917. Up to November 11, 1918, over 5,300
had been produced, including 1,600 of a type which was temporarily
abandoned on account of unsatisfactory engines.
Planes for advanced training purposes were produced in quantity
early in 1918; up to the signing of the armistice about 2,500 were
delivered. Approximately the same number was purchased overseas for
training the units with the Expeditionary Force.
Several new models, to be used for training pursuit pilots, are under
development.
Within three months after the declaration of war extensive orders
were placed for two types of elementary training engines. Quantity
production was reached within a short time. In all about 10,500 have
been delivered, sufficient to constitute a satisfactory reserve for
some time to come.
Of the advanced training engines, the three important models were
of foreign design, and the success achieved in securing quantity
production is a gratifying commentary on the manufacturing ability of
this country. The total production up to November 11 was approximately
5,200.
PRODUCTION OF SERVICE PLANES
The experience acquired during the operations on the Mexican border
demonstrated the unsuitability of the planes then used by the American
Army. Shortly after the declaration of war, a commission was sent
abroad to select types of foreign service planes to be put into
production in this country. We were confronted with the necessity of
redesigning these models to take the Liberty motor, as foreign engine
production was insufficient to meet the great demands of the Allies.
The first successful type of plane to come into quantity production
was a modification of the British De Haviland 4—an observation and
day bombing plane. The first deliveries were made in February, 1918.
In May, production began to increase rapidly, and by October a monthly
output of 1,200 had been reached. Approximately 1,900 were shipped to
the Expeditionary Force prior to the termination of hostilities.
The Handley Page night bomber, used extensively by the British, was
redesigned to take two Liberty motors. Parts for approximately 100
planes have been shipped to England for assembly.
Table 20 shows the status of American production of service planes by
quarterly periods.
Table 20.—Service planes produced in the United States in 1918:
Jan. 31 to April 1 to July 1 to Oct. 1 to
Name of plane Mar. 31 June 30 Sept. 30 Nov. 8 Total
De Haviland 4 14 515 1,165 1,493 3,187
Handley Page ... ... 100 1 101
A total of 2,676 pursuit, observation, and day bombing planes, with
spare engines, were delivered to the Expeditionary Force by the French
Government for the equipment of our forces overseas.
Considerable progress was made in the adaptation of other types of
foreign planes to the American-made engines, and in the development
of new designs. The U. S. D. 9A, embodying some improvements over the
De Haviland 4, was expected to come into quantity production in the
near future. The Bristol Fighter, a British plane, was redesigned to
take the Liberty 8 and the Hispano-Suiza 300 h. p. engines. A force
of Italian engineers and skilled workmen was brought to America to
redesign the Caproni night bomber to take three Liberty motors, and
successful trial flights of this machine have been made.
Several new models are under experimentation. Chief of these is the
Le Père two-seater fighter, designed around the Liberty motor, the
performance of which is highly satisfactory. Several of these planes
were sent overseas to be tested at the front.
PRODUCTION OF SERVICE ENGINES
In view of the rapid progress in military aeronautics, the necessity
for the development of a high-powered motor adaptable to American
methods of quantity production was early recognized. The result of
the efforts to meet this need was the Liberty motor—America’s chief
contribution to aviation, and one of the great achievements of the
war. After this motor emerged from the experimental stage, production
increased with great rapidity, the October output reaching 4,200, or
nearly one-third of the total production up to the signing of the
armistice. The factories engaged in the manufacture of this motor, and
their total production to November 8, are listed in Table 21.
Table 21.—Production of Liberty motor to November 8, 1918, by
factories:
Packard Motor Car Co. 4,654
Lincoln Motor Corporation 3,720
Ford Motor Corporation 3,025
General Motors Corporation 1,554
Nordyke & Marmon Co. 433
—————
Total 13,386
Of this total, 9,834 were high-compression, or army type, and 3,572
low-compression, or navy type, the latter being used in seaplanes and
large night bombers.
In addition to those installed in planes, about 3,500 Liberty engines
were shipped overseas, to be used as spares and for delivery to the
Allies.
Other types of service engines, including the Hispano-Suiza 300 h. p.,
the Bugatti, and the Liberty 8-cylinder, were under development when
hostilities ceased. The Hispano-Suiza 180 h. p. had already reached
quantity production. Nearly 500 engines of this type were produced,
about half of which were shipped to France and England for use in
foreign-built pursuit planes.
Table 22 gives a résumé of the production of service engines by
quarterly periods:
Table 22.—Production of service engines in 1918.
Jan. 1 to Apr. 1 to July 1 to Oct. 1 to
Name of engine Mar. 31 June 30 Sept. 30 Nov. 8 Total
Liberty 12, Army 122 1,493 4,116 4,093 9,824
Liberty 12, Navy 142 633 1,710 1,087 3,572
Hispano-Suiza 180
h. p. ... ... 185 284 469
IMPROVEMENT IN INSTRUMENTS AND ACCESSORIES
Few facilities existed for the manufacture of many of the delicate
instruments and intricate mechanisms going into the equipment of every
battle-plane. The courage and determination with which these most
difficult problems were met and solved will form one of the bright
pages in the archives of American industry.
One of the most important outgrowths of the research work which the
war stimulated was the development of voice command in formation
flying by means of wireless devices. The great significance of this
invention will be appreciated when it is realized that the leader of
a formation has heretofore been dependent on signals for conveying
instructions to the individual units of the squadron.
TRAINING OF PERSONNEL
After the declaration of war the construction of training fields
proceeded with such rapidity that the demand for training equipment
greatly exceeded the output. Since the latter part of 1917, however,
the supply of elementary training planes and engines has been more
than sufficient to meet the demands, while the situation as regards
certain types of planes for advanced training has greatly improved.
Approximately 17,000 cadets were graduated from ground schools; 8,602
reserve military aviators were graduated from elementary training
schools; and 4,028 aviators completed the course in advanced training
provided in this country. Pending the provision of adequate equipment
for specialized advanced training, the policy was adopted of sending
students overseas for a short finishing course before going into
action. The shortage of skilled mechanics with sufficient knowledge of
aeroplanes and motors was met by the establishment of training schools
from which over 14,000 mechanics were graduated.
At the cessation of hostilities there were in training as aviators
in the United States 6,528 men, of whom 22 per cent were in ground
schools, 37 per cent in elementary schools, and 41 per cent in
advanced training schools. The number of men in training as aviator
mechanics was 2,154.
FORCES AT THE FRONT
Early in 1918 the first squadrons composed of American personnel
provided with French planes appeared at the front. The number was
increased as rapidly as equipment could be obtained. On September 30,
the date of the latest available information, there were 32 squadrons
at the front; of these 15 were pursuit, 13 observation, and 4 bombing.
The first squadron equipped with American planes reached the front in
the latter part of July.
LOSSES IN BATTLE AND IN TRAINING
Though the casualties in the air force were small as compared with the
total strength, the casualty rate of the flying personnel at the front
was somewhat above the artillery and infantry rates. The reported
battle fatalities up to October 24 were 128 and accident fatalities
overseas 244. The results of Allied and American experience at the
front indicate that two aviators lose their lives in accidents for
each aviator killed in battle. The fatalities at training fields in
the United States to October 24th were 262.
[A later official report gave the total U. S. aviators lost in combat
as 171, and those killed by accident as 554.]
COMMISSIONED AND ENLISTED STRENGTH
On America’s entrance into the war, the personnel of the Air Service
consisted of 65 officers and 1,120 men. When the armistice was signed
the total strength was slightly over 190,000, comprising about 20,000
commissioned officers, over 6,000 cadets under training, and 164,000
enlisted men. In addition to the cadets under training, the flying
personnel was composed of about 11,000 officers, of whom approximately
42 per cent were with the Expeditionary Force when hostilities ceased.
The Air Service constituted slightly over 5 per cent of the total
strength of the Army.
GENERAL PERSHING’S REPORT
Secretary Baker’s report included a communication received from General
Pershing in which he commented on aircraft and the Air Service as
follows:
“Our entry into the war found us with few of the auxiliaries necessary
for its conduct in the modern sense. Among our most important
deficiencies in material were artillery, aviation, and tanks. In order
to meet our requirements as rapidly as possible, we accepted the offer
of the French Government to provide us with the necessary artillery
equipment.
“In aviation we were in the same situation, and here again the French
Government came to our aid until our own aviation program should
be under way. We obtained from the French the necessary planes for
training our personnel, and they have provided us with a total of
2,676 pursuit, observation, and bombing planes. The first aeroplanes
received from home arrived in May, and altogether we have received
1,379. The first American squadron completely equipped by American
production, including aeroplanes, crossed the German lines on August
7, 1918.
“It should be fully realized that the French Government has always
taken a most liberal attitude and has been most anxious to give us
every possible assistance in meeting our deficiencies in these as
well as in other respects. Our dependence upon France for artillery,
aviation, and tanks was, of course, due to the fact that our
industries had not been exclusively devoted to military production.
All credit is due our own manufacturers for their efforts to meet our
requirements, as at the time the armistice was signed we were able to
look forward to the early supply of practically all our necessities
from our own factories.”
THE HUGHES REPORT
The committee appointed by the President to investigate the charges of
misappropriation of funds reported in November, 1918, on the number of
training planes and engines built. Justice Chas. E. Hughes was chairman
of the committee:
AEROPLANES AND ENGINES DELIVERED DURING FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30,
1918
The reported deliveries of Aeroplanes and Engines made prior to June
30, 1918, are as follows:
AEROPLANES
Elementary Training Planes
JN4-D 2972
SJ-1 1600
—— 4572
Advanced Training Planes
JN4-H
Training 402
Gunnery 321
JN6-HB 100
S4-B 100
S4-C 73
Penguin 50
—— 1046
Combat and Bombing Planes
DeH-4 529
Bristol Fighter 24
—— 553
——
Total planes 6171
ENGINES
Elementary Training
OX-5 5474
A7a 2188
—— 7662
Advanced Training
Hispano 150 H. P. 2188
Gnome 100 ” 209
Le Rhone 80 ” 68
Lawrence 28 ” 114
—— 2579
Combat and Bombing
U. S. 12 Cylinder (Army Type) 1615
U. S. 12 Cylinder (Navy Type) 775
Hispano 300 H. P. 2
———— 2392
TOTAL ENGINES = 12633
NUMBER OF MACHINES AT THE FRONT
Report prepared by Statistics Branch, General Staff, War Department,
March 22, 1919, concerning the 628 De Haviland 4 planes put in service
at front before armistice.
The following table and diagram shows the status of production,
shipments and use overseas of De Haviland 4 service planes at the date
of the armistice:
Per cent
of total
Number production
Produced 3,227 100
Floated 1,885 58
Received at French ports (_a_) 1,185 37
Assembled overseas 1,025 32
Put into service overseas 983 30
Put into service at front 628 19
In commission at front (_b_) 457 14
(_a_) To November 1, 1918.
(_b_) November 3, 1918.
Value of contracts cancelled and suspended exceed $480,000,000.
The following is a summary of the value of cancellations and
suspensions of contracts to March 19, 1919:
Per cent
Value of total
Engines and spare parts $250,409,982 52
Airplanes and spare parts 167,554,386 35
Chemicals and chemical plants 19,852,370 4
Instruments and accessories 13,832,902 3
Balloons and supplies 10,071,035 2
Fabrics, lumber and metals 7,968,324 2
Miscellaneous 11,041,132 2
————————
Total $480,730,131
THE SIXTY-FOUR AMERICAN ACES
The following official list gives the status of the sixty-four American
aces—that is, aviators who had each downed five or more enemies by the
time hostilities ceased:
Captain Edward V. Rickenbacker of Columbus, Ohio, famous as an
automobile driver, was the premier “Ace” of the American air force in
France, having twenty-six enemy planes to his credit.
First Lieutenant Frank Luke, Jr., of Phœnix, Ariz., who was killed in
action May 19, 1918, was second on the list of “Aces,” with eighteen
victories to his credit, and Major Victor Raoul Lufbery of Wallingford,
Conn., also killed in action May 19, 1918, was third, with seventeen
victories. Before joining the American Army, Major Lufbery was a member
of the Lafayette Escadrille.
Captain Reed G. Landis of Chicago, son of Judge Landis, and First
Lieutenant David E. Putnam, of Brookline, Mass., who was killed in
action, had twelve victories each. The other “Aces,” with the number of
victories credited to each, follow:
First Lieutenant Fields Kinley, Gravette, Ark., 10.
First Lieutenant G. A. Vaughn, Jr., 341 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, 10.
First Lieutenant J. M. Swaab, Philadelphia, 10.
First Lieutenant T. G. Cassady, 9.
First Lieutenant C. E. Wright, Cambridge, Mass., 9.
First Lieutenant W. P. Erwin, Chicago, 9.
Captain E. W. Springs, Lancaster, Penn., 9.
First Lieutenant H. R. Clay, Jr., Fort Worth, Texas, 8.
Major J. A. Meissner, 45 Lenox Road, Brooklyn, N. Y., 8.
Captain Hamilton Coolidge (deceased), Boston, Mass., 8.
Captain G. De F. Larner, Washington, D. C., 8.
First Lieutenant P. F. Baer, Fort Wayne, Ind., 8 (captured May 22, 1918).
First Lieutenant F. O. D. Hunter, Savannah, Ga., 8.
First Lieutenant W. W. White, 541 Lexington Avenue, New York City, 8.
Second Lieutenant Clinton Jones, San Francisco, Cal., 8.
Captain R. M. Chambers, Memphis, Tenn., 7.
First Lieutenant Harvey Cook, Toledo, Ohio, 7.
First Lieutenant L. C. Holden, 103 Park Avenue, New York City, 7.
First Lieutenant K. H. Schoen (deceased), Indianapolis, Ind., 7.
First Lieutenant W. A. Robertson, Fort Smith, Ark., 7.
First Lieutenant L. J. Rummell, 798 South 11th Street, Newark, N. J., 7.
First Lieutenant L. A. Hamilton (deceased), Burlington, Vt., or
Pittsfield, Mass., 7.
First Lieutenant J. O. Creech, Washington, D. C., 6.
Second Lieutenant Howard Burdick, 175 Remsen Street, Brooklyn, N. Y., 6.
First Lieutenant C. L. Bissell, Kane, Penn., 6.
Major H. E. Hartney, Saskatoon, Canada, 6.
Captain Douglass Campbell, Mount Hamilton, Cal., 6.
Captain J. C. Vasconcelles, Denver, Col., 6.
Captain E. G. Tobin, San Antonio, Texas, 6.
First Lieutenant E. P. Curtis, Rochester, N. Y., 6.
First Lieutenant Sumner Sewell, no address, 6.
First Lieutenant R. A. O’Neill, Nogales, Ariz., 6.
First Lieutenant Donald Hudson, Kansas City, Mo., 6.
First Lieutenant M. K. Guthrie, Mobile, Ala., 6.
First Lieutenant W. H. Stovall, Stovall, Miss., 6.
First Lieutenant J. D. Beane (missing in action), 6.
First Lieutenant A. R. Brooks, Framingham, Mass., 6.
First Lieutenant R. O. Lindsay, Madison, N. C., 6.
First Lieutenant Martinus Stenseth, Twin City, Minn., 6.
Second Lieutenant F. K. Hays, Chicago, Ill., 6.
First Lieutenant H. C. Klotts, no address, 5.
Lieutenant-Colonel William Thaw, Pittsburgh, Penn., 5.
Major D. McK. Peterson, Honesdale, Penn., 5.
Captain H. R. Buckley, Agawam, Mass., 5.
Major C. J. Biddle, Philadelphia, Penn., 5.
First Lieutenant James Knowles, Cambridge, Mass., 5.
First Lieutenant J. A. Healey, Jersey City, N. J., 5.
First Lieutenant Innis Potter, no address, 5.
First Lieutenant F. M. Symonds, 20 West 8th Street, New York City, 5.
First Lieutenant J. F. Wehner (deceased), 124 East 28th Street,
New York, 5.
First Lieutenant J. J. Sereley, Chicago, 5.
First Lieutenant E. M. Haight, Astoria, N. Y., 5.
First Lieutenant H. H. George, Niagara Falls, N. Y., 5.
First Lieutenant G. W. Furlow, Rochester, Minn., 5.
First Lieutenant A. E. Esterbrook, Fort Flagler, Wash., 5.
First Lieutenant B. V. Baucom, Milford, Texas, 5.
Second Lieutenant Harold McArthur, no address, 5.
Second Lieutenant J. S. Owens, Baltimore, 5.
Second Lieutenant J. O. Donaldson, Washington, D. C., 5.
OTHER AMERICANS WHO ARE CREDITED WITH BRINGING DOWN ONE OR MORE PLANES
Lieutenant Frank L. Baylies, New Bedford, Mass. (killed June 20, 1918,
in the British Air Service), 12.
Adjutant E. C. Parsons, Springfield, Mass., 4.
Lieutenant H. Clay Ferguson, wounded March 12, 1918, 4.
Captain J. Norman Hall, Lafayette Escadrille and A. E. F., Colfax, Ia.,
wounded and captured, May 7, 1918, 4.
Lieutenant Joseph C. Stehlin, Lafayette Escadrille, Brooklyn, N. Y., 3.
Lieutenant Norman Prince (organizer of Lafayette Escadrille),
Beverly Farms, Mass., killed October 15, 1916, 3.
Lieutenant Kiffin Yates Rockwell, Lafayette Escadrille, Asheville, N.C.,
killed September 23, 1916, 4.
Lieutenant Walter Rheno, Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., 3.
Lieutenant Walter Lovell, Lafayette Escadrille, Concord, Mass., 3.
Lieutenant Thomas Hitchcock, Jr., Lafayette Escadrille, Roslyn, N. Y.,
captured March 10, 1918. He escaped later. 3.
Lieutenant Bert Hall, Lafayette Escadrille, Bowling Green, Ky., retired
December, 1916, 3.
George Turnure, Lenox, Mass., third on July 17, 1918, 3.
Lieutenant Hugh Dugan, Chicago, Royal Flying Corps, captured
April 6, 1918, 2.
Lieutenant G. de Freest Larner, Washington, D. C., 2.
Lieutenant Andrew C. Campbell, Chicago, missing, 2.
Captain Phelps Collins, Detroit, killed March 18, 1918, 2.
Lieutenant Didier Masson, New York, Lafayette Escadrille, 2.
Christopher Ford, New York, 2.
Lieutenant W. A. Wellman, Cambridge, Mass., 2.
Sergeant James E. Connelly, Philadelphia, Pa., 2.
Sergeant Victor Chapman, Lafayette Escadrille, killed June 23, 1916, 2.
Sergeant Vernon Booth, Chicago, 2.
Sergeant Austin B. Crehore, Westfield, New York, 1.
Lieutenant Willis Haviland, Minneapolis, Minn., 1.
Lieutenant Harry Sweet Jones, Hartford, Pa., 1.
Lieutenant Charles C. Johnson, St. Louis, Mo., 1.
Captain Robert L. Rockwell, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1.
Lieutenant Stuart Walcott, Washington, killed December 14, 1917, 1.
Lieutenant Alan F. Winslow, Rive Forest, Ill., 1.
Lieutenant Edgar Tobin, San Antonio, on July 11, 1918, 1.
Lieutenant Charles T. Merrick, Eldora, Iowa, 1.
Lieutenant Alexander O. Craig, New York, in Italy, on July 5, 1918, 1.
Lieutenant Sumner Sewell, Bath, Me., above Toul, on June 3, 1918, 1.
Lieutenant William J. Hoover, Hartsville, S. C., on July 2, 1918, 1.
Lieutenant Alfred A. Grant, Denton, Texas, on July 2, 1918, 1.
Lieutenant John McArthur, Buffalo, N. Y., on July 2, 1918, 1.
Lieutenant Tyler Cook Bronson, New York, on July 1, 1918, 1.
Lieutenant Charles W. Chapman on May 8, 1918. Both he and victim
fell in flames, 1.
Captain Kenneth Marr, on May 15, 1918, 1.
Lieutenant Henry Grendelass, 1.
Lieutenant Edward Buford, Jr., Nashville, Tenn., on May 22, 1918, 1.
Lieutenant William H. Taylor, New York, on May 21, 1918, 1.
Ensign Stephen Potter, Boston, Mass., killed April 25, 1918, 1.
Lieutenant Walter Avery, Columbus, Ohio, brought down and captured
Captain Menckhoff, the German ace, who had 34 victories on
July 25, 1918, 1.
CITATIONS AND DECORATIONS OF MEMBERS OF THE U. S. ARMY AIR SERVICE
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS
Gardner Philip Allen, First Lieutenant, C. A. C.
Flynn L. A. Andrew, First Lieutenant.
David H. Backus, First Lieutenant.
Herbert B. Bartholf, First Lieutenant.
Erwin R. Bleckley, Second Lieutenant.
Samuel C. Bowman, Second Lieutenant.
Hugh D. G. Broomfield, First Lieutenant.
John R. Castleman, First Lieutenant.
Weir H. Cook, First Lieutenant.
Hamilton Coolidge (deceased), Captain.
Justin P. Follette, First Lieutenant.
William F. Frank, First Lieutenant.
Harold E. Goettler (deceased), Second Lieutenant.
Andre Gundelach (deceased), First Lieutenant.
D. C. Hunter, First Lieutenant.
John N. Jeffers, First Lieutenant.
Samuel Kaye, Jr., First Lieutenant.
Willburt E. Kinsley, Second Lieutenant.
James Knowles, First Lieutenant.
G. DeFreest Larner, First Lieutenant.
William O. Lowe, Second Lieutenant, U. S. M. C.
Edward Russell Moore, First Lieutenant.
Edward M. Morris, Second Lieutenant.
Stephen H. Noyes, Captain.
Alfred B. Patterson, Jr., First Lieutenant.
Britton Polley, First Lieutenant.
Charles P. Porter, Second Lieutenant.
Clearton H. Reynolds, Captain.
Leslie J. Rummell, First Lieutenant.
Karl J. Schoen (deceased), First Lieutenant.
Richard B. Shelby, First Lieutenant.
John Y. Stokes, Jr., First Lieutenant.
William H. Stovall, First Lieutenant.
William H. Vail, First Lieutenant.
Pennington H. Way (deceased), Second Lieutenant.
Joseph F. Wehner, First Lieutenant.
Chester E. Wright, First Lieutenant.
LEGION OF HONOR—FRENCH
(COMMANDER)
Charles T. Menoher, Major-General.
William Mitchell, Brigadier-General.
CROIX DE GUERRE—FRENCH
Thomas J. Abernathy, Second Lieutenant.
James A. Healy, First Lieutenant.
Arthur H. Jones, First Lieutenant.
Charles T. Menoher, Major-General.
Ralph A. O’Neill, First Lieutenant.
Charles P. Porter, Second Lieutenant.
Kenneth L. Porter, Second Lieutenant.
Joseph C. Raible, Jr., First Lieutenant.
Louis C. Simon, Jr., First Lieutenant.
ITALIAN CITATIONS
James P. Hanley, Jr., First Lieutenant.
George C. Hering, First Lieutenant.
William P. Shelton, First Lieutenant.
Norman Sweetser, First Lieutenant.
Emory E. Watchorn, First Lieutenant.
Frederick K. Weyerhaeuser, First Lieutenant.
FRENCH CITATIONS
Valentine J. Burger, Second Lieutenant.
Alexander T. Grier, Second Lieutenant.
Horace A. Lake, Second Lieutenant.
CROCE AL MERITO DI GUERRA—ITALIAN
James L. Bahl, First Lieutenant.
Raymond P. Baldwin, First Lieutenant.
Arthur M. Beach, First Lieutenant.
Allen W. Bevin, First Lieutenant.
Gilbert P. Bogart, First Lieutenant.
Arthur F. Clement, First Lieutenant.
William G. Cochran, First Lieutenant.
De Witt Coleman, Jr., First Lieutenant.
Kenneth G. Collins, First Lieutenant.
Alexander M. Craig, First Lieutenant.
Herbert C. Dobbs, Jr., First Lieutenant.
Edmund A. Donnan, First Lieutenant.
Norton Downs, Jr., First Lieutenant.
Arthur D. Farquhar, First Lieutenant.
Harry S. Kinkenstaedt, First Lieutenant.
Willis S. Fitch, First Lieutenant.
Donald G. Frost, First Lieutenant.
William O. Frost, First Lieutenant.
James P. Hanley, Jr., First Lieutenant.
Spencer L. Hart, Second Lieutenant.
George C. Hering, First Lieutenant.
Wallace Hoggson, First Lieutenant.
Gosta A. Johnson, First Lieutenant.
James Kennedy, Second Lieutenant.
LeRoy D. Kiley, First Lieutenant.
Herman F. Kreuger, First Lieutenant.
Fiorello H. LaGuardia, Major.
Paton MacGilvary, First Lieutenant.
Oble Mitchell, First Lieutenant.
William H. Potthoff, First Lieutenant.
Aubrey G. Russel, First Lieutenant.
William B. Shelton, First Lieutenant.
Norman Sweetser, First Lieutenant.
Norman Terry, Second Lieutenant.
Emory E. Watchorn, First Lieutenant.
Frederick K. Weyerhaeuser, First Lieutenant.
Warren Wheeler, First Lieutenant.
Alfred S. R. Wilson, First Lieutenant.
Warren S. Wilson, First Lieutenant.
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF MILITARY AERONAUTICS
WAR DEPARTMENT,
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF MILITARY AERONAUTICS,
_November 3, 1918._
SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith the annual report of the
Division of Military Aeronautics for the fiscal year ended June 30,
1918. Though the Division of Military Aeronautics was created only
on April 24, 1917, it was agreed that the duties intrusted to it and
previously carried out by the Signal Corps should be covered in this
report in order to present a continuous story of the development of the
personnel, training, and organizing phases of the present Air Service.
Also it should be pointed out that operations on the front in France
have been left largely to whatever report the American Expeditionary
Force may deem wise.
The fiscal year 1917-18 saw aviation develop from a wholly subsidiary
branch of the Army as the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps to
a position of extreme and decisive importance as the Air Service,
directly under the Chief of Staff. From the most insignificant
beginnings it came within the year to be one of America’s major efforts
in the war.
This is all the more surprising when America’s previous backwardness
in aviation is considered. This country has stood practically still in
aerial progress, while the war in Europe brought about an extraordinary
advance. From all this the United States was entirely shut off up
to the time it abandoned neutrality. So little exact knowledge was
available that the first American planes to go with the expedition into
Mexico in March, 1916, were all rendered useless in accidents within a
short time of arrival. There was practically no aviation technique here
comparable to Europe’s, almost negligible manufacturing facilities,
not a hundred trained flyers, and only the most rudimentary facilities
for training. Moreover, no one had any adequate appreciation of the
intricacy and skill required in the making of either an aeroplane or
the training of a pilot.
As against this stagnation Europe’s progress in two and one-half years
of war had been tremendous. The first planes to go to the front in 1914
had been few in number, unequipped with radio, machine guns, bombs, or
photographic apparatus, and entirely unproved in military value. Their
extraordinary success, however, in disclosing the size of the German
concentration in Belgium at once brought them into a position of great
importance. Very shortly radio was installed to replace signaling by
dropping tinsel or making curious evolutions; the pistols of the pilots
gave way to machine guns; the easy-going system of dropping bombs over
the side was replaced by regular bombing planes, and the occasional
taking of photographs by an intricate system of picturing every mile of
the front. Engine power increased to 200, 300, 400, 500 horse power;
huge planes with large carrying capacity were being developed for
night-bombing; and operations were taking place by whole squadrons in
various air strata—light, single-seater scouts around 15,000 to 20,000
feet, two-seater day bombers around 9,000 feet, and photographic and
observation planes around 6,000 feet.
In contrast to all this development the United States at the time of
its entry into the war stood very little ahead of where it had been
before the world war broke out. Aviation, both in its personnel and
its equipment, was included in that part of the Signal Corps known as
the Aviation Section, which had been established by Congress July 18,
1914. Its chief was Maj. Gen. George O. Squier, who after four years
as military attaché in London, had been put in charge of the Aviation
Section in May, 1916, and made Chief Signal Officer on February 14,
1917, continuing to have charge of aviation through nearly the whole of
the fiscal year. On April 6, 1917, the total assets on hand consisted
of 65 officers, 1,120 men, two small flying fields, less than 300 very
second-rate training planes, practically no manufacturing facilities,
and only the most meagre technical information as to Europe’s startling
developments.
The original American war program, based on an army of a million men,
made aviation but a relatively insignificant part of the general
military forces. This program, which represented the view of the
General Staff before the arrival of the foreign missions, was met by
two appropriations, $10,800,000 on May 12, 1917, and $43,450,000 on
June 15, many times larger than any appropriations ever before made.
The British and French missions, however, arriving the last part
of April, completely revolutionized this viewpoint. Supported by an
urgent cable of May 24 from the premier of France, calling for 2,000
planes a month and a total of 5,000 pilots and 50,000 mechanicians,
the $640,000,000 appropriation, the largest ever made by Congress
for one specific purpose, was drawn up, put through the House of
Representatives Military Affairs Committee in two meetings, the House
itself in one, the Senate Military Affairs Committee in 45 minutes,
and the Senate itself a week later, becoming law on July 24, 1917. On
this date the present large program was really launched, two months and
a half after the outbreak of war, and largely in response to allied
appeals.
The rest of the fiscal year was taken up in amplifying and executing
the lines of effort here laid down. Toward the end of the year,
however, it became obvious that the system of organization of an
Aviation Section as a subsidiary branch of the Signal Corps was not
functioning efficiently. The British and French, perceiving that we
were encountering the same kind of obstacles as theirs, strongly
recommended a separate, independent air service similar to the air
ministries they had been obliged to establish and which have worked
so successfully since. As a result, a first step was taken in a
rearrangement of duties designed to effect a greater independence
and a greater concentration of authority when, on April 24, the War
Department authorized the following statement:
“Mr. John D. Ryan has accepted the directorship of aircraft production
for the Army.
“A reorganization of the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps has been
also effected, of which the principal elements are as follows:
“Gen. Squier, as Chief Signal Officer, will devote his attention to
the administration of signals; a Division of Military Aeronautics
is created, under the direction of Brig. Gen. William L. Kenly. The
Aircraft Board, created by act of Congress, remains as an advisory
body, as it has been in the past, with Mr. Ryan as its chairman. This
arrangement is made with the entire concurrence of Mr. Howard Coffin,
who remains a member of the Advisory Commission of the Council of
National Defense and will render assistance and counsel to the Aircraft
Board and Mr. Ryan.
“The Division of Military Aeronautics will have control of the training
of aviators and military use of aircraft. The exact division of
functions in the matter of designing and engineering will be worked out
as experience determines between the Division of Military Aeronautics
and the Division of Production.
“This announcement involves no change of personnel in the present
Equipment Division of the Signal Corps, of which W. C. Potter is chief,
and which will continue under his direction.”
This reorganization, however, was admittedly but the first step. The
first action taken by the President under the broad powers of the
Overman Act was to effect a still further reorganization by taking
aviation entirely out of the jurisdiction of the Signal Corps, where
it has been from its inception on July 18, 1914, and to set up two
separate bureaus, one for securing and training the large flying
and ground forces, and the other for providing planes, engines, and
equipment.
The presidential order of May 21 covering this change follows:
“By virtue of the authority in me vested as Commander-in-Chief of the
Army and by virtue of further authority upon me specifically conferred
by ‘An act authorizing the President to coordinate or consolidate
executive bureaus, agencies, and offices, and for other purposes, in
the interest of economy and the more efficient concentration of the
Government,’ approved May 20, 1918, I do hereby make and publish the
following order:
“The powers heretofore conferred by law or by Executive order upon
and the duties and functions heretofore performed by the Chief Signal
Officer of the Army are hereby redistributed as follows:
I
“(1) The Chief Signal Officer of the Army shall have charge, under the
direction of the Secretary of War, of all military signal duties, and
of books, papers and devices connected therewith, including telegraph
and telephone apparatus and the necessary meteorological instruments
for use on target ranges, and other military uses; the construction,
repair, and operation of military telegraph lines, and the duty of
collecting and transmitting information for the Army by telegraph
or otherwise, and all other duties usually pertaining to military
signaling; and shall perform such other duties as now or are or shall
hereafter be devolved by law or by Executive order upon said Chief
Signal Officer which are not connected with the Aviation Section of
the Signal Corps or with the purchase, manufacture, maintenance, and
production of aircraft, and which are not hereinafter conferred, in
special or general terms, upon other officers or agencies.
“(2) A Director of Military Aeronautics, selected and designated by
the Commander in Chief of the Army, shall hereafter have charge,
under the direction of the Secretary of War, of the Aviation Section
of the Signal Corps of the Army, and as such shall be, and he hereby
is, charged with the duty of operating and maintaining or supervising
the operation and maintenance of all military aircraft, including
balloons and aeroplanes, all appliances pertaining to said aircraft
and signaling apparatus of any kind when installed on said aircraft,
and of training officers, enlisted men, and candidates for aviation
service in matters pertaining to military aviation, and shall hereafter
perform each and every function heretofore imposed upon and performed
by the Chief Signal Officer of the Army in, or in connection with,
the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps, except such as pertains to
the purchase, manufacture, and production of aircraft and aircraft
equipment and as is not hereinafter conferred, in special or general
terms, upon the Bureau of Aircraft Production; and all aeroplanes
now in use or completed and on hand and all material and parts, and
all machinery, tools, appliances, and equipment held for use for the
maintenance thereof; all lands, buildings, repair shops, warehouses,
and all other property, real, personal, or mixed, heretofore used
by the Signal Corps in, or in connection with, the operation and
maintenance of aircraft and the training of officers, enlisted men,
and candidates for aviation service, or procured and now held for such
use by or under the jurisdiction and control of the Signal Corps of
the Army; all books, records, files and office equipment heretofore
used by the Signal Corps, in, or in connection with, such operation,
maintenance, and training; and the entire personnel of the Signal Corps
as at present assigned to, or engaged upon work in, or in connection
with, such operation, maintenance, and training, is hereby transferred
from the jurisdiction of the Chief Signal Office and placed under
the jurisdiction of the Director of Military Aeronautics; it being
the intent hereof to transfer from the jurisdiction of the Chief
Signal Officer to the jurisdiction of the said Director of Military
Aeronautics every function, power, and duty conferred and imposed upon
said Director of Military Aeronautics by subparagraph (2) of paragraph
I hereof all property of every sort of nature used or procured for use
in, or in connection with, the functions of the Aviation Section of the
Signal Corps placed in charge of the Director of Military Aeronautics
by subparagraph (2) of paragraph I hereof, and the entire personnel of
the Signal Corps in charge of the Director of Military Aeronautics by
subparagraph (2) of paragraph I hereof.
“(3) An executive agency, known as the Bureau of Aircraft Production, is
hereby established, and said agency shall exercise full, complete, and
exclusive jurisdiction and control over the production of aeroplanes,
aeroplane engines, and aircraft equipment for the use of the Army,
and to that end shall forthwith assume control and jurisdiction over
all pending Government projects having to do or connected with the
production of aeroplanes, aeroplane engines, and aircraft equipment
for the Army and heretofore conducted by the Signal Corps of the Army,
under the jurisdiction of the Chief Signal Officer; and all material
on hand for such production, all unfinished aeroplanes and aeroplane
engines, and all unfinished, unattached, or unassembled aircraft
equipment; all lands, buildings, factories, warehouses, machinery,
tools, and appliances, and all other property, real, personal, or
mixed, heretofore used in or in connection with such production, or
procured and now held for such use, by or under the jurisdiction
and control of the Signal Corps of the Army; all books, records,
files, and office equipment used by the said Signal Corps in or in
connection with such production; all rights under contracts made by
the Signal Corps in or in connection with such production; and the
entire personnel of the Signal Corps as at present assigned to or
engaged upon work in or in connection with such production are hereby
transferred from the jurisdiction of the Signal Corps and placed under
the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Aircraft Production, it being the
intent thereof to transfer from the jurisdiction of the Signal Corps
to the jurisdiction of the said Bureau of Aircraft Production every
function, power, and duty connected with said production, all property
of every sort or nature used or procured for use in or in connection
with said production, and the entire personnel of the Signal Corps, as
at present assigned to or engaged upon work in or in connection with
such production.
“Such person as shall at the time be chairman of the Aircraft Board
created by the act of Congress approved October 1, 1917, shall also
be the executive officer of said Bureau of Aircraft Production, and
he shall be, and he hereby is, designated as Director of Aircraft
Production, and he shall, under the direction of the Secretary of
War, have charge of the activities, personnel, and properties of said
bureau.
II
“All unexpended funds of appropriations heretofore made for the
Signal Corps of the Army and already specifically allotted for use in
connection with the functions of the Signal Service as defined and
limited by subparagraph (1) of Paragraph I hereof shall be and remain
under the jurisdiction of the Chief Signal Officer; all such funds
already specifically allotted for use in connection with the functions
of the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps as defined and limited by
subparagraph (2) of Paragraph I hereof are hereby transferred to and
placed under the jurisdiction of the Director of Military Aeronautics
for the purpose of meeting the obligations and expenditures authorized
by said section; all such funds already specifically allotted for use
in connection with the functions hereby bestowed upon the Bureau of
Aircraft Production, as defined and limited by subparagraph (3) of
Paragraph I hereof, are hereby transferred to and placed under the
jurisdiction of said Director of Aircraft Production for the purpose
of meeting the obligations and expenditures authorized by said bureau
in carrying out the duties and functions hereby transferred to and
bestowed upon said bureau; and in so far as such funds have not been
already specifically allotted to the different fields of activity of
the Signal Corps as heretofore existing, they shall now be allotted
by the Secretary of War in such proportions as shall to him seem best
intended to meet the requirements of the respective fields of former
activity of the Signal Corps and the intention of Congress when making
said appropriations, and the funds so allotted by the Secretary of War
to meet expenditures in the field of activity of the Aviation Section
of the Signal Corps are hereby transferred to and placed under the
jurisdiction of the Director of Military Aeronautics for the purpose
of meeting the obligations and expenditures authorized by said
section; and the funds so allotted by the Secretary of War to meet
the expenditures in that part of the field of activity of the Signal
Corps, which includes the functions hereby transferred to the Bureau
of Aircraft Production, are hereby transferred to and placed under the
jurisdiction of the Director of Aircraft Production for the purpose of
meeting the obligations and expenditures authorized by said bureau.
III
“This order shall be and remain in full force and effect during the
continuance of the present war and for six months after the termination
thereof by the proclamation of the treaty of peace, or until
theretofore amended, modified, or rescinded.
“Under this order Mr. John D. Ryan continued as Director of Aircraft
Production and Maj. Gen. William L. Kenly became Director of Military
Aeronautics.”
This division of responsibilities and functions gave a clearer
conception of the unique duties of the Air Service in production of
planes and training of pilots, and is significant, too, of the many
tactical reasons which made it imperative for England and France to
establish separate and independent air services.
The end of the fiscal year found this problem of higher organization
one of the most important to be faced. An early defect discovered in
the reorganization developed when there appeared to be inadequate
liaison between the Bureau of Aircraft Production and the Division of
Military Aeronautics. One was responsible for the production of planes,
the other for their operation and military efficiency. The method of
selecting a type to put into production and the final decision whether
any plane produced was suitable for its military purposes or not,
was undetermined. The situation of two sets of officials with equal
authority in their respective fields of action, neither responsible
to the other, at once demonstrated that neither could be held for
the final production of an acceptable plane for the front. This was
partially obviated by an agreement between the Division of Military
Aeronautics and the Bureau of Aircraft Production that the types of
plane to be put into production must first be mutually agreed upon, and
that before a plane could be sent to the front it should be given a
military test and accepted by the Division of Military Aeronautics. But
considerable time was lost before this policy was definitely arranged,
a policy which might easily have at once been established by a unified
department.
The personnel side of the air service, including the selection,
training, organization, and operation of the flying forces, developed
within the fiscal year 1917-18 into an educational system on a scale
infinitely larger and more diverse than anyone had anticipated.
Teaching men to fly, to send messages by wireless, to operate
machine guns in the air, to know artillery fire by its bursts, and
to travel hundreds of miles by compass, teaching other men to read
the enemy’s strategy from aerial photographs, and still others to
repair instruments, ignition systems, propellers, aeroplane wings, and
motors, has required a network of flying fields and schools, a large
instructional force, and a maze of equipment and curricula.
None of this, practically speaking, was on hand at the outbreak of
the war, neither fields, instructors, curricula, nor, more serious
than all, experience to show what was to be needed. This country had
never trained an aviator sufficiently to meet the demands of overseas
aerial warfare and had not the slightest knowledge of the instruction
necessary for radio, photography, or enlisted personnel. Consequently,
the first men largely taught themselves before teaching others, and
experience led on from one course to the next.
First, in the point of need, was that of flying fields. Two were in
limited operation at the outbreak of war, San Diego and Mineola; three
more were selected, cleared, equipped, and made ready for flying in six
weeks’ time, and by the end of the year over a score were in operation
all over the country. All were protected by a three-year lease with
option to buy, if desired, at a fixed price. During the year also five
supply depots, three concentration depots, three balloon camps, two
repair depots, one experimental field, one radio laboratory, and one
quarantine camp were built.
The selection of men for training as flyers was a complicated task, as
the requirements were necessarily rigid. Volunteer examining boards
of the highest medical skill were organized all over the country, 36
urban and 30 divisional boards, and a total of 38,777 men were examined
to June 2, of whom nearly half, or 18,004, were disqualified. This
naturally led to a high grade of personnel, and made the later training
both more rapid and more efficient.
The first step in instruction was at one of the new “ground” schools
opened on May 21 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell
and Ohio State Universities and the Universities of Illinois, Texas,
and California, with Princeton and the Georgia School of Technology
added on July 5. Here, in eight weeks, under military discipline,
the cadets were grounded in all the elements of aviation at a cost
to the Government at first of $65 per pupil, and later $10 each for
the first four weeks, and $5 weekly thereafter. By June 30, 1918, a
total of 11,539 men were graduated to the flying fields and 3,129 were
discharged for failure in studies, etc.
Next came the actual flying instruction, divided into two phases,
primary and advanced. The former averaged about eight weeks, included
ability to execute the simpler evolutions and cross-country flights,
and led to an officer’s commission and the right to wear the Reserve
Military Aviator’s wings. To June 30, 1918, 4,980 men had been
graduated as Reserve Military Aviators for final training, and about
400 had been disqualified as incapable of becoming flyers.
The advanced training, however, presented infinitely more difficulties.
It was not nearly so simple to teach the more complex stunts, formation
flying, aerial machine gunnery, bombing, and night flying, while at
the same time the highly specialized equipment necessary required
considerable time for manufacture. Nevertheless, advanced schools of
the three types necessary were openeEarly western travels 1748-1846,
volume 7 of 10d toward the end of the year 1918, with what equipment
was available, and had graduated 110 bombers, 85 bombing pilots, 464
observers, 389 observer pilots, and 131 pursuit pilots by June 30, 1918.
The ideal arrangement in mind at the end of the year was to train each
pilot completely on this side of the ocean, where facilities are very
good, supplies in abundance, and information and experienced pilots
from the front available in ever-increasing numbers. The flyers can
then be organized into provisional squadrons and wings and given
training as large units with their own administrative officers and
enlisted personnel so that they will be able to go immediately to the
front, after a month or so of transformation work in France, learning
geography and familiarizing themselves with new types of planes. Plans
are under way looking to the establishment of such wings and brigades
in the United States with the end in view of furnishing complete and
fully trained units to the American Expeditionary Force.
The whole training program was considerably held up by lack of
equipment. Obviously it required far less time to select men for
training than to build the fields, planes, and accessories necessary
to train them. Primary training planes, the only type manufactured
here before the war, soon became available in increasing numbers, till
by the end of the year more were on hand than needed. The advanced
training planes, however, presented problems wholly new to this
country, so that primary planes had to be fitted with more powerful
engines and equipment and made to serve the purpose. The first 16
single-seater pursuit planes were not delivered till January, 1918, the
first bombers till March, and the first gunnery late in May.
During this fiscal year a grand total of 407,999 hours were flown by
Army aviators in the United States, as contrasted with 745.5 hours in
1914 and 1,269 in 1915. In the single week ending June 30, 1918, a
total of 19,560 hours were flown, or 15 times, for that single week,
the number of the whole year three years before. This, at 75 miles an
hour, is equivalent to over 30,000,000 miles, or 1,223 times around the
Equator.
During it there were 152 fatalities, or 2,684 flying hours and 201,000
miles flown to each death. Of these, 86 were caused by stalls, when
the plane, usually through some error by the pilot, lost its flying
speed and dropped into a straight nose dive or turned into a tail spin,
from which the pilot did not have the time or the skill to extricate
it. Collisions were responsible for 30 other accidents, often due to
failure to fly according to the rules. Side-slips, the only other large
cause of accidents, resulted in 10 deaths.
Regrettable as these accidents are, it is felt that, considering the
newness of the science, the early state of development of the planes,
the inexperience in instruction, and the necessity of teaching stunts
in themselves rather dangerous, this number is not large. As a matter
of actual statistics, fatalities in American training are less than
half as large as those of the other allied countries.
Besides flyers, however, engineer officers to direct the upkeep of the
equipment, supply officers to keep sufficient equipment on hand, and
adjutants to keep the records and do other military work had to be
especially trained. These men, absolutely essential to the maintenance
of the Air Service organization, could be secured only after a detailed
course of instruction. An engineers’ school, opened for a 12 weeks’
course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on January 12,
graduated 590 men and discharged 228 before June 30; a supply officers’
school, opened at the Georgia School of Technology, graduated 852 men
and discharged 111 from an eight weeks’ course before it was closed
on May 11; and an adjutants’ school, opened at Ohio State University
on January 12, graduated 789 and discharged 97 men in an eight weeks’
course before it was closed June 22.
A six weeks’ course for armament officers and men to care for machine
guns and bombs was opened at Fairfield, Ohio, on April 22, graduating
95 officers and 465 men by June 30, all of whom went forthwith
overseas. Just at the end of the year a series of special schools in
aerial gunnery were opened as the final step in the flyers’ training in
this country, graduating 102 pilots, 111 observers, and 101 fighting
observers by June 30. Also a special course for compass officers was
opened at Camp Dick, Texas, on April 10, with 53 graduates, and another
course at the same time for a score of navigation officers.
Radio also required very special instruction, with courses and
instructors for all flyers through the various stages of their
progress, for the receiving force on the ground, and for the men
responsible for the upkeep of the radio equipment. At the outset,
volunteer civilians, each with his own methods of instruction, stepped
into the breach, but by the end of the year two radio officers,
and four enlisted men’s schools were in operation with 49 and 329
graduates, respectively; radio officers and equipment had been sent
to every field and ground school; and the courses for flyers had been
standardized all the way through.
Aerial photography, which had developed during the war into an exact
science, required similar triple instruction—that for observers to
operate the cameras in the air, intelligence officers on the ground to
interpret them, and enlisted men to aid in the developing, printing,
and enlarging, and to keep the equipment in condition. Where the United
States had not even a single aerial camera at the outbreak of the war,
by the end of the year there had been opened on March 25 a large school
for developers and printers at Rochester, N. Y., with 680 graduates
by June 30, an officers’ school on January 6 at Cornell teaching map
compilation and interpretation, and photographic “huts” with complete
personnel and equipment for instruction at each of the flying fields.
One of the most serious problems, and one of late development, was
that of enlisted men, the ground force needed to keep the planes and
engines always in prime condition, repair minor breaks, tighten up
wires, strengthen struts, and make sure that no airman went up in a
faulty plane. This was work wholly new to American mechanics, and of
a delicacy and carefulness to which they were quite unaccustomed.
Moreover, mechanics of the skill required had largely been drained off
by the draft, by enlistment, or by other war industries.
Consequently, a whole series of schools was necessary. At first,
in the fall small detachments of mechanics were sent to various
factories—ignition, magneto, propeller, welding, instruments,
sail-making, cabinet work, copper work, machine guns, and motors to
secure as much experience as possible. While about 2,000 men were
being graduated from 17 courses at 34 different schools of this type,
more fully worked out courses were established at five northern flying
fields closed for flying during the winter. With 2,500 graduated here,
still more detailed courses were opened at four large mechanics’
schools, which added another 5,000 men. By the end of the year two
large and complete Government schools were in operation at Kelly Field,
Texas, and St. Paul, Minn., capable of graduating 5,000 men every three
months.
A noteworthy event of the year was the opening on May 15 of the first
regular aerial mail service in the United States between New York,
Philadelphia, and Washington. The Army furnished six planes and pilots,
shortly doubled, for a daily round trip, carrying about 350 pounds of
mail each way, and with a record of 50 minutes for the 90 miles between
Philadelphia and New York, and 1 hour and 50 minutes for the 135 miles
from Philadelphia to Washington. Ninety per cent of the trips were made
successfully.
Another vitally important phase of the Air Service is that of
ballooning, which during the war has been developing into a system
of ever-watchful sentries on guard all the way from the North Sea to
Switzerland. Less spectacular, perhaps, than the heavier-than-air
work, this branch of the service has a quite indispensable function.
The observer, swinging in a captive balloon at an altitude of a mile,
2 to 5 miles from the enemy’s lines, and with a range of vision of 8
miles in all directions, can make a far more detailed, minute-by-minute
analysis of the enemy’s movements than the wider visioned but
transitory aviator, and can maintain such a flow of minute information
to the staff below that no important movement can take place unobserved
within his view.
Here, also, at the outbreak of the war the United States was
practically without facilities. The only school was at Fort Omaha,
Nebr., recovered from complete abandonment the previous November, with
accommodations for 15 officers and 400 men, and equipment of balloon
shed, gas plant, two obsolete captive balloons, and some telephone
material. The original program of August 13 necessitated a very large
expansion, fully comparable to that in the heavier-than-air branch.
To meet the program the Fort Omaha school was enlarged in September to
accommodate 61 officers and 1,200 men; on December 28 Camp John Wise
was opened at San Antonio with a final capacity of 150 officers and
2,200 men, and special companies were sent to Fort Sill, Okla., for
cooperation with the Coast Artillery. By June 30, 440 balloon officers
had graduated, of whom 155 were fully qualified observers, and 73 had
been sent overseas. The enlisted strength stood at 9,621 with 1,382
abroad.
Thus, by the end of the fiscal year, the Air Service had in operation
an educational system complete in all the details necessary to man
this intricate service. Fields, curricula, instructors, and equipment
were on hand for the most diverse courses, and men were graduating in
hundreds trained to all the difficulties of operating aeroplanes and
translating their work into effective action. A total of 34,209 men had
been graduated from the various courses, with 20,976 men enrolled in 50
schools of 16 different types.
Many outside bodies were called upon to cooperate in this development.
Great Britain, France, and Italy all early established large aviation
missions in Washington which brought their three years of experience to
help solve problems confronted here for the first time. The National
Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the Bureau of Standards, and
several joint Army and Navy Boards also added their information on the
subject.
Nevertheless the work was carried out under extreme difficulties.
Operation and production were not properly coordinated. Much time
was lost in having to obtain the necessary authority to build a new
field or secure increases in personnel, instead of being able to carry
out a main program with full independence and authority. Moreover,
experienced and trained personnel was lacking; work had to be done
while the actual organization to do it was being built up; much time
was lost in the expansion and moving about of offices in Washington,
some half a dozen times; while officers were constantly being shifted
between Washington, the fields, and overseas.
Meanwhile overseas, work of organization was similarly going on.
Hardly six weeks after the United States entered the war, namely, on
May 27, the first cadets sailed for France for training in the highly
developed French flying schools, till by the end of the year nearly
2,500 men were under instruction in France, England, Italy, and Canada.
The collapse of Russia, Italy’s serious defeat, and the weight thrown
on the allied services made it impossible, unfortunately, for the
Allies to meet the schedule of training planes necessary, so that
many of these cadets, the most promising of America’s material, were
in idleness for months. Nevertheless, what facilities were available
greatly advanced America’s aerial preparation and helped relieve the
shortage of equipment here. It was early in May, 1918, however, over a
year after America’s entry into the war, that the first German plane
fell victim to an aviator in the American service. About the same time
468 fully trained American aviators organized into 13 complete American
squadrons or brigades with British and French squadrons were actually
on the front, taking increasing toll of the enemy.
During the same time an enlisted force of 46,667 men had also been sent
overseas. The first to go were sent to France to lay the foundations
for the great organization soon to be built up, including training
fields, assembly depots for American-built planes, and aerodromes near
the front. Others were formed into service squadrons in England and
France to be ready as soon as American pilots were trained into their
own organizations. Still others went to relieve French skilled labor
of unskilled work so that they could go back into aeroplane factories,
while others went to England for the construction work necessary to
carry out the night bombing program.
Consequently, by June 30, 1918, two large training organizations
were in operation, the source of supply in this country training and
organizing thousands of pilots and men in all sorts of tasks and the
operation end overseas giving the final training in France, England,
and Italy the fast moving of fully trained squadrons to the front.
Where, at the outbreak of the war, there had been but 65 officers
in the Air Service, there were now 14,230; the enlisted strength,
similarly, had jumped from 1,120 to 124,767; the number of men in or
awaiting training for flyers from less than 100 to over 18,000. There
were 4,872 officers and 46,667 enlisted men overseas. Indeed, the Air
Service alone was by June 30, 1918, larger than the American Army at
the outbreak of the war. While its development had been infinitely
more complicated and much less rapid than expected, there is reason to
believe that it is essentially sound.
WILLIAM L. KENLY,
_Major-General, U. S. A._,
_Director of Military Aeronautics_.
The Secretary of War.
APPENDIX II
RECORDS OF ALLIED AND ENEMY ACES WITH NUMBER OF PLANES BROUGHT DOWN
K—Killed. D—Dead. C—Captured. W—Wounded.
BRITISH ACES
Major E. Mannock (k) 73
Colonel William A. Bishop 72
Major Raymond Collishaw 70
Captain James McCudden (k) 58
Captain Philip F. Fullard 48
Captain Donald E. McLaren (k) 48
Captain G. E. H. McElroy 46
Captain Albert Ball (k) 43
Captain J. I. T. Jones 40
Captain A. W. B. Proctor 39
Major Roderic S. Dallas 39
Captain W. G. Claxton (k) 37
Captain F. R. McCall 34
Captain Frank G. Quigley 34
Major Albert D. Carter 31
Captain Cedric E. Howell 30
Captain A. E. McKeever 30
Captain Henry W. Wollett 28
Captain Brunwin-Hales 27
Major William G. Barker 25
Captain W. L. Jordan 25
Captain John Andrews, (Lieutenant, 9) 24
Captain Francis McCubbin 23
Captain M. B. Frew, (Lieutenant, 8) 23
Captain John Gilmour 23
Captain E. Libby
Captain Robert A. Little 22
Captain A. H. Cobby 21
Captain G. E. Thomson (k) 21
Lieutenant John J. Malone 20
Lieutenant Allen Wilkenson 19
Captain E. G. McClaughey 19
Captain J. L. Trollope (c) 18
Captain Stanley Rosever (d) 18
Lieutenant Leonard M. Barlow 17
Captain Walter A. Tyrrell 15
Captain P. C. Carpenter 15
Lieutenant Clive Warman 15
Lieutenant Clive F. Collett (k) 15
Lieutenant Fred Libby 14
Lieutenant R. T. C. Hoidge 14
Captain H. G. Reeves (accident) 13
Captain Murray Galbraith 13
Lieutenant Joseph S. Fall 13
Captain Noel W. W. Webb (k) 12
Lieutenant A. J. Cowper 12
Lieutenant Alan Gerard 12
Captain Whitaker (in Italy) 12
Lieutenant M. D. G. Scott 11
Captain Robert Dodds 11
Captain Gilbert Ware Green 9
Lieutenant K. R. Park 9
Lieutenant Rhys-David 9
Lieutenant John H. T. Letts 8
Captain James A. Slater 8
Sergeant Dean K. Lamb 8
Lieutenant Boyd S. Breadner 8
Captain Wagour (in Italy) 7
Lieutenant Edward A. Clear 7
Captain Henry G. Luchford (k) 7
Captain C. A. Brewster-Joske 7
Lieutenant A. S. Sheppard 7
Lieutenant James Dennis Payne 7
Lieutenant Lionel B. Jones 7
Captain Lancelot L. Richardson 6
Lieutenant Cecil Roy Richards 6
Lieutenant Howard Saint 6
Lieutenant Fred John Gibbs 6
Lieutenant C. W. Cuddemore 6
Captain H. T. Mellings (w) 5
Commander R. F. Minifie (c) 5
Lieutenant Langley F. W. Smith 5
Lieutenant Ellis Vair Reed 5
Captain R. W. Chappell 5
Captain G. H. Boarman 5
Lieutenant F. T. S. Menedex 5
Captain Kennedy C. Patrick 5
Sergeant T. F. Stephenson 5
Lieutenant William Lewis Wells 5
Lieutenant E. D. Clarke 5
Captain Fred Hope Lawrence 5
Lieutenant Edward R. Grange 5
Lieutenant W. G. Miggett 5
Lieutenant Lawrence W. Allen 5
Lieutenant William D. Matheson 5
Lieutenant Stanley J. Coble 5
Captain S. T. Edwards 4
Captain A. R. Brown 4
Captain A. T. Whealy 4
Captain T. F. LeMesuries 4
Commander F. C. Armstrong 4
Commander E. L. N. Clarke 4
Commander R. B. Munday 4
Commander G. W. Price 4
Commander R. J. O. Compston 4
Lieutenant V. R. Stockes 4
Lieutenant W. C. Canbray 4
Lieutenant G. T. Beamish 3
Lieutenant E. T. Hayne 3
Lieutenant G. W. Hemming 3
Lieutenant J. E. L. Hunter 3
Lieutenant W. A. Curtiss 3
Lieutenant G. R. Crole 3
Lieutenant Robert N. Hall 3
Lieutenant David S. Hall 3
Lieutenant M. F. G. Day 3
Lieutenant E. G. Johnson 3
Lieutenant M. H. Findlay 3
Lieutenant C. B. Ridley 3
Lieutenant S. B. Horn 3
Lieutenant K. K. Muspratt 3
FRENCH ACES
Lieutenant Rene Fonck 75
Captain Georges Guynemer (k) 53
Lieutenant Charles Nungesser 43
Lieutenant Georges Madon 41
Lieutenant Maurice Boyau (k) 35
Lieutenant Coeffard (k) 34
Captain Pinsard 27
Lieutenant Rene Dorme (m) 23
Lieutenant Guerin (k) 23
Captain Heurteaux 21
Sergeant Marinovitch 21
Lieutenant Deullin 20
Adjutant Ehrlich 19
Lieutenant de Slade 19
Lieutenant Jean Chaput (k) 16
Lieutenant de Turrenne 15
Lieutenant de Meuldre (k) 13
Lieutenant Garaud 13
Lieutenant Nogues 13
Lieutenant Jailler 12
Lieutenant Marcel Hughes 12
Lieutenant Navarre (w) 12
Lieutenant Tarascon 12
Lieutenant de Sevin 12
Adjutant Casale 12
Lieutenant Leps 12
Lieutenant de La Tour (k) 11
Adjutant Maxime Lenoire (k) 11
Lieutenant Sardier 11
Lieutenant Ortoli 11
Sergeant Montrion (k) 11
Adjutant Herrison 11
Sergeant Bouyer 11
Lieutenant Bourgade 10
Adjutant Herbelin 10
Sergeant Quette (k) 10
Captain Georges Matton 9
Adjutant Chainat 9
Adjutant Dauchy 9
Lieutenant Viallet 9
Sergeant Sauvage (k) 8
Lieutenant de Rochefort (k) 7
Captain Rene Doumer (k) 7
Captain Alfred Auger (k) 7
Lieutenant Henri Languedoc (k) 7
Captain Derode 7
Lieutenant Lachmann 7
Lieutenant Flachaire 7
Adjutant Vitallis 7
Adjutant Sayaret 7
Lieutenant L’Hoste 7
Lieutenant Raymond 6
Sergeant du Bois d’Aische 6
Lieutenant Covin 6
Lieutenant Bonnefoy 6
Lieutenant Gond 6
Lieutenant Soulier 6
Sergeant Boyau 6
Adjutant Dhome 6
Adjutant Peronneau 6
Sergeant Rousseau 6
Private Louis Martin 6
Lieutenant de Mortemart (k) 6
Lieutenant Adolph Pegoud (k) 6
Sergeant Marcel Hauss (k) 5
Captain Lecour-Grandmaison (k) 5
Lieutenant Georges Baillot (k) 5
Adjutant Pierre Violet (k) 5
Lieutenant Andre Delorme (k) 5
Lieutenant Borzecky 5
Lieutenant Paul Gastin 5
Adjutant Bloch 5
Lieutenant Regnier 5
Commander Marancourt 5
Adjutant Blanc 5
Lieutenant Marty 5
Adjutant de Pralines 5
HUN ACES
Captain von Richthofen (k) 80
Lieutenant Udet 60
Lieutenant Werner Voss Crefeld (k) 49
Captain Boelke (k) 40
Lieutenant Gontermann (k) 39
Lieutenant Max Muller (k) 38
Lieutenant Bongartz 36
Captain Brunowsky (Austrian) 34
Lieutenant Max Buckler (k) 34
Lieutenant Menckhoff 34
Captain Berthold 33
Lieutenant Loerzer 33
Lieutenant Cort Wolff (k) 33
Lieutenant Koenneke 32
Lieutenant Balle 31
Lieutenant Schleich 30
Lieutenant Schaeffer (k) 30
Lieutenant Almenroder (k) 30
Lieutenant von Richthofen 29
Lieutenant Kroll 28
Lieutenant Prince von Bulow (k) 28
Lieutenant Wuesthoff (k) 28
Lieutenant Laumen 28
Lieutenant Boerr 28
Lieutenant Huey 28
Lieutenant Blume 28
Lieutenant Lowenhardt (k) 27
Captain von Tutscheck (k) 27
Lieutenant Barnett (k) 27
Lieutenant Dosler (k) 26
Lieutenant Arigi (Austrian) 26
Lieutenant Peutter (k) 25
Lieutenant Veltgens (k) 24
Lieutenant Erwin Boehm (k) 24
Corporal Rumey 23
Lieutenant Kirstein (k) 23
Lieutenant Link Crawford (k) 23
Lieutenant Fiala (Austrian) 23
Captain Baumer 23
Lieutenant Jakobs 22
Lieutenant Klein 22
Lieutenant Cluffort 22
Lieutenant Friedrichs (k) 21
Lieutenant Billik (k) 21
Lieutenant Wimdische (k) 21
Lieutenant Adam 21
Lieutenant Grein 20
Lieutenant Buechner 20
Lieutenant Thuy 20
Lieutenant von Tschwibon 20
Captain Reinhardt 20
Lieutenant von Eschwege (k) 20
Lieutenant Bethge (k) 20
Captain Behr 19
Lieutenant Thulzer 19
Lieutenant Baldamus 18
Lieutenant Wintgens (k) 18
Lieutenant Frankel (k) 17
Lieutenant Kissenberth 17
Lieutenant Schmidt 15
Lieutenant Geigle (k) 15
Lieutenant Schneider 15
Lieutenant Immelmann 15
Lieutenant Nathanall 14
Lieutenant Dassenbach 14
Lieutenant Festner 13
Lieutenant Hess 13
Lieutenant Muller 13
Lieutenant Goettsch 13
Lieutenant Pfeiffer 12
Lieutenant Manschatt (k) 12
Lieutenant Hohnforf (k) 12
Lieutenant Muttschaat 12
Lieutenant Buddecke (k) 12
Lieutenant von Kendall (k) 11
Lieutenant Kirmaier 11
Lieutenant Theiller 11
Lieutenant Serfert 11
Lieutenant Goering 10
Lieutenant Mulzer 10
Lieutenant Frickart 9
Lieutenant Banfield 9
Lieutenant Leffers (k) 9
Lieutenant Schulte 9
Lieutenant Parschau (k) 8
Lieutenant Schilling 8
Lieutenant von Althaus 8
Lieutenant Esswein 6
Lieutenant Walz 6
Lieutenant Hehn 6
Lieutenant Koenig 6
Lieutenant Fahlbusch 5
Lieutenant von Siedlitz 5
Lieutenant Rosenkranz 5
Lieutenant Habor 5
Lieutenant Reimann 5
Captain Zauder 5
Lieutenant Brauneck 5
Lieutenant Ullmer 5
Lieutenant Roth 5
ITALIAN ACES
Major Baracca (k) 36
Lieutenant Flavio Barachini 31
Lieutenant Olivari (k) 21
Lieutenant Anchilotti 19
Colonel Piccio 17
Captain, Duke Calabria 16
Lieutenant Scaroni 13
Lieutenant Hanza 11
Sergeant Maisero 8
Lieutenant Parnis 7
Sergeant Poli 6
Lieutenant Luigi Olivi 6
Lieutenant Stophanni 6
Lieutenant Arrigoni 5
BELGIAN ACES
Lieutenant Coppens 30
Lieutenant de Meulemesster 10
Lieutenant Thieffry (k) 10
Lieutenant Jan Olieslagers 6
Adjutant Beulemest 6
Captain Jaquette 5
Lieutenant Robin 5
Lieutenant Medaets 5
RUSSIAN ACES
Captain Kosakoff 17
Captain Kroutenn (k) 6
Lieutenant Pachtchenko 5
TURKISH ACE
Captain Schetz 8
APPENDIX III
NOMENCLATURE FOR AERONAUTICS
BY THE NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS
INTRODUCTION
The following nomenclature was adopted by the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics at its annual meeting October 10, 1918.
The purpose of its adoption and publication is to help secure
uniformity in the official documents of the government as well as in
the technical journals.
AERONAUTICAL NOMENCLATURE
AEROFOIL: A winglike structure, flat or curved, designed to obtain
reaction upon its surfaces from the air through which it moves.
AEROFOIL SECTION: A section of an aerofoil made by a plane parallel to
the plane of symmetry of the aerofoil.
AEROPLANE: See Airplane.
AILERON: A movable auxiliary surface, usually part of the trailing
edge of a wing, the function of which is to control the lateral
attitude of an airplane by rotating it about its longitudinal axis.
AIRCRAFT: Any form of craft designed for the navigation of the
air—airplanes, airships, balloons, helicopters, kites, kite balloons,
ornithopters, gliders, etc.
AIRPLANE: A form of aircraft heavier than air which has wing surfaces
for support in the air, with stabilizing surfaces, rudders for
steering, and power plant for propulsion through the air. This term
is commonly used in a more restricted sense to refer to airplanes
fitted with landing gear suited to operation from the land. If
the landing gear is suited to operation from the water, the term
“seaplane” is used. (See definition.)
_Pusher._—A type of airplane with the propeller in the rear of the
engine.
_Tractor._—A type of airplane with the propeller in front of the
engine.
AIRSHIP: A form of balloon, the outer envelope of which is of elongated
form, provided with a propelling system, car, rudders, and stabilizing
surfaces.
_Nonrigid._—An airship whose form is maintained by the pressure of
the contained gas assisted by the car-suspension system.
_Rigid._—An airship whose form is maintained by a rigid structure
contained within the envelope.
_Semirigid._—An airship whose form is maintained by means of a rigid
keel and by gas pressure.
AIR-SPEED METER: An instrument designed to measure the speed of an
aircraft with reference to the air.
ALTIMETER: An aneroid mounted on an aircraft to indicate continuously
its height above the surface of the earth. Its dial is marked in feet,
yards, or meters.
ANEMOMETER: Any instrument for measuring the velocity of the wind.
ANGLE:
_Of attack_ (or _of incidence_) _of an aerofoil_.—The acute angle
between the direction of the relative wind and the chord of an
aerofoil; i. e., the angle between the chord of an aerofoil and its
motion relative to the air. (This definition may be extended to any
body having an axis.)
_Critical._—The angle of attack at which the lift-curve has its first
maximum; sometimes referred to as the “burble point.”
_Gliding._—The angle the flight path makes with the horizontal when
descending in still air under the influence of gravity alone; i. e.,
without power from the engine.
ANGLE OF INCIDENCE (_in directions for rigging_): In the process of
rigging an airplane some arbitrary definite line in the airplane is
kept horizontal; the angle of incidence of a wing, or of any aerofoil,
is the angle between its chord and this horizontal line, which usually
is the line of the upper longitudinals of the fuselage or nacelle.
APPENDIX: The hose at the bottom of a balloon used for inflation. In
the case of a spherical balloon it also serves for equalization of
pressure.
ASPECT RATIO: The ratio of span to chord of an aerofoil.
ATTITUDE: The attitude of an aircraft is determined by the inclination
of its axes to the “frame of reference”; e. g., the earth, or the
relative wind.
AVIATOR: The operator or pilot of heavier-than-air craft. This term is
applied regardless of the sex of the operator.
AXES OF AN AIRCRAFT: Three fixed lines of reference; usually centroidal
and mutually rectangular.
The principal longitudinal axis in the plane of symmetry, usually
parallel to the axis of the propeller, is called the _longitudinal_
axis; the axis perpendicular to this in the plane of symmetry is
called the _normal_ axis; and the third axis, perpendicular to the
other two, is called the _lateral_ axis. In mathematical discussions
the first of these axes, drawn from front to rear, is called the X
axis; the second, drawn upward, the Z axis; and the third, running
from right to left, the Y axis.
BALANCING FLAPS: See Aileron.
BALLONET: A small balloon within the interior of a balloon or
airship for the purpose of controlling the ascent or descent and
for maintaining pressure on the outer envelope so as to prevent
deformation. The ballonet is kept inflated with air at the required
pressure, under the control of valves by a blower or by the action of
the wind caught in an air-scoop.
BALLOON: A form of aircraft comprising a gas bag, rigging and a basket.
The support in the air results from the buoyancy of the air displaced
by the gas bag, the form of which is maintained by the pressure of a
contained gas lighter than air.
_Barrage._—A small spherical captive balloon, raised as a protection
against attacks by airplanes.
_Captive._—A balloon restrained from free flight by means of a cable
attaching it to the earth.
_Kite._—An elongated form of captive balloon, fitted with tail
appendages to keep it headed into the wind, and deriving increased
lift due to its axis being inclined to the wind.
_Pilot._—A small spherical balloon sent up to show the direction of
the wind.
_Sounding._—A small spherical balloon sent aloft without passengers
but with registering meteorological instruments.
BALLOON BED: A mooring place on the ground for a captive balloon.
BALLOON CLOTH: The cloth, usually cotton, of which balloon fabrics are
made.
BALLOON FABRIC: The finished material, usually rubberized, of which
balloon envelopes are made.
BANK: To incline an airplane laterally—i.e., to roll it about the
longitudinal axis. Right bank is to incline the airplane with the right
wing down. Also used as a noun to describe the position of an airplane
when its lateral axis is inclined to the horizontal.
BANK, ANGLE OF: The angle through which an aircraft must be rotated
about its longitudinal axis in order to bring its lateral axis into the
horizontal plane.
BAROGRAPH: An instrument used to record variations in barometric
pressure. In aeronautics the charts on which the records are made
indicate altitudes directly instead of barometric pressures.
BASKET: The car suspended beneath a balloon, for passengers, ballast,
etc.
BIPLANE: A form of airplane in which the main supporting surface is
divided into two parts, one above the other.
BODY OF AN AIRPLANE: See Fuselage and Nacelle.
BONNET: The appliance, having the form of a parasol, which protects the
valve of a spherical balloon against rain.
BRIDLE: The system of attachment of cable to a balloon, including lines
to the suspension band.
BULL’S-EYES: Small rings of wood, metal, etc., forming part of balloon
rigging, used for connection or adjustment of ropes.
BURBLE POINT: See Angle, critical.
CABANE: A pyramidal framework upon the wing of an airplane, to which
stays, etc., are secured.
CAMBER: The convexity or rise of the curve of an aerofoil from its
chord, usually expressed as the ratio of the maximum departure of the
curve from the chord to the length of the chord. “Top camber” refers
to the top surface of an aerofoil, and “bottom camber” to the bottom
surface; “mean camber” is the mean of these two.
CAPACITY: See Load. The cubic contents of a balloon.
CEILING: _Service._—The height above sea level at which a given
aircraft ceases to rise at a rate higher than a small specified one,
say 100 feet per minute. This specified rate may be different in the
services of different countries.
_Absolute._—The maximum height above sea level to which a given
aircraft can rise.
_Theoretical._—The limiting height to which a given aircraft can rise
determined by computations of performance, based upon the drawings and
wind tunnel data.
CENTER OF PRESSURE OF AN AEROFOIL: The point in the plane of the chords
of an aerofoil, prolonged if necessary, through which at any given
attitude the line of action of the resultant air force passes. (This
definition may be extended to any body.)
CHORD OF AN AEROFOIL SECTION:
_For theoretical purposes._—The zero lift line, i. e., the limiting
position, in the section, of the line of action of the resultant air
force when the position of the section is such that the lift is zero.
_Practical._—The line of a straightedge brought into contact with the
lower surface of the section at points near its edges. In the case of
an aerofoil having double convex camber, the straight line joining the
entering and trailing edges.
_Length._—The length of the chord is the length of the projection of
the aerofoil section on its chord.
CLINOMETER: See Inclinometer.
CONCENTRATION RING: A hoop to which are attached the ropes suspending
the basket of a spherical balloon.
CONTROLS: A general term applying to the means provided for operating
the devices used to control speed, direction of flight, and attitude of
an aircraft.
CONTROL COLUMN: The vertical lever by means of which certain of the
principal controls are operated, usually those for pitching and rolling.
CROSS-WIND FORCE: The component perpendicular to the lift and to the
drag of the total force on an aircraft due to the air through which it
moves.
CROW’S-FOOT: A system of diverging short ropes for distributing the
pull of a single rope.
DECALAGE: The angle between the chords of the principal and the
tail planes of a monoplane. The same term may be applied to the
corresponding angle between the direction of the chord or chords of
a biplane and the direction of a tail plane. (This angle is also
sometimes known as the longitudinal V of the two planes.)
DIHEDRAL IN AN AIRPLANE: The angle included at the intersection of
the imaginary surfaces containing the chords of the right and left
planes (continued to the plane of symmetry if necessary). This angle is
measured in a plane perpendicular to that intersection. The measure of
the dihedral is taken as 90° minus one-half of this angle as defined.
The dihedral of the upper planes may and frequently does differ from
that of the lower planes in a biplane.
DIRIGIBLE: See Airship.
DIVING RUDDER: See Elevator.
DOPE: A general term applied to the material used in treating the cloth
surface of airplane members and balloons to increase strength, produce
tautness, and act as a filler to maintain air-tightness; it usually has
a cellulose base.
DRAG: The component parallel to the relative wind of the total force on
an aerofoil or aircraft due to the air through which it moves.
In the case of an airplane, that part of the drag due to the wings
is called “wing resistance”; that due to the rest of the airplane is
called “parasite resistance.”
DRIFT: See Drag. Also used as synonymous with “leeway,” q. v.
DRIFT METER: An instrument for the measurement of the angular deviation
of an aircraft from a set course, due to cross winds.
DRIP CLOTH: A curtain around the equator of a balloon, which prevents
rain from dripping into the basket.
DROOP: A permanent warp of an aerofoil such that the angle of attack
increases toward the wing tips. (The opposite of “wash out.”)
ELEVATOR: A movable auxiliary surface, usually attached to the tail,
the function of which is to control the longitudinal attitude of an
aircraft by rotating it about its lateral axis.
EMPENNAGE: The tail surfaces of an aircraft. Sometimes the word
is limited to the fixed stabilizing portion of the tail—usually
comprising the tail plane and vertical fin, to which are attached the
elevator and rudders.
ENTERING EDGE: The foremost edge of an aerofoil or propeller blade.
ENVELOPE: The outer covering of a rigid airship; or, in the case of a
balloon or a nonrigid airship, the gas bag which contains the gas.
EQUATOR: The largest horizontal circle of a spherical balloon.
FINS: Small fixed aerofoils attached to different parts of aircraft,
in order to promote stability; for example, tail fins, skid fins, etc.
Fins are often adjustable. They may be either horizontal or vertical.
FLIGHT PATH: The path of the center of gravity of an aircraft with
reference to the earth.
FLOAT: That portion of the landing gear of an aircraft which provides
buoyancy when it is resting on the surface of the water.
FUSELAGE: The elongated structure to which are attached the landing
gear, wings and tail. A fuselage is rarely used with pushers; and in
general it is designed to hold the passengers.
GAP: The shortest distance between the planes of the chords of
the upper and lower planes of a biplane, measured along a line
perpendicular to the chord of the lower plane at its entering edge.
GAS BAG: See Envelope.
GLIDE: To fly without engine power.
GLIDER: A form of aircraft similar to an airplane, but without any
power plant.
When utilized in variable winds it makes use of the soaring principles
of flight and is sometimes called a soaring machine.
GLIDING ANGLE: See Angle, gliding.
GORE: One of the segments of fabric composing the envelope.
GROUND CLOTH: Canvas placed on the ground to protect a balloon.
GUIDE ROPE: The long trailing rope attached to a spherical balloon or
airship, to serve as a brake and as a variable ballast.
GUY: A rope, chain, wire or rod attached to an object to guide or
steady it, such as guys to wing, tail, or landing gear.
HANGAR: A shed for housing airships or airplanes.
HELICOPTER: A form of aircraft whose support in the air is derived from
the vertical thrust of propellers.
HORN: A short arm fastened to a movable part of an airplane, serving as
a lever arm, e. g., aileron horn, rudder horn, elevator horn.
HULL OF AN AIRSHIP: The main structure of a rigid airship, consisting
of a covered elongated framework which incloses the gas bags and which
supports the nacelles and equipment.
INCLINOMETER: An instrument for measuring the angle made by any axis of
an aircraft with the horizontal, often called a clinometer.
INSPECTION WINDOW: A small transparent window in the envelope of a
balloon or in the wing of an airplane to allow inspection of the
interior.
KITE: A form of aircraft without other propelling means than the
towline pull, whose support is derived from the force of the wind
moving past its surface.
LANDING GEAR: The understructure of an aircraft designed to carry the
load when resting on or running on the surface of the land or water.
LEADING EDGE: See Entering edge.
LEEWAY: The angular deviation from a set course over the earth, due to
cross currents of wind, also called drift; hence, “drift meter.”
LIFT: The component of the total force due to the air resolved
perpendicular to the relative wind and in the plane of symmetry.
LIFT OF AN AIRSHIP:
_Dynamic._—The component of the total force on an airship due to the
air through which it moves, resolved perpendicular to the relative
wind and in the plane including the direction of the relative wind and
the longitudinal axis.
_Static._—The vertical upward force on an airship when at rest in the
air, due to buoyancy.
LIFT BRACING: See Stay.
LOAD:
_Dead._—The structure, power plant, and essential accessories of an
aircraft. Included in this are the water in the radiator, tachometer,
thermometer, gauges, airspeed indicator, levels, altimeter, compass,
watch, and hand starter.
_Full._—The total weight of an aircraft when loaded to the maximum
authorized loading of that particular type.
_Useful._—The excess of the full load over the dead-weight of
the aircraft itself. Therefore useful load includes the crew and
passengers, oil and fuel, electric-light installation, chart board,
gun mounts, bomb storage and releasing gear, wireless apparatus, etc.
LOADING: See Wing loading.
LOBES: Bags at the stern of an elongated balloon designed to give it
directional stability.
LONGERON: See Longitudinal.
LONGITUDINAL: A fore-and-aft member of the framing of an airplane body
or of the floats, usually continuous across a number of points of
support.
LOOP, A: An aerial maneuver in which the airplane describes an
approximately circular path in the plane of the longitudinal and normal
axes, the lateral axis remaining horizontal, and the upper side of the
airplane remaining on the inside of the circle.
MAROUFLAGE: The process of wrapping and winding wooden parts in cloth.
MONOPLANE: A form of airplane which has but one main supporting
surface extending equally on each side of the body.
MOORING BAND: The band of tape over the top of a balloon to which are
attached the mooring ropes.
NACELLE: The inclosed shelter for passengers or for an engine. Usually
in the case of a single-engine pusher it is the central structure to
which the wings and landing gear are attached.
NET: A rigging made of ropes and twine on spherical balloons which
supports the entire load carried.
ORNITHOPTER: A form of aircraft deriving its support and propelling
force from flapping wings.
OVERHANG: One-half the difference in the span of the upper and lower
planes of a biplane.
PANCAKE: To “level off” an airplane, just before landing, at too great
an altitude, thus stalling it and causing it to descend with the wings
at a very large angle of incidence.
PANEL: The unit piece of fabric of which the envelope is made.
PARACHUTE: An apparatus, made like an umbrella, used to retard the
descent of a falling body.
PATCH SYSTEM: A system of construction in which patches (or adhesive
flaps) are used in place of the suspension band.
PERMEABILITY: The measure of the loss of gas by diffusion, through the
intact balloon fabric.
PITCH OF A PROPELLER:
(_a_) _Pitch, effective._—The distance an aircraft advances along its
flight path for one revolution of the propeller.
(_b_) _Pitch, geometrical._—The distance an element of a propeller
would advance in one revolution if it were turning in a solid nut—i.
e., if it were moving along a helix of slope equal to the angle
between the chord of the element and a plane perpendicular to the
propeller axis. The mean geometrical pitch of a propeller, which
is a quantity commonly used in specifications, is the mean of the
geometrical pitches of the several elements.
(_c_) _Pitch, virtual._—The distance a propeller would have to
advance in one revolution in order that there might be no thrust.
(_d_) _Pitch speed._—The product of the mean geometrical pitch by the
number of revolutions of the propeller in unit time—i. e., the speed
the aircraft would make if there were no slip.
(_e_) _Slip._—The difference between the effective pitch and the mean
geometrical pitch. Slip is usually expressed as a percentage of the
mean geometrical pitch.
PITCH, ANGLE OF: The angle between two planes, defined as follows: One
plane includes the lateral axis of the aircraft and the direction of
the relative wind; the other plane includes the lateral axis and the
longitudinal axis. (In horizontal normal flight this angle of pitch is,
then, the angle between the longitudinal axis and the direction of the
relative wind.)
PITOT TUBE: A tube with an end open square to the fluid stream, used
as a detector of an impact pressure. It is usually associated with a
coaxial tube surrounding it, having perforations normal to the axis
for indicating static pressure; or there is such a tube placed near it
and parallel to it, with a closed conical end and having perforations
in its side. The velocity of the fluid can be determined from the
difference between the impact pressure and the static pressure, as read
by a suitable gauge. This instrument is often used to determine the
velocity of an aircraft through the air.
PLANE: One of the main supporting surfaces of an airplane or of a wing.
(Thus the upper or lower plane of an airplane or the upper right plane
or lower right plane of the right wing.)
PONTOONS: See Float.
PRESSURE NOZZLE: The apparatus which, in combination with a gauge, is
used to measure speed through the air.
PUSHER: See Airplane.
PYLON: A mast or pillar serving as a marker of a course.
RACE OF A PROPELLER: See Slip stream.
RATE OF CLIMB: The vertical component of the flight speed of an
aircraft—i. e., its vertical velocity with reference to the air.
RELATIVE WIND: The motion of the air with reference to a moving
body. Its direction and velocity, therefore, are found by adding two
vectors, one being the velocity of the air with reference to the earth,
the other being equal and opposite to the velocity of the body with
reference to the earth.
RIGHT-HAND ENGINE: An engine designed to drive a right-hand tractor
screw.
RIGHTING MOMENT: A moment which tends to restore an aircraft to its
previous attitude after any rotational disturbance.
RIP CORD: The rope running from the rip panel of a balloon to the
basket, the pulling of which causes immediate deflation.
RIP PANEL: A strip in the upper part of a balloon which is torn off
when immediate deflation is desired.
ROLL, A: An aerial maneuver in which a complete revolution about the
longitudinal axis is made, the direction of flight being maintained.
RUDDER: A hinged or pivoted surface, usually more or less flat or
stream lined, used for the purpose of controlling the attitude of an
aircraft about its normal axis—i. e., for controlling its lateral
movement.
_Balanced._—A rudder having part of its surface in front of its pivot.
RUDDER BAR: The foot bar by means of which the rudder is operated.
SEAPLANE: A particular form of airplane in which the landing gear is
suited to operation from the water.
(_a_) _Boat seaplane_ (or _flying boat_).—A form of seaplane having
for its central portion a boat which provides flotation. It is often
provided with auxiliary floats or pontoons.
(_b_) _Float seaplane._—A form of seaplane in which the landing gear
consists of one or more floats or pontoons.
SERPENT: A short, heavy guide rope.
SIDE SLIPPING: Sliding downward and inward when making a turn; due to
excessive banking. It is the opposite of skidding.
SKIDDING: Sliding sidewise away from the center of the turn in flight.
It is usually caused by insufficient banking in a turn and is the
opposite of side slipping.
SKIDS: Long wooden or metal runners designed to prevent nosing of a
land machine when landing or to prevent dropping into holes or ditches
in rough ground. Generally designed to function should the landing gear
collapse or fail to act.
SLIP STREAM (or _propeller race_): The stream of air driven aft by the
propeller and with a velocity relative to the airplane greater than
that of the surrounding body of still air.
SOARING MACHINE: See Glider.
SPAN (or _spread_): The maximum distance laterally from tip to tip of
an airplane or the lateral dimension of an aerofoil.
SPEED: _Air._—The speed of an aircraft relative to the air.
_Ground._—The horizontal component of the velocity of an aircraft
relative to the earth.
SPIN: An aerial maneuver consisting of a combination of roll and yaw,
with the longitudinal axis of the airplane inclined steeply downward.
The machine descends in a helix of large pitch and very small radius,
the upper side of the machine being on the inside of the helix, and the
angle of attack being maintained at a large value.
STABILITY: A body in any attitude has stability about an axis if, after
a slight displacement about that axis, it tends to regain its initial
attitude.
_Directional._—Stability with reference to the normal axis.
_Dynamical._—The quality of an aircraft in flight which causes it
to return to a condition of equilibrium after its attitude has been
changed by meeting some disturbance—e. g., a gust. This return to
equilibrium is due to two factors: First, the inherent righting
moments of the structure; second, the damping of the oscillations by
the tail, etc.
_Inherent._—Stability of an aircraft due to the disposition and
arrangement of its fixed parts, i. e., that property which causes it
to return to its normal attitude of flight without the use of the
controls.
_Lateral._—Stability with reference to displacements involving
rolling or yawing, i. e., displacements in which the plane of symmetry
of the airplane is rotated.
_Longitudinal._—Stability with reference to displacements involving
pitching, i. e., displacements in which the plane of symmetry of the
airplane is not rotated.
_Statical._—In wind-tunnel experiments it is found that there is a
definite angle of attack, such that, for a greater angle or a less
one, the righting moments are in such a sense as to tend to make the
attitude return to this angle. This holds true for a certain range of
angles on each side of this definite angle; and the machine is said to
possess “statical stability” through this range.
A machine possesses statical stability if, when its attitude is
disturbed, moments tending to restore it to this attitude are set
up by the action of the air on the machine; e. g., if an aircraft,
after an initial disturbance, oscillates with swings of constantly
increasing amplitude, it is statically stable but not dynamically
stable.
STABILIZER: A fixed horizontal, or nearly horizontal, tail surface,
used to steady the longitudinal motion and to damp oscillations in
pitch.
_Mechanical._—A mechanical device to steady the motion of an aircraft.
STAGGER: The amount of advance of the entering edge of the upper plane
of a biplane over that of the lower, expressed as percentage of gap;
it is considered positive when the upper surface is forward and is
measured from the entering edge of the upper plane along its chord to
the point of intersection of this chord with a line drawn perpendicular
to the chord of the lower plane at its entering edge, all lines being
drawn in a plane parallel to the plane of symmetry.
(_In directions for rigging_).—The horizontal distance between the
entering edge of the upper plane and that of the lower when the
airplane is in the standard position; i. e., when the arbitrary line
of reference in the airplane is horizontal. (This line is usually the
axis of the propeller shaft.)
STALLING: A term describing the condition of an airplane which from any
cause has lost the relative speed necessary for control.
STATOSCOPE: An instrument to detect the existence of a small rate of
ascent or descent, principally used in ballooning.
STAY: A wire, rope, or the like, used as a tie piece to hold parts
together, or to contribute stiffness. For example, the stays of the
wing and body trussing.
STEP: A break in the form of the bottom of a float.
STREAM-LINE FLOW: The condition of continuous flow of a fluid, as
distinguished from eddying flow.
STREAM-LINE SHAPE: A shape intended to avoid eddying and to preserve
stream-line flow.
STRUT: A compression member of a truss frame. For instance, the
vertical members of the wing truss of a biplane.
SUSPENSION BAND: The band around a balloon to which are attached the
basket and the main bridle suspensions.
SUSPENSION BAR: The bar used for the concentration of basket suspension
ropes in captive balloons.
SWEEP BACK: The horizontal angle between the lateral axis of an
airplane and the entering edge of the main planes.
TAIL: The rear portion of an aircraft, to which are usually attached
rudders, elevators, stabilizers, and fins.
TAIL CUPS: The steadying device attached at the rear of certain types
of elongated captive balloons.
TANDEM: An airplane whose sets of planes are placed one in front of the
other.
TRACTOR: See Airplane.
TRAILING EDGE: The rearmost edge of an aerofoil or propeller blade.
TRIPLANE: A form of airplane whose main supporting surface is divided
into three parts, superimposed.
TRUSS: The framing by which the wing loads are transmitted to the body;
comprises struts, stays, and spars.
UNDERCARRIAGE: See Landing gear.
VENTURI TUBE: A short tube, flaring at the front end, and constricted
approximately midway of its length, so that, when fluid flows through
it, there will be a suction produced in a side-tube opening into the
constricted throat. This tube, when combined with a Pitot tube or with
one giving static pressure, forms a pressure nozzle, which may be used
as an instrument to determine the speed of an aircraft through the air.
WARP: To change the form of the wing by twisting it.
WASH IN: See Droop.
WASHOUT: A permanent warp of an aerofoil such that the angle of attack
decreases toward the wing tips.
WEIGHT, GROSS: See Load, full.
WING: The aggregate sustaining structure on the right or left side of
an airplane, comprising both planes and trussing. (Thus, “detachable
wings” and “folding wings.”)
WING FLAP: See Aileron.
WING LOADING: The weight carried per unit area of supporting surface.
WING MAST: The mast structure projecting above the wing, to which the
top load wires are attached.
WING RIB: A fore-and-aft member of the wing structure used to support
the covering and to give the wing section its form.
WING SPAR OR WING BEAM: A transverse member of the wing structure.
YAW: _Yawing_.—Angular motion about the normal axis.
_Angle of_.—The angle between the direction of the relative wind and
the plane of symmetry of an aircraft.
ZERO LIFT LINE: The limiting position in an aerofoil section of the
line of action of the resultant air force when the position of the
section is such that the lift is zero.
Transcriber’s Notes
Page 59—Changed Farmborough to Farnborough
Page 148—changed Chatterick to Catterick
Page 165—changed condension to condensation
Page 248—Space left for unknown word [not below the rank of ]
Page 251—changed Clefden to Clifden
Page 298—changed Porta Delgada to Ponta Delgada
Page 298—changed reconnoissance to reconnaissance
Page 354—Captain E. Libby no number of planes brought down recorded
Page 365—changed axes to axis
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