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@@ -0,0 +1,5369 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mastery of the Air, by William J. Claxton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Mastery of the Air + +Author: William J. Claxton + +Release Date: January, 1997 [Etext #777] +Posting Date:November 4, 2009 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MASTERY OF THE AIR *** + + + + +Produced by Dianne Bean + + + + + +THE MASTERY OF THE AIR + +By William J. Claxton + + + + +PREFACE + +This book makes no pretence of going minutely into the technical and +scientific sides of human flight: rather does it deal mainly with the +real achievements of pioneers who have helped to make aviation what it +is to-day. + +My chief object has been to arouse among my readers an intelligent +interest in the art of flight, and, profiting by friendly criticism +of several of my former works, I imagine that this is best obtained by +setting forth the romance of triumph in the realms of an element which +has defied man for untold centuries, rather than to give a mass of +scientific principles which appeal to no one but the expert. + +So rapid is the present development of aviation that it is difficult to +keep abreast with the times. What is new to-day becomes old to-morrow. +The Great War has given a tremendous impetus to the strife between the +warring nations for the mastery of the air, and one can but give a rough +and general impression of the achievements of naval and military airmen +on the various fronts. + +Finally, I have tried to bring home the fact that the fascinating +progress of aviation should not be confined entirely to the airman and +constructor of air-craft; in short, this progress is not a record of +events in which the mass of the nation have little personal concern, but +of a movement in which each one of us may take an active and intelligent +part. + +I have to thank various aviation firms, airmen, and others who +have kindly come to my assistance, either with the help of valuable +information or by the loan of photographs. In particular, my thanks are +due to the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service for permission +to reproduce illustrations from their two publications on the work and +training of their respective corps; to the Aeronautical Society of Great +Britain; to Messrs. C. G. Spencer & Sons, Highbury; The Sopwith Aviation +Company, Ltd.; Messrs. A. V. Roe & Co., Ltd.; The Gnome Engine Company; +The Green Engine Company; Mr. A. G. Gross (Geographia, Ltd.); and M. +Bleriot; for an exposition of the internal-combustion engine I have +drawn on Mr. Horne's The Age of Machinery. + + + + PART I. BALLOONS AND AIR-SHIPS + + I. MAN'S DUEL WITH NATURE + II. THE FRENCH PAPER-MAKER WHO INVENTED THE BALLOON + III. THE FIRST MAN TO ASCEND IN A BALLOON + IV. THE FIRST BALLOON ASCENT IN ENGLAND + V. THE FATHER OF BRITISH AERONAUTS + VI. THE PARACHUTE + VII. SOME BRITISH INVENTORS OF AIR-SHIPS + VIII. THE FIRST ATTEMPTS TO STEER A BALLOON + IX. THE STRANGE CAREER OF COUNT ZEPPELIN + X. A ZEPPELIN AIR-SHIP AND ITS CONSTRUCTION + XI. THE SEMI-RIGID AIR-SHIP + XII. A NON-RIGID BALLOON + XIII. THE ZEPPELIN AND GOTHA RAIDS + + PART II. AEROPLANES AND AIRMEN + + XIV. EARLY ATTEMPTS IN AVIATION + XV. A PIONEER IN AVIATION + XVI. THE "HUMAN BIRDS" + XVII. THE AEROPLANE AND THE BIRD + XVIII. A GREAT BRITISH INVENTOR OF AEROPLANES + XIX. THE WRIGHT BROTHERS AND THEIR SECRET EXPERIMENTS + XX. THE INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE + XXI. THE INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE (Con't.) + XXII. THE AEROPLANE ENGINE + XXIII. A FAMOUS BRITISH INVENTOR OF AVIATION ENGINES + XXIV. THE WRIGHT BIPLANE (CAMBER OF PLANES) + XXV. THE WRIGHT BIPLANE (Cont.) + XXVI. HOW THE WRIGHTS LAUNCHED THEIR BIPLANE + XXVII. THE FIRST MAN TO FLY IN EUROPE + XXVIII. M. BLARIOT AND THE MONOPLANE + XXIX. HENRI FARMAN AND THE VOISIN BIPLANE + XXX. A FAMOUS BRITISH INVENTOR + XXXI. THE ROMANCE OF A COWBOY AERONAUT + XXXII. THREE HISTORIC FLIGHTS + XXXIII. THREE HISTORIC FLIGHTS (Cont.) + XXXIV. THE HYDROPLANE AND AIR-BOAT + XXXV. A FAMOUS BRITISH INVENTOR OF THE WATER-PLANE + XXXVI. SEA-PLANES FOR WARFARE + XXXVII. THE FIRST MAN TO FLY IN BRITAIN + XXXVIII.THE R.F.C. AND R.N.A.S. + XXXIX. AEROPLANES IN THE GREAT WAR + XL. THE ATMOSPHERE AND THE BAROMETER + XLI. HOW AN AIRMAN KNOWS WHAT HEIGHT HE REACHES + XLII. HOW AN AIRMAN FINDS HIS WAY + XLIII. THE FIRST AIRMAN TO FLY UPSIDE DOWN + XLIV. THE FIRST ENGLISHMAN TO FLY UPSIDE DOWN + XLV. ACCIDENTS AND THEIR CAUSE + XLVI. ACCIDENTS AND THEIR CAUSE (Cont.) + XLVII. ACCIDENTS AND THEIR CAUSE (COnt.) + XLVIII. SOME TECHNICAL TERMS USED By AVIATORS + XLIX. THE FUTURE IN THE AIR + + + + + +THE MASTERY OF THE AIR + + + + +PART I. BALLOONS AND AIR-SHIPS + + + +CHAPTER I. Man's Duel with Nature + +Of all man's great achievements none is, perhaps, more full of human +interest than are those concerned with flight. We regard ourselves +as remarkable beings, and our wonderful discoveries in science and +invention induce us to believe we are far and away the cleverest of all +the living creatures in the great scheme of Creation. And yet in +the matter of flight the birds beat us; what has taken us years of +education, and vast efforts of intelligence, foresight, and daring to +accomplish, is known by the tiny fledglings almost as soon as they come +into the world. + +It is easy to see why the story of aviation is of such romantic +interest. Man has been exercising his ingenuity, and deliberately +pursuing a certain train of thought, in an attempt to harness the forces +of Nature and compel them to act in what seems to be the exact converse +of Nature's own arrangements. + +One of the mysteries of Nature is known as the FORCE OF GRAVITY. It is +not our purpose in this book to go deeply into a study of gravitation; +we may content ourselves with the statement, first proved by Sir Isaac +Newton, that there is an invisible force which the Earth exerts on all +bodies, by which it attracts or draws them towards itself. This property +does not belong to the Earth alone, but to all matter--all matter +attracts all other matter. In discussing the problems of aviation we are +concerned mainly with the mutual attraction of The Earth and the bodies +on or near its surface; this is usually called TERRESTRIAL gravity. + +It has been found that every body attracts very other body with a force +directly proportionate to its mass. Thus we see that, if every particle +in a mass exerts its attractive influence, the more particles a body +contains the greater will be the attraction. If a mass of iron be +dropped to the ground from the roof of a building at the same time as a +cork of similar size, the iron and the cork would, but for the retarding +effect of the air, fall to the ground together, but the iron would +strike the ground with much greater force than the cork. Briefly stated, +a body which contains twice as much matter as another is attracted +or drawn towards the centre of the Earth with twice the force of that +other; if the mass be five times as great, then it will be attracted +with five times the force, and so on. + +It is thus evident that the Earth must exert an overwhelming attractive +force on all bodies on or near its surface. Now, when man rises from the +ground in an aeroplane he is counter-acting this force by other forces. + +A short time ago the writer saw a picture which illustrated in a very +striking manner man's struggle with Nature. Nature was represented as +a giant of immense stature and strength, standing on a globe with +outstretched arms, and in his hands were shackles of great size. Rising +gracefully from the earth, immediately in front of the giant, was +an airman seated in a modern flying-machine, and on his face was a +happy-go-lucky look as though he were delighting in the duel between him +and the giant. The artist had drawn the picture so skilfully that one +could imagine the huge, knotted fingers grasping the shackles were +itching to bring the airman within their clutch. The picture was +entitled "MAN TRIUMPHANT" + +No doubt many of those who saw that picture were reminded of the great +sacrifices made by man in the past. In the wake of the aviator there are +many memorial stones of mournful significance. + +It says much for the pluck and perseverance of aviators that they have +been willing to run the great risks which ever accompany their efforts. +Four years of the Great War have shown how splendidly airmen have risen +to the great demands made upon them. In dispatch after dispatch from +the front, tribute has been paid to the gallant and devoted work of the +Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. In a long and bitter +struggle British airmen have gradually asserted their supremacy in the +air. In all parts of the globe, in Egypt, in Mesopotamia, in Palestine, +in Africa, the airman has been an indispensable adjunct of the +fighting forces. Truly it may be said that mastery of the air is the +indispensable factor of final victory. + + + +CHAPTER II. The French Paper-maker who Invented the Balloon + +In the year 1782 two young Frenchmen might have been seen one winter +night sitting over their cottage fire, performing the curious experiment +of filling paper bags with smoke, and letting them rise up towards +the ceiling. These young men were brothers, named Stephen and Joseph +Montgolfier, and their experiments resulted in the invention of the +balloon. + +The brothers, like all inventors, seem to have had enquiring minds. +They were for ever asking the why and the wherefore of things. "Why +does smoke rise?" they asked. "Is there not some strange power in the +atmosphere which makes the smoke from chimneys and elsewhere rise in +opposition to the force of gravity? If so, cannot we discover this +power, and apply it to the service of mankind?" + +We may imagine that such questions were in the minds of those two French +paper-makers, just as similar questions were in the mind of James +Watt when he was discovering the power of steam. But one of the most +important attributes of an inventor is an infinite capacity for taking +pains, together with great patience. + +And so we find the two brothers employing their leisure in what to us +would, be a childish pastime, the making of paper balloons. The story +tells us that their room was filled with smoke, which issued from the +windows as though the house were on fire. A neighbour, thinking such +was the case, rushed in, but, on being assured that nothing serious was +wrong, stayed to watch the tiny balloons rise a little way from the thin +tray which contained the fire that made the smoke with which the bags +were filled. The experiments were not altogether successful, however, +for the bags rarely rose more than a foot or so from the tray. The +neighbour suggested that they should fasten the thin tray on to the +bottom of the bag, for it was thought that the bags would not ascend +higher because the smoke became cool; and if the smoke were imprisoned +within the bag much better results would be obtained. This was done, +and, to the great joy of the brothers and their visitor, the bag at once +rose quickly to the ceiling. + +But though they could make the bags rise their great trouble was that +they did not know the cause of this ascent. They thought, however, that +they were on the eve of some great discovery, and, as events proved, +they were not far wrong. For a time they imagined that the fire they had +used generated some special gas, and if they could find out the nature +of this gas, and the means of making it in large quantities, they would +be able to add to their success. + +Of course, in the light of modern knowledge, it seems strange that the +brothers did not know that the reason the bags rose, was not because of +any special gas being used, but owing to the expansion of air under the +influence of heat, whereby hot air tends to rise. Every schoolboy above +the age of twelve knows that hot air rises upwards in the atmosphere, +and that it continues to rise until its temperature has become the same +as that of the surrounding air. + +The next experiment was to try their bags in the open air. Choosing a +calm, fine day, they made a fire similar to that used in their first +experiments, and succeeded in making the bag rise nearly 100 feet. Later +on, a much larger craft was built, which was equally successful. + +And now we must leave the experiments of the Montgolfiers for a +moment, and turn to the discovery of hydrogen gas by Henry Cavendish, +a well-known London chemist. In 1766 Cavendish proved conclusively that +hydrogen gas was not more than one-seventh the weight of ordinary air. +It at once occurred to Dr. Black, of Glasgow, that if a thin bag could +be filled with this light gas it would rise in the air; but for various +reasons his experiments did not yield results of a practical nature for +several years. + +Some time afterwards, about a year before the Montgolfiers commenced +their experiments which we have already described, Tiberius Cavallo, an +Italian chemist, succeeded in making, with hydrogen gas, soap-bubbles +which rose in the air. Previous to this he had experimented with +bladders and paper bags; but the bladders he found too heavy, and the +paper too porous. + +It must not be thought that the Montgolfiers experimented solely with +hot air in the inflation of their balloons. At one time they used steam, +and, later on, the newly-discovered hydrogen gas; but with both these +agents they were unsuccessful. It can easily be seen why steam was of no +use, when we consider that paper was employed; hydrogen, too, owed its +lack of success to the same cause for the porosity of the paper allowed +the gas to escape quickly. + +It is said that the name "balloon" was given to these paper craft +because they resembled in shape a large spherical vessel used in +chemistry, which was known by that name. To the brothers Montgolfier +belongs the honour of having given the name to this type of aircraft, +which, in the two succeeding centuries, became so popular. + +After numerous experiments the public were invited to witness the +inflation of a particularly huge balloon, over 30 feet in diameter. +This was accomplished over a fire made of wool and straw. The ascent was +successful, and the balloon, after rising to a height of some 7000 feet, +fell to earth about two miles away. + +It may be imagined that this experiment aroused enormous interest in +Paris, whence the news rapidly spread over all France and to Britain. +A Parisian scientific society invited Stephen Montgolfier to Paris in +order that the citizens of the metropolis should have their imaginations +excited by seeing the hero of these remarkable experiments. Montgolfier +was not a rich man, and to enable him to continue his experiments the +society granted him a considerable sum of money. He was then enabled to +construct a very fine balloon, elaborately decorated and painted, which +ascended at Versailles in the presence of the Court. + +To add to the value of this experiment three animals were sent up in a +basket attached to the balloon. These were a sheep, a cock, and a duck. +All sorts of guesses were made as to what would be the fate of the "poor +creatures". Some people imagined that there was little or no air in +those higher regions and that the animals would choke; others said they +would be frozen to death. But when the balloon descended the cock was +seen to be strutting about in his usual dignified way, the sheep was +chewing the cud, and the duck was quacking for water and worms. + +At this point we will leave the work of the brothers Montgolfier. They +had succeeded in firing the imagination of nearly every Frenchman, from +King Louis down to his humblest subject. Strange, was it not, though +scores of millions of people had seen smoke rise, and clouds float, for +untold centuries, yet no one, until the close of the eighteenth century, +thought of making a balloon? + +The learned Franciscan friar, Roger Bacon, who lived in the thirteenth +century, seems to have thought of the possibility of producing a +contrivance that would float in air. His idea was that the earth's +atmosphere was a "true fluid", and that it had an upper surface as the +ocean has. He quite believed that on this upper surface--subject, in his +belief, to waves similar to those of the sea--an air-ship might float if +it once succeeded in rising to the required height. But the difficulty +was to reach the surface of this aerial sea. To do this he proposed to +make a large hollow globe of metal, wrought as thin as the skill of man +could make it, so that it might be as light as possible, and this vast +globe was to be filled with "liquid fire". Just what "liquid fire" was, +one cannot attempt to explain, and it is doubtful if Bacon himself +had any clear idea. But he doubtless thought of some gaseous substance +lighter than air, and so he would seem to have, at least, hit upon the +principle underlying the construction of the modern balloon. Roger Bacon +had ideas far in advance of his time, and his experiments made such an +impression of wonder on the popular mind that they were believed to be +wrought by black magic, and the worthy monk was classed among those who +were supposed to be in league with Satan. + + + +CHAPTER III. The First Man to Ascend in a Balloon + +The safe descent of the three animals, which has already been related, +showed the way for man to venture up in a balloon. In our time we marvel +at the daring of modern airmen, who ascend to giddy heights, and, as +it were, engage in mortal combat with the demons of the air. But, +courageous though these deeds are, they are not more so than those of +the pioneers of ballooning. + +In the eighteenth century nothing was known definitely of the conditions +of the upper regions of the air, where, indeed, no human being had +ever been; and though the frail Montgolfier balloons had ascended and +descended with no outward happenings, yet none could tell what might +be the risk to life in committing oneself to an ascent. There was, too, +very special danger in making an ascent in a hot-air balloon. Underneath +the huge envelope was suspended a brazier, so that the fabric of the +balloon was in great danger of catching fire. + +It was at first suggested that two French criminals under sentence of +death should be sent up, and, if they made a safe descent, then the +way would be open for other aeronauts to venture aloft. But everyone +interested in aeronautics in those days saw that the man who first +traversed the unexplored regions of the air would be held in high +honour, and it seemed hardly right that this honour should fall to +criminals. At any rate this was the view of M. Pilatre de Rozier, a +French gentleman, and he determined himself to make the pioneer ascent. + +De Rozier had no false notion of the risks he was prepared to run, and +he superintended with the greatest care the construction of his balloon. +It was of enormous size, with a cage slung underneath the brazier for +heating the air. Befors making his free ascent De Rozier made a trial +ascent with the balloon held captive by a long rope. + +At length, in November, 1783, accompanied by the Marquis d'Arlandes as +a passenger, he determined to venture. The experiment aroused immense +excitement all over France, and a large concourse of people were +gathered together on the outskirts of Paris to witness the risky feat. +The balloon made a perfect ascent, and quickly reached a height of +about half a mile above sea-level. A strong current of air in the upper +regions caused the balloon to take an opposite direction from that +intended, and the aeronauts drifted right over Paris. It would have gone +hard with them if they had been forced to descend in the city, but the +craft was driven by the wind to some distance beyond the suburbs and +they alighted quite safely about six miles from their starting-point, +after having been up in the air for about half an hour. + +Their voyage, however, had by no means been free from anxiety. We are +told that the fabric of the balloon repeatedly caught fire, which it +took the aeronauts all their time to extinguish. At times, too, they +came down perilously near to the Seine, or to the housetops of Paris, +but after the most exciting half-hour of their lives they found +themselves once more on Mother Earth. + +Here we must make a slight digression and speak of the invention of +the hydrogen, or gas, balloon. In a previous chapter we read of the +discovery of hydrogen gas by Henry Cavendish, and the subsequent +experiments with this gas by Dr. Black, of Glasgow. It was soon +decided to try to inflate a balloon with this "inflammable air"--as +the newly-discovered gas was called--and with this end in view a large +public subscription was raised in France to meet the heavy expenses +entailed in the venture. The work was entrusted to a French scientist, +Professor Charles, and two brothers named Robert. + +It was quickly seen that paper, such as was used by the Montgolfiers, +was of little use in the construction of a gas balloon, for the gas +escaped. Accordingly the fabric was made of silk and varnished with a +solution of india-rubber and turpentine. The first hydrogen balloon was +only about 13 feet in diameter, for in those early days the method of +preparing hydrogen was very laborious and costly, and the constructors +thought it advisable not to spend too much money over the initial +experiments, in case they should be a failure. + +In August, 1783--an eventful year in the history of aeronautics--the +first gas-inflated balloon was sent up, of course unaccompanied by +a passenger. It shot up high in the air much more rapidly than +Montgolfier's hot-air balloon had done, and was soon beyond the clouds. +After a voyage of nearly an hour's duration it descended in a field some +15 miles away. We are told that some peasants at work near by fled in +the greatest alarm at this strange monster which settled in their midst. +An old print shows them cautiously approaching the balloon as it lay +heaving on the ground, stabbing it with pitchforks, and beating it with +flails and sticks. The story goes that one of the alarmed farmers poured +a charge of shot into it with his gun, no doubt thinking that he had +effectually silenced the panting demon contained therein. To prevent +such unseemly occurrences in the future the French Government found +it necessary to warn the people by proclamation that balloons were +perfectly harmless objects, and that the experiments would be repeated. + +We now have two aerial craft competing for popular favour: the +Montgolfier hot-air balloon and the "Charlier" or gas-inflated balloon. +About four months after the first trial trip of the latter the inventors +decided to ascend in a specially-constructed hydrogen-inflated craft. +This balloon, which was 27 feet in diameter, contained nearly all the +features of the modern balloon. Thus there was a valve at the top by +means of which the gas could be let out as desired; a cord net covered +the whole fabric, and from the loop which it formed below the neck of +the balloon a car was suspended; and in the car there was a quantity of +ballast which could be cast overboard when necessary. + +It may be imagined that this new method of aerial navigation had +thoroughly aroused the excitability of the French nation, so that +thousands of people were met together just outside Paris on the 17th +December to see Professor Charles and his mechanic, Robelt, ascend in +their new craft. The ascent was successful in every way; the intrepid +aeronauts, who carried a barometer, found that they had quickly reached +an altitude of over a mile. + +After remaining aloft for nearly two hours they came down. Professor +Charles decided to ascend again, this time by himself, and with a much +lighter load the balloon rose about two miles above sea-level. The +temperature at this height became very low, and M. Charles was affected +by violent pain in his right ear and jaw. During the voyage he witnessed +the strange phenomenon of a double sunset; for, before the ascent, the +sun had set behind the hills overshadowing the valleys, and when he +rose above the hill-tops he saw the sun again, and presently saw it +set again. There is no doubt that the balloon would have risen several +thousand feet higher, but the professor thought it would burst, and he +opened the valve, eventually making a safe descent about 7 miles from +his starting-place. + +England lagged behind her French neighbour's in balloon +aeronautics--much as she has recently done in aviation--for a +considerable time, and, it was not till August of the following year +(1784) that the first balloon ascent was made in Great Britain, by Mr. +J. M. Tytler. This took place at Edinburgh in a fire balloon. Previous +to this an Italian, named Lunardi, had in November, 1783, dispatched +from the Artillery Ground, in London, a small balloon made of oil-silk, +10 feet in diameter and weighing 11 pounds. This small craft was sent +aloft at one o'clock, and came down, about two and a half hours later, +in Sussex, about 48 miles from its starting-place. + +In 1784 the largest balloon on record was sent up from Lyons. This +immense craft was more than 100 feet in diameter, and stood about 130 +feet high. It was inflated with hot air over a straw fire, and seven +passengers were carried, including Joseph Montgolfier and Pilatre de +Rozier. + +But to return to de Rozier, whom we left earlier in the chapter, after +his memorable ascent near Paris. This daring Frenchman decided to cross +the Channel, and to prevent the gas cooling, and the balloon falling +into the sea, he hit on the idea of suspending a small fire balloon +under the neck of another balloon inflated with hydrogen gas. In the +light of our modern knowledge of the highly-inflammable nature of +hydrogen, we wonder how anyone could have attempted such an adventure; +but there had been little experience of this newly-discovered gas in +those days. We are not surprised to read that, when high in the air, +there was an awful explosion and the brave aeronaut fell to the earth +and was dashed to death. + + + +CHAPTER IV. The First Balloon Ascent in England + +It has been said that the honour of making the first ascent in a balloon +from British soil must be awarded to Mr. Tytler. This took place in +Scotland. In this chapter we will relate the almost romantic story of +the first ascent made in England. + +This was carried out successfully by Lunardi, the Italian of whom we +have previously spoken. This young foreigner, who was engaged as a +private secretary in London, had his interest keenly aroused by the +accounts of the experiments being carried out in balloons in France, and +he decided to attempt similar experiments in this country. + +But great difficulties stood in his way. Like many other inventors and +would-be airmen, he suffered from lack of funds to build his craft, and +though people whom he approached for financial aid were sympathetic, +many of them were unwilling to subscribe to his venture. At length, +however, by indomitable perseverance, he collected enough money to +defray the cost of building his balloon, and it was arranged that he +should ascend from the Artillery Ground, London, in September, 1784. + +His craft was a "Charlier"--that is, it was modelled after the +hydrogen-inflated balloon built by Professor Charles--and it resembled +in shape an enormous pear. A wide hoop encircled the neck of the +envelope, and from this hoop the car was suspended by stout cordage. + +It is said that on the day announced for the ascent a crowd of nearly +200,000 had assembled, and that the Prince of Wales was an interested +spectator. Farmers and labourers and, indeed, all classes of people from +the prince down to the humblest subject, were represented, and seldom had +London's citizens been more deeply excited. + +Many of them, however, were incredulous, especially when an +insufficiency of gas caused a long delay before the balloon could be +liberated. Fate seemed to be thwarting the plucky Italian at every step. +Even at the last minute, when all arrangements had been perfected as +far as was humanly possible, and the crowd was agog with excitement, it +appeared probable that he would have to postpone the ascent. + +It was originally intended that Lunardi should be accompanied by a +passenger; but as there was a shortage of gas the balloon's lifting +power was considerably lessened, and he had to take the trip with a dog +and cat for companions. A perfect ascent was made, and in a few moments +the huge balloon was sailing gracefully in a northerly direction over +innumerable housetops. + +This trip was memorable in another way. It was probably the only aerial +cruise where a Royal Council was put off in order to witness the flight. +It is recorded that George the Third was in conference with the Cabinet, +and when news arrived in the Council Chamber that Lunardi was aloft, the +king remarked: "Gentlemen, we may resume our deliberations at pleasure, +but we may never see poor Lunardi again!" + +The journey was uneventful; there was a moderate northerly breeze, +and the aeronaut attained a considerable altitude, so that he and +his animals were in danger of frost-bite. Indeed, one of the animals +suffered so severely from the effects of the cold that Lunardi skilfully +descended low enough to drop it safely to earth, and then, throwing +out ballast, once more ascended. He eventually came to earth near a +Hertfordshire village about 30 miles to the north of London. + + + +CHAPTER V. The Father of British Aeronauts + +No account of the early history of English aeronautics could possibly be +complete unless it included a description of the Nassau balloon, which +was inflated by coal-gas, from the suggestion of Mr. Charles Green, who +was one of Britain's most famous aeronauts. Because of his institution +of the modern method of using coal-gas in a balloon, Mr. Green is +generally spoken of as the Father of British Aeronautics. During the +close of the eighteenth and the opening years of the nineteenth century +there had been numerous ascents in Charlier balloons, both in Britain +and on the Continent. It had already been discovered that hydrogen gas +was highly dangerous and also expensive, and Mr. Green proposed to try +the experiment of inflating a balloon with ordinary coal-gas, which had +now become fairly common in most large towns, and was much less costly +than hydrogen. + +Critics of the new scheme assured the promoters that coal-gas would be +of little use for a balloon, averring that it had comparatively little +lifting power, and aeronauts could never expect to rise to any great +altitude in such a balloon. But Green firmly believed that his theory +was practical, and he put it to the test. The initial experiments +quite convinced him that he was right. Under his superintendence a fine +balloon about 80 feet high, built of silk, was made in South London, and +the car was constructed to hold from fifteen to twenty passengers. +When the craft was completed it was proposed to send it to Paris for +exhibition purposes, and the inventor, with two friends, Messrs. Holland +and Mason, decided to take it over the Channel by air. It is said that +provisions were taken in sufficient quantities to last a fortnight, and +over a ton of ballast was shipped. + +The journey commenced in November, 1836, late in the afternoon, as +the aeronauts had planned to cross the sea by night. A fairly strong +north-west wind quickly bore them to the coast, and in less than an hour +they found themselves over the lights of Calais. On and on they went, +now and then entirely lost to Earth through being enveloped in +dense fog; hour after hour went by, until at length dawn revealed +a densely-wooded tract of country with which they were entirely +unfamiliar. They decided to land, and they were greatly surprised to +find that they had reached Weilburg, in Nassau, Germany. The whole +journey of 500 miles had been made in eighteen hours. + +Probably no British aeronaut has made more daring and exciting ascents +than Mr. Green--unless it be a member of the famous Spencer family, of +whom we speak in another chapter. It is said that Mr. Green went aloft +over a thousand times, and in later years he was accompanied by various +passengers who were making ascents for scientific purposes. His skill +was so great that though he had numerous hairbreadth escapes he seldom +suffered much bodily harm. He lived to the ripe old age of eighty-five. + + + +CHAPTER VI. The Parachute + +No doubt many of those who read this book have seen an aeronaut +descend from a balloon by the aid of a parachute. For many years this +performance has been one of the most attractive items on the programmes +of fetes, galas, and various other outdoor exhibitions. + +The word "parachute" has been almost bodily taken from the French +language. It is derived from the French parer to parry, and chute a +fall. In appearance a parachute is very similar to an enormous umbrella. + +M. Blanchard, one of the pioneers of ballooning, has the honour of +first using a parachute, although not in person. The first "aeronaut" to +descend by this apparatus was a dog. The astonished animal was placed +in a basket attached to a parachute, taken up in a balloon, and after +reaching a considerable altitude was released. Happily for the dog +the parachute acted quite admirably, and the animal had a graceful and +gentle descent. + +Shortly afterwards a well-known French aeronaut, M. Garnerin, had an +equally satisfactory descent, and soon the parachute was used by most +of the prominent aeronauts of the day. Mr. Cocking, a well-known +balloonist, held somewhat different views from those of other inventors +as to the best form of construction of parachutes. His idea was that a +parachute should be very large and rather heavy in order to be able to +support a great weight. His first descent from a great height was also +his last. In 1837, accompanied by Messrs. Spencer and Green, he went up +with his parachute, attached to the Nassau balloon. At a height of about +a mile the parachute was liberated, but it failed to act properly; the +inventor was cast headlong to earth, and dashed to death. + +From time to time it has been thought that the parachute might be +used for life-saving on the modern dirigible air-ship, and even on the +aeroplane, and experiments have been carried out with that end in view. +A most thrilling descent from an air-ship by means of a parachute was +that made by Major Maitland, Commander of the British Airship Squadron, +which forms part of the Royal Flying Corps. The descent took place from +the Delta air-ship, which ascended from Farnborough Common. In the car +with Major Maitland were the pilot, Captain Waterlow, and a passenger. +The parachute was suspended from the rigging of the Delta, and when a +height of about 2000 feet had been reached it was dropped over to the +side of the car. With the dirigible travelling at about 20 miles an hour +the major climbed over the car and seated himself in the parachute. Then +it became detached from the Delta and shot downwards for about 200 feet +at a terrific rate. For a moment or two it was thought that the opening +apparatus had failed to work; but gradually the "umbrella" opened, and +the gallant major had a gentle descent for the rest of the distance. + +This experiment was really made in order to prove the stability of an +air-ship after a comparatively great weight was suddenly removed from +it. Lord Edward Grosvenor, who is attached to the Royal Flying Corps, +was one of the eyewitnesses of the descent. In speaking of it he said: +"We all think highly of Major Maitland's performance, which has shown +how the difficulty of lightening an air-ship after a long flight can be +surmounted. During a voyage of several hours a dirigible naturally loses +gas, and without some means of relieving her of weight she might have +to descend in a hostile country. Major Maitland has proved the +practicability of members of an air-ship's crew dropping to the ground +if the necessity arises." + +A descent in a parachute has also been made from an aeroplane by M. +Pegoud, the daring French airman, of whom we speak later. A certain +Frenchman, M. Bonnet, had constructed a parachute which was intended +to be used by the pilot of an aeroplane if on any occasion he got into +difficulties. It had been tried in many ways, but, unfortunately for the +inventor, he could get no pilot to trust himself to it. Tempting offers +were made to pilots of world-wide fame, but either the risk was thought +to be too great, or it was believed that no practical good would come of +the experiment. At last the inventor approached M. Pegoud, who undertook +to make the descent. This was accomplished from a great height with +perfect safety. It seems highly probable that in the near future +the parachute will form part of the equipment of every aeroplane and +air-ship. + + + +CHAPTER VII. Some British Inventors of Air-ships + +The first Englishman to invent an air-ship was Mr. Stanley Spencer, head +of the well-known firm of Spencer Brothers, whose works are at Highbury, +North London. + +This firm has long held an honourable place in aeronautics, both in the +construction of air-craft and in aerial navigation. Spencer Brothers +claim to be the premier balloon manufacturers in the world, and, at the +time of writing, eighteen balloons and two dirigibles lie in the works +ready for use. In these works there may also be seen the frame of the +famous Santos-Dumont air-ship, referred to later in this book. + +In general appearance the first Spencer air-ship was very similar to +the airship flown by Santos-Dumont; that is, there was the cigar-shaped +balloon, the small engine, and the screw propellor for driving the craft +forward. + +But there was one very important distinction between the two air-ships. +By a most ingenious contrivance the envelope was made so that, in the +event of a large and serious escape of gas, the balloon would assume +the form of a giant umbrella, and fall to earth after the manner of a +parachute. + +All inventors profit, or should profit, by the experience of others, +whether such experience be gained by success or failure. It was found +that Santos-Dumont's air-ship lost a considerable amount of gas when +driven through the air, and on several occasions the whole craft was in +great danger of collapse. To keep the envelope inflated as tightly as +possible Mr. Spencer, by a clever contrivance, made it possible to force +air into the balloon to replace the escaped gas. + +The first Spencer air-ship was built for experimental purposes. It +was able to lift only one person of light weight, and was thus a great +contrast to the modern dirigible which carries a crew of thirty or forty +people. Mr. Spencer made several exhibition flights in his little craft +at the Crystal Palace, and so successful were they that he determined to +construct a much larger craft. + +The second Spencer air-ship, first launched in 1903, was nearly 100 feet +long. There was one very important distinction between this and other +air-ships built at that time: the propeller was placed in front of the +craft, instead of at the rear, as is the case in most air-ships. +Thus the craft was pulled through the air much after the manner of an +aeroplane. + +In the autumn of 1903 great enthusiasm was aroused in London by the +announcement that Mr. Spencer proposed to fly from the Crystal Palace +round the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral and back to his starting-place. +This was a much longer journey than that made by Santos-Dumont when he +won the Deutsch prize. + +Tens of thousands of London's citizens turned out to witness the novel +sight of a giant air-ship hovering over the heart of their city, and +it was at once seen what enormous possibilities there were in the +employment of such craft in time of war. The writer remembers well +moving among the dense crowds and hearing everywhere such remarks as +these: + +"What would happen if a few bombs were thrown over the side of the +air-ship?" "Will there be air-fleets in future, manned by the soldiers +or sailors?" Indeed the uppermost thought in people's minds was not so +much the possibility of Mr. Spencer being able to complete his journey +successfully--nearly everyone recognized that air-ship construction had +now advanced so far that it was only a matter of time for an ideal craft +to be built--but that the coming of the air-ship was an affair of grave +international importance. + +The great craft, glistening in the sunlight, sailed majestically from +the south, but when it reached the Cathedral it refused to turn round +and face the wind. Try how he might, Mr. Spencer could not make any +progress. It was a thrilling sight to witness this battle with the +elements, right over the heart of the largest city in the world. At +times the air-ship seemed to be standing quite still, head to wind. +Unfortunately, half a gale had sprung up, and the 24-horse-power engine +was quite incapable of conquering so stiff a breeze, and making its way +home again. After several gallant attempts to circle round the dome, Mr. +Spencer gave up in despair, and let the monster air-ship drift with +the wind over the northern suburbs of the city until a favourable +landing-place near Barnet was reached, where he descended. + +The Spencer air-ships are of the non-rigid type. Spencer air-ship +A comprises a gas vessel for hydrogen 88 feet long and 24 feet in +diameter, with a capacity of 26,000 cubic feet. The framework is of +polished ash wood, made in sections so that it can easily be taken +to pieces and transported, and the length over all is 56 feet. Two +propellers 7 feet 6 inches diameter, made of satin-wood, are employed to +drive the craft, which is equipped with a Green engine of from 35 to 40 +horse-power. + +Spencer's air-ship B is a much larger vessel, being 150 feet long and +35 feet in diameter, with a capacity for hydrogen of 100,000 cubic feet. +The framework is of steel and aluminium, made in sections, with cars +for ten persons, including aeronauts, mechanics, and passengers. It is +driven with two petrol aerial engines of from 50 to 60 horse-power. + +About the time that Mr. Spencer was experimenting with his large +air-ship, Dr. Barton, of Beckenham, was forming plans for an even larger +craft. This he laid down in the spacious grounds of the Alexandra Park, +to the north of London. An enormous shed was erected on the northern +slopes of the park, but visitors to the Alexandra Palace, intent on +a peep at the monster air-ship under construction, were sorely +disappointed, as the utmost secrecy in the building of the craft was +maintained. + +The huge balloon was 43 feet in diameter and 176 feet long, with a gas +capacity of 235,000 cubic feet. To maintain the external form of the +envelope a smaller balloon, or compensator, was placed inside the larger +one. The framework was of bamboo, and the car was attached by about +eighty wire-cables. The wooden deck was about 123 feet in length. Two +50-horse-power engines drove four propellers, two of which were at +either end. + +The inventor employed a most ingenious contrivance to preserve the +horizontal balance of the air-ship. Fitted, one at each end of the +carriage, were two 50-gallon tanks. These tanks were connected with a +long pipe, in the centre of which was a hand-pump. When the bow of the +air-ship dipped, the man at the pump could transfer some of the water +from the fore-tank to the after-tank, and the ship would right itself. +The water could similarly be transferred from the after-tank to the +fore-tank when the stern of the craft pointed downwards. + +There were many reports, in the early months of 1905, that the air-ship +was going to be brought out from the shed for its trial flights, and the +writer, in common with many other residents in the vicinity of the park, +made dozens of journeys to the shed in the expectation of seeing +the mighty dirigible sail away. But for months we were doomed to +disappointment; something always seemed to go wrong at the last minute, +and the flight had to be postponed. + +At last, in 1905, the first ascent took place. It was unsuccessful. The +huge balloon, made of tussore silk, cruised about for some time, then +drifted away with the breeze, and came to grief in landing. + +A clever inventor of air-ships, a young Welshman, Mr. E. T. Willows, +designed in 1910, an air-ship in which he flew from Cardiff to London +in the dark--a distance of 139 miles. In the same craft he crossed the +English Channel a little later. + +Mr. Willows has a large shed in the London aerodrome at Hendon, and he +is at present working there on a new air-ship. For some time he has been +the only successful private builder of air-ships in Great Britain. The +Navy possess a small Willows air-ship. + +Messrs. Vickers, the famous builders of battleships, are giving +attention to the construction of air-ships for the Navy, in their works +at Walney Island, Barrow-in-Furness. This firm has erected an enormous +shed, 540 feet long, 150 feet broad, and 98 feet high. In this shed two +of the largest air-ships can be built side by side. Close at hand is an +extensive factory for the production of hydrogen gas. + +At each end of the roof are towers from which the difficult task of +safely removing an air-ship from the shed can be directed. + +At the time of writing, the redoubtable DORA (Defence of the Realm Act) +forbids any but the vaguest references to what is going forward in the +way of additions to our air forces. But it may be stated that air-ships +are included in the great constructive programme now being carried +out. It is not long since the citizens of Glasgow were treated to the +spectacle of a full-sized British "Zep" circling round the city prior to +her journey south, and so to regions unspecified. And use, too, is being +found by the naval arm for that curious hybrid the "Blimp", which may be +described as a cross between an aeroplane and an air-ship. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. The First Attempts to Steer a Balloon + +For nearly a century after the invention of the Montgolfier and Charlier +balloons there was not much progress made in the science of aeronautics. +True, inventors such as Charles Green suggested and carried out new +methods of inflating balloons, and scientific observations of great +importance were made by balloonists both in Britain and on the +Continent. But in the all-important work of steering the huge craft, +progress was for many years practically at a standstill. All that the +balloonist could do in controlling his balloon was to make it ascend or +descend at will; he could not guide its direction of flight. No doubt +pioneers of aeronautics early turned their attention to the problem of +providing some apparatus, or some method, of steering their craft. +One inventor suggested the hoisting of a huge sail at the side of the +envelope; but when this was done the balloon simply turned round with +the sail to the front. It had no effect on the direction of flight of +the balloon. "Would not a rudder be of use?" someone asked. This plan +was also tried, but was equally unsuccessful. + +Perhaps some of us may wonder how it is that a rudder is not as +serviceable on a balloon as it is on the stern of a boat. Have you ever +found yourself in a boat on a calm day, drifting idly down stream, and +going just as fast as the stream goes? Work the rudder how you may, you +will not alter the boat's course. But supposing your boat moves faster +than the stream, or by some means or other is made to travel slower than +the current, then your rudder will act, and you may take what direction +you will. + +It was soon seen that if some method could be adopted whereby the +balloon moved through the air faster or slower than the wind, then the +aeronaut would be able to steer it. Nowadays a balloon's pace can be +accelerated by means of a powerful motor-engine, but the invention of +the petrol-engine is very recent. Indeed, the cause of the long delay in +the construction of a steerable balloon was that a suitable engine +could not be found. A steam-engine, with a boiler of sufficient power +to propel a balloon, is so heavy that it would require a balloon of +impossible size to lift it. + +One of the first serious attempts to steer a balloon by means of engine +power was that made by M. Giffard in 1852. Giffard's balloon was +about 100 feet long and 40 feet in diameter, and resembled in shape +an elongated cigar. A 3-horse-power steam-engine, weighing nearly 500 +pounds, was provided to work a propeller, but the enormous weight was so +great in proportion to the lifting power of the balloon that for a time +the aeronaut could not leave the ground. After several experiments the +inventor succeeded in ascending, when he obtained a speed against the +wind of about 6 miles an hour. + +A balloon of great historical interest was that invented by Dupuy du +Lonie, in the year 1872. Instead of using steam he employed a number of +men to propel the craft, and with this air-ship he hoped to communicate +with the besieged city of Paris. + +His greatest speed against a moderate breeze was only about 5 miles +an hour, and the endurance of the men did not allow of even this speed +being kept up for long at a time. + +Dupuy foreshadowed the construction of the modern dirigible air-ship by +inventing a system of suspension links which connected the car to +the envelope; and he also used an internal ballonet similar to those +described in Chapter X. + +In the year 1883 Tissandier invented a steerable balloon which was +fitted with an electric motor of 1 1/2 horse-power. This motor drove +a propeller, and a speed of about 8 miles an hour was attained. It is +interesting to contrast the power obtained from this engine with that +of recent Zeppelin air-ships, each of which is fitted with three or four +engines, capable of producing over 800 horse-power. + +The first instance on record of an air-ship being steered back to its +starting-point was that of La France. This air-craft was the invention +of two French army captains, Reynard and Krebs. By special and +much-improved electric motors a speed of about 14 miles an hour was +attained. + +Thus, step by step, progress was made; but notwithstanding the promising +results it was quite evident that the engines were far too heavy +in proportion to the power they supplied. At length, however, the +internal-combustion engine, such as is used in motor-cars, arrived, and +it became at last possible to solve the great problem of constructing a +really-serviceable, steerable balloon. + + + +CHAPTER IX. The Strange Career of Count Zeppelin + +In Berlin, on March 8, 1917, there passed away a man whose name will be +remembered as long as the English language is spoken. For Count Zeppelin +belongs to that little band of men who giving birth to a work of +genius have also given their names to the christening of it; and so the +patronymic will pass down the ages. + +In the most sinister sense of the expression Count Zeppelin may be said +to have left his mark deep down upon the British race. In course of time +many old scores are forgiven and forgotten, but the Zeppelin raids on +England will survive, if only as a curious failure. Their failure was +both material and moral. Anti-aircraft guns and our intrepid airmen +brought one after another of these destructive monsters blazing to the +ground, and their work of "frightfulness" was taken up by the aeroplane; +while more lamentable still was the failure of the Zeppelin as an +instrument of terror to the civil population. In the long list of German +miscalculations must be included that which pictured the victims of +bombardment from the air crying out in terror for peace at any price. + +Before the war Count Zeppelin was regarded by the British public as +rather a picturesque personality. He appeared in the romantic guise of +the inventor struggling against difficulties and disasters which would +soon have overwhelmed a man of less resolute character. Even old age +was included in his handicap, for he was verging on seventy when still +arming against a sea of troubles. + +The ebb and flow of his fortunes were followed with intense interest +in this country, and it is not too much to say that the many disasters +which overtook his air-ships in their experimental stages were regarded +as world-wide calamities. + +When, finally, the Count stood on the brink of ruin and the Kaiser +stepped forward as his saviour, something like a cheer went up from +the British public at this theatrical episode. Little did the audience +realize what was to be the outcome of the association between these +callous and masterful minds. + +And now for a brief sketch of Count Zeppelin's life-story. He was born +in 1838, in a monastery on an island in Lake Constance. His love of +adventure took him to America, and when he was about twenty-five years +of age he took part in the American Civil War. Here he made his first +aerial ascent in a balloon belonging to the Federal army, and in this +way made that acquaintance with aeronautics which became the ruling +passion of his life. + +After the war was over he returned to Germany, only to find another war +awaiting him--the Austro-Prussian campaign. Later on he took part in the +Franco-Prussian War, and in both campaigns he emerged unscathed. + +But his heart was not in the profession of soldiering. He had the +restless mind of the inventor, and when he retired, a general, after +twenty years' military service, he was free to give his whole attention +to his dreams of aerial navigation. His greatest ambition was to make +his country pre-eminent in aerial greatness. + +Friends to whom he revealed his inmost thoughts laughed at him behind +his back, and considered that he was "a little bit wrong in his head". +Certainly his ideas of a huge aerial fleet appeared most extravagant, +for it must be remembered that the motor-engine had not then arrived, +and there appeared no reasonable prospect of its invention. + +Perseverance, however, was the dominant feature of Count Zeppelin's +character; he refused to be beaten. His difficulties were formidable. +In the first place, he had to master the whole science of aeronautics, +which implies some knowledge of mechanics, meteorology, and electricity. +This in itself was no small task for a man of over fifty years of age, +for it was not until Count Zeppelin had retired from the army that he +began to study these subjects at all deeply. + +The next step was to construct a large shed for the housing of his +air-ship, and also for the purpose of carrying out numerous costly +experiments. The Count selected Friedrichshafen, on the shores of Lake +Constance, as his head-quarters. He decided to conduct his experiments +over the calm waters of the lake, in order to lessen the effects of a +fall. The original shed was constructed on pontoons, and it could be +turned round as desired, so that the air-ship could be brought out in +the lee of any wind from whatsoever quarter it came. + +It is said that the Count's private fortune of about L25,000 was soon +expended in the cost of these works and the necessary experiments. To +continue his work he had to appeal for funds to all his friends, and +also to all patriotic Germans, from the Kaiser downwards. + +At length, in 1908, there came a turning-point in his fortunes. The +German Government, which had watched the Count's progress with great +interest, offered to buy his invention outright if he succeeded in +remaining aloft in one of his dirigibles for twenty-four hours. The +Count did not quite succeed in his task, but he aroused the great +interest of the whole German nation, and a Zeppelin fund was +established, under the patronage of the Kaiser, in every town and city +in the Fatherland. In about a month the fund amounted to over L300,000. +With this sum the veteran inventor was able to extend his works, and +produce air-ship after air-ship with remarkable rapidity. + +When, war broke out it is probable that Germany possessed at least +thirteen air-ships which had fulfilled very difficult tests. One had +flown 1800 miles in a single journey. Thus the East Coast of England, +representing a return journey of less than 600 miles was well within +their range of action. + + + +CHAPTER X. A Zeppelin Air-ship and its Construction + +After the Zeppelin fund had brought in a sum of money which probably +exceeded all expectations, a company was formed for the construction +of dirigibles in the Zeppelin works on Lake Constance, and in 1909 an +enormous air-ship was produced. + +In shape a Zeppelin dirigible resembled a gigantic cigar, pointed at +both ends. If placed with one end on the ground in Trafalgar Square, +London, its other end would be nearly three times the height of the +Nelson Column, which, as you may know, is 166 feet. + +From the diagram here given, which shows a sectional view of a typical +Zeppelin air-ship, we may obtain a clear idea of the main features of +the craft. From time to time, during the last dozen years or so, the +inventor has added certain details, but the main features as shown in +the illustration are common to all air-craft of this type. + +Zeppelin L1 was 525 feet in length, with a diameter of 50 feet. Some +idea of the size may be obtained through the knowledge that she was +longer than a modern Dreadnought. The framework was made of specially +light metal, aluminium alloy, and wood. This framework, which was stayed +with steel wire, maintained the shape and rigidity of her gas-bags; +hence vessels of this type are known as RIGID air-ships. Externally the +hull was covered with a waterproof fabric. + +Though, from outside, a rigid air-ship looks to be all in one piece, +within it is divided into numerous compartments. In Zeppelin L1 there +were eighteen separate compartments, each of which contained a balloon +filled with hydrogen gas. The object of providing the vessel with these +small balloons, or ballonets, all separate from one another, was to +prevent the gas collecting all at one end of the ship as the +vessel travelled through the air. Outside the ballonets there was a +ring-shaped, double bottom, containing non-inflammable gas, and the +whole was enclosed in rubber-coated fabric. + +The crew and motors were carried in cars slung fore and aft. The ship +was propelled by three engines, each of 170 horse-power. One engine was +placed in the forward car, and the two others in the after car. To steer +her to right or left, she had six vertical planes somewhat resembling +box-kites, while eight horizontal planes enabled her to ascend or +descend. + +In Zeppelin L2, which was a later type of craft, there were four motors +capable of developing 820 horse-power. These drove four propellers, +which gave the craft a speed of about 45 miles an hour. + +The cars were connected by a gangway built within the framework. On the +top of the gas-chambers was a platform of aluminium alloy, carrying a +1-pounder gun, and used also as an observation station. It is thought +that L1 was also provided with four machine-guns in her cars. + +Later types of Zeppelins were fitted with a "wireless" installation of +sufficient range to transmit and receive messages up to 350 miles. L1 +could rise to the height of a mile in favourable weather, and carry +about 7 tons over and above her own weight. + +Even when on ground the unwieldy craft cause many anxious moments to +the officers and mechanics who handle them. Two of the line have broken +loose from their anchorage in a storm and have been totally destroyed. +Great difficulty is also experienced in getting them in and out of their +sheds. Here, indeed, is a contrast with the ease and rapidity with which +an aeroplane is removed from its hangar. + +It was maintained by the inventor that, as the vessel is rigid, and +therefore no pressure is required in the gas-chamber to maintain its +shape, it will not be readily vulnerable to projectiles. But the Count +did not foresee that the very "frightfulness" of his engine of war would +engender counter-destructives. In a later chapter an account will be +given of the manner in which Zeppelin attacks upon these islands were +gradually beaten off by the combined efforts of anti-aircraft guns and +aeroplanes. To the latter, and the intrepid pilots and fighters, is due +the chief credit for the final overthrow of the Zeppelin as a weapon of +offence. Both the British and French airmen in various brilliant sallies +succeeded in gradually breaking up and destroying this Armada of the +Air; and the Zeppelin was forced back to the one line of work in which +it has proved a success, viz., scouting for the German fleet in the few +timid sallies it has made from home ports. + + + +CHAPTER XI. The Semi-rigid Air-ship + +Modern air-ships are of three general types: RIGID, SEMI-RIGID, and +NON-RIGID. These differ from one another, as the names suggest, in the +important feature, the RIGIDITY, NON-RIGIDITY, and PARTIAL RIGIDITY of +the gas envelope. + +Hitherto we have discussed the RIGID type of vessel with which the name +of Count Zeppelin is so closely associated. This vessel is, as we have +seen, not dependent for its form on the gas-bag, but is maintained +in permanent shape by means of an aluminium framework. A serious +disadvantage to this type of craft is that it lacks the portability +necessary for military purposes. It is true that the vessel can be taken +to pieces, but not quickly. The NON-RIGID type, on the other hand, can +be quickly deflated, and the parts of the car and engine can be readily +transported to the nearest balloon station when occasion requires. + +In the SEMI-RIGID type of air-ship the vessel is dependent for its form +partly on its framework and partly on the form of the gas envelope. The +under side of the balloon consists of a flat rigid framework, to +which the planes are attached, and from which the car, the engine, and +propeller are suspended. + +As the rigid type of dirigible is chiefly advocated in Germany, so the +semi-rigid craft is most popular in France. The famous Lebaudy air-ships +are good types of semi-rigid vessels. These were designed for the firm +of Lebaudy Freres by the well-known French engineer M. Henri Julliot. + +In November, 1902, M. Julliot and M. Surcouf completed an air-ship for +M. Lebaudy which attained a speed of nearly 25 miles an hour. The craft, +which was named Lebaudy I, made many successful voyages, and in 1905 M. +Lebaudy offered a second vessel, Lebaudy II, to the French Minister of +War, who accepted it for the French nation, and afterwards decided to +order another dirigible, La Patrie, of the same type. Disaster, however, +followed these air-ships. Lebaudy I was torn from its anchorage during +a heavy gale in 1906, and was completely wrecked. La Patrie, after +travelling in 1907 from Paris to Verdun, in seven hours, was, a few days +later, caught in a gale, and the pilot was forced to descend. The wind, +however, was so strong that 200 soldiers were unable to hold down the +unwieldy craft, and it was torn from their hands. It sailed away in a +north-westerly direction over the Channel into England, and ultimately +disappeared into the North Sea, where it was subsequently discovered +some days after the accident. + +Notwithstanding these disasters the French military authorities +ordered another craft of the same type, which was afterwards named the +Republique. This vessel made a magnificent flight of six and a half +hours in 1908, and it was considered to have quite exceptional features, +which eclipsed the previous efforts of Messrs. Julliot and Lebaudy. + +Unfortunately, however, this vessel was wrecked in a very terrible +manner. While out cruising with a crew of four officers one of the +propeller blades was suddenly fractured, and, flying off with immense +force, it entered the balloon, which it ripped to pieces. The majestic +craft crumpled up and crashed to the ground, killing its crew in its +fall. + +In the illustration facing p. 17, of a Lebaudy air-ship, we have a good +type of the semi-rigid craft. In shape it somewhat resembles an enormous +porpoise, with a sharply-pointed nose. The whole vessel is not as +symmetrical as a Zeppelin dirigible, but its inventors claim that +the sharp prow facilitates the steady displacement of the air during +flight. The stern is rounded so as to provide sufficient support for the +rear planes. + +Two propellers are employed, and are fixed outside the car, one on +each side, and almost in the centre of the vessel. This is a some what +unusual arrangement. Some inventors, such as Mr. Spencer, place the +propellers at the prow, so that the air-ship is DRAWN along; others +prefer the propeller at the stern, whereby the craft is PUSHED along; +but M. Julliot chose the central position, because there the disturbance +of the air is smallest. + +The body of the balloon is not quite round, for the lower part is +flattened and rests on a rigid frame from which the car is suspended. +The balloon is divided into three compartments, so that the heavier air +does not move to one part of the balloon when it is tilted. + +In the picture there is shown the petrol storage-tank, which is +suspended immediately under the rear horizontal plane, where it is out +of danger of ignition from the hot engine placed in the car. + + + +CHAPTER XII. A Non-rigid Balloon + +Hitherto we have described the rigid and semi-rigid types of air-ships. +We have seen that the former maintains its shape without assistance +from the gas which inflates its envelope and supplies the lifting power, +while the latter, as its name implies, is dependent for its form partly +on the flat rigid framework to which the car is attached, and partly on +the gas balloon. + +We have now to turn our attention to that type of craft known as a +NON-RIGID BALLOON. This vessel relies for its form ENTIRELY upon the +pressure of the gas, which keeps the envelope distended with sufficient +tautness to enable it to be driven through the air at a considerable +speed. + +It will at once be seen that the safety of a vessel of this type depends +on the maintenance of the gas pressure, and that it is liable to +be quickly put out of action if the envelope becomes torn. Such an +occurrence is quite possible in war. A well-directed shell which pierced +the balloon would undoubtedly be disastrous to air-ship and crew. For +this reason the non-rigid balloon does not appear to have much future +value as a fighting ship. But, as great speed can be obtained from +it, it seems especially suited for short overland voyages, either for +sporting or commercial purposes. One of its greatest advantages is that +it can be easily deflated, and can be packed away into a very small +compass. + +A good type of the non-rigid air-ship is that built by Major Von +Parseval, which is named after its inventor. The Parseval has been +described as "a marvel of modern aeronautical construction", and also as +"one of the most perfect expressions of modern aeronautics, not only on +account of its design, but owing to its striking efficiency." + +The balloon has the elongated form, rounded or pointed at one end, or +both ends, which is common to most air-ships. The envelope is composed +of a rubber-texture fabric, and externally it is painted yellow, so that +the chemical properties of the sun's rays may not injure the rubber. +There are two smaller interior balloons, or COMPENSATORS, into which can +be pumped air by means of a mechanically-driven fan or ventilator, to +make up for contraction of the gas when descending or meeting a cooler +atmosphere. The compensators occupy about one-quarter of the whole +volume. + +To secure the necessary inclination of the balloon while in flight, air +can be transferred from one of the compensators, say at the fore end of +the ship, into the ballonet in the aft part. Suppose it is desired to +incline the bow of the craft upward, then the ventilating fan would +DEFLATE the fore ballonet and INFLATE the aft one, so that the latter, +becoming heavier, would lower the stern and raise the bow of the vessel. + +Along each side of the envelope are seen strips to which the car +suspension-cords are attached. To prevent these cords being jerked +asunder, by the rolling or pitching of the vessel, horizontal fins, each +172 square feet in area, are provided at each side of the rear end of +the balloon. In the past several serious accidents have been caused by +the violent pitching of the balloon when caught in a gale, and so severe +have been the stresses on the suspension cords that great damage has +been done to the envelope, and the aeronauts have been fortunate if they +have been able to make a safe descent. + +The propeller and engine are carried by the car, which is slung well +below the balloon, and by an ingenious contrivance the car always +remains in a horizontal position, however much the balloon may be +inclined. It is no uncommon occurrence for the balloon to make a +considerable angle with the car beneath. + +The propeller is quite a work of art. It has a diameter of about 14 +feet, and consists of a frame of hollow steel tubes covered with fabric. +It is so arranged that when out of action its blades fall lengthwise +upon the frame supporting it, but when it is set to work the blades +at once open out. The engine weighs 770 pounds, and has six cylinders, +which develop 100 horse-power at 1200 revolutions a minute. + +The vessel may be steered either to the right or the left by means of a +large vertical helm, some 80 square feet in area, which is hinged at the +rear end to a fixed vertical plane of 200 square feet area. + +An upward or downward inclination is, as we have seen, effected by +the ballonets, but in cases of emergency these compensators cannot be +deflated or inflated sufficiently rapidly, and a large movable weight is +employed for altering the balance of the vessel. + +In this country the authorities have hitherto favoured the non-rigid +air-ship for military and naval use. The Astra-Torres belongs to this +type of vessel, which can be rapidly deflated and transported, and so, +too, the air-ship built by Mr. Willows. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. The Zeppelin and Gotha Raids + +In the House of Commons recently Mr. Bonar Law announced that since +the commencement of the war 14,250 lives had been lost as the result of +enemy action by submarines and air-craft. A large percentage of these +figures represents women, children, and defenceless citizens. + +One had become almost hardened to the German method of making war on the +civil population--that system of striving to act upon civilian "nerves" +by calculated brutality which is summed up in the word "frightfulness". +But the publication of these figures awoke some of the old horror of +German warfare. The sum total of lives lost brought home to the people +at home the fact that bombardment from air and sea, while it had failed +to shake their MORAL, had taken a large toll of human life. + +At first the Zeppelin raids were not taken very seriously in this +country. People rushed out of their houses to see the unwonted spectacle +of an air-ship dealing death and destruction from the clouds. But soon +the novelty began to wear off, and as the raids became more frequent +and the casualty lists grew larger, people began to murmur against the +policy of taking these attacks "lying down". It was felt that "darkness +and composure" formed but a feeble and ignoble weapon of defence. The +people spoke with no uncertain voice, and it began to dawn upon the +authorities that the system of regarding London and the south-east coast +as part of "the front" was no excuse for not taking protective measures. + +It was the raid into the Midlands on the night of 31st January, +1916, that finally shelved the old policy of do nothing. Further +justification, if any were needed, for active measures was supplied by +a still more audacious raid upon the east coast of Scotland, upon +which occasion Zeppelins soared over England--at their will. Then the +authorities woke up, and an extensive scheme of anti-aircraft guns and +squadrons of aeroplanes was devised. About March of the year 1916 the +Germans began to break the monotony of the Zeppelin raids by using +sea-planes as variants. So there was plenty of work for our new +defensive air force. Indeed, people began to ask themselves why we +should not hit back by making raids into Germany. The subject was well +aired in the public press, and distinguished advocates came forward +for and against the policy of reprisals. At a considerably later date +reprisals carried the day, and, as we write, air raids by the British +into Germany are of frequent occurrence. + +In March, 1916, the fruits of the new policy began to appear, and people +found them very refreshing. A fleet of Zeppelins found, on approaching +the mouth of the Thames, a very warm reception. Powerful searchlights, +and shells from new anti-aircraft guns, played all round them. At length +a shot got home. One of the Zeppelins, "winged" by a shell, began +a wobbly retreat which ended in the waters of the estuary. The navy +finished the business. The wrecked air-ship was quickly surrounded by a +little fleet of destroyers and patrol-boats, and the crew were brought +ashore, prisoners. That same night yet another Zeppelin was hit and +damaged in another part of the country. + +Raids followed in such quick succession as to be almost of nightly +occurrence during the favouring moonless nights. Later, the conditions +were reversed, and the attacks by aeroplane were all made in bright +moonlight. But ever the defence became more strenuous. Then aeroplanes +began to play the role of "hornets", as Mr. Winston Churchill, speaking +rather too previously, designated them. + +Lieutenant Brandon, R.F.C., succeeded in dropping several aerial bombs +on a Zeppelin during the raid on March 31, but it was not until six +months later that an airman succeeded in bringing down a Zeppelin on +British soil. The credit of repeating Lieutenant Warneford's great feat +belongs to Lieutenant W. R. Robinson, and the fight was witnessed by +a large gathering. It occurred in the very formidable air raid on the +night of September 2. Breathlessly the spectators watched the Zeppelin +harried by searchlight and shell-fire. Suddenly it disappeared behind +a veil of smoke which it had thrown out to baffle its pursuers. Then it +appeared again, and a loud shout went up from the watching thousands. +It was silhouetted against the night clouds in a faint line of fire. The +hue deepened, the glow spread all round, and the doomed airship began +its crash to earth in a smother of flame. The witnesses to this amazing +spectacle naturally supposed that a shell had struck the Zeppelin. Its +tiny assailant that had dealt the death-blow had been quite invisible +during the fight. Only on the following morning did the public learn of +Lieutenant Robinson's feat. It appeared that he had been in the air +a couple of hours, engaged in other conflicts with his monster foes. +Besides the V.C. the plucky airman won considerable money prizes from +citizens for destroying the first Zeppelin on British soil. + +The Zeppelin raids continued at varying intervals for the remainder +of the year. As the power of the defence increased the air-ships were +forced to greater altitudes, with a corresponding decrease in the +accuracy with which they could aim bombs on specified objects. But, +however futile the raids, and however widely they missed their mark, +there was no falling off in the outrageous claims made in the German +communiques. Bombs dropped in fields, waste lands, and even the sea, +masqueraded in the reports as missiles which had sunk ships in harbour, +destroyed docks, and started fires in important military areas. So +persistent were these exaggerations that it became evident that the +Zeppelin raids were intended quite as much for moral effect at home as +for material damage abroad. The heartening effect of the raids upon +the German populace is evidenced by the mental attitude of men made +prisoners on any of the fronts. Only with the utmost difficulty were +their captors able to persuade them that London and other large towns +were not in ruins; that shipbuilding was not at a standstill; and that +the British people was not ready at any moment to purchase indemnity +from the raids by concluding a German peace. When one method of +terrorism fails try another, was evidently the German motto. After the +Zeppelin the Gotha, and after that the submarine. + +The next year--1917--brought in a very welcome change in the situation. +One Zeppelin after another met with its just deserts, the British navy +in particular scoring heavily against them. Nor must the skill and +enterprise of our French allies be forgotten. In March, 1917, they shot +down a Zeppelin at Compiegne, and seven months later dealt the blow +which finally rid these islands of the Zeppelin menace. + +For nearly a year London, owing to its greatly increased defences, had +been free from attack. Then, on the night of October 19, Germany made +a colossal effort to make good their boast of laying London in ruins. A +fleet of eleven Zeppelins came over, five of which found the city. One, +drifting low and silently, was responsible for most of the casualties, +which totalled 34 killed and 56 injured. + +The fleet got away from these shores without mishap. Then, at long last, +came retribution. Flying very high, they seem to have encountered an +aerial storm which drove them helplessly over French territory. Our +allies were swift to seize this golden opportunity. Their airmen and +anti-aircraft guns shot down no less than four of the Zeppelins in broad +daylight, one of which was captured whole. Of the remainder, one at +least drifted over the Mediterranean, and was not heard of again. That +was the last of the Zeppelin, so far as the civilian population was +concerned. But, for nearly a year, the work of killing citizens had been +undertaken by the big bomb-dropping Gotha aeroplanes. + +The work of the Gotha belongs rightly to the second part of this book, +which deals with aeroplanes and airmen; but it would be convenient to +dispose here of the part played by the Gotha in the air raids upon this +country. + +The reconnaissance took place on Tuesday, November 28, 1916, when in a +slight haze a German aeroplane suddenly appeared over London, dropped +six bombs, and flew off. The Gotha was intercepted off Dunkirk by the +French, and brought down. Pilot and observer-two naval lieutenants-were +found to have a large-scale map of London in their possession. The new +era of raids had commenced. + +Very soon it became evident that the new squadron of Gothas were much +more destructive than the former fleets of unwieldy Zeppelins. These +great Gothas were each capable of dropping nearly a ton of bombs. And +their heavy armament and swift flight rendered them far less vulnerable +than the air-ship. + +From March 1 to October 31, 1917, no less than twenty-two raids +took place, chiefly on London and towns on the south-east coast. The +casualties amounted to 484 killed and 410 wounded. The two worst raids +occurred June 13 on East London, and September 3 on the Sheerness and +Chatham area. + +A squadron of fifteen aeroplanes carried out the raid, on June 13, and +although they were only over the city for a period of fifteen minutes +the casualty list was exceedingly heavy--104 killed and 432 wounded. +Many children were among the killed and injured as the result of a bomb +which fell upon a Council school. The raid was carried out in daylight, +and the bombs began to drop before any warning could be given. Later, +an effective and comprehensive system of warnings was devised, and when +people had acquired the habit of taking shelter, instead of rushing +out into the street to see the aerial combats, the casualties began to +diminish. + +It is worthy of record that the possible danger to schools had been +anticipated, and for some weeks previously the children had taken part +in "Air Raid Drill". When the raid came, the children behaved in the +most exemplary fashion. They went through the manoeuvres as though it +was merely a rehearsal, and their bearing as well as the coolness of the +teachers obviated all danger from panic. In this raid the enemy first +made use of aerial torpedoes. + +Large loss of life, due to a building being struck, was also the feature +of the moonlight raid on September 4. On this occasion enemy airmen +found a mark on the Royal Naval barracks at Sheerness. The barracks were +fitted with hammocks for sleeping, and no less than 108 bluejackets lost +their lives, the number of wounded amounting to 92. Although the raid +lasted nearly an hour and powerful searchlights were brought into +play, neither guns nor our airmen succeeded in causing any loss to +the raiders. Bombs were dropped at a number of other places, including +Margate and Southend, but without result. + +No less than six raids took place on London before the end of the month, +but the greatest number of killed in any one of the raids was eleven, +while on September 28 the raiders were driven off before they could +claim any victims. The establishment of a close barrage of aerial guns +did much to discourage the raiders, and gradually London, from being the +most vulnerable spot in the British Isles, began to enjoy comparative +immunity from attack. + +Paris, too, during the Great War has had to suffer bombardment from +the air, but not nearly to the same extent as London. The comparative +immunity of Paris from air raids is due partly to the prompt measures +which were taken to defend the capital. The French did not wait, as +did the British, until the populace was goaded to the last point of +exasperation, but quickly instituted the barrage system, in which we +afterwards followed their lead. Moreover, the French were much more +prompt in adopting retaliatory tactics. They hit back without having to +wade through long moral and philosophical disquisitions upon the ethics +of "reprisals". On the other hand, it must be remembered that Paris, +from the aerial standpoint, is a much more difficult objective than +London. The enemy airman has to cross the French lines, which, like his +own, stretch for miles in the rear. Practically he is in hostile country +all the time, and he has to get back across the same dangerous air +zones. It is a far easier task to dodge a few sea-planes over the wide +seas en route to London. And on reaching the coast the airman has to +evade or fight scattered local defences, instead of penetrating the +close barriers which confront him all the way to Paris. + +Since the first Zeppelin attack on Paris on March 21, 1915, when two of +the air-ships reached the suburbs, killing 23 persons and injuring 30, +there have been many raids and attempted raids, but mostly by single +machines. The first air raid in force upon the French capital took place +on January 31, 1918, when a squadron of Gothas crossed the lines north +of Compiegne. Two hospitals were hit, and the casualties from the raid +amounted to 20 killed and 50 wounded. + +After the Italian set-back in the winter of 1917, the Venetian plain +lay open to aerial bombardment by the Germans, who had given substantial +military aid to their Austrian allies. This was an opportunity not to be +lost by Germany, and Venice and other towns of the plain were subject to +systematic bombardment. + +At the time of writing, Germany is beginning to suffer some of the +annoyances she is so ready to inflict upon others. The recently +constituted Air Ministry have just published figures relating to the +air raids into Germany from December 1, 1917, to February 19, 1918 +inclusive. During these eleven weeks no fewer than thirty-five raids +have taken place upon a variety of towns, railways, works, and barracks. +In the list figure such important towns as Mannheim (pop. 20,000) and +Metz (pop. 100,000). The average weight of bombs dropped at each raid +works out about 1000 lbs. This welcome official report is but one of +many signs which point the way to the growing supremacy of the Allies in +the air. + + + + + +PART II. AEROPLANES AND AIRMEN + + + +CHAPTER XIV. Early Attempts in Aviation + +The desire to fly is no new growth in humanity. For countless years men +have longed to emulate the birds--"To soar upward and glide, free as +a bird, over smiling fields, leafy woods, and mirror-like lakes," as a +great pioneer of aviation said. Great scholars and thinkers of old, such +as Horace, Homer, Pindar, Tasso, and all the glorious line, dreamt of +flight, but it has been left for the present century to see those dreams +fulfilled. + +Early writers of the fourth century saw the possibility of aerial +navigation, but those who tried to put their theories in practice were +beset by so many difficulties that they rarely succeeded in leaving the +ground. + +Most of the early pioneers of aviation believed that if a man wanted to +fly he must provide himself with a pair of wings similar to those of a +large bird. The story goes that a certain abbot told King James IV of +Scotland that he would fly from Stirling Castle to Paris. He made for +himself powerful wings of eagles' feathers, which he fixed to his body +and launched himself into the air. As might be expected, he fell and +broke his legs. + +But although the muscles of man are of insufficient strength to bear him +in the air, it has been found possible, by using a motor engine, to give +to man the power of flight which his natural weakness denied him. + +Scientists estimate that to raise a man of about 12 stone in the air and +enable him to fly there would be required an immense pair of wings over +20 feet in span. In comparison with the weight of a man a bird's weight +is remarkably small--the largest bird does not weigh much more than 20 +pounds--but its wing muscles are infinitely stronger in proportion than +the shoulder and arm muscles of a man. + +As we shall see in a succeeding chapter, the "wing" theory was +persevered with for many years some two or three centuries ago, +and later on it was of much use in providing data for the gradual +development of the modern aeroplane. + + + +CHAPTER XV. A Pioneer in Aviation + +Hitherto we have traced the gradual development of the balloon right +from the early days of aeronautics, when the brothers Montgolfier +constructed their hot-air balloon, down to the most modern dirigible. +It is now our purpose, in this and subsequent chapters, to follow the +course of the pioneers of aviation. + +It must not be supposed that the invention of the steerable balloon +was greatly in advance of that of the heavier-than-air machine. Indeed, +developments in both the dirigible airship and the aeroplane have taken +place side by side. In some cases men like Santos Dumont have given +earnest attention to both forms of air-craft, and produced practical +results with both. Thus, after the famous Brazilian aeronaut had won +the Deutsch prize for a flight in an air-ship round the Eiffel tower, he +immediately set to work to construct an aeroplane which he subsequently +piloted at Bagatelle and was awarded the first "Deutsch prize" for +aviation. + +It is generally agreed that the undoubted inventor of the aeroplane, +practically in the form in which it now appears, was an English +engineer, Sir George Cayley. Just over a hundred years ago this clever +Englishman worked out complete plans for an aeroplane, which in many +vital respects embodied the principal parts of the monoplane as it +exists to-day. + +There were wings which were inclined so that they formed a lifting +plane; moreover, the wings were curved, or "cambered", similar to the +wing of a bird, and, as we shall see in a later chapter, this curve is +one of the salient features of the plane of a modern heavier-than-air +machine. Sir George also advocated the screw propeller worked by some +form of "explosion" motor, which at that time had not arrived. Indeed, +if there had been a motor available it is quite possible that England +would have led the way in aviation. But, unfortunately, owing to the +absence of a powerful motor engine, Sir George's ideas could not be +practically carried out till nearly a century later, and then Englishmen +were forestalled by the Wright brothers, of America, as well as by +several French inventors. + +The distinguished French writer, Alphonse Berget, in his book, The +Conquest of the Air, pays a striking tribute to our English inventor, +and this, coming from a gentleman who is writing from a French point +of view, makes the praise of great value. In alluding to Sir George, M. +Berget says: "The inventor, the incontestable forerunner of aviation, +was an Englishman, Sir George Cayley, and it was in 1809 that he +described his project in detail in Nicholson's Journal.... His idea +embodied 'everything'--the wings forming an oblique sail, the empennage, +the spindle forms to diminish resistance, the screw-propeller, the +'explosion' motor,... he even described a means of securing automatic +stability. Is not all that marvellous, and does it not constitute a +complete specification for everything in aviation? + +"Thus it is necessary to inscribe the name of Sir George Cayley in +letters of gold, in the first page of the aeroplane's history. Besides, +the learned Englishman did not confine himself to 'drawing-paper': +he built the first apparatus (without a motor) which gave him results +highly promising. Then he built a second machine, this time with a +motor, but unfortunately during the trials it was smashed to pieces." + +But were these ideas of any practical value? How is it that he did not +succeed in flying, if he had most of the component parts of an aeroplane +as we know it to-day? + +The answer to the second question is that Sir George did not fly, simply +because there was no light petrol motor in existence; the crude motors +in use were far too heavy, in proportion to the power developed, for +service in a flying machine. It was recognized, not only by Sir George, +but by many other English engineers in the first half of the nineteenth +century, that as soon as a sufficiently powerful and light engine did +appear, then half the battle of the conquest of the air would be won. + +But his prophetic voice was of the utmost assistance to such inventors +as Santos Dumont, the Wright brothers, M. Bleriot, and others now +world-famed. It is quite safe to assume that they gave serious attention +to the views held by Sir George, which were given to the world at +large in a number of highly-interesting lectures and magazine articles. +"Ideas" are the very foundation-stones of invention--if we may be +allowed the figure of speech--and Englishmen are proud, and rightly +proud, to number within their ranks the original inventor of the +heavier-than-air machine. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. The "Human Birds" + +For many years after the publication of Sir George Cayley's articles +and lectures on aviation very little was done in the way of aerial +experiments. True, about midway through the nineteenth century two +clever engineers, Henson and Stringfellow, built a model aeroplane after +the design outlined by Sir George; but though their model was not of +much practical value, a little more valuable experience was accumulated +which would be of service when the time should come; in other words, +when the motor engine should arrive. This model can be seen at the +Victoria and Albert Museum, at South Kensington. + +A few years later Stringfellow designed a tiny steam-engine, which he +fitted to an equally tiny monoplane, and it is said that by its aid +he was able to obtain a very short flight through the air. As some +recognition of his enterprise the Aeronautical Society, which was +founded in 1866, awarded him a prize of L100 for his engine. + +The idea of producing a practical form of flying machine was never +abandoned entirely. Here and there experiments continued to be carried +out, and certain valuable conclusions were arrived at. Many advanced +thinkers and writers of half a century ago set forth their opinions on +the possibilities of human flight. Some of them, like Emerson, not only +believed that flight would come, but also stated why it had not arrived. +Thus Emerson, when writing on the subject of air navigation about fifty +years ago, remarked: "We think the population is not yet quite fit for +them, and therefore there will be none. Our friend suggests so many +inconveniences from piracy out of the high air to orchards and lone +houses, and also to high fliers, and the total inadequacy of the present +system of defence, that we have not the heart to break the sleep of the +great public by the repetition of these details. When children come into +the library we put the inkstand and the watch on the high shelf until +they be a little older." + +About the year 1870 a young German engineer, named Otto Lilienthal, +began some experiments with a motorless glider, which in course of time +were to make him world-famed. For nearly twenty years Lilienthal carried +on his aerial research work in secrecy, and it was not until about the +year 1890 that his experimental work was sufficiently advanced for him +to give demonstrations in public. + +The young German was a firm believer in what was known as the +"soaring-plane" theory of flight. From the picture here given we can get +some idea of his curious machine. It consisted of large wings, formed of +thin osiers, over which was stretched light fabric. At the back were +two horizontal rudders shaped somewhat like the long forked tail of +a swallow, and over these was a large steering rudder. The wings were +arranged around the glider's body. The whole apparatus weighed about 40 +pounds. + +Lilienthal's flights, or glides, were made from the top of a +specially-constructed large mound, and in some cases from the summit of +a low tower. The "birdman" would stand on the top of the mound, full +to the wind, and run quickly forward with outstretched wings. When he +thought he had gained sufficient momentum he jumped into the air, and +the wings of the glider bore him through the air to the base of the +mound. + +To preserve the balance of his machine--always a most difficult feat--he +swung his legs and hips to one side or the other, as occasion required, +and, after hundreds of glides had been made, he became so skilful in +maintaining the equilibrium of his machine that he was able to cover a +distance, downhill, of 300 yards. + +Later on, Lilienthal abandoned the glider, or elementary form of +monoplane, and adopted a system of superposed planes, corresponding +to the modern biplane. The promising career of this clever German was +brought to an untimely end in 1896, when, in attempting to glide from +a height of about 80 yards, his apparatus made a sudden downward swoop, +and he broke his neck. + +Now that Lillenthal's experiments had proved conclusively the efficiency +of wings, or planes, as carrying surfaces, other engineers followed in +his footsteps, and tried to improve on his good work. + +The first "birdman" to use a glider in this country was Mr. Percy +Pilcher who carried out his experiments at Cardross in Scotland. His +glides were at first made with a form of apparatus very similar to that +employed by Lilienthal, and in time he came to use much larger +machines. So cumbersome, however, was his apparatus--it weighed nearly +4 stones--that with such a great weight upon his shoulders he could not +run forward quickly enough to gain sufficient momentum to "carry off" +from the hillside. To assist him in launching the apparatus the machine +was towed by horses, and when sufficient impetus had been gained the +tow-rope was cast off. + +Three years after Lilienthal's death Pilcher met with a similar +accident. While making a flight his glider was overturned, and the +unfortunate "birdman" was dashed to death. + +In America there were at this time two or three "human birds", one of +the most famous being M. Octave Chanute. During the years 1895-7 Chanute +made many flights in various types of gliding machines, some of which +had as many as half a dozen planes arranged one above another. His best +results, however, were obtained by the two-plane machine, resembling to +a remarkable extent the modern biplane. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. The Aeroplane and the Bird + +We have seen that the inventors of flying machines in the early days of +aviation modelled their various craft somewhat in the form of a bird, +and that many of them believed that if the conquest of the air was to be +achieved man must copy nature and provide himself with wings. + +Let us closely examine a modern monoplane and discover in what way it +resembles the body of a bird in build. + +First, there is the long and comparatively narrow body, or FUSELAGE, at +the end of which is the rudder, corresponding to the bird's tail. The +chassis, or under carriage, consisting of wheels, skids, &c., may well +be compared with the legs of a bird, and the planes are very similar +in construction to the bird's wings. But here the resemblance ends: the +aeroplane does not fly, nor will it ever fly, as a bird flies. + +If we carefully inspect the wing of a bird--say a large bird, such as +the crow--we shall find it curved or arched from front to back. This +curve, however, is somewhat irregular. At the front edge of the wing +it is sharpest, and there is a gradual dip or slope backwards and +downwards. There is a special reason for this peculiar structure, as we +shall see in a later chapter. + + Now it is quite evident that the inventors of aeroplanes have +modelled the planes of their craft on the bird's wing. Strictly +speaking, the word "plane" is a misnomer when applied to the supporting +structure of an aeroplane. Euclid defines a plane, or a plane surface, +as one in which, any two points being taken, the straight line between +them lies wholly in that surface. But the plane of a flying machine is +curved, or CAMBERED, and if one point were taken on the front of the +so-called plane, and another on the back, a straight line joining these +two points could not possibly lie wholly on the surface. + +All planes are not cambered to the same extent: some have a very small +curvature; in others the curve is greatly pronounced. Planes of the +former type are generally fitted to racing aeroplanes, because they +offer less resistance to the air than do deeply-cambered planes. Indeed, +it is in the degree of camber that the various types of flying machine +show their chief diversity, just as the work of certain shipmasters is +known by the particular lines of the bow and stern of the vessels which +are built in their yards. + +Birds fly by a flapping movement of their wings, or by soaring. We are +quite familiar with both these actions: at one time the bird propels +itself by means of powerful muscles attached to its wings by means of +which the wings are flapped up and down; at another time the bird, with +wings nicely adjusted so as to take advantage of all the peculiarities +of the air currents, keeps them almost stationary, and soars or glides +through the air. + +The method of soaring alone has long since been proved to be +impracticable as a means of carrying a machine through the air, unless, +of course, one describes the natural glide of an aeroplane from a great +height down to earth as soaring. But the flapping motion was not proved +a failure until numerous experiments by early aviators had been tried. + +Probably the most successful attempt at propulsion by this method was +that of a French locksmith named Besnier. Over two hundred years ago he +made for himself a pair of light wooden paddles, with blades at either +end, somewhat similar in shape to the double paddle of a canoe. These +he placed over his shoulders, his feet being attached by ropes to the +hindmost paddles. Jumping off from some high place in the face of a +stiff breeze, he violently worked his arms and legs, so that the paddles +beat the air and gave him support. It is said that Besnier became so +expert in the management of his simple apparatus that he was able to +raise himself from the ground, and skim lightly over fields and rivers +for a considerable distance. + +Now it has been shown that the enormous extent of wing required to +support a man of average weight would be much too large to be flapped +by man's arm muscles. But in this, as with everything else, we have +succeeded in harnessing the forces of nature into our service as tools +and machinery. + +And is not this, after all, one of the chief, distinctions between man +and the lower orders of creation? The latter fulfil most of their bodily +requirements by muscular effort. If a horse wants to get from one place +to another it walks; man can go on wheels. None of the lower animals +makes a single tool to assist it in the various means of sustaining +life; but man puts on his "thinking-cap", and invents useful machines +and tools to enable him to assist or dispense with muscular movement. + +Thus we find that in aviation man has designed the propeller, which, +by its rapid revolutions derived from the motive power of the aerial +engine, cuts a spiral pathway through the air and drives the light +craft rapidly forward. The chief use of the planes is for support to +the machine, and the chief duty of the pilot is to balance and steer the +craft by the manipulation of the rudder, elevation and warping controls. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. A Great British Inventor of Aeroplanes + +Though, as we have seen, most of the early attempts at aerial navigation +were made by foreign engineers, yet we are proud to number among the +ranks of the early inventors of heavier-than-air machines Sir Hiram +Maxim, who, though an American by birth, has spent most of his life in +Britain and may therefore be called a British inventor. + +Perhaps to most of us this inventor's name is known more in connection +with the famous "Maxim" gun, which he designed, and which was named +after him. But as early as 1894, when the construction of aeroplanes was +in a very backward state, Sir Hiram succeeded in making an interesting +and ingenious aeroplane, which he proposed to drive by a particularly +light steam-engine. + +Sir Hiram's first machine, which was made in 1890, was designed to be +guided by a double set of rails, one set arranged below and the other +above its running wheels. The intention was to make the machine raise +itself just off the ground rails, but yet be prevented from soaring by +the set of guard rails above the wheels, which acted as a check on it. +The motive force was given by a very powerful steam-engine of over 300 +horse-power, and this drove two enormous propellers, some 17 feet in +length. The total weight of the machine was 8000 pounds, but even with +this enormous weight the engine was capable of raising the machine from +the ground. + +For three or four years Sir Hiram made numerous experiments with his +aeroplane, but in 1894 it broke through the upper guard rail and turned +itself over among the surrounding trees, wrecking itself badly. + +But though the Maxim aeroplane did not yield very practical results, +it proved that if a lighter but more powerful engine could be made, the +chief difficulty iii the way of aerial flight would be removed. This was +soon forthcoming in the invention of the petrol motor. In a lecture to +the Scottish Aeronautical Society, delivered in Glasgow in November, +1913, Sir Hiram claimed to be the inventor of the first machine which +actually rose from the earth. Before the distinguished inventor spoke of +his own work in aviation he recalled experiments made by his father +in 1856-7, when Sir Hiram was sixteen years of age. The flying machine +designed by the elder Maxim consisted of a small platform, which it +was proposed to lift directly into the air by the action of two +screw-propellers revolving in reverse directions. For a motor the +inventor intended to employ some kind of explosive material, gunpowder +preferred, but the lecturer distinctly remembered that his father said +that if an apparatus could be successfully navigated through the air it +would be of such inevitable value as a military engine that no matter +how much it might cost to run it would be used by Governments. + +Of his own claim as an inventor of air-craft it would be well to +quote Sir Hiram's actual words, as given by the Glasgow Herald, which +contained a full report of the lecture. + +"Some forty years ago, when I commenced to think of the subject, my +first idea was to lift my machine by vertical propellers, and I actually +commenced drawings and made calculations for a machine on that plan, +using an oil motor, or something like a Brayton engine, for motive +power. However, I was completely unable to work out any system which +would not be too heavy to lift itself directly into the air, and it +was only when I commenced to study the aeroplane system that it became +apparent to me that it would be possible to make a machine light enough +and powerful enough to raise itself without the agency of a balloon. +From the first I was convinced that it would be quite out of the +question to employ a balloon in any form. At that time the light +high-speed petrol motor had no existence. The only power available being +steam-engines, I made all my calculations with a view of using steam as +the motive power. While I was studying the question of the possibility +of making a flying machine that would actually fly, I became convinced +that there was but one system to work on, and that was the aeroplane +system. I made many calculations, and found that an aeroplane machine +driven by a steam-engine ought to lift itself into the air." + +Sir Hiram then went on to say that it was the work of making an +automatic gun which was the direct cause of his experiments with flying +machines. To continue the report: + +"One day I was approached by three gentlemen who were interested in the +gun, and they asked me if it would be possible for me to build a flying +machine, how long it would take, and how much it would cost. My reply +was that it would take five years and would cost L50,000. The first +three years would be devoted to developing a light internal-combustion +engine, and the remaining two years to making a flying machine. + +"Later on a considerable sum of money was placed at my disposal, and the +experiments commenced, but unfortunately the gun business called for +my attention abroad, and during the first two years of the experimental +work I was out of England eighteen months. + +"Although I had thought much of the internal-combustion engine it seemed +to me that it would take too long to develop one and that it would be a +hopeless task in my absence from England; so I decided that in my first +experiments at least I would use a steam-engine. I therefore designed +and made a steam-engine and boiler of which Mr. Charles Parsons has +since said that, next to the Maxim gun, it developed more energy for its +weight than any other heat engine ever made. That was true at the time, +but is very wide of the mark now." + +Speaking of motors, the veteran lecturer remarked: "Perhaps there was no +problem in the world on which mathematicians had differed so widely as +on the problem of flight. Twenty years ago experimenters said: 'Give us +a motor that will develop 1 horse-power with the weight of a barnyard +fowl, and we will very soon fly.' At the present moment they had motors +which would develop over 2 horse-power and did not weigh more than a +12-pound barnyard fowl. These engines had been developed--I might say +created--by the builders of motor cars. Extreme lightness had been +gradually obtained by those making racing cars, and that had been +intensified by aviators. In many cases a speed of 80 or 100 miles per +hour had been attained, and machines had remained in the air for hours +and had flown long distances. In some cases nearly a ton had been +carried for a short distance." + +Such words as these, coming from the lips of a great inventor, give us a +deep insight into the working of the inventor's mind, and, incidentally, +show us some of the difficulties which beset all pioneers in their +tasks. The science of aviation is, indeed, greatly indebted to these +early inventors, not the least of whom is the gallant Sir Hiram Maxim. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. The Wright Brothers and their Secret Experiments + +In the beginning of the twentieth century many of the leading European +newspapers contained brief reports of aerial experiments which were +being carried out at Dayton, in the State of Ohio, America. So wonderful +were the results of these experiments, and so mysterious were the +movements of the two brothers--Orville and Wilbur Wright--who conducted +them, that many Europeans would not believe the reports. + +No inventors have gone about their work more carefully, methodically, +and secretly than did these two Americans, who, hidden from prying +eyes, "far from the madding crowd", obtained results which brought them +undying fame in the world of aviation. + +For years they worked at their self-imposed task of constructing a +flying machine which would really soar among the clouds. They had read +brief accounts of the experiments carried out by Otto Lilienthal, and +in many ways the ground had been well paved for them. It was their great +ambition to become real "human birds"; "birds" that would not only glide +along down the hillside, but would fly free and unfettered, choosing +their aerial paths of travel and their places of destination. + +Though there are few reliable accounts of their work in those remote +American haunts, during the first six years of the present century, the +main facts of their life-history are now well known, and we are able +to trace their experiments, step by step, from the time when they +constructed their first simple aeroplane down to the appearance of the +marvellous biplane which has made them world-famed. + +For some time the Wrights experimented with a glider, with which +they accomplished even more wonderful results than those obtained +by Lilienthal. These two young American engineers--bicycle-makers by +trade--were never in a hurry. Step by step they made progress, first +with kites, then with small gliders, and ultimately with a large one. +The latter was launched into the air by men running forward with it +until sufficient momentum had been gained for the craft to go forward on +its own account. + +The first aeroplane made by the two brothers was a very simple one, as +was the method adopted to balance the craft. There were two main planes +made of long spreads of canvas arranged one above another, and on the +lower plane the pilot lay. A little plane in front of the man was known +as the ELEVATOR, and it could be moved up and down by the pilot; when +the elevator was tilted up, the aeroplane ascended, when lowered, the +machine descended. + +At the back was a rudder, also under control of the pilot. The pilot's +feet, in a modern aeroplane, rest upon a bar working on a central +swivel, and this moves the rudder. To turn to the left, the left foot is +moved forward; to turn to the right the right foot. + +But it was in the balancing control of their machine that the Wrights +showed such great ingenuity. Running from the edges of the lower plane +were some wires which met at a point where the pilot could control +them. The edges of the plane were flexible; that is, they could be bent +slightly either up or down, and this movement of the flexible plane is +known as WING WARPING. + +You know that when a cyclist is going round a curve his machine leans +inwards. Perhaps some of you have seen motor races, such as those held +at Brooklands; if so, you must have noticed that the track is banked +very steeply at the corners, and when the motorist is going round these +corners at, say, 80 miles an hour, his motor makes a considerable +angle with the level ground, and looks as if it must topple over. The +aeroplane acts in a similar manner, and, unless some means are taken to +prevent it, it will turn over. + +Let us now see how the pilot worked the "Wright" glider. Suppose the +machine tilted down on one side, while in the air, the pilot would pull +down, or warp, the edges of the planes on that side of the machine which +was the lower. By an ingenious contrivance, when one side was warped +down, the other was warped up, with the effect that the machine would +be brought back into a horizontal position. (As we shall return to +the subject of wing warping in a later chapter, we need not discuss it +further here.) + +It must not be imagined that as soon as the Wrights had constructed +a glider fitted with this clever system of controlling mechanism they +could fly when and where they liked. They had to practise for two +or three years before they were satisfied with the results of their +experiments: neglecting no detail, profiting by their failures, and +moving logically from step to step. They never attempted an experiment +rashly: there was always a reason for what they did. In fact, +their success was due to systematic progress, achieved by wonderful +perseverance. + +But now, for a short time, we must leave the pioneer work of the Wright +brothers, and turn to the invention of the petrol engine as applied +to the motor car, an invention which was destined to have far-reaching +results on the science of aviation. + + + +CHAPTER XX. The Internal-combustion Engine + +We have several times remarked upon the great handicap placed upon +the pioneers of aviation by the absence of a light but powerful motor +engine. The invention of the internal-combustion engine may be said to +have revolutionized the science of flying; had it appeared a century +ago, there is no reason to doubt that Sir George Cayley would have +produced an aeroplane giving as good results as the machines which have +appeared during the last five or six years. + +The motor engine and the aeroplane are inseparably connected; one is as +necessary to the other as clay is to the potter's wheel, or coal to the +blast-furnace. This being the case, it is well that we trace briefly the +development of the engine during the last quarter of a century. + +The original mechanical genius of the motoring industry was Gottlieb +Daimler, the founder of the immense Daimler Motor Works of Coventry. +Perhaps nothing in the world of industry has made more rapid strides +during the last twenty years than automobilism. In 1900 our road +traction was carried on by means of horses; now, especially in the large +cities, it is already more than half mechanical, and at the present rate +of progress it bids fair to be soon entirely horseless. + +About the year 1885 Daimler was experimenting with models of a +small motor engine, and the following year he fitted one of his +most successful models to a light wagonette. The results were +so satisfactory, that in 1888 he took out a patent for an +internal-combustion engine--as the motor engine is technically +called--and the principle on which this engine was worked aroused great +enthusiasm on the Continent. + +Soon a young French engineer, named Levassor, began to experiment with +models of motor engines, and in 1889 he obtained, with others, the +Daimler rights to construct similar engines in France. From now on, +French engineers began to give serious attention to the new engine, +and soon great improvements were made in it. All this time Britain held +aloof from the motor-car; indeed, many Britons scoffed at the idea of +mechanically-propelled vehicles, saying that the time and money required +for their development would be wasted. + +During the years 1888-1900 strange reports of smooth-moving, horseless +cars, frequently appearing in public in France, began to reach Britain, +and people wondered if the French had stolen a march on us, and if there +were anything in the new invention after all. Our engineers had just +begun to grasp the immense possibilities of Daimler's engine, but the +Government gave them no encouragement. + +At length the Hon. Evelyn Ellis, one of the first British motorists, +introduced the "horseless carriage" into this country, and the following +account of his early trips, which appeared in the Windsor and Eton +Express of 27th July, 1895, may be interesting. + +"If anyone cares to run over to Datchet, they will see the Hon. Evelyn +Ellis, of Rosenau, careering round the roads, up hill and down dale, +and without danger to life or limb, in his new motor carriage, which he +brought over a short time ago from Paris. + +"In appearance it is not unlike a four-wheeled dog-cart, except that the +front part has a hood for use on long 'driving' tours, in the event of +wet weather; it will accommodate four persons, one of whom, on the +seat behind, would, of course, be the 'groom', a misnomer, perhaps, for +carriage attendant. Under the front seat are receptacles, one for tools +with which to repair damages, in the event of a breakdown on the road, +and the other for a store of oil, petroleum, or naphtha in cans, from +which to replenish the oil tank of the carriage on the journey, if it be +a long one. + +"Can it be easily driven? We cannot say that such a vehicle would be +suitable for a lady, unless rubber-tyred wheels and other improvements +are made to the carriage, for a grim grip of the steering handle and +a keen eye are necessary for its safe guidance, more especially if the +high road be rough. It never requires to be fed, and as it is, moreover, +unsusceptible of fatigue, it is obviously the sort of vehicle that +should soon achieve a widespread popularity in this country. + +"It is a splendid hill climber, and, in fact, such a hill as that of +Priest Hill (a pretty good test of its capabilities) shows that it +climbs at a faster pace than a pedestrian can walk. + +"A trip from Rosenau to Old Windsor, to the entrance of Beaumont +College, up Priest Hill, descending the steep, rough, and treacherous +hill on the opposite side by Woodside Farm, past the workhouse, through +old Windsor, and back to Rosenau within an hour, amply demonstrated how +perfectly under control this carriage is, while the sensation of being +whirled rapidly along is decidedly pleasing." + +Another pioneer of motorism was the Hon. C. S. Rolls, whose untimely +death at Bournemouth in 1910, while taking part in the Bournemouth +aviation meeting, was deeply deplored all over the country. Mr. Rolls +made a tour of the country in a motor-car in 1895, with the double +object of impressing people with the stupidity of the law with regard +to locomotion, and of illustrating the practical possibilities of the +motor. You may know that Mr. Rolls was the first man to fly across the +Channel, and back again to Dover, without once alighting. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. The Internal-combustion Engine(Cont.) + +I suppose many of my readers are quite familiar with the working of a +steam-engine. Probably you have owned models of steam-engines right +from your earliest youth, and there are few boys who do not know how the +railway engine works. + +But though you may be quite familiar with the mechanism of this engine, +it does not follow that you know how the petrol engine works, for the +two are highly dissimilar. It is well, therefore, that we include a +short description of the internal-combustion engine such as is applied +to motor-cars, for then we shall be able to understand the principles of +the aeroplane engine. + +At present petrol is the chief fuel used for the motor engine. Numerous +experiments have been tried with other fuels, such as benzine, but +petrol yields the best results. + +Petrol is distilled from oil which comes from wells bored deep down +in the ground in Pennsylvania, in the south of Russia, in Burma, and +elsewhere. Also it is distilled in Scotland from oil shale, from which +paraffin oil and wax and similar substances are produced. When the oil +is brought to the surface it contains many impurities, and in its native +form is unsuitable for motor engines. The crude oil is composed of a +number of different kinds of oil; some being light and clear, others +heavy and thick. + +To purify the oil it is placed in a large metal vessel or "still". Steam +is first passed over the oil in the still, and this changes the lightest +of the oils into vapours. These vapours are sent through a series of +pipes surrounded with cold water, where they are cooled and become +liquid again. Petrol is a mixture of these lighter products of the oil. + +If petrol be placed in the air it readily turns into a vapour, and this +vapour is extremely inflammable. For this reason petrol is always kept +in sealed tins, and very large quantities are not allowed to be stored +near large towns. The greatest care has to be exercised in the use of +this "unsafe" spirit. For example, it is most dangerous to smoke when +filling a tank with petrol, or to use the spirit near a naked light. +Many motor-cars have been set on fire through the petrol leaking out of +the tank in which it is carried. + +The tank which contains the petrol is placed under one of the seats of +the motor-car, or at the rear; if in use on a motor-cycle it is arranged +along the top bar of the frame, just in front of the driver. This tank +is connected to the "carburettor", a little vessel having a small nozzle +projecting upwards in its centre. The petrol trickles from the tank into +the carburettor, and is kept at a constant level by means of a float +which acts in a very similar way to the ballcock of a water cistern. + +The carburettor is connected to the cylinder of the engine by another +pipe, and there is valve which is opened by the engine itself and is +closed by a spring. By an ingenious contrivance the valve is opened when +the piston moves out of the cylinder, and a vacuum is created behind it +and in the carburettor. This carries a fine spray of petrol to be sucked +up through the nozzle. Air is also sucked into the carburettor, and the +mixture of air and petrol spray produces an inflammable vapour which is +drawn straight into the cylinder of the engine. + +As soon as the piston moves back, the inlet valve is automatically +closed and the vapour is compressed into the top of the cylinder. This +is exploded by an electric spark, which is passed between two points +inside the cylinder, and the force of the explosion drives the piston +outwards again. On its return the "exhaust" or burnt gases are driven +out through another valve, known as the "exhaust" valve. + +Whether the engine has two, four, or six cylinders, the car is propelled +in a similar way for all the pistons assist in turning one shaft, called +the engine shaft, which runs along the centre of the car to the back +axle. + +The rapid explosions in the cylinder produce great heat, and the +cylinders are kept cool by circulating water round them. When the water +has become very hot it passes through a number of pipes, called the +"radiator", placed in front of the car; the cold air rushing between the +coils cools the water, so that it can be used over and over again. + +No water is needed for the engine of a motor cycle. You will notice that +the cylinders are enclosed by wide rings of metal, and these rings are +quite sufficient to radiate the heat as quickly as it is generated. + + + +CHAPTER XXII. The Aeroplane Engine + +We have seen that a very important part of the internal-combustion +engine, as used on the motor-car, is the radiator, which prevents the +engine from becoming overheated and thus ceasing to work. The higher +the speed at which the engine runs the hotter does it become, and the +greater the necessity for an efficient cooling apparatus. + +But the motor on an aeroplane has to do much harder work than the motor +used for driving the motor-car, while it maintains a much higher speed. +Thus there is an even greater tendency for it to become overheated; and +the great problem which inventors of aeroplane engines have had to face +is the construction of a light but powerful engine equipped with some +apparatus for keeping it cool. + +Many different forms of aeroplane engines have been invented during the +last few years. Some inventors preferred the radiator system of cooling +the engine, but the tank containing the water, and the radiator itself, +added considerably to the weight of the motor, and this, of course, was +a serious drawback to its employment. + +But in 1909 there appeared a most ingeniously-constructed engine which +was destined to take a very prominent part in the progress of aviation. +This was the famous "Gnome" engine, by means of which races almost +innumerable have been won, and amazing records established. + +We have already referred to the engine shaft of the motor-car, which is +revolved by the pistons of the various fixed cylinders. In all aeroplane +engines which had appeared before the Gnome the same principle of +construction had been adopted; that is to say, the cylinders were fixed, +and the engine shaft revolved. + +But in the Gnome engine the reverse order of things takes place; the +shaft is fixed, and the cylinders fly round it at a tremendous speed. +Thus the rapid whirl in the air keeps the engine cool, and cumbersome +tanks and unwieldy radiators can be dispensed with. This arrangement +enabled the engine to be made very light and yet be of greater +horse-power than that attained by previously-existing engines. + +A further very important characteristic of the rotary-cylinder engine +is that no flywheel is used; in a stationary engine it has been +found necessary to have a fly-wheel in addition to the propeller. The +rotary-cylinder engine acts as its own fly-wheel, thus again saving +considerable weight. + +The new engine astonished experts when they first examined it, and all +sorts of disasters to it were predicted. It was of such revolutionary +design that wiseacres shook their heads and said that any pilot who used +it would be constantly in trouble with it. But during the last few +years it has passed from one triumph to another, commencing with a +long-distance record established by Henri Farman at Rheims, in 1909. It +has since been used with success by aviators all the world over. That +in the Aerial Derby of 1913--which was flown over a course Of 94 miles +around London--six of the eleven machines which took part in the race +were fitted with Gnome engines, and victory was achieved by Mr. Gustav +Hamel, who drove an 80-horse-power Gnome, is conclusive evidence of the +high value of this engine in aviation. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. A Famous British Inventor of Aviation Engines + +In the general design and beauty of workmanship involved in the +construction of aeroplanes, Britain is now quite the equal of her +foreign rivals; even in engines we are making extremely rapid progress, +and the well-known Green Engine Company, profiting by the result of nine +years' experience, are able to turn out aeroplane engines as reliable, +efficient, and as light in pounds weight per horse-power as any aero +engine in existence. + +In the early days of aviation larger and better engines of British make +specially suited for aeroplanes were our most urgent need. + +The story of the invention of the "Green" engine is a record of triumph +over great difficulties. + +Early in 1909--the memorable year when M. Bleriot was firing the +enthusiasm of most engineers by his cross-Channel flight; when records +were being established at Rheims; and when M. Paulhan won the great +prize of L10,000 for the London to Manchester flight--Mr. Green +conceived a number of ingenious ideas for an aero engine. + +One of Mr. Green's requirements was that the cylinders should be made +of cast-steel, and that they should come from a British foundry. The +company that took the work in hand, the Aster Company, had confidence +in the inventor's ideas. It is said that they had to waste 250 castings +before six perfect cylinders were produced. It is estimated that the +first Green engine cost L6000. These engines can be purchased for less +than L500. + +The closing months of 1909 saw the Green engine firmly established. +In October of that year Mr. Moore Brabazon won the first all-British +competition of L1000 offered by the Daily Mail for the first machine +to fly a circular mile course. His aeroplane was fitted with a +60-horse-power Green aero engine. In the same year M. Michelin offered +L1000 for a long-distance flight in all-British aviation; this prize was +also won by Mr. Brabazon, who made a flight of 17 miles. + +Some of Colonel Cody's achievements in aviation were made with the +Green engine. In 1910 he succeeded in winning both the duration and +cross-country Michelin competitions, and in 1911 he again accomplished +similar feats. In this year he also finished fourth in the +all-round-Britain race. This was a most meritorious performance when +it is remembered that his Cathedral weighed nearly a ton and a half, and +that the 60-horse-power Green was practically "untouched", to use an +engineering expression, during the whole of the 1010-mile flight. + +The following year saw Cody winning another Michelin prize for a +cross-country competition. Here he made a flight of over 200 miles, and +his high opinion of the engine may be best described in the letter he +wrote to the company, saying: "If you kept the engine supplied from +without with petrol and oil, what was within would carry you through". + +But the pinnacle of Mr. Green's fame as an inventor was reached in 1913, +when Mr. Harry Hawker made his memorable waterplane flight from Cowes +to Lough Shinny, an account of which appears in a later chapter. His +machine was fitted with a 100-horse-power Green, and with it he flew +1043 miles of the 1540-miles course. + +Though the complete course was not covered, neither Mr. Sopwith--who +built the machine and bore the expenses of the flight--nor Mr. Hawker +attached any blame to the engine. At a dinner of the Aero Club, given in +1914, Mr. Sopwith was most enthusiastic in discussing the merits of the +"Green", and after Harry Hawker had recovered from the effects of his +fall in Lough Shinny he remarked in reference to the engine: "It is +the best I have ever met. I do not know any other that would have done +anything like the work." + +At the same time that this race was being held the French had a +competition from Paris to Deauville, a distance of about 160 miles. When +compared with the time and distance covered by Mr. Hawker, the results +achieved by the French pilots, flying machines fitted with French +engines, were quite insignificant; thus proving how the British industry +had caught up, and even passed, its closest rivals. + +In 1913 Mr. Grahame White, with one of the 100-horse-power "Greens" +succeeded in winning the duration Michelin with a flight of over 300 +miles, carrying a mechanic and pilot, 85 gallons of petrol, and 12 +gallons of lubricating oil. Compulsory landings were made every 63 +miles, and the engine was stopped. In spite of these trying conditions, +the engine ran, from start to finish, nearly nine hours without the +slightest trouble. + +Sufficient has been said to prove conclusively that the thought and +labour expended in the perfecting of the Green engine have not been +fruitless. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. The Wright Biplane (Camber of Planes) + +Now that the internal-combustion engine had arrived, the Wrights at +once commenced the construction of an aeroplane which could be driven +by mechanical power. Hitherto, as we have seen, they had made numerous +tests with motorless gliders; but though these tests gave them much +valuable information concerning the best methods of keeping their craft +on an even keel while in the air, they could never hope to make much +progress in practical flight until they adopted motor power which would +propel the machine through the air. + +We may assume that the two brothers had closely studied the engines +patented by Daimler and Levassor, and, being of a mechanical turn of +mind themselves, they were able to build their own motor, with which +they could make experiments in power-driven flight. + +Before we study the gradual progress of these experiments it would be +well to describe the Wright biplane. The illustration facing p. 96 shows +a typical biplane, and though there are certain modifications in most +modern machines, the principles upon which it was built apply to all +aeroplanes. + +The two main supporting planes, A, B, are made of canvas stretched +tightly across a light frame, and are slightly curved, or arched, from +front to back. This curve is technically known as the CAMBER, and upon +the camber depend the strength and speed of the machine. + +If you turn back to Chapter XVII you will see that the plane is modelled +after the wing of a bird. It has been found that the lifting power of a +plane gradually dwindles from the front edge--or ENTERING EDGE, as it +is called--backwards. For this reason it is necessary to equip a machine +with a very long, narrow plane, rather than with a comparatively broad +but short plane. + +Perhaps a little example will make this clear. Suppose we had two +machines, one of which was fitted with planes 144 feet long and 1 +foot wide, and the other with planes 12 feet square. In the former the +entering edge of the plane would be twelve times as great as in the +latter, and the lifting power would necessarily be much greater. Thus, +though both machines have planes of the same area, each plane having +a surface of 144 square feet, yet there is a great difference in the +"lift" of the two. + +But it is not to be concluded that the back portion of a plane +is altogether wasted. Numerous experiments have taught aeroplane +constructors that if the plane were slightly curved from front to back +the rear portion of the plane also exercised a "lift"; thus, instead of +the air being simply cut by the entering edge of the plane, it is driven +against the arched back of the plane, and helps to lift the machine into +the air, and support it when in flight. + +There is also a secondary lifting impulse derived from this simple +curve. We have seen that the air which has been cut by the front edge of +the plane pushes up from below, and is arrested by the top of the arch, +but the downward dip of the rear portion of the plane is of service in +actually DRAWING THE AIR FROM ABOVE. The rapid air stream which has been +cut by the entering edge passes above the top of the curve, and "sucks +up", as it were, so that the whole wing is pulled upwards. Thus there +are two lifting impulses: one pushing up from below, the other sucking +up from above. + +It naturally follows that when the camber is very pronounced the machine +will fly much slower, but will bear a greater weight than a machine +equipped with planes having little or no camber. On high-speed machines, +which are used chiefly for racing purposes, the planes have very little +camber. This was particularly noticeable in the monoplane piloted by Mr. +Hamel in the Aerial Derby of 1913: the wings of this machine seemed to +be quite flat, and it was chiefly because of this that the pilot was +able to maintain such marvellous speed. + +The scientific study of the wing lift of planes has proceeded so far +that the actual "lift" can now be measured, providing the speed of the +machine is known, together with the superficial area of the planes. The +designer can calculate what weight each square foot of the planes will +support in the air. Thus some machines have a "lift" of 9 or 10 pounds +to each square foot of wing surface, while others are reduced to 3 or 4 +pounds per square foot. + + + +CHAPTER XXV. The Wright Biplane (Cont.) + +The under part of the frame of the Wright biplane, technically known as +the CHASSIS, resembled a pair of long "runner" skates, similar to those +used in the Fens for skating races. Upon those runners the machine +moved along the ground when starting to fly. In more modern machines the +chassis is equipped with two or more small rubber-tyred wheels on which +the machine runs along the ground before rising into the air, and on +which it alights when a descent is made. + +You will notice that the pilot's seat is fixed on the lower plane, +and almost in the centre of it, while close by the engine is mounted. +Alongside the engine is a radiator which cools the water that has passed +round the cylinder of the engine in order to prevent them from becoming +overheated. + +Above the lower plane is a similar plane arranged parallel to it, and +the two are connected by light upright posts of hickory wood known +as STRUTS. Such an aeroplane as this, which is equipped with two main +planes, known as a BIPLANE. Other types of air-craft are the MONOPLANE, +possessing one main plane, and the TRIPLANE, consisting of three planes. +No practical machine has been built with more than three main planes; +indeed, the triplane is now almost obsolete. + +The Wrights fitted their machine with two long-bladed wooden screws, +or propellers, which by means of chains and sprocket-wheels, very like +those of a bicycle, were driven by the engine, whose speed was about +1200 revolutions a minute. The first motor engine used by these clever +pioneers had four cylinders, and developed about 20 horsepower. Nowadays +engines are produced which develop more than five times that power. + +In later machines one propeller is generally thought to be sufficient; +in fact many constructors believe that there is danger in a +two-propeller machine, for if one propeller got broken, the other +propeller, working at full speed, would probably overturn the machine +before the pilot could cut off his engine. + +Beyond the propellers there are two little vertical planes which can +be moved to one side or the other by a control lever in front of the +pilot's seat. These planes or rudders steer the machine from side to +side, answering the same purpose as the rudder of a boat. + +In front of the supporting planes there are two other horizontal planes, +arranged one above the other; these are much smaller than the main +planes, and are known as the ELEVATORS. Their function is to raise or +lower the machine by catching the air at different angles. + +Comparison with a modern biplane, such as may be seen at an aerodrome +on any "exhibition" day, will disclose several marked differences in +construction between the modern type and the earlier Wright machine, +though the central idea is the same. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. How the Wrights launched their Biplane + +Those of us who have seen an aeroplane rise from the ground know that +it runs quickly along for 50 or 60 yards, until sufficient momentum has +been gained for the craft to lift itself into the air. The Wrights, +as stated, fitted their machine with a pair of launching runners which +projected from the under side of the lower plane like two very long +skates, and the method of launching their craft was quite different from +that followed nowadays. + +The launching apparatus consisted of a wooden tower at the starting end +of the launching ways--a wooden rail about 60 or 70 feet in length. +To the top of the tower a weight of about 1/2 ton was suspended. The +suspension rope was led downwards over pulleys, thence horizontally to +the front end and back to the inner end of the railway, where it was +attached to the aeroplane. A small trolley was fitted to the chassis of +the machine and this ran along the railway. + +To launch the machine, which, of course, stood on the rail, the +propellers were set in motion, and the 1/2-ton weight at the top of +the tower was released. The falling weight towed the aeroplane rapidly +forward along the rail, with a velocity sufficient to cause it to glide +smoothly into the air at the other end of the launching ways. By an +ingenious arrangement the trolley was left behind on the railway. + +It will at once occur to you that there were disadvantages in this +system of commencing a flight. One was that the launching apparatus was +more or less a fixture. At any rate it could not be carried about from +place to place very readily: Supposing the biplane could not return to +its starting-point, and the pilot was forced to descend, say, 10 or 12 +miles away: in such a case it would be necessary to tow the machine back +to the launching ways, an obviously inconvenient arrangement, especially +in unfavourable country. + +For some time the "wheeled" chassis has been in universal use, but in +a few cases it has been thought desirable to adopt a combination of +runners and wheels. A moderately firm surface is necessary for the +machine to run along the ground; if the ground be soft or marly the +wheels would sink in the soil, and serious accidents have resulted from +the sudden stoppage of the forward motion due to this cause. + +With their first power-driven machine the Wrights made a series of very +fine flights, at first in a straight line. In 1904 they effected their +first turn. By the following year they had made such rapid progress that +they were able to exceed a distance of 20 miles in one flight, and keep +up in the air for over half an hour at a time. Their manager now gave +their experiments great publicity, both in the American and European +Press, and in 1908 the brothers, feeling quite sure of their success, +emerged from a self-imposed obscurity, and astonished the world with +some wonderful flights, both in America and on the French flying ground +at Issy. + +A great loss to aviation occurred on 30th May, 1912, when Wilbur +Wright died from an attack of typhoid fever. His work is officially +commemorated in Britain by an annual Premium Lecture, given under the +auspices of the Aeronautical Society. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. The First Man to Fly in Europe + +In November, 1906, nearly the whole civilized world was astonished +to read that a rich young Brazilian aeronaut, residing in France, +had actually succeeded in making a short flight, or, shall we say, an +enormous "hop", in a heavier-than-air machine. + +This pioneer of aviation was M. Santos Dumont. For five or six years +before his experiments with the aeroplane he had made a great many +flights in balloons, and also in dirigible balloons. He was the son of +well-to-do parents--his father was a successful coffee planter--and he +had ample means to carry on his costly experiments. + +Flying was Santos Dumont's great hobby. Even in boyhood, when far away +in Brazil, he had been keenly interested in the work of Spencer, Green, +and other famous aeronauts, and aeronautics became almost a passion with +him. + +Towards the end of the year 1898 he designed a rather novel form of +air-ship. The balloon was shaped like an enormous cigar, some 80 feet +long, and it was inflated with about 6000 cubic feet of hydrogen. The +most curious contrivance, however, was the motor. This was suspended +from the balloon, and was somewhat similar to the small motor used on +a motor-cycle. Santos Dumont sat beside this motor, which worked a +propeller, and this curious craft was guided several times by the +inventor round the Botanical Gardens in Paris. + +About two years after these experiments the science of aeronautics +received very valuable aid from M. Deutsch, a member of the French Aero +Club. A prize of about L4000 was offered by this gentleman to the man +who should first fly from the Aero Club grounds at Longchamps, double +round the Eiffel Tower, and then sail back to the starting-place. The +total distance to be flown was rather more than 3 miles, and it was +stipulated that the journey--which could be made either in a dirigible +air-ship or a flying machine--should be completed within half an hour. + +This munificent offer at once aroused great enthusiasm among aeronauts +and engineers throughout the whole of France, and, to a lesser degree, +in Britain. Santos Dumont at once set to work on another air-ship, which +was equipped with a much more powerful motor than he had previously +used. In July, 1901, his arrangements were completed, and he made his +first attempt to win the prize. + +The voyage from Longchamps to the Eiffel Tower was made in very quick +time, for a favourable wind speeded the huge balloon on its way. The +pilot was also able to steer a course round the tower, but his troubles +then commenced. The wind was now in his face, and his engine-a small +motor engine of about 15 horse-power-was unable to produce sufficient +power to move the craft quickly against the wind. The plucky inventor +kept fighting against the-breeze, and at length succeeded in returning +to his starting-point; but he had exceeded the time limit by several +minutes and thus, was disqualified for the prize. + +Another attempt was made by Santos Dumont about a month later. This +time, however, he was more unfortunate, and he had a marvellous escape +from death. As on the previous occasion he got into great difficulties +when sailing against the wind on the return journey, and his balloon +became torn, so that the gas escaped and the whole craft crashed down +on the house-tops. Eyewitnesses of the accident expected to find the +gallant young Brazilian crushed to death; but to their great relief +he was seen to be hanging to the car, which had been caught upon the +buttress of a house. Even now he was in grave peril, but after a long +delay he was rescued by means of a rope. + +It might be thought that such an accident would have deterred the +inventor from making further attempts on the prize; but the aeronaut +seemed to be well endowed with the qualities of patience and +perseverance and continued to try again. Trial after trial was made, +and numerous accidents took place. On nearly every occasion it was +comparatively easy to sail round the Tower, but it was a much harder +task to sail back again. + +At length in October, 1901, he was thought to have completed the course +in the allotted time; but the Aero Club held that he had exceeded the +time limit by forty seconds. This decision aroused great indignation +among Parisians--especially among those who had watched the flight--many +of whom were convinced that the journey had been accomplished in the +half-hour. After much argument the committee which had charge of the +race, acting on the advice of M. Deutsch, who was very anxious that the +prize should be awarded to Santos Dumont, decided that the conditions +of the flight had been complied with, and that the prize had been +legitimately won. It is interesting to read that the famous aeronaut +divided the money among the poor. + +But important though Santos Dumont's experiments were with the air-ship, +they were of even greater value when he turned his attention to the +aeroplane. + +One of his first trials with a heavier-than-air machine was made with a +huge glider, which was fitted with floats. The curious craft was towed +along the River Seine by a fast motor boat named the Rapiere, and it +actually succeeded in rising into the air and flying behind the boat +like a gigantic kite. + +12th November, 1906, is a red-letter day in the history of aviation, +for it was then that Santos Dumont made his first little flight in an +aeroplane. This took place at Bagatelle, not far from Paris. + +Two months before this the airman had succeeded in driving his little +machine, called the Bird of Prey, many yards into the air, and "11 yards +through the air", as the newspapers reported; but the craft was badly +smashed. It was not until November that the first really satisfactory +flight took place. + +A description of this flight appeared in most of the European +newspapers, and I give a quotation from one of them: "The aeroplane +rose gracefully and gently to a height of about 15 feet above the earth, +covering in this most remarkable dash through the air a distance of +about 700 feet in twenty-one seconds. + +"It thus progressed through the atmosphere at the rate of nearly 30 +miles an hour. Nothing like this has ever been accomplished before.... +The aeroplane has now reached the practical stage." + +The dimensions of this aeroplane were: + + Length 32 feet + Greatest width 39 feet + Weight with one passenger 465 pounds + Speed 30 miles an hour + +A modern aeroplane with airman and passenger frequently weighs over 1 +ton, and reaches a speed of over 60 miles an hour. + +It is interesting to note that Santos Dumont, in 1913--that is, only +seven years after his flight in an aeroplane at Bagatelle made him +world-famous--announced his intention of again taking an active part in +aviation. His purpose was to make use of aeroplanes merely for pleasure, +much as one might purchase a motor-car for the same object. + +Could the intrepid Brazilian in his wildest dreams have foreseen the +rapid advance of the last eight years? In 1906 no one had flown in +Europe; by 1914 hundreds of machines were in being, in which the pilots +were no longer subject to the wind's caprices, but could fly almost +where and when they would. + +Frenchmen have honoured, and rightly honoured, this gallant and +picturesque figure in the annals of aviation, for in 1913 a magnificent +monument was unveiled in France to commemorate his pioneer work. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. M. Bleriot and the Monoplane + +If the Wright brothers can lay claim to the title of "Fathers of the +Biplane", then it is certain that M. Bleriot, the gallant French airman, +can be styled the "Father of the Monoplane." + +For five years--1906 to 1910--Louis Bleriot's name was on everybody's +lips in connection with his wonderful records in flying and skilful +feats of airmanship. Perhaps the flight which brought him greatest +renown was that accomplished in July, 1909, when he was the first man +to cross the English Channel by aeroplane. This attempt had been +forestalled, although unsuccessfully, by Hubert Latham, a daring aviator +who is best known in Lancashire by his flight in 1909 at Blackpool in +a wind which blew at the rate of nearly 40 miles an hour--a performance +which struck everyone with wonder in these early days of aviation. + +Latham attempted, on an Antoinette monoplane, to carry off the prize +of L1000 offered by the proprietors of the Daily Mail. On the first +occasion he fell in mid-Channel, owing to the failure of his motor, and +was rescued by a torpedo-boat. His machine was so badly damaged during +the salving operations that another had to be sent from Paris, and with +this he made a second attempt, which was also unsuccessful. Meanwhile +M. Bleriot had arrived on the scene; and on 25th July he crossed the +Channel from Calais to Dover in thirty-seven minutes and was awarded the +L1000 prize. + +Bleriot's fame was now firmly established, and on his return to France +he received a magnificent welcome. The monoplane at once leaped into +favour, and the famous "bird man" had henceforth to confine his efforts +to the building of machines and the organization of flying events. He +has since established a large factory in France and inaugurated a flying +school at Pau. + +All the time that the Wrights were experimenting with their glider and +biplane in America, and the Voisin brothers were constructing biplanes +in France, Bleriot had been giving earnest attention to the production +of a real "bird" machine, provided with one pair of FLAPPING wings. We +know now that such an aeroplane is not likely to be of practical use, +but with quiet persistence Bleriot kept to his task, and succeeded in +evolving the famous Antoinette monoplane, which more closely resembles a +bird than does any other form of air-craft. + +In the illustration of the Bleriot monoplane here given you will notice +that there is one main plane, consisting of a pair of highly-cambered +wings; hence the name "MONOplane". At the rear of the machine there is +a much smaller plane, which is slightly cambered; this is the elevating +plane, and it can be tilted up or down in order to raise or lower the +machine. Remember that the elevating plane of a biplane is to the front +of the machine and in the monoplane at the rear. The small, upright +plane G is the rudder, and is used for steering the machine to the right +or left. The long narrow body or framework of the monoplane is known as +the FUSELAGE. + +By a close study of the illustration, and the description which +accompanies it, you will understand how the machine is driven. The main +plane is twisted, or warped, when banking, much in the same way that the +Wright biplane is warped. + +Far greater speed can be obtained from the monoplane than from the +biplane, chiefly because in the former machine there is much less +resistance to the air. Both height and speed records stand to the credit +of the monoplane. + +The enormous difference in the speeds of monoplanes and biplanes can be +best seen at a race meeting at some aerodrome. Thus at Hendon, when a +speed handicap is in progress, the slow biplanes have a start of one or +two laps over the rapid little monoplanes in a six-lap contest, and +it is most amusing to see the latter dart under, or over, the more +cumbersome biplane. Recently however, much faster biplanes have been +built, and they bid fair to rival the swiftest monoplanes in speed. + +There is, however, one serious drawback to the use of the monoplane: +it is far more dangerous to the pilot than is the biplane. Most of +the fatal accidents in aviation have been caused through mishaps to +monoplanes or their engines, and chiefly for this reason the biplane has +to a large extent supplanted the monoplane in warfare. The biplane, too, +is better adapted for observation work, which is, after all, the chief +use of air-craft. + +In a later chapter some account will be given of the three types of +aeroplane which the war has evolved--the general-purposes machine, +the single-seater "fighter", and those big bomb-droppers, the British +Handley Page and the German Gotha. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. Henri Farman and the Voisin Biplane + +The coming of the motor engine made events move rapidly in the world of +aviation. About the year 1906 people's attention was drawn to France, +where Santos Dumont was carrying out the wonderful experiments which we +have already described. Then came Henri Farman, who piloted the famous +biplane built by the Voisin brothers in 1907; an aeroplane destined +to bring world-wide renown to its clever constructors and its equally +clever and daring pilot. + +There were notable points of distinction between the Voisin biplane +and that built by the Wrights. The latter, as we have seen, had two +propellers; the former only one. The launching skids of the Wright +biplane gave place to wheels on Farman's machine. One great advantage, +however, possessed by the early Wright biplane over its French rivals, +was in its greater general efficiency. The power of the engine was only +about one-half of the power required in certain of the French designs. +This was chiefly due to the use of the launching rail, for it needed +much greater motor power to make a machine rise from the ground by its +own motor engine than when it received a starting lift from a falling +weight. Even in our modern aeroplanes less engine power is required to +drive the craft through the air than to start from the ground. + +Farman achieved great fame through his early flights, and, on 13th +January, 1908, at the flying ground at Issy, in France, he won the prize +of L2000, offered by MM. Deutsch and Archdeacon to the first aviator +who flew a circular kilometre. In July of the same year he won another +substantial prize given by a French engineer, M. Armengaud, to the first +pilot who remained aloft for a quarter of an hour. + +Probably an even greater performance was the cross-country flight made +by Farman about three months later. In the flight he passed over hills, +valleys, rivers, villages, and woods on his journey from Chalons to +Rheims, which he accomplished in twenty minutes. + +In the early models of the Voisin machine there were fitted between the +two main planes a number of vertical planes, as shown clearly in the +illustration facing p. 160. It was thought that these planes would +increase the stability of the machine, independent of the skill of the +operator, and in calm weather they were highly effective. Their great +drawback, however, was that when a strong side wind caught them the +machine was blown out of its course. + +Subsequently Farman considerably modified the early-type Voisin biplane, +as shown by the illustration facing p. 160. The vertical planes were +dispensed with, and thus the idea of automatic stability was abandoned. + +But an even greater distinction between the Farman biplane and that +designed by the Wrights was in the adoption of a system of small movable +planes, called AILERONS, fixed at extremities of the main planes, +instead of the warping controls which we have already described. The +ailerons, which are adapted to many of our modern aeroplanes, are really +balancing flaps, actuated by a control lever at the right side of the +pilot's seat, and the principle on which they are worked is very similar +to that employed in the warp system of lateral stability. + + + +CHAPTER XXX. A Famous British Inventor + +About the time that M. Bleriot was developing his monoplane, and Santos +Dumont was astonishing the world with his flying feats at Bagatelle, +a young army officer was at work far away in a secluded part of the +Scottish Highlands on the model of an aeroplane. This young man was +Lieutenant J. W. Dunne, and his name has since been on everyone's +lips wherever aviation is discussed. Much of Lieutenant Dunne's early +experimental work was done on the Duke of Atholl's estate, and the +story goes that such great secrecy was observed that "the tenants were +enrolled as a sort of bodyguard to prevent unauthorized persons from +entering". For some time the War Office helped the inventor with money, +for the numerous tests and trials necessary in almost every invention +before satisfactory results are achieved are very costly. + +Probably the inventor did not make sufficiently rapid progress with +his novel craft, for he lost the financial help and goodwill of the +Government for a time; but he plodded on, and at length his plans were +sufficiently advanced for him to carry on his work openly. It must be +borne in mind that at the time Dunne first took up the study of aviation +no one had flown in Europe, and he could therefore receive but little +help from the results achieved by other pilots and constructors. + +But in the autumn of 1913 Lieutenant Dunne's novel aeroplane was the +talk of both Europe and America. Innumerable trials had been made in +the remote flying ground at Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey, and the +machine became so far advanced that it made a cross-Channel flight from +Eastchurch to Paris. It remained in France for some time, and +Commander Felix, of the French Army, made many excellent flights in +it. Unfortunately, however, when flying near Deauville, engine trouble +compelled the officer to descend; but in making a landing in a very +small field, not much larger than a tennis-court, several struts of the +machine were damaged. It was at once seen that the aeroplane could not +possibly be flown until it had been repaired and thoroughly overhauled. +To do this would take several days, especially as there were no +facilities for repairing the craft near by, and to prevent anyone from +making a careful examination of the aeroplane, and so discovering the +secret features which had been so jealously guarded, the machine was +smashed up after the engine had been removed. + +At that time this was the only Dunne aeroplane in existence, but of +course the plans were in the possession of the inventor, and it was +an easy task to make a second machine from the same model. Two more +machines were put in hand at Hendon, and a third at Eastchurch. + +On 18th October, 1913, the Dunne aeroplane made its first public +appearance at Hendon, in the London aerodrome, piloted by Commander +Felix. The most striking distinction between this and other biplanes is +that its wings or planes, instead of reaching from side to side of the +engine, stretch back in the form of the letter V, with the point of the +V to the front. These wings extend so far to the rear that there is no +need of a tail to the machine, and the elevating plane in front can also +be dispensed with. + +This curious and unique design in aeroplane construction was decided +upon by Lieutenant Dunne after a prolonged observation at close quarters +of different birds in flight, and the inventor claims for his aeroplane +that it is practically uncapsizable. Perhaps, however, this is too much +to claim for any heavier-than-air machine; but at all events the new +design certainly appears to give greater stability, and it is to be +hoped that by this and other devices the progress of aviation will not +in the future be so deeply tinged with tragedy. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. The Romance of a Cowboy Aeronaut + +In the brief but glorious history of pioneer work in aviation, so far as +it applies to this country, there is scarcely a more romantic figure to +be found than Colonel Cody. It was the writer's pleasure to come into +close contact with Cody during the early years of his experimental work +with man-lifting box-kites at the Alexandra Park, London, and never will +his genial smile and twinkling eye be forgotten. + +Cody always seemed ready to crack a joke with anyone, and possibly there +was no more optimistic man in the whole of Britain. To the boys and +girls of Wood Green he was a popular hero. He was usually clad in a +"cowboy" hat, red flannel shirt, and buckskin breeches, and his hair +hung down to his shoulders. On certain occasions he would give a "Wild +West" exhibition at the Alexandra Palace, and one of his most daring +tricks with the gun was to shoot a cigarette from a lady's lips. One +could see that he was entire master of the rifle, and a trick which +always brought rounds of applause was the hitting of a target while +standing with his back to it, simply by the aid of a mirror held at the +butt of his rifle. + +But it is of Cody as an aviator and aeroplane constructor that we +wish to speak. For some reason or other he was generally the object of +ridicule, both in the Press and among the public. Why this should have +been so is not quite clear; possibly his quaint attire had something +to do with it, and unfriendly critics frequently raised a laugh at his +expense over the enormous size of his machines. So large were they +that the Cody biplane was laughingly called the "Cody bus" or the "Cody +Cathedral." + +But in the end Cody fought down ridicule and won fame, for in +competition with some of the finest machines of the day, piloted by +some of our most expert airmen, he won the prize of L5000 offered by the +Government in 1912 in connection with the Army trials for aeroplanes. +In these trials he astonished everyone by obtaining a speed of over 70 +miles an hour in his biplane, which weighed 2600 pounds. + +In the opening years of the present century Cody spent much time in +demonstrations with huge box-kites, and for a time this form of kite was +highly popular with boys of North London. In these kites he made over +two hundred flights, reaching, on some occasions, an altitude of over +2000 feet. At all times of the day he could have been seen on the slopes +of the Palace Hill, hauling these strange-looking, bat-like objects +backward and forward in the wind. Reports of his experiments appeared +in the Press, but Cody was generally looked upon as a "crank". The +War Office, however, saw great possibilities in the kites for scouting +purposes in time of war, and they paid Cody L5000 for his invention. + +It is a rather romantic story of how Cody came to take up experimental +work with kites, and it is repeated as it was given by a Mohawk chief to +a newspaper representative. + +"On one occasion when Cody was in a Lancashire town with his Wild West +show, his son Leon went into the street with a parrot-shaped kite. Leon +was attired in a red shirt, cowboy trousers, and sombrero, and soon a +crowd of youngsters in clogs was clattering after him. + +"'If a boy can interest a crowd with a little kite, why can't a man +interest a whole nation?' thought Cody--and so the idea of man-lifting +kites developed." + +In 1903 Cody made a daring but unsuccessful attempt to cross the Channel +in a boat drawn by two kites. Had he succeeded he intended to cross the +Atlantic by similar means. + +Later on, Cody turned his attention to the construction of aeroplanes, +but he was seriously handicapped by lack of funds. His machines +were built with the most primitive tools, and some of our modern +constructors, working in well-equipped "shops", where the machinery is +run by electric plant, would marvel at the work accomplished with such +tools as those used by Cody. + +Most of Cody's flights were made on Laffan's Plain, and he took part in +the great "Round Britain" race in 1911. It was characteristic of the +man that in this race he kept on far in the wake of MM. Beaumont and +Vedrines, though he knew that he had not the slightest chance of winning +the prize; and, days after the successful pilot had arrived back at +Brooklands, Cody's "bus" came to earth in the aerodrome. "It's dogged as +does it," he remarked, "and I meant to do the course, even if I took a +year over it." + +Of Cody's sad death at Farnborough, when practising in the ill-fated +water-plane which he intended to pilot in the sea flight round Great +Britain in 1913, we speak in a later chapter. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. Three Historic Flights + +When the complete history of aviation comes to be written, there will +be three epoch-making events which will doubtless be duly appreciated +by the historian, and which may well be described as landmarks in the +history of flight. These are the three great contests organized by the +proprietors of the Daily Mail, respectively known as the "London to +Manchester" flight, the "Round Britain flight in an aeroplane", and the +"Water-plane flight round Great Britain." + +In any account of aviation which deals with the real achievements +of pioneers who have helped to make the science of flight what it +is to-day, it would be unfair not to mention the generosity of +Lord Northcliffe and his co-directors of the Daily Mail towards the +development of aviation in this country. Up to the time of writing, the +sum of L24,750 has been paid by the Daily Mail in the encouragement +of flying, and prizes to the amount of L15,000 are still on offer. In +addition to these prizes this journal has maintained pilots who may be +described as "Missionaries of Aviation". Perhaps the foremost of them +is M. Salmet, who has made hundreds of flights in various parts of the +country, and has aroused the greatest enthusiasm wherever he has flown. + +The progress of aviation undoubtedly owes a great deal to the Press, +for the newspaper has succeeded in bringing home to most people the fact +that the possession of air-craft is a matter of national importance. It +was of little use for airmen to make thrilling flights up and down an +aerodrome, with the object of interesting the general public, if the +newspapers did not record such flights, and though in the very early +days of aviation some newspapers adopted an unfriendly attitude towards +the possibilities of practical aviation, nearly all the Press has since +come to recognize the aeroplane as a valuable means of national defence. +Right from the start the Daily Mail foresaw the importance of +promoting the new science of flight by the award of prizes, and its +public-spirited enterprise has done much to break up the prevailing +apathy towards aviation among the British nation. + +If these three great events had been mere spectacles and nothing +else--such as, for instance, that great horse-race known as "The +Derby"--this chapter would never have been written. But they are +most worthy of record because all three have marked clearly-defined +stepping-stones in the progress of flight; they have proved conclusively +that aviation is practicable, and that its ultimate entry into the busy +life of the world is no more than a matter of perfecting details. + +The first L10,000 prize was offered in November, 1906, for a flight by +aeroplane from London to Manchester in twenty-four hours, with not more +than two stoppages en route. In 1910 two competitors entered the lists +for the flight; one, an Englishman, Mr. Claude Grahame-White; the other, +a Frenchman, M. Paulhan. + +Mr. Grahame-White made the first attempt, and he flew remarkably well +too, but he was forced to descend at Lichfield--about 113 miles on the +journey--owing to the high and gusty winds which prevailed in the Trent +valley. The plucky pilot intended to continue the flight early the next +morning, but during the night his biplane was blown over in a gale while +it stood in a field, and it was so badly damaged that the machine had to +be sent back to London to be repaired. + +This took so long that his French rival, M. Paulhan, was able to +complete his plans and start from Hendon, on 27th April. So rapidly +had Paulhan's machine been transported from Dover, and "assembled" at +Hendon, that Mr. White, whose biplane was standing ready at Wormwood +Scrubbs, was taken by surprise when he heard that his rival had started +on the journey and "stolen a march on him", so to speak. Nothing +daunted, however, the plucky British aviator had his machine brought +out, and he went in pursuit of Paulhan late in the afternoon. When +darkness set in Mr. White had reached Roade, but the French pilot was +several miles ahead. + +Now came one of the most thrilling feats in the history of aviation. Mr. +White knew that his only chance of catching Paulhan was to make a flight +in the darkness, and though this was extremely hazardous he arose from +a small field in the early morning, some hours before daybreak arrived, +and flew to the north. His friends had planned ingenious devices to +guide him on his way: thus it was proposed to send fast motor-cars, +bearing very powerful lights, along the route, and huge flares were +lighted on the railway; but the airman kept to his course chiefly by the +help of the lights from the railway stations. + +Over hill and valley, forest and meadow, sleeping town and slumbering +village, the airman flew, and when dawn arrived he had nearly overhauled +his rival, who, in complete ignorance of Mr. White's daring pursuit, had +not yet started. + +But now came another piece of very bad luck for the British aviator. At +daybreak a strong wind arose, and Mr. White's machine was tossed about +like a mere play-ball, so that he was compelled to land. Paulhan, +however, who was a pilot with far more experience, was able to overcome +the treacherous air gusts, and he flew on to Manchester, arriving there +in the early morning. + +Undoubtedly the better pilot won, and he had a truly magnificent +reception in Manchester and London, and on his return to France. But +this historic contest laid the foundation of Mr. Grahame-White's great +reputation as an aviator, and, as we all know, his fame has since become +world-wide. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. Three Historic Flights (Cont.) + +About a month after Paulhan had won the "London to Manchester" race, the +world of aviation, and most of the general public too, were astonished +to read the announcement of another enormous prize. This time a much +harder task was set, for the conditions of the contest stated that a +circuit of Britain had to be made, covering a distance of about 1000 +miles in one week, with eleven compulsory stops at fixed controls. + +This prize was offered on 22nd May, 1910, and in the following year +seventeen competitors entered the lists. It says much for the progress +of aviation at this time, when we read that, only a year before, it +was difficult to find but two pilots to compete in the much easier race +described in the last chapter. Much of this progress was undoubtedly +due to the immense enthusiasm aroused by the success of Paulhan in the +"London to Manchester" race. + +We will not describe fully the second race, because, though it was of +immense importance at the time, it has long since become a mere episode. +Rarely has Britain been in such great excitement as during that week in +July, 1911. + +Engine troubles, breakdowns, and other causes soon reduced the seventeen +competitors to two only: Lieutenant Conneau, of the French Navy-who +flew under the name of M. Beaumont--and M. Vedrines. Neck to neck they +flew--if we may be allowed this horse-racing expression--over all sorts +of country, which was quite unknown to them. + +Victory ultimately rested with Lieutenant Conneau, who, on 26th July, +1911, passed the winning-post at Brooklands after having completed +the course in the magnificent time of twenty-two hours, twenty-eight +minutes, averaging about 45 miles an hour for the whole journey. M. +Vedrines, though defeated, made a most plucky fight. Conneau's success +was due largely to his ability to keep to the course--on two or three +occasions Vedrines lost his way--and doubtless his naval training in +map-reading and observation gave him the advantage over his rival. + +The third historic flight was made by Mr. Harry Hawker, in August, 1913. +This was an attempt to win a prize of L5000 offered by the proprietors +of the Daily Mail for a flight round the British coasts. The route was +from Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, along the southern and eastern coasts +to Aberdeen and Cromarty, thence through the Caledonian Canal to Oban, +then on to Dublin, thence to Falmouth, and along the south coast to +Southampton Water. + +Two important conditions of the contest were that the flight was to be +made in an all-British aeroplane, fitted with a British engine. Hitherto +our aeroplane constructors and engine companies were behind their rivals +across the Channel in the building of air-craft and aerial engines, and +this country freely acknowledged the merits and enterprise of French +aviators. Though in the European War it was afterwards proved that the +British airman and constructor were the equals if not the superiors of +any in the world, at the date of this contest they were behind in many +respects. + +As these conditions precluded the use of the famous Gnome engine, which +had won so many contests, and indeed the employment of any engine made +abroad, the competitors were reduced to two aviation firms; and as +one or these ultimately withdrew from the contest the Sopwith Aviation +Company of Kingston-on-Thames and Brooklands entered a machine. + +Mr. T. Sopwith chose for his pilot a young Australian airman, Mr. Harry +Hawker. This skilful airman came with three other Australians to +this country to seek his fortune about three years before. He was +passionately devoted to mechanics, and, though he had had no opportunity +of flying in his native country, he had been intensely interested in the +progress of aviation in France and Britain, and the four friends set out +on their long journey to seek work in aeroplane factories. + +All four succeeded, but by far the most successful was Harry Hawker. +Early in 1913 Mr. Sopwith was looking out for a pilot, and he engaged +Hawker, whom he had seen during some good flying at Brooklands. + +In a month or two he was engaged in record breaking, and in June, 1913, +he tried to set up a new British height record. In his first attempt he +rose to 11,300 feet; but as the carburettor of the engine froze, and as +the pilot himself was in grave danger of frost-bite, he descended. +About a fortnight later he rose 12,300 feet above sea-level, and shortly +afterwards he performed an even more difficult test, by climbing with +three passengers to an altitude of 8500 feet. + +With such achievements to his name it was not in the least surprising +that Mr. Sopwith's choice of a pilot for the water-plane race rested +on Hawker. His first attempt was made on 16th August, when he flew from +Southampton Water to Yarmouth--a distance of about 240 miles--in 240 +minutes. The writer, who was spending a holiday at Lowestoft, watched +Mr. Hawker go by, and his machine was plainly visible to an enormous +crowd which had lined the beach. + +To everyone's regret the pilot was affected with a slight sunstroke when +he reached Yarmouth, and another Australian airman, Mr. Sidney Pickles, +was summoned to take his place. This was quite within the rules of the +contest, the object of which was to test the merits of a British machine +and engine rather than the endurance and skill of a particular pilot. +During the night a strong wind arose, and next morning, when Mr. Pickles +attempted to resume the flight, the sea was too rough for a start to be +made, and the water-plane was beached at Gorleston. + +Mr. Hawker quickly recovered from his indisposition, and on Monday, 25th +August, he, with a mechanic as passenger, left Cowes about five o'clock +in the morning in his second attempt to make a circuit of Britain. The +first control was at Ramsgate, and here he had to descend in order to +fulfil the conditions of the contest. + +Ramsgate was left at 9.8, and Yarmouth, the next control, was reached +at 10.38. So far the engine, built by Mr. Green, had worked perfectly. +About an hour was spent at Yarmouth, and then the machine was en route +to Scarborough. Haze compelled the pilot to keep close in to the coast, +so that he should not miss the way, and a choppy breeze some what +retarded the progress of the machine along the east coast. About +2.40 the pilot brought his machine to earth, or rather to water, at +Scarborough, where he stayed for nearly two hours. + +Mr. Hawker's intention was to reach Aberdeen, if possible, before +nightfall, but at Seaham he had to descend for water, as the engine was +becoming uncomfortably hot, and the radiator supply of water was rapidly +diminishing. This lost much valuable time, as over an hour was spent +here, and it had begun to grow dark before the journey was recommenced. +About an hour after resuming his journey he decided to plane down at the +fishing village of Beadwell, some 20 miles south of Berwick. + +At 8.5 on Tuesday morning the pilot was on his way to Aberdeen, but he +had to descend and stay at Montrose for about half an hour, and Aberdeen +was reached about 11 a.m. His Scottish admirers, consisting of quite +40,000 people at Aberdeen alone, gave him a most hearty welcome, and +sped him on his way about noon. Some two hours later Cromarty was +reached. + +Now commenced the most difficult part of the course. The Caledonian +Canal runs among lofty mountains, and the numerous air-eddies and swift +air-streams rushing through the mountain passes tossed the frail craft +to and fro, and at times threatened to wreck it altogether. On some +occasions the aeroplane was tossed up over 1000 feet at one blow; at +other times it was driven sideways almost on to the hills. From Cromarty +to Oban the journey was only about 96 miles, but it took nearly +three hours to fly between these places. This slow progress seriously +jeopardized the pilot's chances of completing the course in the +allotted time, for it was his intention to make the coast of Ireland by +nightfall. But as it was late when Oban was reached he decided to spend +the night there. + +Early the following morning he left for Dublin, 222 miles away. Soon a +float was found to be waterlogged and much valuable time was, spent in +bailing it dry. Then a descent had to be made at Kiells, in Argyllshire, +because a valve had gone wrong. Another landing was made at Larne, to +take aboard petrol. As soon as the petrol tanks were filled and the +machine had been overhauled the pilot got on his way for Dublin. + +For over two hours he flew steadily down the Irish coast, and then +occurred one of those slight accidents, quite insignificant in +themselves, but terribly disastrous in their results. Mr. Hawker's boots +were rubber soled and his foot slipped off the rudder bar, so that the +machine got out of control and fell into the sea at Lough Shinny, about +15 miles north of Dublin. At the time of the accident the pilot was +about 50 feet above the water, which in this part of the Lough is very +shallow. The machine was completely wrecked, and Mr. Hawker's mechanic +was badly cut about the head and neck, besides having his arm broken. +Mr. Hawker himself escaped injury. + +All Britons deeply sympathized with his misfortune, and much enthusiasm, +was aroused when the proprietors of the Daily Mail presented the skilful +and courageous pilot with a cheque for L1000 as a consolation gift. + +In a later chapter some account will be given of the tremendous +development of the aeroplane during four years of war. But it is fitting +that to the three historic flights detailed above there should be added +the sensational exploits of the Marchese Giulio Laureati in 1917. This +intrepid Italian airman made a non-stop journey from Turin to Naples +and back, a distance of 920 miles. A month later he flew from Turin to +Hounslow, a distance of 656 miles, in 7 hours 22 minutes. His machine +was presented to the British Air Board by the Italian Government. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. The Hydroplane and Air-boat + +One of the most recent developments in aviation is the hydroplane, or +water-plane as it is most commonly called. A hydroplane is an aeroplane +fitted with floats instead of wheels, so that it will rise from, or +alight upon, the surface of the water. Often water-planes have their +floats removed and wheels affixed to the chassis, so that they may be +used over land. + +From this you may think that the construction of a water-plane is quite +a simple task; but such is not the case. The fitting of floats to an +aeroplane has called for great skill on the part of the constructor, and +many difficulties have had to be overcome. + +Those of you who have seen an acroplane rise from the ground know that +the machine runs very quickly over the earth at a rapidly-increasing +speed, until sufficient momentum is obtained for the machine to lift +itself into the air. In the case of the water-plane the pilot has to +glide or "taxi" by means of a float or floats over the waves until the +machine acquires flying speed. + +Now the land resistance to the rubber-tired wheels is very small when +compared with the water resistance to the floats, and the faster the +craft goes the greater is the resistance. The great problem which the +constructor has had to solve is to build a machine fitted with floats +which will leave the water easily, which will preserve the lateral +balance of the machine, and which will offer the minimum resistance in +the air. + +A short flat-bottomed float, such as that known as the Fabre, is good at +getting off from smooth water, but is frequently damaged when the sea is +rough. A long and narrow float is preferable for rough water, as it +is able to cut through the waves; but comparatively little "lift" is +obtained from it. + +Some designers have provided their water-planes with two floats; others +advocate a single float. The former makes the machine more stable when at +rest on the water, but a great rawback is that the two-float machine is +affected by waves more than a machine fitted with a single float; for +one float may be on the crest of a wave and the other in the dip. This +is not the case with the single-float water-plane, but on the other hand +this type is less stable than the other when at rest. + +Sometimes the floats become waterlogged, and so add considerably to the +weight of the machine. Thus in Mr. Hawker's flight round Britain, the +pilot and his passenger had to pump about ten gallons of water out of +one of the floats before the machine could rise properly. Floats are +usually made with watertight compartments, and are composed of several +thin layers of wood, riveted to a wooden framework. + +There is another technical question to be considered in the fixing of +the floats, namely, the fore-and-aft balance of the machine in the air. +The propeller of a water-plane has to be set higher than that of a land +aeroplane, so that it may not come into contact with the waves. This +tends to tip the craft forwards, and thus make the nose of the float +dig in the water. To overcome this the float is set well forward of the +centre of gravity, and though this counteracts the thrust when the craft +"taxies" along the waves, it endangers its fore-and-aft stability when +aloft. + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. A Famous British Inventor of the Water-plane + +Though Harry Hawker made such a brilliant and gallant attempt to win the +L5000 prize, we must not forget that great credit is due to Mr. Sopwith, +who designed the water-plane, and to Mr. Green, the inventor of the +engine which made such a flight possible, and enabled the pilot to +achieve a feat never before approached in any part of the world. + +The life-story of Mr. "Tommy" Sopwith is almost a romance. As a lad +he was intensely interested in mechanics, and we can imagine him +constructing all manner of models, and enquiring the why and the +wherefore of every mechanical toy with which he came into contact. + +At the early age of twenty-one he commenced a motor business, but about +this time engineers and mechanics all over the country were becoming +greatly interested in the practical possibilities of aviation. Mr. +Sopwith decided to learn to fly, and in 1910, after continued practice +in a Howard Wright biplane, he had become a proficient pilot. So rapid +was his progress that by the end of the year he had won the magnificent +prize of L4000 generously offered by Baron de Forest for the longest +flight made by an all-British machine from England to the Continent. In +this flight he covered 177 miles, from Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey, to +the Belgian frontier, in three and a half hours. + +If Mr. Sopwith had been in any doubt as to the wisdom of changing his +business this remarkable achievement alone must have assured him that +his future career lay in aviation. In 1911 he was graciously received by +King George V at Windsor Castle, after having flown from Brooklands and +alighted on the East Terrace of the famous castle. + +In the same year he visited America, and astonished even that +go-ahead country with some skilful flying feats. To show the practical +possibilities of the aeroplane he overtook the liner Olympic, after she +had left New York harbour on her homeward voyage, and dropped aboard a +parcel addressed to a passenger. On his return to England he competed +in the first Aerial Derby, the course being a circuit of London, +representing a distance of 81 miles. In this race he made a magnificent +flight in a 70-horse-power Bleriot monoplane, and came in some fifteen +minutes before Mr. Hamel, the second pilot home. So popular was his +victory that Mr. Grahame-White and several other officials of the London +Aerodrome carried him shoulder high from his machine. + +From this time we hear little of Mr. Sopwith as a pilot, for, like +other famous airmen, such as Louis Bleriot, Henri Farman, and Claude +Grahame-White, who jumped into fame by success in competition flying, +he has retired with his laurels, and now devotes his efforts to the +construction of machines. He bids fair to be equally successful as +a constructor of air-craft as he formerly was as a pilot of flying +machines. The Sopwith machines are noted for their careful design and +excellent workmanship. They are made by the Sopwith Aviation Company, +Ltd., whose works are at Kingston-on-Thames. Several water-planes +have been built there for the Admiralty, and land machines for the +War Office. Late in 1913 Mr. Hawker left Britain for Australia to give +demonstrations in the Sopwith machine to the Government of his native +country. + +A fine list of records has for long stood to the credit of the Sopwith +biplane. Among these are: + + British Height Record (Pilot only) 11,450 feet + " " " (Pilot and 1 Passenger) 12,900 " + " " " (Pilot and 2 Passengers) 10,600 " + World's " " (Pilot and 3 Passengers) 8,400 " + +Many of the Sopwith machines used in the European War were built +specially to withstand rough climate and heavy winds, and thus they were +able to work in almost every kind of weather. It was this fact, coupled +with the indomitable spirit of adventure inherent in men of British +race, that made British airmen more than hold their own with both friend +and foe in the war. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. Sea-planes for Warfare + +"Even in the region of the air, into which with characteristic British +prudence we have moved with some tardiness, the Navy need not fear +comparison with the Navy of any other country. The British sea-plane, +although still in an empirical stage, like everything else in this +sphere of warlike operations, has reached a point of progress in advance +of anything attained elsewhere. + +"Our hearts should go out to-night to those brilliant officers, +Commander Samson and his band of brilliant pioneers, to whose +endeavours, to whose enterprise, to whose devotion it is due that in +an incredibly short space of time our naval aeroplane service has been +raised to that primacy from which it must never be cast down. + +"It is not only in naval hydroplanes that we must have superiority. The +enduring safety of this country will not be maintained by force of arms +unless over the whole sphere of aerial development we are able to make +ourselves the first nation. That will be a task of long duration. Many +difficulties have to be overcome. Other countries have started sooner. +The native genius of France, the indomitable perseverance of Germany, +have produced results which we at the present time cannot equal." + +So said Mr. Winston Churchill at the Lord Mayor's Banquet held in London +in 1913, and I have quoted his speech because such a statement, made at +such a time, clearly shows the attitude of the British Government toward +this new arm of Imperial Defence. + +In bygone days the ocean was the great highway which united the various +quarters of the Empire, and, what was even more important from the +standpoint of our country's defence, it was a formidable barrier between +Britain and her Continental neighbours, + + "Which serves it in the office of a wall + Or as a moat defensive to a house." + +But the ocean is no longer the only highway, for the age of aerial +navigation has arrived, and, as one writer says: "Every argument which +impelled us of old to fight for the dominion of the sea has apparently +been found valid in relation to the supremacy of the air." + +From some points of view this race between nations for naval and aerial +supremacy may be unfortunate, but so long as the fighting instinct +of man continues in the human race, so long as rivalry exists between +nations, so long must we continue to strengthen our aerial position. + +Britain is slow to start on any great venture where great change is +effected. Our practice is rather to wait and see what other nations are +doing; and there is something to be said for this method of procedure. + +In the art of aviation, and in the construction of air-craft, our +French, German, and American rivals were very efficient pacemakers in +the aerial race for supremacy, and during the years 1909-12 we were in +grave peril of being left hopelessly behind. But in 1913 we realized the +vital importance to the State of capturing the first place in aviation, +particularly that of aerial supremacy at sea, for the Navy is our first +line of defence. So rapid has been our progress that we are quite the +equal of our French and German rivals in the production of aeroplanes, +and in sea-planes we are far ahead of them, both in design and +construction, and the war has proved that we are ahead in the art of +flight. + +The Naval Air Service before the war had been establishing a chain +of air stations round the coast. These stations are at Calshot, on +Southampton Water, the Isle of Grain, off Sheerness, Leven, on the Firth +of Forth, Cromarty, Yarmouth, Blythe, and Cleethorpes. + +But what is even more important is the fact that the Government is +encouraging sea-plane constructors to go ahead as fast as they can +in the production of efficient machines. Messrs. Short Brothers, the +Sopwith Aviation Company, and Messrs. Roe are building high-class +machines for sea work which can beat anything turned out abroad. +Our newest naval water-planes are fitted with British-built wireless +apparatus of great range of action, and Messrs. Short Brothers are at +the present time constructing for the Admiralty, at their works in the +Isle of Sheppey, a fleet of fighting water-planes capable of engaging +and destroying the biggest dirigible air-ships. + +In 1913 aeroplanes took a very prominent part in our naval manoeuvres, +and the cry of the battleship captains was: "Give us water-planes. Give +us them of great size and power, large enough to carry a gun and gun +crew, and capable of taking twelve-hour cruises at a speed much greater +than that of the fastest dirigible air-ship, and we shall be on the +highroad to aerial supremacy at sea." + +The Admiralty, acting on this advice, at once began to co-operate +with the leading firms of aeroplane constructors, and at a great rate +machines of all sizes and designs have been turned out. There were light +single-seater water-planes able to maintain a speed of over a mile a +minute; there were also larger machines for long-distance flying which +could carry two passengers. The machines were so designed that their +wings could be folded back along their bodies, and their wires, struts, +and so on packed into the main parts of the craft, so that they were +almost as compact as the body of a bird at rest on its perch, and they +took up comparatively little space on board ship. + +A brilliantly executed raid was carried out on Cuxhaven, an important +German naval base, by seven British water-planes, on Christmas Day, +1914. The water-planes were escorted across the North Sea by a light +cruiser and destroyer force, together with submarines. They left +the war-ships in the vicinity of Heligoland and flew over Cuxhaven, +discharging bombs on points of military significance, and apparently +doing considerable damage to the docks and shipping. The British ships +remained off the coast for three hours in order to pick up the returning +airmen, and during this time they were attacked by dirigibles and +submarines, without, however, suffering damage. Six of the sea-planes +returned safely to the ships, but one was wrecked in Heligoland Bight. + +But the present efficient sea-plane is a development of the war. In the +early days many of the raids of the "naval wing" were carried out in +land-going aeroplanes. Now the R.N.A.S., which came into being as +a separate service in July, 1914, possess two main types of flying +machine, the flying boat and the twin float, both types being able to +rise from and alight upon the sea, just as an aeroplane can leave and +return to the land. Many brilliant raids stand to the credit of the +R.N.A.S. The docks at Antwerp, submarine bases at Ostend, and all +Germany's fortified posts on the Belgian coast, have seldom been free +from their attentions. And when, under the stress of public outcry, the +Government at last gave its consent to a measure of "reprisals" it was +the R.N.A.S. which opened the campaign with a raid upon the German town +of Mannheim. + +As the war continued the duties of the naval pilot increased. He played +a great part in the ceaseless hunt for submarines. You must often +have noticed how easily fish can be seen from a bridge which are quite +invisible from the banks of the river. On this principle the submarine +can be "spotted" by air-craft, and not until the long silence upon naval +affairs is broken, at the end of the war, shall we know to what extent +we are indebted to naval airmen for that long list of submarines which, +in the words of the German reports, "failed to return" to their bases. + +In addition to the "Blimps" of which mention has been made, the Royal +Naval Air Service are in charge of air-ships known as the Coast Patrol +type, which work farther out to sea, locating minefields and acting as +scouts for the great fleet of patrol vessels. The Service has gathered +laurels in all parts of the globe, its achievements ranging from an +aerial food service into beleaguered Kut to the discovery of the German +cruiser Konigsberg, cunningly camouflaged up an African creek. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. The First Man to Fly in Britain + +The honour of being the first man to fly in this country is claimed +by Mr. A. V. Roe, head of the well-known firm A. V. Roe & Co., of +Manchester, and constructor of the highly-efficient Avro machines. + +As a youth Roe's great hobby was the construction of toy models of +various forms of machinery, and later on he achieved considerable +success in the production of aeroplane models. All manner of novelties +were the outcome of his fertile brain, and as it has been truly +remarked, "his novelties have the peculiarity, not granted to +most pioneers, of being in one respect or another ahead of his +contemporaries." In addition, he studied the flight of birds. + +In the early days of aviation Mr. Roe was a firm believer in the +triplane form of machine, and his first experiments in flight were +made with a triplane equipped with an engine which developed only 9 +horse-power. + +Later on, he turned his attention to the biplane, and with this craft he +has been highly successful. The Avro biplane, produced in 1913, was +one of the very best machines which appeared in that eventful year. The +Daily Telegraph, when relating its performances, said: "The spectators +at Hendon were given a remarkable demonstration of the wonderful +qualities of this fine Avro biplane, whose splendid performances stamped +it as one of the finest aeroplanes ever designed, if not indeed the +finest of all". + +This craft is fitted with an 80-horse-power Gnome engine, and is +probably the fastest passenger-carrying biplane of its type in the +world. Its total weight, with engine, fuel for three hours, and a +passenger, is 1550 pounds, and it has a main-plane surface of 342 square +feet. + +Not only can the biplane maintain such great speed, but, what is of +great importance for observation purposes, it can fly at the slow rate +of 30 miles per hour. We have previously remarked that a machine is kept +up in the air by the speed it attains; if its normal flying speed be +much reduced the machine drops to earth unless the rate of flying is +accelerated by diving, or other means. + +What Harry Hawker is to Mr. Sopwith so is F. P. Raynham to Mr. Roe. This +skilful pilot learned to fly at Brooklands, and during the last year +or two he has been continuously engaged in testing Avro machines, and +passing them through the Army reception trials. In the "Aerial Derby" +of 1913 Mr. Raynham piloted an 80-horse-power Avro biplane, and came in +fourth. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. The Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service + +The year 1912 was marked by the institution of the Royal Flying Corps. +The new corps, which was so soon to make its mark in the greatest of all +wars, consisted of naval and military "wings". In those early days the +head-quarters of the corps were at Eastchurch, and there both naval +and military officers were trained in aviation. In an arm of such +rapid--almost miraculous--development as Service flying to go back a +period of six years is almost to take a plunge into ancient history. +Designs, engines, guns, fittings, signals of those days are now almost +archaic. The British engine of reliable make had not yet been evolved, +and the aeroplane generally was a conglomerate affair made up of parts +assembled from various parts of the Continent. The present-day sea-plane +was yet to come, and naval pilots shared the land-going aeroplanes +of their military brethren. In the days when Bleriot provided a world +sensation by flying across the Channel the new science was kept +alive mainly by the private enterprise of newspapers and aeroplane +manufacturers. The official attitude, as is so often the case in the +history of inventions, was as frigid as could be. The Government looked +on with a cold and critical eye, and could not be touched either in +heart or in pocket. + +But with the institution of the Royal Flying Corps the official heart +began to warm slightly, and certain tests were laid down for those +manufacturers who aspired to sell their machines to the new arm of +the Service. These tests, providing for fuel capacity up to 4.0 miles, +speeds up to 85 miles an hour, and heights up to 3500 feet, would now +be regarded as very elementary affairs. "Looping the loop" was still a +dangerous trick for the exhibiting airman and not an evolution; while +the "nose-dive" was an uncalculated entry into the next world. + +The first important stage in the history of the new arm was reached in +July, 1914, when the wing system was abolished, and the Royal Naval Air +Service became a separate unit of the Imperial Forces. The first public +appearance of the sailor airmen was at a proposed review of the fleet by +the King at a test mobilization. The King was unable to attend, but the +naval pilots carried out their part of the programme very creditably +considering the polyglot nature of their sea-planes. A few weeks later +and the country was at war. + +There can be no doubt that the Great War has had an enormous forcing +influence upon the science of aviation. In times of peace the old game +of private enterprise and official neglect would possibly have been +carried on in well-marked stages. But with the terrific incentive of +victory before them, all Governments fostered the growth of the new arm +by all the means in their power. It became a race between Allied and +enemy countries as to who first should attain the mastery of the air. +The British nation, as usual, started well behind in the race, and their +handicap would have been increased to a dangerous extent had Germany +not been obsessed by the possibilities of the air-ship as opposed to the +aeroplane. Fortunately for us the Zeppelin, as has been described in an +earlier chapter, failed to bring about the destruction anticipated by +its inventor, and so we gained breathing space for catching up the enemy +in the building and equipment of aeroplanes and the training of pilots +and observers. + +War has set up its usual screens, and the writer is only permitted a +very vague and impressionistic picture of the work of the R.F.C. and +R.N.A.S. Numerical details and localities must be rigorously suppressed. +Descriptions of the work of the Flying Service must be almost as bald +as those laconic reports sent in by naval and military airmen to +head-quarters. But there is such an accomplishment as reading between +the lines. + +The flying men fall naturally into two classes--pilots and observers. +The latter, of course, act as aerial gunners. The pilots have to pass +through three, and observers two, successive courses of training in +aviation. Instruction is very detailed and thorough as befits a career +which, in addition to embracing the endless problems of flight, demands +knowledge of wireless telegraphy, photography, and machine gunnery. + +Many of the officers are drafted into the Royal Flying Corps from other +branches of the Service, but there are also large numbers of civilians +who take up the career. In their case they are first trained as cadets, +and, after qualifying for commissions, start their training in aviation +at one of the many schools which have now sprung up in all parts of the +country. + +When the actual flying men are counted in thousands some idea may be +gained of the great organization required for the Corps--the schools +and flying grounds, the training and activities of the mechanics, +the workshops and repair shops, the storage of spare parts, the motor +transport, &c. As in other departments of the Service, women have come +forward and are doing excellent and most responsible work, especially in +the motor-transport section. + +A very striking feature of the Corps is the extreme youth of the +members, many of the most daring fighters in the air being mere boys of +twenty. + +The Corps has the very pick of the youth and daring and enterprise of +the country. In the days of the old army there existed certain unwritten +laws of precedence as between various branches of the Service. If such +customs still prevail it is certain that the very newest arm would take +pride of place. The flying man has recaptured some of the glamour and +romance which encircled the knight-errant of old. He breathes the very +atmosphere of dangerous adventure. Life for him is a series of thrills, +any one of which would be sufficient to last the ordinary humdrum +citizen for a lifetime. Small wonder that the flying man has captured +the interest and affection of the people, and all eyes follow these +trim, smart, desperadoes of the air in their passage through our cities. + +As regards the work of the flying man the danger curve seems to be +changing. On the one hand the training is much more severe and exacting +than formerly was the case, and so carries a greater element of danger. +On the other hand on the battle-front fighting information has in great +measure taken the place of the system of men going up "on their own". +They are perhaps not so liable to meet with a numerical superiority +on the part of enemy machines, which spelt for them almost certain +destruction. + +For a long time the policy of silence and secrecy which screened "the +front" from popular gaze kept us in ignorance of the achievements of our +airmen. But finally the voice of the people prevailed in their demand +for more enlightenment. Names of regiments began to be mentioned in +connection with particular successes. And in the same way the heroes of +the R.F.C. and R.N.A.S. were allowed to reap some of the laurels they +deserved. + +It began to be recognized that publication of the name of an airman who +had destroyed a Zeppelin, for instance, did not constitute any vital +information to the enemy. In a recent raid upon London the names of the +two airmen, Captain G. H. Hackwill, R.F.C., and Lieutenant C. C. Banks, +R.F.C., who destroyed a Gotha, were given out in the House of Commons +and saluted with cheers. In the old days the secretist party would have +regarded this publication as a policy which led the nation in the direct +line of "losing the war". + +In the annals of the Flying Service, where dare-devilry is taken as +a matter of course and hairbreadth escapes from death are part of the +daily routine, it is difficult to select adventures for special mention; +but the following episodes will give a general idea of the work of the +airman in war. + +The great feat of Sub-Lieutenant R. A. J. Warneford, R.N.A.S., who +single-handed attacked and destroyed a Zeppelin, has already been +referred to in Chapter XIII. Lieutenant Warneford was the second on +the list of airmen who won the coveted Cross, the first recipient being +Second-Lieutenant Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse, for a daring and successful +bomb-dropping raid upon Courtrai in April, 1915. As has happened in so +many cases, the award to Lieutenant Rhodes-Moorhouse was a posthumous +one, the gallant airman having been mortally wounded during the raid, +in spite of which he managed by flying low to reach his destination and +make his report. + +A writer of adventure stories for boys would be hard put to it to invent +any situation more thrilling than that in which Squadron-Commander +Richard Bell Davies, D.S.O., R.N., and Flight Sub-Lieutenant Gilbert +Formby Smylie, R.N., found themselves while carrying out an air attack +upon Ferrijik junction. Smylie's machine was subjected to such heavy +fire that it was disabled, and the airman was compelled to plane down +after releasing all his bombs but one, which failed to explode. The +moment he alighted he set fire to his machine. Presently Smylie saw his +companion about to descend quite close to the burning machine. There +was infinite danger from the bomb. It was a question of seconds merely +before it must explode. So Smylie rushed over to the machine, took hasty +aim with his revolver, and exploded the bomb, just before the Commander +came within the danger zone. Meanwhile the enemy had commenced to gather +round the two airmen, whereupon Squadron-Commander Davies coolly took up +the Lieutenant on his machine and flew away with him in safety back to +their lines. Davies, who had already won the D.S.O., was given the +V.C., while his companion in this amazing adventure was granted the +Distinguished Service Cross. + +The unexpectedness, to use no stronger term, of life in the R.F.C. in +war-time is well exemplified by the adventure which befell Major Rees. +The pilot of a "fighter", he saw what he took to be a party of air +machines returning from a bombing expedition. Proceeding to join them in +the character of escort, Major Rees made the unpleasant discovery that +he was just about to join a little party of ten enemy machines. But so +far from being dismayed, the plucky airman actually gave battle to the +whole ten. One he quickly drove "down and out", as the soldiers say. +Attacked by five others, he damaged two of them and dispersed the +remainder. Not content with this, he gave chase to two more, and only +broke off the engagement when he had received a wound in the thigh. Then +he flew home to make the usual laconic report. + +No record of heroism in the air could be complete without mention of +Captain Ball, who has already figured in these pages. When awarded +the V.C. Captain Ball was already the holder of the following honours: +D.S.O., M.C., Cross of a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, and the +Russian order of St. George. This heroic boy of twenty was a giant among +a company of giants. Here follows the official account which accompanied +his award:-- + +"Lieutenant (temporary Captain) ALBERT BALL, D.S.O., M.C., late Notts +and Derby Regiment, and R.F.C. + +"For most conspicuous and consistent bravery from April 25 to May 6, +1917, during which period Captain Ball took part in twenty-six combats +in the air and destroyed eleven hostile aeroplanes, drove down two out +of control, and forced several others to land. + +"In these combats Captain Ball, flying alone, on one occasion fought six +hostile machines, twice he fought five, and once four. + +"While leading two other British aeroplanes he attacked an enemy +formation of eight. On each of these occasions he brought down at least +one enemy. + +"Several times his aeroplane was badly damaged, once so severely that +but for the most delicate handling his machine would have collapsed, +as nearly all the control wires had been shot away. On returning with a +damaged machine, he had always to be restrained from immediately going +out on another. + +"In all Captain Ball has destroyed forty-three German aeroplanes and +one balloon, and has always displayed most exceptional courage, +determination, and skill." + + +So great was Captain Ball's skill as a fighter in the air that for a +time he was sent back to England to train new pilots in the schools. But +the need for his services at the front was even greater, and it jumped +with his desires, for the whole tone of his letters breathes the joy +he found in the excitements of flying and fighting. He declares he +is having a "topping time", and exults in boyish fashion at a coming +presentation to Sir Douglas Haig. It is not too much to say that the +whole empire mourned when Captain Ball finally met his death in the air +near La Bassee in May, 1917. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. Aeroplanes in the Great War + +"Aeroplanes and airships would have given us an enormous advantage +against the Boers. The difficulty of laying ambushes and traps for +isolated columns--a practice at which the enemy were peculiarly +adept--would have been very much greater. Some at least of the +regrettable reverses which marked the early stages of the campaign could +in all probability have been avoided." + +So wrote Lord Roberts, our veteran field-marshal, in describing the +progress of the Army during recent years. The great soldier was a man +who always looked ahead. After his great and strenuous career, instead +of taking the rest which he had so thoroughly earned, he spent laborious +days travelling up and down the country, warning the people of danger +ahead; exhorting them to learn to drill and to shoot; thus attempting to +lay the foundation of a great civic army. But his words, alas! fell upon +deaf ears--with results so tragic as hardly to bear dwelling upon. + +But even "Bobs", seer and true prophet as he was, could hardly have +foreseen the swift and dramatic development of war in the air. He had +not long been laid to rest when aeroplanes began to be talked about, +and, what is more important, to be built, not in hundreds but in +thousands. At the time of writing, when we are well into the fourth year +of the war, it seems almost impossible for the mind to go back to the +old standards, and to take in the statement that the number of machines +which accompanied the original Expeditionary Force to France was eighty! +Even if one were not entirely ignorant of the number and disposition +of the aerial fighting forces over the world-wide battle-ground, +the Defence of the Realm Act would prevent us from making public the +information. But when, more than a year ago, America entered the war, +and talked of building 10,000 aeroplanes, no one gasped. For even in +those days one thought of aeroplanes not in hundreds but in tens of +thousands. + +Before proceeding to give a few details of the most recent work of the +Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service, mention must be made of +the armament of the aeroplane. In the first place, it should be stated +that the war has gradually evolved three distinct types of flying +machine: (1) the "general-purposes" aeroplane; (2) the giant bomb +dropper; (3) the small single-seater "fighter". + +As the description implies, the first machine fills a variety of roles, +and the duties of its pilots grow more manifold as the war progresses. +"Spotting" for the artillery far behind the enemy's lines; "searching" +for ammunition dumps, for new dispositions by the enemy of men, +material, and guns; attacking a convoy or bodies of troops on the march; +sprinkling new trenches with machine-gun fire, or having a go at an +aerodrome--any wild form of aerial adventure might be included in the +diary of the pilot of a "general-purposes" machine. + +It was in order to clear the air for these activities that the "fighter" +came into being, and received its baptism of fire at the Battle of the +Somme. At first the idea of a machine for fighting only, was ridiculed. +Even the Germans, who, in a military sense, were awake and plotting when +other nations were dozing in the sunshine of peace, did not think ahead +and imagine the aerial duel between groups of aeroplanes armed with +machine-guns. But soon the mastery of the air became of paramount +importance, and so the fighter was evolved. Nobly, too, did the men +of all nations rise to these heroic and dangerous opportunities. The +Germans were the first to boast of the exploits of their fighting +airmen, and to us in Britain the names of Immelmann and Bolcke were +known long before those of any of our own fighters. The former claimed +not far short of a hundred victims before he was at last brought low +in June, 1916. His letters to his family were published soon after his +death, and do not err on the side of modesty. + +On 11th August, 1915, he writes: "There is not much doing here. Ten +minutes after Bolcke and I go up, there is not an enemy airman to be +seen. The English seem to have lost all pleasure in flying. They come +over very, very seldom." + +When allowance has been made for German brag, these statements throw +some light upon the standard of British flying at a comparatively early +date in the war. Certainly no German airman could have made any such +complaint a year later. In 1917 the German airmen were given all the +fighting they required and a bit over. + +Certainly a very different picture is presented by the dismal letters +which Fritz sent home during the great Ypres offensive of August, 1917. +In these letters he bewails the fact that one after another of his +batteries is put out of action owing to the perfect "spotting" of the +British airmen, and arrives at the sad conclusion that Germany has lost +her superiority in the air. + +An account has already been given of the skill and prowess of Captain +Ball. On his own count--and he was not the type of man to exaggerate his +prowess--he found he had destroyed fifty machines, although actually he +got the credit for forty-one. This slight discrepancy may be explained +by the scrupulous care which is taken to check the official returns. +The air fighter, though morally certain of the destruction of a certain +enemy aeroplane, has to bring independent witnesses to substantiate his +claim, and when out "on his own" this is no easy matter. Without this +check, though occasionally it acts harshly towards the pilot, there +might be a tendency to exaggerate enemy losses, owing to the difficulty +of distinguishing between an aeroplane put out of action and one the +pilot of which takes a sensational "nose dive" to get out of danger. + +One of the most striking illustrations of the growth of the aeroplane +as a fighting force is afforded by the great increase in the heights +at which they could scout, take photographs, and fight. In Sir John +French's dispatches mention is made of bomb-dropping from 3000 feet. In +these days the aerial battleground has been extended to anything up +to 20,000 feet. Indeed, so brisk has been the duel between gun and +aeroplane, that nowadays airmen have often to seek the other margin of +safety, and can defy the anti-aircraft guns only by flying so low as +just to escape the ground. The general armament of a "fighter" consists +of a maxim firing through the propeller, and a Lewis gun at the rear on +a revolving gun-ring. + +It is pleasant to record that the Allies kept well ahead of the enemy in +their use of aerial photography. Before a great offensive some thousands +of photographs had to be taken of enemy dispositions by means of cameras +built into the aeroplanes. + +Plates were found to stand the rough usage better than films, and not +for the first time in the history of mechanics the man beat the machine, +a skilful operator being found superior to the ingenious automatic +plate-fillers which had been devised. + +The counter-measure to this ruthless exposure of plans was camouflage. +As if by magic-tents, huts, dumps, guns began, as it were, to sink into +the scenery. The magicians were men skilled in the use of brush and +paint-pot, and several leading figures in the world of art lent their +services to the military authorities as directors of this campaign of +concealment. In this connection it is interesting to note that both +Admiralty and War Office took measures to record the pictorial side +of the Great War. Special commissions were given to a notable band of +artists working in their different "lines". An abiding record of the +great struggle will be afforded by the black-and-white work of Muirhead +Bone, James M'Bey, and Charles Pears; the portraits, landscapes, and +seascapes of Sir John Lavery, Philip Connard, Norman Wilkinson, and +Augustus John, who received his commission from the Canadian Government. + + + +CHAPTER XL. The Atmosphere and the Barometer + +For the discovery of how to find the atmospheric pressure we are +indebted to an Italian named Torricelli, a pupil of Galileo, who carried +out numerous experiments on the atmosphere toward the close of the +sixteenth century. + +Torricelli argued that, as air is a fluid, if it had weight it could +be made to balance another fluid of known weight. In his experiments he +found that if a glass tube about 3 feet in length, open at one end +only, and filled with mercury, were placed vertically with the open end +submerged in a cup of mercury, some of the mercury in the tube descended +into the cup, leaving a column of mercury about 30 inches in height +in the tube. From this it was deduced that the pressure of air on the +surface of the mercury in the cup forced it up the tube to the height +Of 30 inches, and this was so because the weight of a column of air from +the cup to the top of the atmosphere was only equal to that of a column +of mercury of the same base and 30 inches high. + +Torricelli's experiment can be easily repeated. Take a glass tube about +3 feet long, closed at one end and open at the other; fill it as full +as possible with mercury. Then close the open end with the thumb, and +invert the tube in a basin of mercury so that the open end dips beneath +the surface. The mercury in the tube will be found to fall a short +distance, and if the height of the column from the surface of the +mercury in the basin be measured you will find it will be about 30 +inches. As the tube is closed at the top there is no downward pressure +of air at that point, and the space above the mercury in the tube is +quite empty: it forms a VACUUM. This vacuum is generally known as the +TORRICELLIAN VACUUM, after the name of its discoverer. + +Suppose, now, a hole be bored through the top of the tube above the +column of mercury, the mercury will immediately fall in the tube until +it stands at the same level as the mercury in the basin, because +the upward pressure of air through the liquid in the basin would be +counterbalanced by the downward pressure of the air at the top, and the +mercury would fall by its own weight. + +A few years later Professor Boyle proposed to use the instrument to +measure the height of mountains. He argued that, since the pressure of +the atmosphere balanced a column of mercury 30 inches high, it followed +that if one could find the weight of the mercury column one would also +find the weight of a column of air standing on a base of the same size, +and stretching away indefinitely into space. It was found that a column +of mercury in a tube having a sectional area of 1 square inch, and a +height of 30 inches, weighed 15 pounds; therefore the weight of the +atmosphere, or air pressure, at sea-level is about 15 pounds to +the square inch. The ordinary mercury barometer is essentially a +Torricellian tube graduated so that the varying heights of the mercury +column can be used as a measure of the varying atmospheric pressure +due to change of weather or due to alteration of altitude. If we take a +mercury barometer up a hill we will observe that the mercury falls. +The weight of atmosphere being less as we ascend, the column of mercury +supported becomes smaller. + +Although the atmosphere has been proved to be over 200 miles high, it +has by no means the same density throughout. Like all gases, air is +subject to the law that the density increases directly as the pressure, +and thus the densest and heaviest layers are those nearest the +sea-level, because the air near the earth's surface has to support +the pressure of all the air above it. As airmen rise into the highest +portions of the atmosphere the height of the column of air above them +decreases, and it follows that, having a shorter column of air to +support, those portions are less dense than those lower down. So rare +does the atmosphere become, when great altitudes are reached, that at +a height of seven miles breathing is well-nigh impossible, and at far +lower altitudes than this airmen have to be supported by inhalations of +oxygen. + +One of the greatest altitudes was reached by two famous balloonists, +Messrs. Coxwell and Glaisher. They were over seven miles in the air when +the latter fell unconscious, and the plucky aeronauts were only saved by +Mr. Coxwell pulling the valve line with his teeth, as all his limbs were +disabled. + + + +CHAPTER XLI. How an Airman Knows what Height he Reaches + +One of the first questions the visitor to an aerodrome, when watching +the altitude tests, asks is: "How is it known that the airman has risen +to a height of so many feet?" Does he guess at the distance he is above +the earth? + +If this were so, then it is very evident that there would be great +difficulty in awarding a prize to a number of competitors each trying to +ascend higher than his rivals. + +No; the pilot does not guess at his flying height, but he finds it by a +height-recording instrument called the BAROGRAPH. + +In the last chapter we saw how the ordinary mercurial barometer can be +used to ascertain fairly accurately the height of mountains. But the +airman does not take a mercurial barometer up with him. There is for his +use another form of barometer much more suited to his purpose, namely, +the barograph, which is really a development of the aneroid barometer. + +The aneroid barometer (Gr. a, not; neros, moist) is so called because it +requires neither mercury, glycerine, water, nor any other liquid in its +construction. It consists essentially of a small, flat, metallic +box made of elastic metal, and from which the air has been partially +exhausted. In the interior there is an ingenious arrangement of springs +and levers, which respond to atmospheric pressure, and the depression or +elevation of the surface is registered by an index on the dial. As the +pressure of the atmosphere increases, the sides of the box are squeezed +in by the weight of the air, while with a decrease of pressure they are +pressed out again by the springs. By means of a suitable adjustment +the pointer on the dial responds to these movements. It is moved in +one direction for increase of air pressure, and in the opposite for +decreased pressure. The positions of the figures on the dial are +originally obtained by numerous comparisons with a standard mercurial +barometer, and the scale is graduated to correspond with the mercurial +barometer. + +From the illustration here given you will notice the pointer and scale +of the "A. G" aero-barograph, which is used by many of our leading +airmen, and which, as we have said, is a development of the aneroid +barometer. The need of a self-registering scale to a pilot who is +competing in an altitude test, or who is trying to establish a height +record, is self-evident. He need not interfere with the instrument in +the slightest; it records and tells its own story. There is in use a +pocket barograph which weighs only 1 pound, and registers up to 4000 +feet. + +It is claimed for the "A. G." barograph that it is the most precise +instrument of its kind. Its advantages are that it is quite portable--it +measures only 6 1/4 inches in length, 3 1/2 inches in width, and 2 1/2 +inches in depth, with a total weight of only 14 pounds--and that it is +exceptionally accurate and strong. Some idea of the labour involved +in its construction may be gathered from the fact that this small and +insignificant-looking instrument, fitted in its aluminium case, costs +over L8. + + + +CHAPTER XLII. How an Airman finds his Way + +In the early days of aviation we frequently heard of an aviator losing +his way, and being compelled to descend some miles from his required +destination. There are on record various instances where airmen have +lost their way when flying over the sea, and have drifted so far from +land that they have been drowned. One of the most notable of such +disasters was that which occurred to Mr. Hamel in 1914, when he +was trying to cross the English Channel. It is presumed that this +unfortunate pilot lost his bearings in a fog, and that an accident to +his machine, or a shortage of petrol, caused him to fall in the sea. + +There are several reasons why air pilots go out of their course, even +though they are supplied with most efficient compasses. One cause of +misdirection is the prevalence of a strong side wind. Suppose, for +example, an airman intended to fly from Harwich to Amsterdam. A glance +at the map will show that the latter place is almost due east of +Harwich. We will assume that when the pilot leaves Earth at Harwich the +wind is blowing to the east; that is, behind his back. + +Now, however strong a wind may be, and in whatever direction it blows, +it always appears to be blowing full in a pilot's face. Of course this +is due to the fact that the rush of the machine through the air "makes +a wind", as we say. Much the same sort of thing is experienced on a +bicycle; when out cycling we very generally seem to have a "head" wind. + +Suppose during his journey a very strong side wind sprang up over the +North Sea. The pilot would still keep steering his craft due east, +and it must be remembered that when well out at sea there would be no +familiar landmarks to guide him, so that he would have to rely solely on +his compass. It is highly probable that he would not feel the change of +wind at all, but it is even more probable that when land was ultimately +reached he would be dozens of miles from his required landing-place. + +Quite recently Mr. Alexander Gross, the well-known maker of aviation +instruments, who is even more famous for his excellent aviation maps, +claims to have produced an anti-drift aero-compass, which has been +specially designed for use on aeroplanes. The chief advantages of this +compass are that the dial is absolutely steady; the needle is extremely +sensitive and shows accurately the most minute change of course; the +anti-drift arrangement checks the slightest deviation from the straight +course; and it is fitted with a revolving sighting arrangement which is +of great importance in the adjustment of the instrument. + +Before the airman leaves Earth he sets his compass to the course to +be steered, and during the flight he has only to see that the two +boldly-marked north points--on the dial and on the outer ring--coincide +to know that he is keeping his course. The north points are luminous, so +that they are clearly visible at night. + +It is quite possible that if some of our early aviators had carried such +a highly-efficient compass as this, their lives might have been +saved, for they would not have gone so far astray in their course. The +anti-drift compass has been adopted by various Governments, and it now +forms part of the equipment of the Austrian military aeroplane. + +When undertaking cross-country flights over strange land an airman finds +his way by a specially-prepared map which is spread out before him in +an aluminium map case. From the illustration here given of an aviator's +map, you will see that it differs in many respects from the ordinary +map. Most British aviation maps are made and supplied by Mr Alexander +Gross, of the firm of "Geographia", London. + +Many airmen seem to find their way instinctively, so to speak, and some +are much better in picking out landmarks, and recognizing the country +generally, than others. This is the case even with pedestrians, who +have the guidance of sign-posts, street names, and so on to assist them. +However accurately some people are directed, they appear to have the +greatest difficulty in finding their way, while others, more fortunate, +remember prominent features on the route, and pick out their course as +accurately as does a homing pigeon. + +Large sheets of water form admirable "sign-posts" for an airman; thus +at Kempton Park, one of the turning-points in the course followed in the +"Aerial Derby", there are large reservoirs, which enable the airmen to +follow the course at this point with the greatest ease. Railway lines, +forests, rivers and canals, large towns, prominent structures, such as +gasholders, chimney-stalks, and so on, all assist an airman to find his +way. + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. The First Airman to Fly Upside Down + +Visitors to Brooklands aerodrome on 25th September, 1913, saw one of +the greatest sensations in this or any other century, for on that date a +daring French aviator, M. Pegoud, performed the hazardous feat of flying +upside down. + +Before we describe the marvellous somersaults which Pegoud made, two or +three thousand feet above the earth, it would be well to see what was +the practical use of it all. If this amazing airman had been performing +some circus trick in the air simply for the sake of attracting large +crowds of people to witness it, and therefore being the means of +bringing great monetary gain both to him and his patrons, then this +chapter would never have been written. Indeed, such a risk to one's +life, if there had been nothing to learn from it, would have been +foolish. + +No; Pegoud's thrilling performance must be looked at from an entirely +different standpoint to such feats of daring as the placing of one's +head in the jaws of a lion, the traversing of Niagara Falls by means of +a tight-rope stretched across them, and other similar senseless acts, +which are utterly useless to mankind. + +Let us see what such a celebrated airman as Mr. Gustav Hamel said of the +pioneer of upside-down flying. + +"His looping the loop, his upside-down flights, his general acrobatic +feats in the air are all of the utmost value to pilots throughout the +world. We shall have proof of this, I am sure, in the near future. +Pegoud has shown us what it is possible to do with a modern machine. +In his first attempt to fly upside down he courted death. Like all +pioneers, he was taking liberties with the unknown elements. No man +before him had attempted the feat. It is true that men have been upside +down in the air; but they were turned over by sudden gusts of wind, and +in most cases were killed. Pegoud is all the time rehearsing accidents +and showing how easy it is for a pilot to recover equilibrium providing +he remains perfectly calm and clear-headed. Any one of his extraordinary +positions might be brought about by adverse elements. It is quite +conceivable that a sudden gust of wind might turn the machine completely +over. Hitherto any pilot in such circumstances would give himself up +for lost. Pegoud has taught us what to do in such a case.... his flights +have given us all a new confidence. + +"In a gale the machine might be upset at many different angles. +Pegoud has shown us that it is easily possible to recover from such +predicaments. He has dealt with nearly every kind of awkward position +into which one might be driven in a gale of wind, or in a flight over +mountains where air-currents prevail. + +"He has thus gained evidence which will be of the utmost value to +present and future pilots, and prove a factor of signal importance in +the preservation of life in the air." + +Such words as these, coming from a man of Mr. Hamel's reputation as an +aviator, clearly show us that M. Pegoud has a life-saving mission for +airmen throughout the world. + +Let us stand, in imagination, with the enormous crowd of spectators who +invaded the Surrey aerodrome on 25th September, and the two following +days, in 1913. + +What an enormous crowd it was! A line of motor-cars bordered the track +for half a mile, and many of the spectators were busy city men who had +taken a hasty lunch and rushed off down to Weybridge to see a little +French airman risk his life in the air. Thousands of foot passengers +toiled along the dusty road from the paddock to the hangars, and +thousands more, who did not care to pay the shilling entrance fee, stood +closely packed on the high ground outside the aerodrome. + +Biplanes and monoplanes came driving through the air from Hendon, and +airmen of world-wide fame, such as Sopwith, Hamel, Verrier, and Hucks, +had gathered together as disciples of the great life-saving missionary. +Stern critics these! Men who would ruthlessly expose any "faked" +performance if need were! + +And where is the little airman while all this crowd is gathering? Is +he very excited? He has never before been in England. We wonder if his +amazing coolness and admirable control over his nerves will desert him +among strange surroundings. + +Probably Pegoud was the coolest man in all that vast crowd. He seemed to +want to hide himself from public gaze. Most of his time, was taken up in +signing post-cards for people who had been fortunate enough to discover +him in a little restaurant near which his shed was situated. + +At last his Bleriot monoplane was wheeled out, and he was strapped, +or harnessed, into his seat. "Was the machine a 'freak' monoplane?" we +wondered. + +We were soon assured that such was not the case. Indeed, as Pegoud +himself says: "I have used a standard type of monoplane on purpose. +Almost every aeroplane, if it is properly balanced, has just as good a +chance as mine, and I lay particular stress on the fact that there +is nothing extraordinary about my machine, so that no one can say my +achievements are in any way faked." + +During the preliminary operations his patron, M. Bleriot, stood beside +the machine, and chatted affably with the aviator. At last the signal +was given for his ascent, and in a few moments Pegoud was climbing with +the nose of his machine tilted high in the air. For about a quarter of +an hour he flew round in ever-widening circles, rising very quietly and +steadily until he had reached an altitude of about 4000 feet. A deep +silence seemed to have settled on the vast crowd nearly a mile below, +and the musical droning of his engine could be plainly heard. + +Then his movements began to be eccentric. First, he gave a wonderful +exhibition of banking at right angles. Then, after about ten minutes, +he shut off his engine, pitched downwards and gracefully righted himself +again. + +At last the amazing feat began. His left wing was raised, his right +wing dipped, and the nose of the machine dived steeply, and turned right +round with the airman hanging head downwards, and the wheels of the +monoplane uppermost. In this way he travelled for about a hundred +yards, and then slowly righted the machine, until it assumed its normal +position, with the engine again running. Twice more the performance was +repeated, so that he travelled from one side of the aerodrome to the +other--a distance of about a mile and a half. + +Next he descended from 4000 feet to about 1200 feet in four gigantic +loops, and, as one writer said: "He was doing exactly what the clown in +the pantomime does when he climbs to the top of a staircase and rolls +deliberately over and over until he reaches the ground. But this funny +man stopped before he reached the ground, and took his last flight as +gracefully as a Columbine with outspread skirts." + +Time after time Pegoud made a series of S-shaped dives, somersaults, and +spiral descents, until, after an exhibition which thrilled quite 50,000 +people, he planed gently to Earth. + +Hitherto Pegoud's somersaults have been made by turning over from front +to back, but the daring aviator, and others who followed him, afterwards +turned over from right to left or from left to right. Pegoud claimed +to have demonstrated that the aeroplane is uncapsizeable, and that if a +parachute be attached to the fuselage, which is the equivalent of a +life boat on board a ship, then every pilot should feel as safe in a +heavier-than-air machine as in a motor-car. + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. The First Englishman to Fly Upside Down + +After M. Pegoud's exhibition of upside-down flying in this country it +was only to be expected that British aviators would emulate his daring +feat. Indeed, on the same day that the little Frenchman was turning +somersaults in the air at Brooklands Mr. Hamel was asking M. Bleriot for +a machine similar to that used by Pegoud, so that he might demonstrate +to airmen the stability of the aeroplane in almost all conceivable +positions. + +However, it was not the daring and skilful Hamel who had the honour of +first following in Pegoud's footsteps, but another celebrated pilot, Mr. +Hucks. + +Mr. Hucks was an interested spectator at Brooklands when Pegoud flew +there in September, and he felt that, given similar conditions, +there was no reason why he should not repeat Pegoud's performance. He +therefore talked the matter over with M. Bleriot, and began practising +for his great ordeal. + +His first feat was to hang upside-down in a chair supported by a beam +in one of the sheds, so that he would gradually become accustomed to the +novel position. For a time this was not at all easy. Have you ever tried +to stand on your hands with your feet upwards for any length of time? +To realize the difficulty of being head downwards, just do this, and +get someone to hold your legs. The blood will, of course, "rush to the +head", as we say, and the congestion of the blood-vessels in this part +of the body will make you feel extremely dizzy. Such an occurrence would +be fatal in an aeroplane nearly a mile high in the air at a time +when one requires an especially clear brain to manipulate the various +controls. + +But, strange to say, the airman gradually became used to the +"heels-over-head" position, and, feeling sure of himself, he determined +to start on his perilous undertaking. No one with the exception of +M. Bleriot and the mechanics were present at the Buc aerodrome, near +Versailles, when Mr. Hucks had his monoplane brought out with the +intention of looping the loop. + +He quickly rose to a height of 1500 feet, and then, slowly dipping the +nose of his machine, turned right over. For fully half a minute he flew +underneath the monoplane, and then gradually brought it round to the +normal position. + +In the afternoon he continued his experiments, but this time at a height +of nearly 3000 feet. At this altitude he was flying quite steadily, when +suddenly he assumed a perpendicular position, and made a dive of about +600 feet. The horrified spectators thought that the gallant aviator +had lost control of his machine and was dashing straight to Earth, but +quickly he changed his direction and slowly planed upwards. Then almost +as suddenly he turned a complete somersault. Righting the aeroplane, he +rose in a succession of spiral flights to a height of between 3000 and +3500 feet, and then looped the loop twice in quick succession. + +On coming to earth M. Bleriot heartily congratulated the brave +Englishman. Mr. Hucks admitted a little nervousness before looping the +loop; but, as he remarked: "Once I started to go round my nervousness +vanished, and then I knew I was coming out on top. It is all a question +of keeping control of your nerves, and Pegoud deserved all the credit, +for he was the first to risk his life in flying head downwards." + +Mr. Hucks intended to be the first Englishman to fly upside down in +England, but he was forestalled by one of our youngest airmen, Mr. +George Lee Temple. On account of his youth--Mr. Temple was only +twenty-one at the time when he first flew upside-down--he was known as +the "baby airman", but there was probably no more plucky airman in the +world. + +There were special difficulties which Mr. Temple had to overcome that +did not exist in the experiments of M. Pegoud or Mr. Hucks. To start +with, his machine--a 50-horse-power Bleriot monoplane--was said by +the makers to be unsuitable for the performance. Then he could get no +assistance from the big aeroplane firms, who sought to dissuade him from +his hazardous undertaking. Experienced aviators wisely shook their heads +and told the "baby airman" that he should have more practice before he +took such a risk. + +But notwithstanding this lack of encouragement he practised hard for +a few days by hanging in an inverted position. Meanwhile his mechanics +were working night and day in strengthening the wings of the monoplane, +and fitting it with a slightly larger elevator. + +On 24th November, 1913, he decided to "try his luck" at the London +aerodrome. He was harnessed into his seat, and, bidding his friends +farewell, with the words "wish me luck", he went aloft. For nearly +half an hour he climbed upward, and swooped over the aerodrome in wide +circles, while his friends far below were watching every action of his +machine. + +Suddenly an alarming incident occurred. When about a mile high in the +air the machine tipped downwards and rushed towards Earth at terrific +speed. Then the tail of the machine came up, and the "baby airman" was +hanging head downwards. + +But at this point the group of airmen standing in the aerodrome were +filled with alarm, for it was quite evident to their experienced eyes +that the monoplane was not under proper control. Indeed, it was actually +side-slipping, and a terrible disaster appeared imminent. For hundreds +of feet the young pilot, still hanging head downwards, was crashing +to Earth, but when down to about 1200 feet from the ground the machine +gradually came round, and Mr. Temple descended safely to Earth. + +The airman afterwards told his friends that for several seconds he +could not get the machine to answer the controls, and for a time he was +falling at a speed of 100 miles an hour. In ordinary circumstances he +thought that a dive of 500 feet after the upside-down stretch should +get him the right way up, but it really took him nearly 1500 feet. +Fortunately, however, he commenced the dive at a great altitude, and so +the distance side-slipped did not much matter. + +It is sad to relate that Mr. Temple lost his life in January, 1914, +while flying at Hendon in a treacherous wind. The actual cause of the +accident was never clearly understood. He had not fully recovered from +an attack of influenza, and it was thought that he fainted and fell +over the control lever while descending near one of the pylons, when the +machine "turned turtle", and the pilot's neck was broken. + + + +CHAPTER XLV. Accidents and their Cause + +"Another airman killed!" "There'll soon be none of those flying fellows +left!" "Far too risky a game!" "Ought to be stopped by law!" + +How many times have we heard these, and similar remarks, when the +newspapers relate the account of some fatality in the air! People have +come to think that flying is a terribly risky occupation, and that if +one wishes to put an end to one's life one has only to go up in a +flying machine. For the last twenty years some of our great writers have +prophesied that the conquest of the air would be as costly in human life +as was that of the sea, but their prophecies have most certainly been +wrong, for in the wreck of one single vessel, such as that of the +Titanic, more lives were lost than in all the disasters to any form of +aerial craft. + +Perhaps some of our grandfathers can remember the dread with which many +nervous people entered, or saw their friends enter, a train. Travellers +by the railway eighty or ninety years ago considered that they took +their lives in their hands, so to speak, when they went on a long +journey, and a great sigh of relief arose in the members of their +families when the news came that the journey was safely ended. In George +Stephenson's days there was considerable opposition to the institution +of the railway, simply on account of the number of accidents which it +was anticipated would take place. + +Now we laugh at the fears of our great-grandparents; is it not probable +that our grandchildren will laugh in a similar manner at our timidity +over the aeroplane? + +In the case of all recent new inventions in methods of locomotion there +has always been a feeling among certain people that the law ought to +prohibit such inventions from being put into practice. + +There used to be bitter opposition to the motor-car, and at first every +mechanically-driven vehicle had to have a man walking in front with a +red flag. + +There are risks in all means of transit; indeed, it may be said that the +world is a dangerous place to live in. It is true, too, that the demons +of the air have taken their toll of life from the young, ambitious, and +daring souls. Many of the fatal accidents have been due to defective +work in some part of the machinery, some to want of that complete +knowledge and control that only experience can give, some even to want +of proper care on the part of the pilot. If a pilot takes ordinary care +in controlling his machine, and if the mechanics who have built the +machine have done their work thoroughly, flying, nowadays, should be +practically as safe as motoring. + +The French Aero Club find, from a mass or information which has been +compiled for them with great care, that for every 92,000 miles actually +flown by aeroplane during the year 1912, only one fatal accident had +occurred. This, too, in France, where some of the pilots have been +notoriously reckless, and where far more airmen have been killed than in +Britain. + +When we examine carefully the statistics dealing with fatal accidents +in aeroplanes we find that the pioneers of flying, such as the famous +Wright Brothers, Bleriot, Farman, Grahame-White, and so on, were +comparatively free from accidents. No doubt, in some cases, defective +machines or treacherous wind gusts caused the craft to collapse in +mid-air. But, as a rule, the first men to fly were careful to see that +every part of the machine was in order before going up in it, so that +they rarely came to grief through the planes not being sufficiently +tightened up, wires being unduly strained, spars snapping, or bolts +becoming loose. + +Mr. Grahame-White admirably expresses this when he says: "It is a +melancholy reflection, when one is going through the lists of aeroplane +fatalities, to think how many might have been avoided. Really the crux +of the situation in this connection, as it appears to me, is this: the +first men who flew, having had all the drudgery and danger of pioneer +work, were extremely careful in all they did; and this fact accounts for +the comparatively large proportion of these very first airmen who have +survived. + +"But the men who came next in the path of progress, having a machine +ready-made, so to speak, and having nothing to do but to get into it and +fly, did not, in many cases, exercise this saving grace of caution. And +that--at least in my view--is why a good many of what one may call the +second flight of pilots came to grief." + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. Accidents and their Cause (Cont.) + +One of the main causes of aeroplane accidents has been the breakage of +some part of the machine while in the air, due to defective work in its +construction. There is no doubt that air-craft are far more trustworthy +now than they were two or three years ago. Builders have learned from +the mistakes of their predecessors as well as profited by their own. +After every serious accident there is an official enquiry as to the +probable cause of the accident, and information of inestimable value has +been obtained from such enquiries. + +The Royal Aero Club of Great Britain has a special "Accidents +Investigation Committee" whose duty it is to issue a full report on +every fatal accident which occurs to an aeroplane in this country. As a +rule, representatives of the committee visit the scene of the accident +as soon as possible after its occurrence. Eye-witnesses are called +before them to give evidence of the disaster; the remains of the +craft are carefully inspected in order to discover any flaw in its +construction; evidence is taken as to the nature and velocity of the +wind on the day of the accident, the approximate height at which the +aviator was flying, and, in fact, everything of value that might bear on +the cause of the accident. + +As a good example of an official report we may quote that issued by the +Accidents Investigation Committee of the Royal Aero Club on the fatal +accident which occurred to Colonel Cody and his passenger on 7th August, +1913. + +"The representatives of the Accidents Committee visited the scene of +the accident within a few hours of its occurrence, and made a careful +examination of the wrecked air-craft. Evidence was also taken from the +eye-witnesses of the accident. + +"From the consideration of the evidence the Committee regards the +following facts as clearly established: + +"1. The air-craft was built at Farnborough, by Mr. S. F. Cody, in July, +1913. + +"2. It was a new type, designed for the Daily Mail Hydroplane Race +round Great Britain, but at the time of the accident had a land chassis +instead of floats. + +"3. The wind at the time of the accident was about 10 miles per hour. + +"4. At about 200 feet from the ground the air-craft buckled up and fell +to the ground. A large piece of the lower left wing, composing the whole +of the front spar between the fuselage and the first upright, was picked +up at least 100 yards from the spot where the air-craft struck the +ground. + +"5. The fall of the air-craft was broken considerably by the trees, to +such an extent that the portion of the fuselage surrounding the seats +was practically undamaged. + +"6. Neither the pilot nor passenger was strapped in. + +"Opinion. The Committee is of opinion that the failure of the air-craft +was due to inherent structural weakness. + +"Since that portion of the air-craft in which the pilot and passenger +were seated was undamaged, it is conceivable their lives might have been +saved had they been strapped in." + +This occasion was not the only time when the Accidents Investigation +Committee recommended the advisability of the airman being strapped to +his seat. But many airmen absolutely refuse to wear a belt, just as many +cyclists cannot bear to have their feet made fast to the pedals of their +cycles by using toe-clips. + +Mention of toe-clips brings us to other accidents which sometimes befall +airmen. As we have seen in a previous chapter, Mr. Hawker's accident in +Ireland was due to his foot slipping over the rudder bar of his machine. +It is thought that the disaster to Mr. Pickles' machine on "Aerial +Derby" day in 1913 was due to the same cause, and on one occasion Mr. +Brock was in great danger through his foot slipping on the rudder bar +while he was practising some evolutions at the London Aerodome. Machines +are generally flying at a very fast rate, and if the pilot loses control +of the machine when it is near the ground the chances are that the +aeroplane crashes to earth before he can right it. Both Mr. Hawker and +Mr. Pickles were flying low at the time of their accidents, and so their +machines were smashed; fortunately Mr. Brock was comparatively high up +in the air, and though his machine rocked about and banked in an ominous +manner, yet he was able to gain control just in the nick of time. + +To prevent accidents of this kind the rudder bars could be fitted with +pedals to which the pilot's feet could be secured by toe-clips, as on +bicycle pedals. Indeed, some makers of air-craft have already provided +pedals with toe-clips for the rudder bar. Probably some safety device +such as this will soon be made compulsory on all machines. + +We have already remarked that certain pilots do not pay sufficient +heed to the inspection of their machines before making a flight. The +difference between pilots in this respect is interesting to observe. On +the great day at Hendon, in 1913--the Aerial Derby day--there were over +a dozen pilots out with their craft. + +From the enclosure one could watch the airmen and their mechanics as +the machines were run out from the hangars on to the flying ground. One +pilot walked beside his mechanics while they were running the machine to +the starting place, and watched his craft with almost fatherly interest. +Before climbing into his seat he would carefully inspect the spars, +bolts, wires, controls, and so on; then he would adjust his helmet and +fasten himself into his seat with a safety belt. + +"Surely with all that preliminary work he is ready to start," remarked +one of the spectators standing by. But no! the engine must be run +at varying speeds, while the mechanics hold back the machine. This +operation alone took three or four minutes, and all that the pilot +proposed to do was to circle the aerodrome two or three times. An +onlooker asked a mechanic if there were anything wrong with that +particular machine. "No!" was the reply; "but our governor's very faddy, +you know!" + +And now for the other extreme! Three mechanics emerged from a hangar +pushing a rather ungainly-looking biplane, which bumped over the uneven +ground. The pilot was some distance behind, with cigarette in mouth, +joking with two or three friends. When the machine was run out into the +open ground he skipped quickly up to it, climbed into the seat, started +the engine, waved a smiling "good-bye", and was off. For all he knew, +that rather rough jolting of the craft while it was being removed +from the hangar might have broken some wire on which the safety of his +machine, and his life, depended. The excuse cannot be made that his +mechanics had performed this all-important work of inspection, for +their attention was centred on the daring "banking" evolutions of some +audacious pilot in the aerodrome. + +Mr. C. G. Grey, the well-known writer on aviation matters, and the +editor of The Aeroplane, says, with regard to the need of inspection of +air-craft:-- + +"A pilot is simply asking for trouble if he does not go all over his +machine himself at least once a day, and, if possible, every time he is +starting for a flight. + +"One seldom hears, in these days, of a broken wheel or axle on a railway +coach, yet at the chief stopping places on our railways a man goes round +each train as it comes in, tapping the tires with a hammer to detect +cracks, feeling the hubs to see if there is any sign of a hot box, and +looking into the grease containers to see if there is a proper supply +of lubricant. There ought to be a similar inspection of every aeroplane +every time it touches the ground. The jar of even the best of landings +may fracture a bolt holding a wire, so that when the machine goes up +again the wire may fly back and break the propeller, or get tangled in +the control wires, or a strut or socket may crack in landing, and many +other things may happen which careful inspection would disclose before +any harm could occur. Mechanics who inspected machines regularly would +be able to go all over them in a few minutes, and no time would be +wasted. As it is, at any aerodrome one sees a machine come down, the +pilot and passenger (a fare or a pupil) climb out, the mechanics hang +round and smoke cigarettes, unless they have to perform the arduous +duties of filling up with petrol. In due course another passenger and a +pilot climb in, a mechanic swings the propeller, and away they go +quite happily. If anything casts loose they come down--and it is truly +wonderful how many things can come loose or break in the air without +anyone being killed. If some thing breaks in landing, and does not +actually fall out of place, it is simply a matter of luck whether anyone +happens to see it or not." + +This advice, coming from a man with such wide experience of the theory +and practice of flying, should surely be heeded by all those who engage +in deadly combat with the demons of the air. In the early days of +aviation, pilots were unacquainted with the nature and method of +approach of treacherous wind gusts; often when they were flying along in +a steady, regular wind, one of these gusts would strike their craft on +one side, and either overturn it or cause it to over-bank, so that it +crashed to earth with a swift side-slip through the air. + +Happily the experience of those days, though purchased at the cost of +many lives, has taught makers of air-craft to design their machines on +more trustworthy lines. Pilots, too, have made a scientific study of air +eddies, gusts, and so on, and the danger of flying in a strong or gusty +wind is comparatively small. + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. Accidents and their Cause (Cont.) + +Many people still think that if the engine of an aeroplane should stop +while the machine was in mid-air, a terrible disaster would happen. All +petrol engines may be described as fickle in their behaviour, and +so complicated is their structure that the best of them are given to +stopping without any warning. Aeroplane engines are far superior +in horse-power to those fitted to motorcars, and consequently their +structure is more intricate. But if an airman's engine suddenly stopped +there would be no reason whatever why he should tumble down head first +and break his neck. Strange to say, too, the higher he was flying the +safer he would be. + +All machines have what is called a GLIDING ANGLE. When the designer +plans his machine he considers the distribution of the weight or the +engine, pilot and passengers, of the petrol, aeronautical instruments, +and planes, so that the aeroplane is built in such a manner that when +the engine stops, and the nose of the machine is turned downwards, the +aeroplane of its own accord takes up its gliding angle and glides to +earth. + +Gliding angles vary in different machines. If the angle is one in +twelve, this would mean that if the glide wave commenced at a height of +1 mile, and continued in a straight line, the pilot would come to +earth 12 miles distant. We are all familiar with the gradients shown on +railways. There we see displayed on short sign-posts such notices as +"1 in 50", with the opposite arms of the post pointing upwards and +downwards. This, of course, means that the slope of the railway at that +particular place is 1 foot in a distance of 50 feet. + +One in twelve may be described as the natural gradient which the machine +automatically makes when engine power is cut off. It will be evident why +it is safer for a pilot to fly, say, at four or five thousand feet high +than just over the tree-tops or the chimney-pots of towns. Suppose, for +example, the machine has a gliding angle of one in twelve, and that when +at an altitude of about a mile the engine should stop. We will assume +that at the time of the stoppage the pilot is over a forest where it is +quite impossible to land. Directly the engine stopped he would change +the angle of the elevating plane, so that the aeroplane would naturally +fall into its gliding angle. The craft would at once settle itself into +a forward and slightly downward glide; and the airman, from his point of +vantage, would be able to see the extent of the forest. We will assume +that the aeroplane is gliding in a northerly direction, and that the +country is almost as unfavourable for landing there as over the forest +itself. In fact, we will imagine an extreme case, where the airman is +over country quite unsuitable for landing except toward the south; +that is, exactly opposite to the direction in which he starts to glide. +Fortunately, there is no reason why he should not steer his machine +right round in the air, even though the only power is that derived +from the force of gravity. His descent would be in an immense slope, +extending 10 or 12 miles from the place where the engine stopped +working. He would therefore be able to choose a suitable landing-place +and reach earth quite safely. + +But supposing the airman to be flying about a hundred yards above the +forest-an occurrence not likely to happen with a skilled airman, who +would probably take an altitude of nearly a mile. Almost before he could +have time to alter his elevating plane, and certainly long before he +could reach open ground, he would be on the tree-tops. + +It is thought that in the near future air-craft will be fitted with two +or more motors, so that when one fails the other will keep the machine +on its course. This has been found necessary in Zeppelin air-ships. In +an early Zeppelin model, which was provided with one engine only, the +insufficient power caused the pilot to descend on unfavourable ground, +and his vessel was wrecked. More recent types of Zeppelins are fitted +with three or four engines. Experiments have already been made with the +dual-engine plant for aeroplanes, notably by Messrs. Short Brothers, of +Rochester, and the tests have given every satisfaction. + +There is little doubt that if the large passenger aeroplane is made +possible, and if parliamentary powers have to be obtained for the +formation of companies for passenger traffic by aeroplane, it will be +made compulsory to fit machines with two or more engines, driving three +or four distinct propellers. One of the engines would possibly be of +inferior power, and used only in cases of emergency. + +Still another cause of accident, which in some cases has proved fatal, +is the taking of unnecessary risks when in the air. This has happened +more in America and in France than in Great Britain. An airman may have +performed a very difficult and daring feat at some flying exhibition +and the papers belauded his courage. A rival airman, not wishing to +be outdone in skill or courage, immediately tries either to repeat the +performance or to perform an even more difficult evolution. The result +may very well end in disaster, and + + FAMOUS AIRMAN KILLED + +is seen on most of the newspaper bills. + +The daring of some of our professional airmen is notorious. There is +one particular pilot, whose name is frequently before us, whom I have +in mind when writing this chapter. On several occasions I have seen him +flying over densely-packed crowds, at a height of about two hundred feet +or so. With out the slightest warning he would make a very sharp and +almost vertical dive. The spectators, thinking that something very +serious had happened, would scatter in all directions, only to see the +pilot right his machine and jokingly wave his hand to them. One trembles +to think what would have been the result if the machine had crashed to +earth, as it might very easily have done. It is interesting to relate +that the risks taken by this pilot, both with regard to the spectators +and himself, formed the subject of comment, and, for the future, flying +over the spectators' heads has been strictly forbidden. + +From 1909 to 1913 about 130 airmen lost their lives in Germany, France, +America, and the British Isles, and of this number the British loss +was between thirty and forty. Strange to say, nearly all the German +fatalities have taken place in air-ships, which were for some years +considered much safer than the heavier-than-air machine. + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. Some Technical Terms used by Aviators + +Though this book cannot pretend to go deeply into the technical side +of aviation, there are certain terms and expressions in everyday use by +aviators that it is well to know and understand. + +First, as to the machines themselves. You are now able to distinguish a +monoplane from a biplane, and you have been told the difference between +a TRACTOR biplane and a PROPELLER biplane. In the former type the screw +is in front of the pilot; in the latter it is to the rear of the pilot's +seat. + +Reference has been previously made to the FUSELAGE, SKIDS, AILERONS, +WARPING CONTROLS, ELEVATING PLANES, and RUDDER of the various forms +of air-craft. We have also spoken of the GLIDING ANGLE of a machine. +Frequently a pilot makes his machine dive at a much steeper gradient +than is given by its natural gliding angle. When the fall is about one +in six the glide is known as a VOL PLANE; if the descent is made almost +vertically it is called a VOL PIQUE. + +In some cases a PANCAKE descent is made. This is caused by such a +decrease of speed that the aeroplane, though still moving forward, +begins to drop downwards. When the pilot finds that this is taking +place, he points the nose of his machine at a much steeper angle, and so +reaches his normal flying speed, and is able to effect a safe landing. +If he were too near the earth he would not be able to make this sharp +dive, and the probability is that the aeroplane would come down flat, +with the possibility of a damaged chassis. It is considered faulty +piloting to make a pancake descent where there is ample landing space; +in certain restricted areas, however, it is quite necessary to land in +this way. + +A far more dangerous occurrence is the SIDE-SLIP. Watch a pilot +vol-planing to earth from a great height with his engine shut off. The +propeller rotates in an irregular manner, sometimes stopping altogether. +When this happens, the skilful pilot forces the nose of his machine +down, and so regains his normal flying speed; but if he allowed the +propeller to stop and at the same time his forward speed through the air +to be considerably diminished, his machine would probably slip sideways +through the air and crash to earth. In many cases side-slips have taken +place at aerodromes when the pilot has been rounding a pylon with the +nose of his machine pointing upwards. + +When a machine flies round a corner very quickly the pilot tilts it to +one side. Such action as this is known as BANKING. This operation can be +witnessed at any aerodrome when speed handicaps are taking place. + +Since upside-down flying came into vogue we have heard a great deal +about NOSE DIVING. This is a headlong dive towards earth with the nose +of the machine pointing vertically downwards. As a rule the pilot makes +a sharp nose dive before he loops the loop. + +Sometimes an aeroplane enters a tract of air where there seems to be no +supporting power for the planes; in short, there appears to be, as it +were, a HOLE in the air. Scientifically there is no such thing as a +hole in the air, but airmen are more concerned with practice than with +theory, and they have, for their own purposes, designated this curious +phenomenon an AIR POCKET. In the early days of aviation, when machines +were far less stable and pilots more quickly lost control of their +craft, the air pocket was greatly dreaded, but nowadays little notice is +taken of it. + +A violent disturbance in the air is known as a REMOUS. This is somewhat +similar to an eddy in a stream, and it has the effect of making the +machine fly very unsteadily. Remous are probably caused by electrical +disturbances of the atmosphere, which cause the air streams to meet +and mingle, breaking up into filaments or banding rills of air. The +wind--that is, air in motion--far from being of approximate uniformity, +is, under most ordinary conditions, irregular almost beyond conception, +and it is with such great irregularities in the force of the air streams +that airmen have constantly to contend. + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. The Future in the Air + +Three years before the outbreak of the Great War, the Master-General of +Ordnance, who was in charge of Aeronautics at the War Office, declared: +"We are not yet convinced that either aeroplanes or air-ships will be of +any utility in war". + +After four years of war, with its ceaseless struggle between the Allies +and the Central Powers for supremacy in the air, such a statement makes +us rub our eyes as though we had been dreaming. + +Seven years--and in its passage the air encircling the globe has become +one gigantic battle area, the British Isles have lost the age-long +security which the seas gave them, and to regain the old proud +unassailable position must build a gigantic aerial fleet--as greatly +superior to that of their neighbours as was, and is, the British Navy. + +Seven years--and the monoplane is on the scrap-heap; the Zeppelin has +come as a giant destroyer--and gone, flying rather ridiculously before +the onslaughts of its tiny foes. In a recent article the editor of The +Aeroplane referred to the erstwhile terror of the air as follows: "The +best of air-ships is at the mercy of a second-rate aeroplane". Enough to +make Count Zeppelin turn in his grave! + +To-day in aerial warfare the air-ship is relegated to the task of +observer. As the "Blimp", the kite-balloon, the coast patrol, it +scouts and takes copious notes; but it leaves the fighting to a tiny, +heavier-than-air machine armed with a Lewis gun, and destructive attacks +to those big bomb-droppers, the British Handley Page, the German Gotha, +the Italian Morane tri-plane. + +The war in the air has been fought with varying fortunes. But, looking +back upon four years of war, we may say that, in spite of a slow +start, we have managed to catch up our adversaries, and of late we have +certainly dealt as hard knocks as we have received. A great spurt of +aerial activity marked the opening of the year 1918. From all quarters +of the globe came reports, moderate and almost bald in style, but +between the lines of which the average man could read word-pictures of +the skill, prowess, and ceaseless bravery of the men of the Royal Flying +Corps and Royal Naval Air Service. Recently there have appeared two +official publications (1), profusely illustrated with photographs, which +give an excellent idea of the work and training of members of the two +corps. Forewords have been contributed respectively by Lord Hugh Cecil +and Sir Eric Geddes, First Lord of the Admiralty. These publications +lift a curtain upon not only the activities of the two Corps, but the +tremendous organization now demanded by war in the air. + + (1) The Work and Training of the Royal Flying Corps and The + Work and Training of the Royal Naval Air Service. + + +All this to-day. To-morrow the Handley Page and Gotha may be occupying +their respective niches in the museum of aerial antiquities, and we may +be all agog over the aerial passenger service to the United States of +America. + +For truly, in the science of aviation a day is a generation, and three +months an eon. When the coming of peace turns men's thoughts to the +development of aeroplanes for commerce and pleasure voyages, no one can +foretell what the future may bring forth. + +At the time of writing, air attacks are still being directed upon +London. But the enemy find it more and more difficult to penetrate the +barrage. Sometimes a solitary machine gets through. Frequently the whole +squadron of raiding aeroplanes is turned back at the coast. + +As for the military advantage the Germans have derived, after nearly +four years of attacks by air, it may be set down as practically nil. +In raid after raid they missed their so-called objectives and succeeded +only in killing noncombatants. Far different were the aim and scope of +the British air offensives into Germany and into country occupied by +German troops. Railway junctions, ammunition dumps, enemy billets, +submarine bases, aerodromes--these were the targets for our airmen, +who scored hits by the simple but dangerous plan of flying so low that +misses were almost out of the question. + +"Make sure of your objective, even if you have to sit upon it." Thus is +summed up, in popular parlance, the policy of the Royal Flying Corps and +Royal Naval Air Service. And if justification were heeded of this strict +limitation of aim, it will be found in the substantial military losses +inflicted upon the enemy results which would never have been attained +had our airmen dissipated their energies on non-military objectives for +the purpose of inspiring terror in the civil population. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Mastery of the Air, by William J. 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