CHAPTER VIII
GROWTH OF AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING IN UNITED STATES
THE 1912 EXPOSITION—THE FIRST PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION—THE MANUFACTURERS AIRCRAFT EXPOSITION—DESCRIPTIONS OF EXHIBITORS—GROWTH OF AIRCRAFT FACTORIES—NAVAL AIRCRAFT FACTORY
Assoon as the Wright brothers demonstrated the feasibility of aerial flight in 1908 a great many companies were organized to manufacture heavier-than-air machines. Naturally, most of the designers and builders were young men who learned to fly, as there was no science of aircraft construction taught in the universities or colleges in the pioneer days. At first little capital was obtained, and as the use of the aeroplane was confined to sporting purposes, the demands for the same were small. Nevertheless, by May, 1912, the manufacturing of aircraft had developed to such an extent that a show was held at the Grand Central Palace, New York, from May 9 to 18. The exposition was held under the auspices of the International Exposition Company. Nine monoplanes and twelve biplanes and one quadriplane were exhibited.
The Wright brothers exhibited a two-seater biplane. It differed little from the regular headless models, theonly change being the two long, narrow, vertical planes in front and a larger vertical rudder in the rear and wing-warping. The gasoline-tank is placed behind the passenger-seat, while the radiator was put in the rear of the engine. On the Wright stand was also to be seen for the first time one of their new 6-cylinder 6 horse-power aeroplane motors, as well as a new three-step hydroplane, designed expressly for use on their machines.
Curtiss
The Curtiss Aeroplane Company showed three of their latest biplanes and two motors.
The centre of attraction of the Curtiss exhibit was the new small-spread headless machine. This machine had a spread of only 21 feet 3 inches, and a chord of 4½ feet, and an over-all length of 32 feet. It was equipped with a 75 horse-power 8-cylinder V water-cooled Curtiss motor. A Curtiss hydroaeroplane was also shown.
In addition to the hydro and racer the Curtiss Company showed a two-passenger military-type machine, fitted with a shift control.
Burgess
The Burgess Company showed three biplanes, one a large two-seater military tractor, a regular Burgess-Wright hydroaeroplane, and the “Flying Fish,” the original Burgess.
The military type was a large tractor biplane havingthe engine and propeller mounted in front of the fuselage. The seats for the aviator and passenger were arranged tandem fashion behind the gasoline-tanks and immediately between the two planes. Near the rear of the fuselage was attached a stationary horizontal stabilizing tail, while at the extreme rear was the horizontal rudder.
The power-plant consisted of an 8-cylinder V air-cooled 70 horse-power Renault motor, which drove through under gearing a large Chauviere tractor propeller.
In addition the machine was equipped with a very complete wireless set for receiving and sending messages, the current being generated by a small dynamo, which was placed underneath the fuselage and was driven by the engine.
The Burgess-Wright shown was of the regular two-passenger type, capable of being started from the seat, and fitted with a 6-cylinder 50 horse-power silenced Kirkham motor in place of the usual 35 horse-power Wright.
Schill
Paul Schill, of the Max Ams Company, exhibited a large Farman-type hydroaeroplane, equipped with a 100 horse-power 8-cylinder Max Ams motor, which could be cranked from the seat. This biplane had a covered-in cabin with seats for three persons. The hydroplanes were fitted to the regular skid struts and were of the single-step type.
Coffyn
Frank T. Coffyn exhibited a hydroaeroplane. This machine was the regular standard Wright pattern, but fitted with Coffyn’s own hydroplanes. Coffyn was the first man to successfully fit double hydroplanes to an aeroplane.
Another improvement made by Coffyn was the fitting of a starting-crank to permit starting the motor from the front without having to turn the propellers.
Christmas
The Christmas Aeroplane Company showed a biplane. The wings of this biplane were set at a double dihedral angle, with an opening about two feet wide in the centre of the top plane, to take up the blast of air made by the propeller. The edges of the wings were flexible like a bird’s. The controlling-gear consisted of a semicircular wheel, which by rotating worked the ailerons, while a twisting movement of the whole on its axis turned the vertical rudder, and a fore-and-aft movement, operated by warping, the large horizontal rudder in the rear. The motor used was a 7-cylinder 50 horse-power Gyro.
Gressier
The Gressier Aviation Company exhibited a “Canard” type machine which was fitted with a 50 horse-power Gnome. This machine has an elevator in front of the fuselage, while the main planes and motor werein the rear. The seats for pilot and passenger were situated just in front of the main biplane cellule.
The biplane shown was fitted with three skids and six Farman-type shock-absorbing wheels.
Rex
The Rex Monoplane Company exhibited an all-American monoplane. This machine had a long, graceful fuselage, which carried at its front end the motor and gasoline-tank, the wings and the pilot’s seat, and at its rear the flat, non-lifting tail plane and elevator flaps with the vertical rudder immediately behind them. The landing-gear was quite novel, and consisted of a single skid and two shock-absorbing wheels. These wheels were attached to the fuselage through telescopic tubes having springs inside them to absorb shocks. The axle also strapped to the landing-skid by rubber bands, the whole forming the first flexible and efficient shock-absorbing landing-gear.
The main planes had a peculiar reverse curve in them, and were pivoted to a centre upright in the fuselage, thus permitting of warping the whole wing instead of only the tips.
Antoinette
Harry S. Harkness exhibited the Antoinette monoplane with which he carried the first war-despatch in the United States, on February 7, 1911. Thismachine was fitted with an 8-cylinder 50 horse-power Antoinette motor and Normale propeller.
Baldwin
Captain Thomas S. Baldwin showed the biplane with which he has toured in many parts of the globe. This machine was a cross between an early Farman and a Curtiss. The power-plant consisted of a 60 horse-power 8-cylinder Hall-Scott motor.
Multiplane Ltd.
The Multiplane Limited, of Atchison, Kan., showed a large quadruplane built under the patents of H. W. Jacobs and R. Emerson. The machine was of the headless type, having four main planes in front, with four lifting tail planes in the rear, and an elevator immediately behind the two. The propellers were mounted on the same axis and placed midway behind the main planes, and were driven by leather-covered flat steel belts from two 8-cylinder 80 horse-power staggered V-type air-cooled motors. The machine was designed for weight-carrying, and was fitted with a large cabin having a double row of seats, capable of holding five people comfortably. The landing-chassis consisted of one long centre skid, having two large 48-inch wheels in front, and a single swivelling wheel in the rear. These wheels were not fitted with pneumatic tires, but instead had a broad, flat, strip steel rim. The wing spread was 37 feet; length, 29 feet 8 inches; height, 17 feet.
Gallaudet
The Gallaudet Engineering Company exhibited a speed monoplane named the “Bullet.”
The fuselage was torpedo-shaped, having a section four feet square at the point where the aviator sat, and tapering sharply to a point in the front, and more gradually toward the rear. The nose of the machine was made up of sheet aluminum, having a series of holes stamped in it to permit of efficient cooling of the 14-cylinder Gnome. The main planes were attached to the centre of the fuselage in a position just behind the engine, while at the rear of the fuselage were the small triangular-shaped elevator and the vertical rudder. A three-bladed propeller was used. The dimensions were: length over all, 20 feet 6 inches; spread, 32 feet; width of wings, 8 feet wide at the body, tapering slightly toward the tips.
Twombly
Mr. Irving W. Twombly exhibited a Bleriot-type monoplane which was fitted with one of his 45 horse-power 7-cylinder air-cooled revolving motors. The planes were covered with transparent celluloid in the vicinity of the body for the purpose of affording the pilot a good view of the ground immediately below and in front of him.
Another exhibit of Mr. Twombly’s was a shock-absorbing safety harness of his own invention for strapping aviators in their machines. This harnesswas so constructed as to prevent the aviator from being lurched out of his seat, and yet at the same time permitting him to quickly detach himself from the harness in case of emergency.
Nieuport
The Aero Club of America exhibited a 50 horse-power Gnome Nieuport aeroplane.
Queen
The Queen Aeroplane Company exhibited two machines, one an aero-boat designed by Grover C. Loening, and the other a Bleriot-type monoplane equipped with a 30 horse-power Anzani motor.
The aero-boat consisted of an aluminum-covered boat, to which were attached in front on an upright structure the main wings, with the motor and propeller just behind them. The power-plant consisted of a 50 horse-power Gnome, which was placed in the boat proper, and drove through a chain the propeller, which was just behind and a little above the main planes. The controlling arrangement was quite novel, and consisted of two horizontal levers resembling the tillers of a boat, which the operator grasped one in each hand.
National
The National Aero Company exhibited a Bleriot-type monoplane which was equipped with a 4-cylinder 40 horse-power Rubel “Gray Eagle” motor and Rubelpropeller. The motor was fitted with an acetylene self-starter, which was controlled from the seat.
American
The American Aeroplane Company exhibited a large monoplane with a very low centre of gravity. It was fitted with two 50 horse-power 2-cycle air-cooled revolving motors and self-starters, and was designed to fly with either motor, and to carry six to ten persons.
The First Pan-American Aero Show
It is notable that no engine exhibited at this exposition had more than 80 horse-power, whereas the Liberty motor of 1917 developed 450 horse-power and the Fiat 700 horse-power.
The first Pan-American aero exhibit was held at the Grand Central Palace, February 8 to 15, 1917. By that time the war had demonstrated the value of aircraft for scouting, bombing, reconnaissance, and contract patrol, and because of the exploits performed by famous aces, had attracted the attention of huge numbers of people.
During the five years that had elapsed from the time of the former exhibit the construction of aircraft had advanced fully a decade, due to the intensive acrobatics aircraft had to be put through in aerial fighting. America was, of course, far from the seat of the war, but owing to the orders placed with the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company and other companies by the British and other governments, constructors werekept more or less in touch with developments in Europe. It is true that owing to the rapid changes in designs of motors and aeroplanes, due to the competition between the Central Powers and the Allies for control of the air, the speedier planes like the scouts and battle-planes were built in England, France, and Italy, while the United States manufacturers produced seaplanes for hunting submarines, and training-machines, of which there was a tremendous demand.
The Curtiss Company immediately turned their energies to building J. N. 4 training-machines, and large seaplanes, like the “America,” which Captain Porte was to attempt to fly across the Atlantic for the British Government.
A large number of accessories were also exhibited. President Wilson opened the convention by wireless, and Governor Whitman delivered an address.
The next aero show was held by the Manufacturers Aircraft Association at Madison Square Garden, March 1-15, 1919. This organization had been effected on February 15, 1917. The following were the incorporators of the association: The Aeromarine Plane and Motor Company, John D. Cooper Aeroplane Company, L. W. F. Engineering Company, S. S. Pierce Aero Corporation, Standard Aero Corporation, Sturtevant Aeroplane Company, Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation, Witteman-Lewis Aircraft Company, Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation.
In the meantime the United States had entered the war. At the beginning a great many newspaper editorswho did not know the difficulties of constructing aircraft in quantity, and imagining that they could be produced as easily as automobiles, wrote glowing editorials demanding the immediate construction of 100,000 aeroplanes to invade Germany in the air and destroy her manufacturing industries, as well as terrorize the people into surrender. The Aircraft Production Board, however, realizing in a measure the difficulty of constructing aeroplanes in quantity, especially as there were very few aircraft factories in the country at that time which could deliver quantity production, planned to build only one-fourth that number. As a matter of fact, the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company was the only organization that was constructing aircraft on a large scale at Buffalo, N. Y., and the Curtiss plant in Toronto, Canada. Nevertheless, the Aircraft Production Board laid down plans for the production of 22,500 planes. Even this was too optimistical an estimate, although the Aircraft Production Board did not at that time realize it. This, however, has been explained in the official reports of the Aircraft Production Board by General Kenly, Howard E. Coffin, and John D. Ryan.
To get intoproductionthe Aircraft Production Board had the government take over a number of plants on a cost plus 10 per cent basis, and those companies immediately began to expand their manufacturing capacity to make the new orders the government was placing with them. The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, Dayton-Wright, Standard Aircraft, Rubay Company, Springfield Aircraft Corporation, Aero-marinePlane and Motor Company, the Fowler Aircraft Company, and a number of others received large orders from the government. Unfortunately, the Aircraft Production Board did not see fit to give orders to the smaller manufacturers in proportion to the size and capacity of their plants. Many of these smaller manufacturers could have produced a few machines for the government, and this would have tended to swell the whole to a greater figure. The inability of some of the manufacturers to increase their plants in proportion to the orders, naturally delayed the manufacture of aircraft.
In the matter of the Liberty motor the same mistake was made. Instead of taking patterns and blue-prints of a good foreign motor, like the Hispano-Suiza, which was already being built in this country, and producing them in quantity, the government stopped to design a new motor—the Liberty motor—which the Aircraft Production Board evidently thought could be built in a day. This was not done—as a matter of fact, it took almost six months to complete the first production motor—whereas a good foreign motor could have been put in quantity production almost immediately, and with the failure of manufacturers of aircraft to turn out the desired number of planes, this caused a tremendous outcry from the disappointed American public, who thought 100,000 aeroplanes could be built as easily as 100,000 automobiles. This led to an aircraft investigation. Judge Hughes was appointed by President Wilson to conduct the investigation. The report failed to findany one libel to prosecution. Indeed, most of the errors were those of judgment or lack of ability. Later President Wilson pardoned those who might have been prosecuted.
Another error was caused by the delay in determining on the type of aeroplane which should be built in quantity in this country. Several types were adopted and then cancelled. Finally, however, the Curtiss J. N. 4’s were adopted as the standard training-machine and the standard J. was discarded. The D. H. 4’s were turned out in large quantities by the Dayton-Wright; Curtiss produced some Bristol machines in addition to their training-machine and seaplanes. The Standard Aircraft Corporation built a few Capronis and Handley Pages, Curtiss-H-boats. Owing to a failure to adapt the Liberty engine to the Bristol fighter after three pilots lost their lives, the machine was abandoned. If the war had lasted another year these companies would have been in quantity production, and undoubtedly America would have delivered a portion of the thousands of machines which were promised on the West Front.
As nearly every company which had built for the army or the navy was represented at the March, 1919, aero show, a description of the exhibits will give the best idea of the types of machines produced:
Aeromarine Plane and Motor Company
Model 50 flying-boat, similar to the Model 40 except that in the latter machine the cabin is closed in by atransparent hood, and it is driven by an Aeromarine 130 horse-power type-L engine. The Model 50 is a sport machine designed for pleasure flying.
The upper plane has a span of 48 feet 4 inches, lower plane 37 feet 4 inches. Fully loaded the machine weighs about 2,500 pounds. Unloaded the weight is about 2,000 pounds.
Boeing Aeroplane Company
The Type C-1 F. Navy Training Hydroaeroplane was flown from Hampton Roads, Va., to Rockaway, N. Y., for exhibition at the aero show. This machine is equipped with a Curtiss OXX-5 100 horse-power motor. It is an experimental type built for the navy, and has single float instead of the double floats usually employed on Boeing seaplanes.
Burgess Company
The Burgess Company exhibited a car designed for one of the “C” class twin-motored navy dirigibles. The car is of streamline form, 40 feet long, 5 feet in maximum diameter, with steel tube outriggers carrying an engine at either side. Over-all width of outriggers, 15 feet. Complete weight of car, 4,000 pounds.
Seven passengers may be carried, but the usual crew consists of four.
The engines are made by the Union Gas EngineCompany, and are 150 horse-power each. Fuel capacity, 240 gallons; oil, 16 gallons. Four bombs, totalling 1,080 pounds, are carried at the side.
The dirigible for which the car was designed is 192 feet long, 43 feet wide, and 46 feet high; it has a capacity of 180,000 cubic feet. Its high speed is 59 miles per hour, at which speed it has an endurance of 10 hours. Cruising speed, 42 miles per hour; cruising radius, 12½ hours. Climb, 1,000 feet per minute.
The Cantilever Aero Company
The Christmas Bullet has caused a great deal of comment in aeronautical circles because of its freedom from struts and wires. It is the first heavier-than-air machine built on the Cantilever truss principle, and is the result of years of painstaking investigations and experiments made by the inventor, Doctor William Whitney Christmas.
The wings of the Christmas Bullet are flexible and resemble true bird form. Because of this yielding principle the machine is absolutely immune from all strain and resistance, as are “stiff-wing,” parallel-strut machines.
A Liberty “6” is used, giving 185 horse-power at 1,400 R. P. M.
Caproni Company
The Caproni Company exhibited a giant triplane which has been famous since 1915, when it made its first appearance. This triplane has a spread of 130 feet. It is equipped with three 400 horse-power engines, two of them in tractor position at the nose of the fuselage, and one a pusher at the rear of the central nacelle. This machine has climbed to an altitude of 14,000 feet with a ton of useful load, and with only two of the engines running. The triplane was used as a bomber, and carries a bomb compartment below the lower plane.
Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company
Curtiss J N 4 D
The J N 4 D Tractor shown by the Curtiss Company. General specifications are as follows:
The motor is Model OX 5, 90 horse-power. Speed range of 75-45 miles per hour. Climb in 10 minutes, 2,000 feet.
The Curtiss M F Flying-Boat
The Curtiss M F Flying-Boat, a sportsman’s model, is the smallest of the Curtiss boats, a development ofthe popular “F” boat, carrying two persons side by side.
The Curtiss H-A Hydro
The Curtiss H-A Hydro, a two-place single-float seaplane. The upper wing has a dihedral of 3 degrees and the lower plane a dihedral of 1 degree. Both planes have an incidence of 2 degrees and a sweep-back of 4½ degrees. In official tests by the Navy Department this machine has made a speed of 131.9 miles per hour with a full load. Its climbing speed is 8,500 feet in 10 minutes.
The float is 20 feet long, 3 feet 6 inches wide, and 2 feet 6 inches deep. It has three planing steps.
The engine is a Liberty 12, giving 330 horse-power. It is directly connected to a two-bladed propeller 9 feet 2 inches in diameter, with a 7 foot 7 inches pitch, or a three-bladed propeller 8 feet 6 inches in diameter and 7 feet 6 inches in pitch, depending upon whether speed or quick climb is required.
Dayton-wright Aeroplane Company
De Havilland 4
The De Havilland 4 Aeroplane, exhibited by the Dayton-Wright Aeroplane Company, was the first De Havilland 4 battle-plane to be built in America, having been completed October 29, 1917, at Dayton, Ohio. This machine has been in continuous service since that time, and has been used in 2,500 flying tests of various kinds.
With this machine a distance of about 111,000 miles has been covered in a time of about 1,078 hours. Twenty-eight cross-country trips have been made in it, including Dayton to Washington, Dayton to New York, Dayton to Chicago, Dayton to Cleveland, etc.
The battle-plane is exhibited with all its military equipment, including two Marlin machine-guns fixed on the front cowling and fired through the propeller at a rate of 750 rounds at 1,650 R. P. M. of the engine, and two movable Lewis machine-guns at the rear cockpit which fire 650 rounds per minute. The wireless carried has a range of eleven miles to another aeroplane and a receiving radius of forty-seven miles by a ground-station. A camera located to the rear of the observer is worked by means of wind-vane. Photographs are taken at the rate of twenty-four per minute, and magazine carries six dozen plates.
A full complement of twelve bombs are carried under the lower wings, and flare-lights for night-landing are suspended from the wing-tips. Red and greenguide-lights are carried on the lower plane, and a white light is located on the fuselage deck aft of the gunner. The engine is one of the first Libertys to be built.
The T-4 Messenger
The “Messenger” was designed as a war-machine, but after being modified in small details it makes an ideal machine for commercial and sporting purposes. As a war-machine its use was to have been in carrying messages from the front lines to headquarters and in general liaison work.
The machine is exceptionally light and easy to fly, making it possible to make landings in places that have been heretofore inaccessible.
The fuselage has absolutely no metal fittings nor tie-rods of any sort, strips of veneer being used exclusively for the bracing.
The machine comes within the means of the average sportsman, for its cost is said to be not much over $2,000.
The engine is a 4-cylinder air-cooled V type, manufactured by the De Palma Engine Company of Detroit. Its weight is 3.7 pounds per horse-power. The engine consumes 4 gallons of gasoline per hour, and tank has a capacity of 12 gallons. Oil is carried in the crank-case.
Gallaudet Aircraft Corporation
Gallaudet E-L 2 Monoplane
Striking originality in design was shown in the twin-pusher monoplane exhibition by the Gallaudet Aircraft Corporation. Mr. Gallaudet’s 1919 Sport Model has a high factor of safety and is easily maintained.
Two stock “Indian” motorcycle engines are located in the nose of the fuselage, connected to a common transverse shaft, and resting on the top of the plane, and driving twin-pusher propellers on longitudinal shafts driven by bevel-gears.
Engines are “oversize” models, giving 20 horse-power each at 2,400 R.P.M. Weight, 89 pounds each. Propellers are 3-bladed, 4 feet 8 inches in diameter, and 7 feet in pitch. Propellers run at one-half engine speed, 1,200 R. P. M.
The plane has a span of 33 feet.
The body is of monocoque construction, 3-ply spruce being used. Two seats are provided, side by side, with single stick control.
Over-all length of machine, 18 feet 7 inches.
Eight gallons of fuel are carried, sufficient for two hours.
Gallaudet D-4 Bomber
The machine is powered with a Liberty motor, driving a pusher propeller attached to a ring surrounding the fuselage.
The L. W. F. Company
The L. W. F. Model V Tractor was equipped with 125 horse-power Thomas engine, is convertible from a land machine to a hydro. The machine exhibited at the show had twin floats.
The L. W. F. Company also exhibited one of the H S 1 L Coast Patrol Flying-Boats, with a 350 horse-power Liberty engine. The machine has a span of 62 feet. Over-all length is 38 feet 6 inches, and overall height is 14 feet 7 inches. The hull weighs 1,265 pounds. Gross weight, 5,900 pounds, and weight, empty, 4,810 pounds. Fuel and oil, 750 pounds, and crew, 360 pounds.
The L. W. F. Model G-2 Fighter
Model G-2 is a two-place armored fighter, carrying seven machine-guns and four bombs. Guns are arranged to be fired downward through an opening in the bottom of the fuselage.
The Glenn L. Martin Company
The Martin Bomber
The Martin Twin-Engine Bomber has a speed of 118.5 M.P.H., made on the first trial with full bombingload. The climbing time with full bombing load was 10,000 feet in 15 minutes, and a service ceiling of 16,500 feet was attained. As a military machine the Martin Twin is built to fill requirements of a night-bomber, day-bomber, long-distance photographer, or a gun-machine. As a night-bomber it is equipped with 3 Lewis guns, 1,500 pounds of bombs, and 1,000 rounds of ammunition. A radiotelephone set is carried on all four types. Fuel capacity sufficient for six hours. Full power at 1,500 feet.
As a day-bomber two additional guns are carried, and the bomb capacity cut to 1,000 pounds. The Martin Twin is easily adaptable to commercial uses which are now practical: they are mail and express carrying, transportation of passengers, and aerial map and survey work. As an example of its capacity, twelve passengers or a load of merchandise weighing a ton may be carried.
General dimensions are as follows:
With a ton of useful load, speed of 100 to 150 M. P. H. is made. Two 400 horse-power Liberty engines are used.
Packard Motor Car Company
The Packard two-place tractor was designed around, and made a complete unit with, the Model 1-A-744 Packard Aviation Engine. This machine will makeabout 100 M.P.H. with full load, on account of its light weight and clean-cut design, and yet its landing speed is as low as the average training aeroplane.
Packard 8-cylinder 160 horse-power at 1,525 R.P.M. Weight, complete with hub starter, battery, and engine water, 585 pounds.
Standard Aero Corporation
Handley Page Bomber
The American-built Handley Page shown at the Garden was similar to the British, except that Liberty “12” 400 horse-power engines are employed in the former, and the Rolls-Royce, or Sunbeam, in the latter. Accommodations are made for one pilot and two or three gunners, and an observer, who operates the bomb-dropping device. Two guns are located at the top of the fuselage, and a third is arranged to fire through an opening in the under side of the fuselage, and a pair of flexible Lewis machine-guns is operated at the forward end of the fuselage. One gunner may have charge of all rear guns, although usually two gunners man them.
Each of the two engines gives 400 horse-power at 1,625 R. P. M.
Speed at ground, 92 M.P.H.
The “E-4” Mail Aeroplane
The “E-4” Mail Plane, built by the Standard Aero Corporation, is particularly adaptable to the work of carrying mail because of the special features of its design. The machine exhibited has seen considerable service, having been brought directly to the show after completing one of its regular mail-carrying trips.
The engine is a Wright-Martin Model L Hispano-Suiza, giving 150 horse-power at 1,500 R.P.M. and 170 horse-power at 1,700 R.P.M. The Model 1 is an 8-cylinder V type, with a bore of 120 mm. (4.724 inches) and a stroke of 130 mm. (5.118 inches).
The Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation
Four aeroplanes shown by the Thomas-Morse Company: the Type S-6, S-7, S4-C Scout, and the M-B-3 Fighter.
The M-B-3 Fighter is equipped with a 300 horse-power Hispano-Suiza engine. It is a single-seater, and is said to be the fastest climbing aeroplane in the world.
The S4-C is an 80 horse-power Le Rhone Scout, used for advanced training. It has been used at most of the army training-schools throughout the United States.
The S-6 is a Tandem two-seater, very similar to the S4-C in general appearance. With an 80 horse-power Le Rhone, this machine has a speed range of 33-105 M.P.H. In ten minutes its climb is 7,800 feet.
The S-7 is a side-by-side Tractor, with an 80 horse-power Le Rhone engine. The side-by-side seating makes it especially desirable for pleasure flying. The cockpit contains numerous comforts and conveniences.
The principal dimensions and specifications of the S-7 are:
The United Aircraft Engineering Corporation
This company is showing a Canadian-Curtiss training-plane, such as used by the Royal Flying Corps for instruction in Canada and England.
A number of Curtiss OX-5 100 horse-power engines are also on display, together with other equipment, which the company has purchased from the Imperial Munitions Board of Canada.
United States Army
Langley Experimental Flying-Machine
The model of the Langley aeroplane is a copy of the original Langley Flying-Machine which is now in the United States National Museum at Washington, D. C. This machine made the first successful flight by heavier-than-air machine driven by its own power. The machinewas launched May 6, 1896, at Quantico, Va. It rose to a height of 70 to 100 feet, and travelled half a mile at 20 to 25 M.P.H., with propellers revolving at 1,500 R. P. M.
The total weight of the machine is 26 pounds. It is driven by a single-cylinder engine, using gasoline as fuel.
Foreign Aeroplanes
Among the foreign aeroplanes sent to the aero show by the War Department are the French Spad, French Nieuport, British SEV, and a German Albatross D11.
The Spad is a single-seater scout, with a Hispano-Suiza engine.
The Nieuport Single-Seater is equipped with a rotary Gnome engine.
The SEV, which was put into limited production in the United States, has a Hispano-Suiza engine.
The Albatross Scout was one of Germany’s best fighters. It has a Mercedes engine.
United States Navy Department
The F-5-L constructed by the Naval Aircraft Factory at Philadelphia has a span of 107 feet wing, chord of 8 feet, and an over-all length of 50 feet.
Two 400 horse-power Liberty engines are used, connected to tractor propellers 10 feet 6 inches in diameter. Five hundred gallons of gasoline are carried, sufficient for a duration of 10 hours at full speed, near sea-level, and a speed of 102 M.P.H. is maintained.
Fully loaded the machine weighs 14,000 pounds. This weight included a crew of 5 men, 1 Davis and 4 Lewis machine-guns, 4,230 pounds bombs, radio apparatus, telephone system with 6 stations, carrier-pigeons, and 500 gallons of gasoline.
The machine is exhibited with one half covered and the other half exposed to show the interior construction.
In the making of this machine there are 6,000 distinct pieces of wood, 50,000 wood screws, 46,000 nails, braces, and tacks, and 4,500 square feet of cotton fabric. The hull requires 600 square feet of veneer. The 250 pieces of steel tubing total 1,000 feet in length; 5,000 feet of wire and cable, 500 turnbuckles, 1,500 each of bolts, nuts, and washers, and 1,000 metal fittings are necessary in the construction of this flying-boat.
Navy M-2 Baby Seaplane
The M-2 Seaplane designed by the Navy Department, and built by Grover Cleveland Loening, was to have been used for submarine-patrol work. It is easily set up, and occupying so little space, can be stored aboard a submarine.
The machine is a tractor monoplane with twin floats. The plane has a span of 19 feet and a total wing area of only 72 square feet. The wing section is a modified R. A. F. 15. Over-all length of machine, 13 feet.
The floats are 10 feet long and weigh 16 pounds each. They are constructed of sheet aluminum with weldedseams. The interior of the floats is coated with glue, and outside is not painted but coated with oil.
The engine is a 3-cylinder Lawrence 60 horse-power air-cooled engine, driving a 6-foot 6-inch propeller with a 5-foot pitch. Twelve gallons of gasoline and 1 gallon of oil are carried, sufficient for two hours’ flight. Fully loaded with pilot and fuel, the complete machine weighs but 500 pounds. The maximum speed is about 100 M.P.H., and the low speed is 50 M.P.H.
Helium-Filled Model Airship
The model dirigible exhibited by the Navy Department is inflated with helium. Another item that is of interest is the fact that this model dirigible, 32 feet long and 7 feet in diameter, contains more helium than has ever been placed in an envelope of any kind.
Astra-Torres Dirigible
The dirigible car shown by the Navy Department is from a ship of the “Astra-Torres” type. The airship was built by the French in 1916, and turned over to the Americans in March, 1918, at Paimbœuf, France, the American naval station commanded by Commander L. H. Marfield, U. S. N. It was used until November, 1918, for coast patrol on the west coast of France.
The car is 45 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 7 feet high. The envelope (which is not exhibited) is 221 feet long and 47 feet in diameter, having a capacity of 252,000 cubic feet. Speed, 45.5 miles per hour. With a crewof Americans, this ship has stayed aloft for 25 hours, 40 minutes. At its cruising speed of 45.5 miles the endurance is 10 hours.
The car accommodates a crew of 12. Two 150 horse-power Renault engines with two-bladed tractor propellers are used. They are placed on outriggers. Two Lewis machine-guns are carried.
The ship is one of several large dirigibles purchased by the United States navy and brought to this country for the purpose of development.
B. F. Goodrich Company
The principal exhibit by the Goodrich Company consisted of one of the first dirigibles put into the United States Naval Service. This is a “Blimp” that was completed in August, 1917, and used for seventeen months in coast-patrol work in the vicinity of New York City. The dirigible is 167 feet long, 33 feet in maximum diameter, and contains 80,000 cubic feet of gas. This dirigible held the record for continuous flight.
A Curtiss OX motor is used. The car is arranged to carry a crew of three men. In cruising a speed of from 40 to 50 M.P.H. is maintained.
Other exhibits by the Goodrich Company are a model spherical balloon, relief throttle-valves perfected by the Goodrich Company, and principally the Grammeter valve, shock-absorber cords, special parachute attachments, fabrics and cloths for aeronautical use, etc. Another feature of the exhibit will be a shortmotion-picture, showing how the balloons are manufactured.
The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio, was the most extensive aerostatic exhibit of the show. The outstanding feature of the booth was the dirigible pusher-car, completely equipped, of a type which has many sisters in service. A 35,000-cubic-foot type “R” military kite-balloon is suspended and equipped complete. Attractive models of the twin-engine navy dirigible and a transcontinental passenger dirigible car are on display. These models are complete in every detail, including full set of instruments and controls, lockers, and upholstery.
A full-sized dirigible car equipped with dual control, indicating devices, including manometers, tachometers, air-speed indicators, incidence and bank indicator, clock, driven by an 8-cylinder OX-2 Curtiss motor, of the type used on the FC training dirigible, having a cubic capacity of 85,000 feet, form an interesting part of the Goodyear exhibit. Models of “R” type kite-balloon, military free balloons, and of the U dirigible are also on display.
Growth of Aeroplane Plants
The growth of the aeroplane factories during the war was enormous. The Aeromarine Plane and Motor Corporation, which was located in a small plant at Nutley, N. J., moved to Keyport, N. J., and on aproperty of 66 acres erected sixteen fireproof buildings, with a total space of 125,000 feet. Most of the work of this plant was done for the navy. Three types of training-machines were produced, 39-A type, a turn-float hydroplane, 39-B, a single-float machine, and Model 40, a flying-boat.
The Dayton-Wright Aeroplane plant was incorporated on April 9, 1912, to build aircraft for war purposes. In August, 1917, a contract for 400 training-planes was awarded to the company, and later an order for 5,000 De Havilland 4 battle-planes was received from the government.
By November 11, 1918, the 400 training-machines were delivered and 2,700 D.H.4’s, and the 5,000 order was cut to 3,100, which were to be completed. One thousand eight hundred D.H. S-4’s were shipped to France. The three plants were located near Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Orville Wright was the consulting engineer of the company. In addition to the three large plants which the company operated at the South Field Experimental Station, which had a total of 65,000 square feet, 8,000 people were employed by the company.
The Curtiss Aeroplane Company were making land-machines, seaplanes, and engines for the British Government when the United States entered the struggle. Mr. Curtiss, the inventor of the flying-boat, and the winner of many aeronautical prizes and trophies, was the chairman of the board of directors and Mr. John North Willys president.
In January, 1916, the company was incorporated,and in February of the same year the stock of the Burgess Company of Marblehead, Mass., was acquired by the Curtiss Company. It also controlled the Curtiss Aeroplane Motors, Ltd., of Canada and the flying-fields at Miami, San Diego, Hammondsport, Newport News, and the Atlantic Coast Aeronautical Station. The company had nine plants and four flying-fields in 1918. The main plant was at Buffalo, N. Y. The chief plant is now at Garden City, Long Island. The plants consisted of 2,000,000 square feet, and employed 18,000 persons.
The company reached a quantity production of 112 complete machines a week, and 50 a day was to be expected had not the armistice been signed on November 11, 1918. Before and during the war the Curtiss plants manufactured 10,000 aeroplanes and flying-boats and 15,000 motors. The Curtiss plants produced a great variety of machines, including Spads, Bristols, and Nieuports. The famous NC-1-2-3-4, which participated in the transatlantic flight, were constructed for the navy by Curtiss Company at Garden City, Long Island.
The Burgess Company was also doing business when the war broke out. The firm was organized in 1909. The company supplied machines to the United States Government for work on the Mexican border in 1914, and many types of seaplanes were also constructed. In 1913 the company secured the rights to manufacture under the Dunne patents, covering inherent stability.
The Burgess plant at Marblehead, Mass., was onechosen by the navy to build training-seaplanes producing N-9 and N-9-H seaplanes. The company started producing one plane a day, but finally got up to four a day, and employed 1,100 men and women. The company also built turn-engine dirigible cars for the navy.
The Glenn L. Martin Company of Cleveland, Ohio, was organized in the fall of 1917 with the idea of building a gigantic American bomber for work with the Allies in Europe. The first machine was flown in August, 1918. Mr. Martin had been the organizer of the Glenn L. Martin Company of Los Angeles in 1910, and had also been interested in the Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation of New York and New Brunswick, N. J.
The Martin bomber constructed by this company had a wing spread of 71 feet and length of 45 feet. It carried 11 passengers and pilot, and made several records.
The factory consisted of a single structure of 300 by 200 feet. The war ended before the company got into quantity production of the huge bomber.
The L-W-F Engineering Company, Inc., was organized in December, 1915, and the plant was located at College Point, Long Island, N. Y. The factory has a floor space of 250,000 square feet. The company built training-machines and flying-boats for the government. The L-W-F fuselage is of the monocoque type, which means “one shell” as regards the body. It is of streamline laminated wood.
The Standard Aero Corporation began life in May, 1912. Later it occupied several buildings at Plainfield, N. J. The company was reorganized under the name of the Standard Aircraft Corporation in 1917, and acquired the thirty-four buildings of a manufacturing company in Elizabeth, N. J. The total floor space was 614,190 square feet. The company built several thousand Standard J training-machines, which were bought by the government, but later discarded. The company also constructed the first Handley Page machines in this country, and also the first American constructed Caproni triplanes. Mr. Harry B. Mingle was the president and Mr. Charles H. Day the engineer.
The Standard model J. H. was a hydroaeroplane, and a number of H. S.-1-1 and H. S.-2-1, and D. H. 4’s. Flying-boats were made by this company. Model J. R.-1-B. was used by the Post-Office Department for aero mail service between New York-Philadelphia-Washington, making a most excellent record.
The St. Louis Aircraft Corporation was organized in the fall of 1917. The Huttig Sash and Door Company of St. Louis and the St. Louis Car Company facilities were used for making J. N. 4-D training-planes, which were being turned out in quantity in May, 1918. Nine hundred people were employed, and machines at the rate of 30 per week were being produced.
The Springfield Aircraft Corporation came into being on September 27, 1917, and began to manufacture J. N. 4-D and VE-7 type machines. The companyleased the Mason Company’s plants, with 200,000 square feet capacity, at Springfield, Mass.
The plant reached a capacity of from 5 to 8 machines per day when the war ended. Over 1,000 were employed.
The Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation was organized in September, 1916, to take over the General Aeronautic Company of America, the Simples Automobile Company, and the Wright Company. The General Aeronautic Company had received an order for 450 Hispano-Suiza engines in 1916, but less than 100 motors had been delivered by July, 1917. In May, 1918, the General Vehicle Company’s plant at Long Island City was bought by the United States Government and given over to the use of the Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation. Fifteen thousand men were employed by the company, and the first production engine was tested in November, 1918. The company also set up a gauge plant at Newark, N. J. The company had orders for delivery of 2,000 motors a month in 1919, totalling $50,000,000. The company reached a production of 30 engines a day in October, 1918. This engine holds the altitude record of 29,500 feet, made by Captain Schroeder in December, 1918. The company produced no aeroplanes during the United States’ participation in the war.
In 1915 the Sturtevant Aeroplane Company was organized by Mr. Noble Foss and Mr. Benjamin Foss. The original plant at Jamaica, Mass., had 24,000 square feet. The company built 25 machines before theUnited States entered the war. Experiments were made with an all-steel fuselage. The B. F. Sturtevant Company had built many aeroplane engines, and it had been organized by the same two brothers. At the end of the war the company had erected a new three-story building of 35,000 square feet. They had over 1,000 employees at the two plants. The Aeroplane Company was engaged primarily in manufacturing spare parts for the J. N. 4-D and D. H. 4, etc.
The Thomas Brothers Aeroplane Company was organized in 1912 at Bath, N. Y., and built many types of machines, both seaplanes and land-machines, before the war. The Thomas Aeromotor firm came to life in August, 1915. In January, 1917, the two companies were combined into the Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation at Ithaca, N. Y., and a factory of three large buildings was constructed. The plant has a floor space of 190,000 square feet. The S-4-E, the S-5 scouts, the M-B-1 and the M-B-2 fighters, B-3 flying-boat, and D-2 hydro are well known as the Thomas-Morse machines.
Other Machines Made
A number of other manufacturers were given orders to construct aircraft. The Packard Motor Company established a department and Captain Le Pere, the French military aircraft engineer, designed a number of machines which were built for the government. Among them was the G. H.-11, an armored plane, the U.S. Le Pere Triplane, and the Le Pere combat machine,which flew from Detroit to New York to attend the aero show at Madison Square Garden, March 1, 1919. None of these machines were put into quantity production.
The Fowler Aircraft Factory at San Francisco had fifteen planes in construction when their plant was destroyed by fire in May, 1918, with a loss of a million dollars.
Other factories which were building aircraft to submit to the government were the Lawson Aircraft Factory at Green Bay, Wis., The Whitteman-Lewis Company at Newark, N. J., The Alexandria Company at Alexandria, Va., to mention only a few.
The S. S. Pierce Company at Southampton, Long Island, had an order for 300 “penguins,” as the training-machines were called, but they were not delivered.
The Goodyear and Goodrich Tire and Rubber Companies built a great many kite, observation, and propaganda balloons for the army, and blimps for the navy. Their exhibit at the Manufacturers Aircraft Show, described elsewhere, gives an excellent idea of their product.
The Naval Aircraft Factory
Owing to the fact that the United States Government gave little support to the aircraft industry, despite the fact that we had been on the verge of war with Mexico, and that the Great War was on in Europe, when the United States was finally forced into the struggle the aircraft manufacturers were not tooledup to manufacture seaplanes and flying-boats in quantity, so the navy immediately made plants to establish a naval aircraft factory at Philadelphia.
When war was declared on April 6, 1917, only 93 heavier-than-air seaplanes had previously been delivered to the navy, and 135 were on order. Of the number that had previously been delivered, only 21 were in use, the remainder having been worn out or lost. The seaplanes were of the N-9 and R-6 types, which are now considered as training-seaplanes.
After eliminating types which had been tried and found unsuitable, the Navy Department fixed upon two sizes for war purposes, which had been perfected in the United States in anticipation of the development of a high-powered engine. The engine developed was the Liberty. The flying-boat is an American conception, and it has not been found necessary to copy foreign patterns to insure our flyers being supplied with the best.
With the development of suitable planes and engines the navy was able to select the type of aircraft which was best suited for its service, and to frame a large and complete building programme. As a result over 500 seaplanes were put in use at naval air-stations in the United States, and up to December, 1918, over 400 seaplanes had been sent abroad. Other aircraft at stations, both in this country and abroad, included airships and kite-balloons.
The demand for aircraft necessitated an enormous increase of production facilities, and, as a part of thisextension, the Navy Department undertook to build and equip a naval aircraft factory at the Philadelphia Navy-Yard. Within 90 days from the date the land had been assigned the factory was erected and the keel of the first flying-boat was laid down. In August, 1918, the factory was producing 50 per cent more seaplanes than it had been two months previous. In addition, at least five plants were devoted to navy work, and a large proportion of the output of several other factories had been assigned to the navy.
The delivery of seaplanes for training purposes has been sufficient to more than meet the requirements. The training of personnel and providing of stations and equipment to carry out this training had expanded sufficiently so that the output of pilots, observers, mechanicians, and men trained in special branches was keeping abreast or ahead of requirements.
The navy aircraft factory produced aircraft valued at $5,435,000 up to the time the armistice was signed. It had completed, ready for shipment, 183 twin-engine flying-boats, at an average cost of $25,000. It had also produced 4 experimental Liberty-engine seaplanes, carrying the Davis non-recoil gun, at a cost of $40,000 each, and 50 sets of twin-engine flying-boats’ spare parts worth $10,000 per set. In addition considerable minor experimental work and overhauling of machines from other stations was done.
The main factory at Philadelphia had a capacity of 50 boats, and could turn out an average of 5 machines a day when the armistice was signed.
On October 1, 1917, the first mechanic was hired at the navy aircraft factory. On November 1, 1918, there were 3,642 men and women employed in building flying-boats for the navy.
About 1,500 Liberty engines were delivered to the navy and assigned to naval air-stations in this country and abroad. Since the number of Liberty engines produced were too small for the needs of the army alone, it had been necessary for the navy to purchase others, to the number of about 700, which were utilized while awaiting a full supply of Liberty engines.
In addition to these a large number of engines of less power were bought for use in training-planes, all of which were distributed to the flying-schools.
One of the very important duties devolving on the Bureau of Steam Engineering was the equipment and maintenance of stations for the generation of hydrogen for use in airships. A number of stations were established, and a full equipment of hydrogen cylinders provided, so that any calls might be promptly met.