Wellman's America
Wellman’s America(From Wellman’sAerial Age)
Most readers will remember the fate of Andrée, and the projected polar expeditions of Wellman in 1907 and 1909. Misfortune accompanied both attempts; but one has only to read Peary’s story of the dogged tramp over the Greenland ice blink to realize that danger and misfortune in no less degree have accompanied other plans of Arctic pioneering. With proper design and the right men, it does not seem unreasonable to expect that a hundred flying machines may soar above Earth’s invisible axial points during the next dozen years.3
The report of Count Zeppelin’s Spitzbergen expedition of last year has just been made public. This was undertaken to ascertain the adaptability of flying machines for Arctic navigation. Besides speed and radius of action, the conclusive factors include that of freedom from such breakdowns as cannot be made good on the road.
For exploration in other regions, the balloon or the aeroplane is sure to be employed. Rapidity of progress without fatigue or danger will replace the floundering through swamps, shivering with ague, and bickering with hostile natives now associated with tropical and other expeditions. The stereoscopic camera with its scientific adjuncts will permit of almost automatic map-making, more comprehensive and accurate than any now attempted in other than the most settled sections. It is not too much to expect that arrangements will be perfected for conducting complete topographical surveys without more than occasional descents. If extremely high altitudes must be attained—over a mile—the machines will be of special design; but as far as can now be anticipated, there will be no insurmountable difficulties. The virgin peaks of Ruwenzori and the Himalayas may become easily accessible—even to women and children if they desire it. We may obtain direct evidence as to the contested ascent of Mt. McKinley. A report has been current that a Blériot monoplane has been purchased for use in the inspection of construction work for an oil pipe line across the Persiandesert; the aeroplane being regarded as “more expeditious and effectual” than an automobile.
The flying machine is the only land vehicle which requires no “permanent way.” Trains must have rails, bicycles and automobiles must have good roads. Even the pedestrian gets along better on a path. The ships of the air and the sea demand no improvement of the fluids in which they float. To carry mails, parcels, persons, and even light freight—these applications, if made commercially practicable tomorrow,4would surprise no one; their possibility has already been amply demonstrated. With the dirigible as the transatlantic liner and the aeroplane as the naphtha launch of the air, the whole range of applications is commanded. Hangars and landing stages—the latter perhaps on the roofs of buildings, revolutionizing our domestic architecture—may spring up as rapidly as garages have done. And the aeroplane is potentially (with the exception of the motorcycle) the cheapest of self-propelled vehicles.
Governments have already considered the possibilities of aerial smuggling. Perhaps our custom-house officers will soon have to watch a fence instead of a line: to barricade in two dimensions instead of one. They will need to be provided with United States Revenue aeroplanes. But how are aerial frontiers to be marked? And does anation own the air above it, or is this, like the high seas, “by natural right, common to all”? Can a flying-machine blockade-runner above the three-mile height claim extraterritoriality?
The flying machine is no longer the delusion of the “crank,” because it has developed a great industry. A now antiquated statement put the capitalization of aeroplane manufactories in France at a million dollars, and the development expenditure to date at six millions. There are dozens of builders, in New York City alone, of monoplanes, biplanes, gliders, and models. A permanent exhibition of air craft is just being inaugurated. We have now even an aeronautic “trust,” since the million-dollar capitalization of the Maxim, Blériot, Grahame-White firm.
According to the New YorkSun, over $500,000 has been subscribed for aviation prizes in 1911. The most valuable prizes are for new records in cross-country flights. The ParisJournalhas offered $70,000 for the best speed in a circling race from Paris to Berlin, Brussels, London, and back to Paris—1500 miles. Supplementary prizes from other sources have increased the total stake in this race to $100,000. A purse of $50,000 is offered by the LondonDaily Mailfor the “Circuit of Britain” race, from London up the east coast to Edinburgh, across to Glasgow, and home by way of the west coast, Exeter, and the Isle of Wight; a thousand miles, to be completed in two weeks, beginning July 22, with descents only at predetermined points. This contest will be open (at an entrance fee of$500) to any licensee of the International Federation. A German circuit, from Berlin to Bremen, Magdeburg, Düsseldorf, Aix-la-Chapelle, Dresden, and back to the starting point, is proposed by theZeitung am Mittagof Berlin, a prize of $25,000 having been offered. In this country, a comparatively small prize has been established for a run from San Francisco to New York,viaChicago. Besides a meet at Bridgeport, May 18-20, together with those to be held by several of the colleges and the ones at Bennings and Chicago, there will be, it is still hoped, a national tournament at Belmont Park at the end of the same month. Here probably a dozen aviators will contest in qualification for the international meet in England, to which three American representatives should be sent as competitors for the championship trophy now held by Mr. Grahame-White. It is anticipated that the chances in the international races favor the French aviators, some of whom—in particular, Leblanc—have been making sensational records at Pau. Flights between aviation fields in different cities are the leading feature in the American program for the year. A trip is proposed from Washington to Belmont Park,viaAtlantic City, the New Jersey coast, and lower New York bay. The distance is 250 miles and the time will probably be less than that of the best passenger trains between Washington and New York. If held, this race will probably take place late in May. It is wisely concluded that the advancement of aviation depends upon cross-country runs under good control and at reasonable speedsand heights rather than upon exhibition flights in enclosures. It is to be hoped that commercial interests will not be sufficiently powerful to hinder this development.
We shall of course have the usual international championship balloon race, preceded by elimination contests. From present indications Omaha is likely to be chosen as the point of departure.
The need for scientific study of aerial problems is recognized. The sum of $350,000 has been offered the University of Paris to found an aeronautic institute. In Germany, the university at Göttingen has for years maintained an aerodynamic laboratory. Lord Rayleigh, in England, is at the head of a committee of ten eminent scientists and engineers which has, under the authority of Parliament, prepared a program of necessary theoretical and experimental investigations in aerostatics and aerodynamics. Our American colleges have organized student aviation societies and in some of them systematic instruction is given in the principles underlying the art. A permanent aeronautic laboratory, to be located at Washington, D.C., is being promoted.
Aviation as a sport is under the control of the International Aeronautic Federation, having its headquarters at Paris. Bodies like the Royal Aero Club of England and the Aero Club of America are subsidiaries to the Federation. In addition, we have in this country other clubs, like the Aeronautic Society, the United States Aeronautical Reserve, etc. The National Council of the Aero Clubs ofAmerica is a sort of supreme court for all of these, having control of meets and contests; but it has no affiliation with the International body, which is represented here by the Aero Club of America. The Canadian Auto and Aero Club supervises aviation in the Dominion.
Aviation has developed new legal problems: problems of liability for accidents to others; the matter of supervision of airship operators. Bills to license and regulate air craft have been introduced in at least two state legislatures.
Schools for instruction in flying as an art or sport are being promoted. It is understood that the Wright firm is prepared to organize classes of about a dozen men, supplying an aeroplane for their instruction. Each man pays a small fee, which is remitted should he afterward purchase a machine. Mr. Grahame-White, at Pau, in the south of France, conducts a school of aviation, and the arrangements are now being duplicated in England. Instruction is given on Blériot monoplanes and Farman biplanes, at a cost of a hundred guineas for either. The pupil is coached until he can make a three-mile flight; meanwhile, he is held partially responsible for damage and is required to take out a “third-party” insurance policy.
There is no lack of aeronautic literature. Major Squier’s paper in theTransactionsof the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1908, gave an eighteen-page list of books and magazine articles of fair completeness upto its date; Professor Chatley’s book,Aeroplanes, 1911, discusses some recent publications; the Brooklyn Public Library in New York issued in 1910 (misdated 1909) a manual of fourteen pages critically referring to the then available literature, and itself containing a list of some dozen bibliographies.
AERIAL WARFARE
The German Emperor Watching the Progress of Aviation
The German Emperor Watching the Progress of Aviation
The use of air craft as military auxiliaries is not new. As early as 1812 the Russians, before retreating from Moscow, attempted to drop bombs from balloons: an attempt carried to success by Austrian engineers in 1849. Both contestants in our own War of Secession employed captive and drifting balloons. President Lincoln organized a regular aeronautic auxiliary staff in which one Lowe held the official rank of chief aeronaut. This same gentleman (who had accomplished a reconnaissance of 350 miles in eight hours in a 25,000 cubic foot drifting balloon) wassubjected to adverse criticism on account of a weakness for making ascents while wearing the formal “Prince Albert” coat and silk hat! A portable gas-generating plant was employed by the Union army. We are told that General Stoneman, in 1862, directed artillery fire from a balloon, which was repeatedly fired at by the enemy, but not once hit. The Confederates were less amply equipped. Their balloon was a patchwork of silk skirts contributed (one doubts not, with patriotic alacrity) by the daughters of the Confederacy.
It is not forgotten that communication between besieged Paris and the external world was kept up for some months during 1870-71 by balloons exclusively. Mail was carried on a truly commercial scale: pet animals and—the anticlimax is unintended—164 persons, including M. Gambetta, escaped in some sixty-five flights. Balloons were frequently employed in the Franco-Prussian contest; and they were seldom puthors de combatby the enemy.
During our war with Spain, aerial craft were employed in at least one instance, namely, at San Juan, Porto Rico, for reconnoitering entrenchments. Frequent ascents were made from Ladysmith, during the Boer war. The balloons were often fired at, but never badly damaged. Cronje’s army was on one occasion located by the aid of a British scout-balloon. Artillery fire was frequently directed from aerial observations. Both sides employed balloons in the epic conflict between Russia and Japan.
A declaration introduced at the second international peace conference at the Hague proposed to prohibit, for a limited period, the discharge of projectiles or explosives from flying machines of any sort. The United States was the only first-class power which endorsed the declaration. It does not appear likely, therefore, that international law will discountenance the employment of aerial craft in international disputes. The building of airships goes on with increasing eagerness. Last year the Italian chamber appropriated $5,000,000 for the construction and maintenance of flying machines.
A press report dated February 4 stated that a German aeronaut had been spending some weeks at Panama, studying the air currents of the Canal Zone. No flying machine may in Germany approach more closely than within six miles of a fort, unless specially licensed. At the Krupp works in Essen there are being tested two new guns for shooting at aeroplanes and dirigibles. One is mounted on an armored motor truck. The other is a swivel-mounted gun on a flat-topped four-wheeled carriage.
The United States battleshipConnecticutcost $9,000,000. It displaces 18,000 tons, uses 17,000 horse-power and 1000 men, and makes twenty miles an hour. An aeroplane of unusual size with nearly three times this speed, employing from one to three men with an engine of 100 horse-power, would weigh one ton and might cost $5000. A Dreadnought costs $16,000,000, complete, and may last—it is difficult to say, but few claim more than tenyears. It depreciates, perhaps, at the rate of $2,000,000 a year. Aeroplanes built to standard designs in large quantities would cost certainly not over $1000 each. The ratio of cost is 16,000 to 1. Would the largest Dreadnought, exposed unaided to the attack of 16,000 flying machines, be in an entirely enviable situation?
An aeroplane is a fragile and costly thing to hazard at one blow: but not more fragile or costly than a Whitehead torpedo. The aeroplane soldier takes tremendous risks; but perhaps not greater risks than those taken by the crew of a submarine. There is never any lack of daring men when daring is the thing needed.
All experience goes to show that an object in the air is hard to hit. The flying machine is safer from attack where it works than it is on the ground. The aim necessary to impart a crippling blow to an aeroplane must be one of unprecedented accuracy. The dirigible balloon gives a larger mark, but could not be immediately crippled by almost any projectile. It could take a good pounding and still get away. Interesting speculations might be made as to the outcome of an aerial battle between the two types of craft. The aeroplane might have a sharp cutting beak with which to ram its more cumbersome adversary, but this would involve some risk to its own stability: and the balloon could easily escape by a quick ascent. It has been suggested that each dirigible would need an aeroplane escort force for its defense against ramming. Any collision between two opposing heavier-than-air machinescould not, it would seem, be other than disastrous: but perhaps the dirigible could rescue the wrecks. Possibly gas-inflated life buoys might be attached to the individual combatants. In the French manœuvers, a small aeroplane circled the dirigible with ease, flying not only around it, but in vertical circles over and under it.
7.5 Centimeter German Automatic Gun for Attacking Airships
7.5 Centimeter German Automatic Gun for Attacking Airships(From Brewer’sArt of Aviation)
The French war office has exploited both types of machine. In Germany, the dirigible has until recently received nearly all the attention of strategists: but the results of a recent aerial war game have apparently suggested a change in policy, and the Germans are now,without neglecting the balloon, actively developing its heavier-than-air competitor. England seems to be muddled as to its aerial policy, while the United States has been waiting and for the most part doing nothing. Now, however, the mobilizations in Texas have been associated with a considerable amount of aeroplane enthusiasm. A half-dozen machines, it is expected, will soon be housed in the aerodrome at San Antonio. Experiments are anticipated in the carrying of light ammunition and emergency supplies, and one of the promised manœuvers is to be the locating of concealed bodies of troops by air scouts. Thirty army officers are to be detailed for aeroplane service this year; five training schools are to be established.
If flying machines are relatively unsusceptible to attack, there is also some question as to their effectivenessinattack. Rifles have been discharged from moving balloons with some degree of accuracy in aim; but long-range marksmanship with any but hand weapons involves the mastery of several difficult factors additional to those present in gunnery at sea. The recoil of guns might endanger stability; and it is difficult to estimate the possible effects of a powerful concussion, with its resulting surges of air, in the immediate vicinity of a delicately balanced aerial vessel.
But aside from purely combative functions, air craft may be superlatively useful as messengers. To send despatches rapidly and without interference, or to carry a general 100 miles in as many minutes—these accomplishmentswould render impossible the romance of a “Sheridan’s Ride,” but might have a romance of their own. With the new sense added to human equipment by wireless communication, the results of observations may be signaled to friends over miles of distance without intervening permanent connections of however fragile a nature.
Flying machines would seem to be the safest of scouts. They could pass over the enemy’s country with as little direct danger—perhaps as unobserved—as a spy in disguise; yet their occupants would scarcely be subjected to the penalty accompanying discovery of a spy. They could easily study the movements of an opposing armed force: a study now frequently associated with great loss of life and hampering of effective handling of troops. They could watch for hostile fleets with relatively high effectiveness (under usual conditions), commanding distant approaches to a long coast line at slight cost. From their elevated position, they could most readily detect hostile submarines threatening their own naval fleet. Maximum effective reconnaissance in minimum time would be their chief characteristic: in fact, the high speeds might actually constitute an objection, if they interfered with thorough observation. But if air craft had been available at Santiago in 1898, Lieutenant Blue’s expedition would have been unnecessary, and there would have been for no moment any doubt that Admiral Cervera’s fleet was actually bottled up behind the Morro. No besieged fortress need any longer be deprived of communicationwith—or even some medical or other supplies from—its friends. Suppose that Napoleon had been provided with a flying machine at Elba—or even at St. Helena!
The applications to rapid surveying of unknown ground that have been suggested as possible in civil life would be equally possible in time of war. Even if the scene of conflict were in an unmapped portion of the enemy’s territory, the map could be quickly made, the location of temporary defenses and entrenchments ascertained, and the advantage of superior knowledge of the ground completely overcome prior to an engagement. The searchlight and the compass for true navigation on long flights over unknown country would be the indispensable aids in such applications.
During the current mobilization of the United States Army at Texas, a dispatch was carried 21 miles on a map-and-compass flight, the round trip occupying less than two hours and being made without incident. The machine flew at a height of 1500 feet and was sighted several miles off.
A dirigible balloon, it has been suggested, is comparatively safe while moving in the air, but is subjected to severe strains when anchored to the ground, if exposed. It must have either safe harbors of refuge or actual shelter buildings—dry docks, so to speak. In an enemy’s country a ravine or even a deep railway cut might answer in an emergency, but the greatest reliance would have to be placed on quick return trips from a suitable base. Theballoon would be, perhaps, a more effective weapon in defense than in attack. Major Squier regards a flying height of one mile as giving reasonable security against hostile projectiles in the daytime. A lower elevation would be sufficient at night. Given a suitable telephotographic apparatus, all necessary observations could easily be made from this altitude. Even in the enemy’s territory, descent to the earth might be possible at night under reasonablyfavorable conditions. Two sizes of balloon would seem to be indicated: the scouting work described would be done by a small machine having the greatest possible radius of action. Frontiers would be no barrier to it. Sent from England in the night it could hover over a Kiel canal or an island of Heligoland at sunrise, there to observe in most leisurely fashion an enemy’s mobilizations.
German Gun for Shooting at Aeroplanes
German Gun for Shooting at Aeroplanes(From Brewer’sArt of Aviation)
At the London meeting of the Institute of Naval Architects, in April, 1911, the opinion was expressed that the only effective way of meeting attack from a flying machine at sea would be by a counter-attack from the same type of craft. The ship designers concluded that the aeroplane would no more limit the sizes of battleships than the torpedo has limited them.
For the more serious work of fighting, larger balloons would be needed, with net carrying capacities perhaps upward from one ton. Such a machine could launch explosives and combustibles against the enemy’s forts, dry docks, arsenals, magazines, and battleships. It could easily and completely destroy his railroads and bridges; perhaps even his capital itself, including the buildings housing his chief executive and war office staff. Nothing—it would seem—could effectually combat it save air craft of its own kind. The battles of the future may be battles of the air.
There are of course difficulties in the way of dropping missiles of any great size from flying machines. Curtiss and others have shown that accuracy of aim is possible. Eight-pound shrapnel shells have been dropped from an aeroplane with measurably good effect, without upsetting the vessel; but at best the sudden liberation of a considerable weight will introduce stabilizing and controlling difficulties. The passengers who made junketing trips about Paris on theClément-Bayardcomplained that they were not allowed to throw even a chicken-bone overboard! But it does not seem too much to expect that these purely mechanical difficulties will be overcome by purely mechanical remedies. An automatic venting of a gas ballonet of just sufficient size to compensate for the weight of the dropped shell would answer in a balloon: a similar automatic change in propeller speed and angle of planes would suffice with the aeroplane. There is no doubt but that air craft may be made efficient agents of destruction on a colossal scale.
Santos-Dumont Circling the Eiffel Tower
Santos-Dumont Circling the Eiffel Tower(From Walker’sAerial Navigation)
A Swedish engineer officer has invented an aerial torpedo, automatically propelled and balanced like an ordinary submarine torpedo. It is stated to have an effective radius of three miles while carrying two and one-half pounds of explosive at the speed of a bullet. One can see no reason why such torpedoes of the largest size are not entirely practicable: though much lower speeds than that stated should be sufficient.
According to press reports, the Krupps have developed a non-recoiling torpedo, having a range exceeding 5000 yards. The percussion device is locked at the start, to prevent premature explosion: unlocking occurs only after a certain velocity has been attained.
Major Squier apparently contends that the prohibition of offensive aerial operations is unfair, unless with it there goes the reciprocal provision that a war balloon shall not be fired at from below. Again, there seems to be no good reason why aerial mines dropped from above should be forbidden, while submarine mines—the most dangerous naval weapons—are allowed. Modern strategy aims to capture rather than to destroy: the manœuvering of the enemy into untenable situations by the rapid mobilization of troops being the end of present-day highly organized staffs. Whether the dirigible (certainly not the aeroplane) will ever become an effective vehicle for transport of large bodies of troops cannot yet be foreseen.
Differences in national temper and tradition, and the conflict of commercial enterprise, perhaps the very recentness of the growth of a spirit of national unity on the one hand, are rapidly bringing the two foremost powers of Europe into keen competition: a competition which is resulting in a bloodless revolution in England, necessitated by the financial requirements of its naval program. Germany, by its strategic geographical position, its dominating military organization, and the enforced frugality, resourcefulness, and efficiency of its people, possesses what must be regarded as the most invincible army in the world. Its avowed purpose is an equally invincible navy. Whether the Gibraltar-Power can keep its ascendancy may well be doubted. The one doubtful—and at the same timeperhaps hopeful—factor lies in the possibilities of aerial navigation.
Latham, Farman, and Paulhan
If one battleship, in terms of dollars, represents 16,000 airships, and if one or a dozen of the latter can destroy the former—a feat not perhaps beyond the bounds of possibility—if the fortress that represents the skill and labor of generations may be razed by twoscore men operating from aloft, then the nations may beat their spears into pruning-hooks and their swords into plowshares: then thebattle ceases to hinge on the power of the purse. Let war be made so costly that nations can no more afford it than sane men can wrestle on the brink of a precipice. Let armed international strife be viewed as it really is—senseless as the now dying duello. Let the navy that represents the wealth, the best engineering, the highest courage and skill, of our age, be powerless at the attack of a swarm of trifling gnats like Gulliver bound by Lilliputians—what happens then? It is areductio ad absurdum. Destructive war becomes so superlatively destructive as to destroy itself.
There is only one other way. Let the two rival Powers on whom the peace of the world depends settle their difficulties—surely the earth must be big enough for both!—and then as one would gently but firmly take away from a small boy his too destructive toy rifle, spike the guns and scuttle the ships, their own and all the rest, leaving to some unambitious and neutral power the prosaic task of policing the world. Here is a work for red blood and national self-consciousness. If war were ever needed for man’s best development, other things will answer now. The torn bodies and desolated homes of millions of men have paid the price demanded. No imaged hell can surpass the unnamed horrors that our fathers braved.
“Enforced disarmament!” Why not? Force (and public opinion) have abolished private duels. Why not national duels as well? Civilization’s control of savageryalways begins with compulsion. For a generation, no first-class power has had home experience in a serious armed conflict. We should not willingly contemplate such experience now. We have too much to do in the world to fight.
The writer has felt some hesitancy in letting these words stand as the conclusion of a book on flying machines: but as with the old Roman who terminated every oration with a defiance of Carthage, the conviction prevails that no other question of the day is of comparable importance; and on a matter of overwhelming consequence like this no word can ever be out of place. The five chief powers spent for war purposes (officially, as Professor Johnson puts it, for the “preservation of peace”) about $1,000,000,000 in the year 1908. In the worst period of the Napoleonic operations the French military and naval budget was less than $100,000,000 annually. Great Britain, on the present peace footing, is spending for armament more rapidly than from 1793 to 1815. The gigantic “War of the Spanish Succession” (which changed the map of Europe) cost England less than a present year’s military expenditure. Since the types for these pages have been set, the promise of international peace has been distinctly strengthened. President Taft has suggested that as, first, questions of individual privilege, and, finally, even those of individual honor, have been by common consent submitted to adjudication, so also may those so-called “issues involving national honor”be disposed of without dishonor by international arbitration. Sir Edward Grey, who does not hesitate to say that increase of armaments may end in the destruction of civilization unless stopped by revolt of the masses against the increasing burdens of taxation, has electrified Europe by his reception of the Taft pronouncement. England and the United States rule one-third the inhabitants of the earth. It is true that a defensive alliance might be more advantageous to the former and disagreeably entangling to the latter; but a binding treaty of arbitration between these powers would nevertheless be a worthy climax to our present era. And if it led to alliance against a third nation which had refused to arbitrate (led—as Sir Edward Grey suggests—by the logic of events and not by subterranean device) would not such be the fitting and conclusive outcome?
The Taft-Grey program—one would wish to call it that—has had all reputable endorsement; in England, no factional opposition may be expected. Our own jingoes are strangely silent. Mr. Dillon’s fear that compulsory disarmament would militate against the weaker nations is offset by the hearty adherence of Denmark. A resolution in favor of the establishment of an international police force has passed the House of Commons by a heavy majority. It looks now as if we might hope before long to re-date our centuries. We have had Olympiads and Years of Rome,B.C.andA.D.Perhaps next the dream of thoughtful men may find its realization in the new (and, we may hope, English) prefix, Y.P.—Year of Peace.
1.According to press reports, temporary water ballast will be taken on during the daytime, to offset the ascensional effect of the hot sun on the envelope.
2.The contestants for the Ryan prize of $10,000 were Moisant, Count de Lesseps, and Grahame-White. Owing to bad weather, there was no general participation in the preliminary qualifying events, and some question exists as to whether such qualification was not tacitly waived; particularly in view of the fact that the prize was awarded to the technically unqualified competitor, Mr. Moisant, who made the fastest time. This award was challenged by Mr. Grahame-White, and upon review by the International Aeronautic Federation the prize was given to de Lesseps, the slowest of the contestants, Grahame-White being disqualified for having fouled a pylon at the start. This gentleman has again appealed the case, and a final decision cannot be expected before the meeting of the Federation in October, 1911.
3.The high wind velocities of the southern circumpolar regions may be an insurmountable obstacle in the Antarctic. Yet Mawson expects to take with him a 2-passenger monoplane having a 180-mile radius of action on the expedition proposed for this year.
4.It seems that tomorrow has come; for an aeroplane is being regularly used (according to a reported interview with Dr. Alexander Graham Bell) for carrying mails in India.
FLYING MACHINES TO-DAY.By WILLIAM D. ENNIS, M. E., Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn. 12mo., cloth, 218 pp., 123 illustrations$1.50 netCONTENTS:The Delights and Dangers of Flying--Dangers of Aviation--What it is Like to Fly.Soaring Flight by Man--What Holds it Up. Lifting Power. Why so Many Sails. Steering.Turning Corners--What Happens When Making a Turn. Lateral Stability. Wing Warping. Automatic Control. The Gyroscope. Wind Gusts.Air and the Wind--Sailing Balloons. Field and Speed.Gas and Ballast--Buoyancy in Air. Ascending and Descending. The Ballonet. The Equilibrator.Dirigible Balloons and Other Kinds--Shapes. Dimensions. Fabrics. Framing. Keeping the Keel Horizontal. Stability. Rudders and Planes. Arrangement and Accessories. Amateur Dirigibles. Fort Omaha Plant. Balloon Progress.Question of Power--Resistance of Aeroplanes. Resistance of Dirigibles. Independent Speed and Timetable. Cost of Speed. Propeller.Getting Up and Down; Models and Gliders; Aeroplane Details--Launching. Descending. Gliders. Models. Balancing. Weights. Miscellaneous. Things to Look After.Some Aeroplanes--Some Accomplishments. The Possibilities in Aviation--Case of the Dirigible. The Orthopter. The Helicopter. Composite Types. What is Promised.Aerial Warfare.
AERIAL FLIGHT. Vol. 1. Aerodynamics.By F. W. LANCHESTER. 8vo., cloth, 438 pp., 162 illustrations$6.00 netCONTENTS: Fluid Resistance and Its Associated Phenomena. Viscosity and Skin Friction. The Hydrodynamics of Analytical Theory. Wing Form and Motion in the Periphery. The Aeroplane. The Normal Plane. The Inclined Aeroplane. The Economics of Flight. The Aerofoil. On Propulsion, the Screw Propeller, and the Power Expended in Flight. Experimental Aerodynamics. Glossary. Appendices.
Vol. II. Aerodonetics.By F. W. LANCHESTER. 8vo., cloth, 433 pp., 208 illustrations$6.00 netCONTENTS: Free Flight. General Principles and Phenomena. The Phugoid Theory--The Equations of the Flight Path. The Phugoid 1852-1872. Dirigible Balloons from 1883-1897; 1898-1906. Flying Machine Theory--The Flight Path Plotted. Elementary Deductions from the Phugoid Theory. Stability of the Flight Path as Affected by Resistance and Moment of Inertia. Experimental Evidence and Verification of the Phugoid Theory. Lateral and Directional Stability. Review of Chapters I to VII and General Conclusions. Soaring. Experimental. Aerodonetics.
AERIAL NAVIGATION. A practical handbook on the construction of dirigible balloons, aerostats, aeroplanes and aeromotors, by FREDERICK WALKER. 12mo., cloth, 151 pp., 100 illustrations$3.00 net.CONTENTS: Laws of Flight. Aerostatics. Aerostats. Aerodynamics. Screw Propulsion. Paddles and Aeroplanes. Motive Power. Structure of Airships and Materials. Airships. Appendix.
AEROPLANE PATENTS.By ROBERT M. NEILSON. 8vo., cloth, 101 pp., 77 illustrations$2.00 netCONTENTS: Advice to Inventors. Review of British Patents. British Patents and Applications for Patents from 1860 to 1910, arranged in Order of Application. British Patentees, arranged alphabetically. United States Patents from 1896 to 1909, arranged in order of issue. United States Patentees, arranged alphabetically.
THE PRINCIPLES OF AEROPLANE CONSTRUCTION.By RANKIN KENNEDY, C. E. 8vo., cloth, 145 pp., 51 diagrams$1.50 netCONTENTS: Elementary Mechanics and Physics. Principles of Inclined Planes. Air and Its Properties. Principles of the Aeroplane. The Curves of the Aeroplane. Centers of Gravity: Balancing; Steering. The Propeller. The Hélicoptère. The Wing Propeller. The Engine. The Future of the Aeroplane.
HOW TO DESIGN AN AEROPLANE.By HERBERT CHATLEY. 16mo., boards, 109 pp., illustrated (Van Nostrand’s Science Series)50 centsCONTENTS: The Aeroplane. Air Pressure. Weight. Propellers and Motors. Balancing. Construction. Difficulties. Future Developments. Cost. Other Flying-Machines (Gyroplane and Orinthoptere).
HOW TO BUILD AN AEROPLANE.By ROBERT PETIT. Translated from the French by T. O’B. Hubbard and J. H. Ledeboer. 8vo., cloth, 131 pp., 93 illustrations$1.50 netCONTENTS: General Principles of Aeroplane Design. Theory and Calculation. Resistance, Lift, Power, Calculations for the Design of an Aeroplane, Application of Power, Design of Propeller, Arrangements of Surfaces, Stability, Center of Gravity, etc. Materials. Construction of Propellers. Arrangements for Starting and Landing. Controls. Placing Motor. The Planes. Curvatures. Motors.
AIRSHIPS, PAST AND PRESENT. Together with chapters on the use of balloons in connection with meteorology, photography, and the carrier pigeon.By A. HILDEBRANDT, Captain and Instructor in the Prussian Balloon Corps. Translated by W. H. Story. 8vo., cloth, 361 pp., 222 illustrations$3.50 netCONTENTS: Early History of the Art. Invention of the Air Balloon. Montgolfieres, Charlieres, and Rozieres. Theory of the Balloon. Development of the Dirigible Balloon. History of the Dirigible Balloon, 1852-1872. Dirigible Balloons from 1883-1897; 1898-1906. Flying Machines. Kites. Parachutes. Development of Military Ballooning. Ballooning in Franco-Prussian War. Modern Organization of Military Ballooning in France, Germany, England and Russia. Military Ballooning in Other Countries. Balloon Construction and the Preparation of the Gas. Instruments. Ballooning as a Sport. Scientific Ballooning. Balloon Photography. Photographic Outfit for Balloon Work. Interpretation of Photographs. Hectography by Means of Kites and Rockets. Carrier Pigeons for Balloons. Balloon Law.
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The four footnotes have been moved to the end of the book. A few words were judged to be printer errors and were changed. These include two occurrences of horse-power in the unhyphenated form, the spelling of Tabuteau as Tabuteaw on p. 162, and the spelling of hélicoptère as helicoptéré on p.208. On a few of the figure captions, missing accents were added to some French names.