AIRCRAFT PROPULSION — TAYLOR 255 



Alberto Santos-Dumont accomplished flights, hardly more than short 

 "hops," in airplanes with miconvincuig control systems. Not until 

 November 9, 1907, did anyone but the Wright brothers fly as long as 

 1 minute, or over 1,000 ft. On that date Henri Farman in a "Voisin" 

 biplane flew for 3,368 feet in 1 minute 14 seconds, with a 50 hp. "An- 

 toinette" engine, apparently under good control. 



"Antoinette" engines (pi. 6) were built in Paris by Lavavasseur as 

 early as 1905 and were to become very important powerplants for 

 European aviation in the next few years. Santos-Dumont used one 

 rated at 24 hp. for liis "hop" of 772 feet in November 1906. Both 

 Farman's and Santos-Dumont's engines were 8-cylinder Vee types, 

 rated at 24 and 50 hp. respectively. Farman's engine weighed 3 

 pounds per hp., a remarkable figure at that time (see table 1, page 295) . 



"Antoinette" engines had machined-steel cylinders with electrically 

 deposited copper water jackets. All were water-cooled Vee type and 

 were later built in 16- and 32-cylinder models. Together with the 

 engines of Glenn Curtiss, and the E.N.V. engines (France, 1909) they 

 pioneered the use of the water-cooled Vee engine in aeronautics. 

 Other noteworthy details of the "Antoinette" included inlet-manifold 

 fuel injection, and evaporative cooling. 



Bleriot also used the 50-hp. "Antoinette" engine in his first tractor 

 monoplane, No. VII, which flew in December 1907. The first heli- 

 copter to lift a man off the ground (Cornu, November 13, 1907) was 

 also powered with an "Antoinette" engine. Cody made the first air- 

 plane flight in England October 16, 1908, with an airplane somewhat 

 resembling the Wright in design, powered by the 50-hp. "Antoinette." 



The year 1908 was memorable for rapid development of increasingly 

 successful airplanes and engines. Except for Wright airplanes 

 (which had flown over an hour), the longest flight was by Farman 

 in a "Voisin" — 44 minutes on October 2. Two important new engines 

 appeared, namely, the 50-hp. Renault 8-cylinder air-cooled Vee (80-hp. 

 example, pi. 7, fig. 1) and a Curtiss Vee 8-cylinder engine in the June 

 Bug (1 minute 43 seconds flight on July 4) (pi. 8, fig. 1) . On the last 

 day of 1908 Wilbur Wright flew for 2 hours 24 minutes at Auvours, 

 France — "un des j)lus passionants spectacles qu'ait jamais presente 

 I'histoire des sciences appliques," according to a French commentator. 



Glenn Curtiss was building and racing motorcycle engines soon 

 after 1900. In 1902 Thomas Baldwin engaged him to supply an en- 

 gine for Baldwin's dirigible airship, which flew successfully in 1904. 

 In 1907 Curtiss joined the Aerial Experiment Association headed by 

 Alexander Graham Bell, and thus began his distinguished career as 

 a designer, builder, and pilot of both airplanes and engines." 



"Also in 1907 Curtiss broke the world's motorcycle speed record (137 m.p.li.) with a 

 40 hp. V-8 air-cooled engine. 



