CHAPTER IV 

 EARLY STEAM MOTORS AND OTHER MODELS 



In dealing with the development of the aerodrome, subsequent to the early 

 rubber-driven models, the very considerable work done and the failures incurred 

 with other types of motors than steam, have been briefly dealt with in the pre- 

 ceding chapter, but are scarcely mentioned here, as no attempts at long flights 

 were ever successful with any other motor than steam, and no information was 

 gained from any of the experiments made with compressed air, gas, carbonic 

 acid, or electricity, that was of much value in the development of the successful 

 steam machines. 



In November, 1891, after the long and unsatisfactory experiments with rub- 

 ber-driven models already referred to, and before most of the experiments with 

 other available motors than steam had been made, I commenced the construction 

 of the engines and the design of the hull of a steam-driven aerodrome, which 

 was intended to supplement the experiments given in " Aerodynamics ' : by 

 others made under the conditions of actual flight. 



In designing this first aerodrome, here called No. 0, there was no precedent 

 or example, and except for the purely theoretical conditions ascertained by the 

 experiments described in " Aerodynamics," everything was unknown. Next to 

 nothing was known as to the size or form, as to the requisite strength, or as to the 

 way of attaching the sustaining surfaces; almost nothing was known as to the 

 weight permissible, and nothing as to the proper scale on which to build the ae- 

 rodrome, even if the design had been obtained, while everything which related 

 to the actual construction of boiler and engines working under such unprece- 

 dented conditions was yet to be determined by experiment. 



The scale of the actual construction was adopted under the belief that it 

 must be large enough to carry certain automatic steering apparatus which I had 

 designed, and which possessed considerable weight. I decided thai a flying ma- 

 chine if nol large enough to carry a manager, should in the absence of a human 

 directing intelligence, have some sort of automatic substitute for it, and be large 

 enough to have the means of maintaining a long and steady flight, during which 

 the problems (which the rubber-driven models so imperfectly answered) could 

 be effectually solved. 



When, in 1891, it was decided to attempt to build this steam aerodrome, the 



only engine that had been made up to that time will) any claim to the lightness 



and power T was seeking, was the Stringfellow engine, exhibited at the Crystal 



Palace in London, in L868, which if was then announced developed 1 horse- 



30 



