230 



NATURE 



[April 13, 191 j 



the lift, which enables us to carry still further weight of 

 •engines, and so ad infinitum. This soon leads us on into 

 another kind of appliance, for if we then want to increase 

 our speed further, all we have to do is to reduce the 

 resistance. This can now easily be done by lessening the 

 size of the gasholder. Having thus gained more speed and 

 got mofe lift out of our aeroplanes, we can still further 

 curtail the volume, and so we go on until we find we have 

 no gas left, and yet our machine progresses at a greater 

 •rate than ever ! 'Therefore, why start with the trouble- 

 some gas bag at all ! 



Aeroplanes, 



Six years .u'o Mich a thing as a real flying machine 

 was unhiM \ •> had seen Maxim's great structure 



running al. lil. VVc had rumours of Ader having 



■done somctiiiiig in secret in France. We had read of 

 Langley's steam-driven model going for three-quarters of 

 a mile' But it was in 1905 that accounts began to leak 

 ■out of real (lights having been accomplished by the 

 Brothers Wright in America. In the following year 

 Santos Dumont gave the first public demonstrations of a 

 man being lifted off the ground by sucli an apparatus. In 

 1907 Farman made a number of short flights up to about 

 half a mile ; Bl^riot and Esnault-Pelterie also made some 

 *' hops." It was not until 1908, however, that anything 

 approaching real flight was shown to the world, when 

 Henry Farman and Delagrange accomplished what was 

 considered extraordinary performances on a Voisin 

 machine, and when later in that year Wilbur W'right set 

 up his machine in France, while his brother Orville flew 

 (with such unfortunate results) in America ; the introduc- 

 tion of practical flight may then be said to have come 

 about. 



In order to realise the great progress in the art of fly- 

 ing from that period to now, some two years and a half, 

 I may quote the " records " accomplished : — 



During 1909 much progress \vas made. In England, 

 Cody made some creditable flights ; in America, Glenn 

 Curtis, McCurdy, and others ; while in France quite a 

 number of aviators budded forth. In 19 10 all records were 

 beaten out and out, and very much was accomplished. 



It is thus evident that immense progress has been 

 accomplished in flying. Now let us turn to the machine 

 itself and see in what essentials it has been improved. A 

 vast variety of machines have been built and even tried, 

 but of thosp (lifTering much from what we may call the 

 standard t\pes, very few have accomplished any success. 



I take as the standard types the Wright (with large 

 elevators and no tail), the Farman or Voisin (.with small 

 •elevator and big tail), and the Bl^riot monoplane (with no 

 elevator in front, but tail behind) ; most other machines 

 are but modifications of them. 



Wright Type. — The original Wright machine has under- 

 gone three important modifications, which render the 

 latest pattern a completely distinct type from the first 

 machine. First, wheels have been applied, so that it is 

 now capable of rising directly off the ground after a pre- 

 liminary run, and is not dependent, as it originally was, 

 on being drawn along a rail by falling weights, so as to 

 give it an initial impulse. Secondly, a horizontal tail has 

 been added, which has greatly improved the inherent fore 

 and aft stability. Finally, the front biplane elevator, 

 which seemed so essential a feature, has been done away 

 with. A machine of smaller area has also been produced, 

 the span being only 22 feet, or nearly half the dimensions 

 of irhe original machine. It is now reported that the 

 Wrights are building a machine to carry eight people in 

 a closed carriage, with a 100 horse-power motor. 



The Cody biplane is very similar in general design to 

 the original Wright, at first having no tail (though one 

 "has been added recently), the main difference being that 



KO. 2163, VOL. 86] 



i.l',- 



it has only a single propeller, and ha» aileron* placa 

 between the planet* at the outer ends to effect the came 

 the warping of the Wright planes. Th ' ■ ' ' r . 1; 

 ment ot the frame and wh*.t:ls are som 



the elevator in front consists of two — : ,. 



side by !>idc. It is a large machine, havmg a 

 4bi feet, and the upper planes being 8J feet ai- 

 lower. 



Voisin and Farn follow up the development 



the Henry Farman miki \ oisin types, the two mu»l 

 taken togetlicr, since the former was but a modtficatM 

 of the latter. 



The first successful Voisin machine consinted of 

 biplane divided into " cells " by vertical walls. The spa 

 was about 34 feet. It had one biplane elevator and a v«] 

 large cellular tail. The latter was soon reduced in sii 

 to a span of 8 feet. 



The Henry Farman biplane, which was evolved fro 

 the Voisin type, the main difference being the omission 1 

 vertical planes and the addition of flaps for transve 

 control, has not altered very materially. The size oi 

 box tail has gradually been reduced, and in the 

 machines the upper plane is made wider than the 

 by the addition of extensions. Both H. Farman 

 Grahame White have recently tried machines of 

 smaller area. The former has planes of 150 square f« 

 each, and has lifted at the rate of 6i lb. per square foo 

 There are a number of other machines of similar bull 

 The Curtiss differs in having ailerons instead of flaps, b( 

 the Maurice Farman, the Sommer, the Bristol, and t! 

 Howard Wright differ only in small details. 



BUrioi. — The Bl^riot monoplane, which underwent 

 great variety of modifications to start with, '■ 

 settled down into the well-known type with 

 about 30 feet, with a fixed tail behind fitted with 

 planes on each end. The latest type of two-s- 

 36-foot span, with a trailing flap tail. 



The Antoinette monoplane is not very different in i^ 

 general characteristics. It is much larger, and th 

 " aspect ratio " or plan of the wings shows a greater spai 

 for length. Flaps are attached to the trail of the cute 

 ends of the planes, and a fixed horizontal tail, c 

 " empennage," is arranged at the end of the body. 



Santos Dumont 's Demoiselle monoplane is much th 

 same type as the Bl^riot, but has always been of smalls 

 size. Other features are that the man is underneath, an 

 the engine is placed on top of the planes, so as to rail 

 the centre of gravity, which would otherwise be very Vyn 

 and to be able to couple the 6^-feet diameter propelle 

 direct to the shaft. 



Other Types. — Other types of successful machin»^-s 

 include the Breguet, which, though a biplane, has al! ::' 

 other characteristics of a monoplane, viz. propeller in f: ■• • 

 of all, with the engine behind it, fish-shaped 

 cruciform tail behind. This has proved very s. 

 having recently taken up as many as twelve i>. .»,..-. .. 

 new pattern of Bristol is of similar design. 



The Dunne biplane and monoplane, with red.Tn->h.Tpe''. 

 planes and no elevator or tail, for which a larg- 

 automatic stability is claimed, have achieved <:<.>: 

 success. 



The Valkyrie monoplane, which may be considered as a 

 separate type, having its elevator, as well as a small fixed 

 plane, in front, and the propeller behind the main planes, 

 has also done well. 



Taking a general view of the recent developments, we 

 are confronted with strange anomalies. Some inv<?ntor«, 

 such as the Wrights, have discarded the fron- 

 though this does not seem to prove it undo 

 others have adopted it. While some Farmans ii;i\(.- uc-n 

 improved by the addition of more surface, yet small 

 machines of nearly half the area have proved highly satis- 

 factory. 



One of the most surprising results of a study of these 

 changes in design is that it seems possible to alter the 

 disposition of the surfaces of a machine in quite a marked 

 manner, and yet there is but little difference apparent in 

 the ability to fly. It becomes very puzzling to the mathe- 

 matician and theorist who wishes to investigate the sub- 

 ject, and to ascertain the whys and wherefores, when he 

 reads of areas being reduced without detriment, of eight 

 and even twelve men being carried on a machine designeJ^ 



