352 



Popular Science Monthly 



a 



English. 



Scout 



21fl 



5turtevaai 



all sleei 



BatilepLane 



50 ft 



Curilss Trip lane 



133 ft 

 30 ft hi^h 



America lype" 



fiyinq boat 



lb ft 



^1 N in 



German "Fritz 

 Battleplane 

 Q0-]60ft. 



>^i Inl ki 



7^; A 



Christmas 

 Battleplane 

 J 30 ft spread] 



Showing the growth of the aeroplane and the comparative sizes of the more important ma-^ 



chines now in use or building. The first shown, the scout machine, is very little smaller than 



the standard size 'planes in use in the United States. Compare it with the others, and an 



idea may be gained of the great progress recently made in this infant industry 



aeroplane was at the time a distinct ad- 

 vance over anything previously built. 

 Under war conditions this machine 

 proved so successful that Glen H. Cur- 

 tiss is now building them at the rate of 

 one every day. 



The Canada, a land machine, was 

 the next aeroplane of note designed by 

 Curtiss. Machines of this type are all 

 manufactured in a Canadian factory, and 

 the plans are sedulously kept from the 

 public. Reports from Canada indicate 

 that these aeroplanes have an eighty- 

 foot wing span, and are able to carry 

 two guns and one ton of explosives. 

 Trial flights made at the testing grounds 

 have resulted in speeds but little under 

 one hundred miles an hour, since the ma- 

 chine is equipped with two motors of 

 great power. 



The "newest designs of Curtiss call for 

 a triplane. with a wing span of one hun- 

 dred and thirty-three feet. This great 

 flying boat weighs, fully equipped, near- 

 ly eleven tons. When on the water it is 

 driven by a propeller similar to those 

 used on large motor boats, but when it 

 is to be lifted into the air, the great 

 power of its two heavy engines is trans- 

 mitted directly to the aerial propellers, 

 and the huge machine rises like a sea- 

 gull. A crew of several men is sheltered 

 by an ample cabin, and a number of 

 guns project from the sides of the com- 

 partments. The speed of this craft is 

 probably high, and its cruising radius. 



when fully 'loaded, should be about six 

 hundred and seventy-five miles. 



European JJ^ar-pIanes of Huge 

 Dimensions 



From the haze of the European war 

 fronts come reports of aeroplanes which 

 transport unheard-of weights for many 

 hours, and which carry large crews to 

 operate machine gims and cannon, but 

 the censors have been remarkably suc- 

 cessful in suppressing all definite news 

 of these marvels. 



Before the outbreak of war the Sikor- 

 sky biplane, a Russian machine of great 

 size, had startled the world by making 

 successful flights with seventeen passen- 

 gers. Luxurious accommodations were 

 provided for the guests, and meals were 

 served in the air. This machine, while 

 propelled by four Salmson motors of 

 five hundred horsepower each, had the 

 great disadvantage in war times of being 

 slow, since it could fly but little more 

 than fifty miles an hour. Little has been 

 heard of this aeroplane since it was con- 

 verted into a battle-plane, but it is cer- 

 tain that numerous machines of similar 

 size and design have been added to the 

 Russian aerial fleet, and that the speed 

 has undoubtedly been greatly increased. 

 The luxurious passenger compartments 

 have been remade into cabins for gun- 

 ners and bomb droppers, and gun 

 mounts now take the places once oc- 

 cupied by comfortable chairs and dining 



