BIOGRAPHIES OF PROMINENT AERONAUTS.
The Wright Brothers--Santos-Dumont--Louis Bleriot--Gabriel
Voisin--Leon Delagrange--Henri Farman--Robert
Esnault-Pelterie--Count von Zeppelin--Glenn H. Curtiss--Charles
K. Hamilton--Hubert Latham--Alfred Leblanc--Claude
Grahame-White--Louis Paulhan--Clifford B. Harmon--Walter
Brookins--John B. Moisant--J. Armstrong Drexel--Ralph Johnstone.
On January 1, 1909, it would have been a brief task to write a few
biographical notes about the “prominent” aviators. At that date
there were but five who had made flights exceeding ten minutes in
duration--the Wright brothers, Farman, Delagrange, and Bleriot. At the
close of 1910 the roll of aviators who have distinguished themselves by
winning prizes or breaking previous records has increased to more than
100, and the number of qualified pilots of flying machines now numbers
over 300. The impossibility of giving even a mention of the notable
airmen in this chapter is apparent, and the few whose names have been
selected are those who have more recently in our own country come into
larger public notice, and those of the pioneers whose names will never
lose their first prominence.
THE WRIGHT BROTHERS.
The Wright Brothers have so systematically linked their individual
personalities in all their work, in private no less than in public,
that the brief life story to be told here is but one for them both. In
fact, until Wilbur went to France in 1908, and Orville to Washington,
the nearest approach to a separation is illustrated by a historic
remark of Wilbur’s to an acquaintance in Dayton, one afternoon:
“Orville flew 21 miles yesterday; I am going to beat that to-day.” And
he did--by 3 miles.
Their early life in their home town of Dayton, Ohio, was unmarked by
significant incident. They were interested in bicycles, and at length
went into the business of repairing and selling these machines.
Their attention seems to have been strongly turned to the subject of
human flight by the death of Lilienthal in August, 1896, at which time
the press published some of the results of his experiments. A magazine
article by Octave Chanute, himself an experimenter with gliders, led
to correspondence with him, and the Wrights began a series of similar
investigations with models of their own building.
By 1900 they had succeeded in flying a large glider by running with a
string, as with a kite, and in the following year they had made some
flights on their gliders, of which they had several of differing types.
For two years the Wrights studied and tested and disproved nearly every
formula laid down by scientific works for the relations of gravity to
air, and finally gave themselves up to discovering by actual trial
what the true conditions were, and to the improvement of their gliders
accordingly. Meanwhile they continued their constant personal practice
in the air.
The most of this experimental work was done at Kitty Hawk, N. C.; for
the reason that there the winds blow more uniformly than at any other
place in the United States, and the great sand dunes there gave the
Wrights the needed elevation from which to leap into the wind with
their gliders. Consequently, when at last they were ready to try a
machine driven by a motor, it was at this secluded spot that the first
flights ever made by man with a heavier-than-air machine took place. On
December 17, 1903, their first machine left the ground under its own
power, and remained in the air for twelve seconds. From this time on
progress was even slower than before, on account of the complications
added by the motive power; but by the time another year had passed they
were making flights which lasted five minutes, and had their machine in
such control that they could fly in a circle and make a safe landing
within a few feet of the spot designated.
[Illustration: Turpin, Taylor, Orville Wright, Wilbur Wright, Brookins,
and Johnstone discussing the merits of the Wright machine.]
On the 5th of October, 1905, Wilbur Wright made his historic flight
of 24 miles at Dayton, Ohio, beating the record of Orville, made the
day before, of 21 miles. The average speed of these flights was 38
miles an hour. No contention as to the priority of the device known
as wing-warping can ever set aside the fact that these long practical
flights were made more than a year before any other man had flown 500
feet, or had remained in the air half a minute, with a heavier-than-air
machine driven by power.
The Wrights are now at the head of one of the largest aeroplane
manufactories in the world, and devote the larger part of their time to
research work in the line of the navigation of the air.
ALBERTO SANTOS-DUMONT.
ALBERTO SANTOS-DUMONT was born in Brazil in 1877. When but a lad he
became intensely interested in aeronautics, having been aroused by
witnessing the ascension at a show of an ordinary hot-air balloon.
Within the next few years he had made several trips to Paris, and
in 1897 made his first ascent in a balloon with the balloon builder
Machuron, the partner of the famous Lachambre.
In 1898 he began the construction of his notable series of dirigibles,
which eventually reached twelve in number. With his No. 6 he won the
$20,000 prize offered by M. Deutsch (de la Meurthe) for the first trip
from the Paris Aero Club’s grounds to and around the Eiffel Tower in 30
minutes or less. The distance was nearly 7 miles. It is characteristic
of M. Santos-Dumont that he should give $15,000 of the prize to relieve
distress among the poor of Paris, and the remainder to his mechanicians
who had built the balloon.
His smallest dirigible was the No. 9, which held 7,770 cubic feet of
gas; the largest was the No. 10, which held 80,000 cubic feet.
In 1905, when Bleriot, Voisin, and their comrades were striving to
accomplish flight with machines heavier than air, Santos-Dumont turned
his genius upon the same problem, and on August 14, 1906, he made
his first flight with a cellular biplane driven by a 24 horse-power
motor. On November 13th of the same year he flew 720 feet with the same
machine. These were the first flights of heavier-than-air machines in
Europe, and the first public flights anywhere. Later he turned to the
monoplane type, and with “La Demoiselle” added new laurels to those
already won with his dirigibles.
LOUIS BLERIOT.
LOUIS BLERIOT, designer and builder of the celebrated Bleriot
monoplanes, and himself a pilot of the first rank, was born in Cambrai,
France, in 1872. He graduated from a noted technical school, and soon
attached himself to the group of young men--all under thirty years of
age--who were experimenting with gliders in the effort to fly. His
attempts at first were with the flapping-wing contrivances, but he soon
gave these up as a failure, and devoted his energy to the automobile
industry; and the excellent Bleriot acetylene headlight testifies to
his constructive ability in that field.
Attracted by the experiments of M. Ernest Archdeacon he joined his
following, and with Gabriel Voisin engaged in building gliders of the
biplane type. By 1907 he had turned wholly to the monoplane idea,
and in April of that year made his first leap into the air with a
power-driven monoplane. By September he had so improved his machine
that he was able to fly 600 feet, and in June, 1908, he broke the
record for monoplanes by flying nearly a mile. Again and again he beat
his own records, and at length the whole civilized world was thrilled
by his triumphant flight across the British Channel on July 25, 1909.
The Bleriot machines hold nearly all the speed records, and many of
those in other lines of achievement, and M. Bleriot enjoys the double
honor of being an eminently successful manufacturer as well as a
dauntless aviator of heroic rank.
GABRIEL VOISIN.
GABRIEL VOISIN, the elder of the two Voisin brothers, was born in
1879 at Belleville-sur-Saone, near the city of Lyons, France. He was
educated as an architect, but early became interested in aeronautics,
and engaged in gliding, stimulated by the achievements of Pilcher,
in England, and Captain Ferber, in his own country. He assisted M.
Archdeacon in his experiments on the Seine, often riding the gliders
which were towed by the swift motor boats.
In 1906 he associated himself with his brother in the business of
manufacturing biplane machines, and in March, 1907, he himself made
the first long flight with a power-driven machine in Europe. This
aeroplane was built for his friend Delagrange, and was one in which
the latter was soon breaking records and winning prizes. The second
machine was for Farman, who made the Voisin biplane famous by winning
the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize of $10,000 for making a flight of 1,093
yards in a circle.
The Voisin biplane is distinctive in structure, and is accounted one of
the leading aeroplanes of the present day.
LEON DELAGRANGE.
LEON DELAGRANGE was born at Orleans, France, in 1873. He entered
the School of Arts as a student in sculpture, about the same time
that Henri Farman went there to study painting, and Gabriel Voisin,
architecture. He exhibited at the Salon, and won several medals.
In 1905, he took up aeronautics, assisted at the experiments of M.
Archdeacon. His first aeroplane was built by Voisin, and he made his
first flight at Issy, March 14, 1907. Less than a month later--on April
11--he made a new record for duration of flight, remaining in the air
for 9 minutes and 15 seconds--twice as long as the previous record made
by Farman.
[Illustration: Leblanc, Bleriot, and Delagrange, (from left to right)
in aviation dress, standing in front of the Bleriot machine which
crossed the English Channel.]
At Rheims, in 1909, he appeared with a Bleriot monoplane, and continued
to fly with that type of machine until his death. At Doncaster,
England, he made the world record for speed up to that time, travelling
at the rate of 49.9 miles per hour. He was killed at Bordeaux, France,
in January, 1910, by the fall of his machine.
HENRI FARMAN.
HENRI FARMAN, justly regarded as the most prominent figure in the
aviation world today, was born in France in 1873. His father was an
Englishman.
While a mere boy he became locally famous as a bicycle racer, and later
achieved a wider fame as a fearless and skillful driver in automobile
races. In 1902 he won the Paris-Vienna race.
In September, 1907, he made his first attempt to fly, using the second
biplane built by his friend Gabriel Voisin, and in the following
year he won with it the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize of $10,000. He then
built a machine after his own ideas, which more resembles the Wright
machine than the Voisin, and with it he has won many prizes, and made
many world records. Demands for machines, and for teaching the art of
handling them, have poured in upon him, necessitating a continual
increase of manufacturing facilities until it may safely be said that
he has the largest plant for building flying machines in the world,
turning out the largest number of machines, and through his school for
aviators is instructing a larger number of pupils annually than any
other similar establishment.
ROBERT ESNAULT-PELTERIE.
ROBERT ESNAULT-PELTERIE was born in 1880, and educated in the city of
Paris. He early showed a mechanical turn of mind, and was interested
particularly in scientific studies. He became an enthusiast in matters
aeronautic, and devoted himself to the construction of gasoline engines
suitable for aviation purposes. After satisfying his ideal in this
direction with the now famous “R-E-P” motor, he designed a new type
of flying machine which is known as the “R-E-P monoplane.” His first
flights were made at Buc in October, 1907, and while they were short,
they proved the possibility of steering a flying machine so that it
would describe a curved line--at that time a considerable achievement
among European aviators. In April, 1908, he flew for ¾ of a mile, and
reached a height of 100 feet. This feat eclipsed all previous records
for monoplanes.
His fame, however, rests upon his motors, which are quite original in
design and construction.
COUNT FERDINAND VON ZEPPELIN.
COUNT FERDINAND VON ZEPPELIN was born in 1838, on the shores of the
Lake Constance, where his great airships have had their initial trials.
It is an interesting fact that Count von Zeppelin made his first
balloon ascension in a war-balloon attached to the army corps commanded
by his friend, Carl Schurz, during the Civil War.
It was only after years of absorbing study of all that human knowledge
could contribute that Count von Zeppelin decided upon the type of
dirigible which bears his name. Under the patronage of the King of
Würtemberg he began his first airship, having previously built an
immense floating shed, which, swinging by a cable, always had its doors
facing away from the wind.
The successful flights of the series of magnificent Zeppelin airships
have been marvellous in an age crowded with wonders. And the misfortune
which has followed close upon their superb achievements with complete
destruction would long ago have undone a man of less energy and courage
than the dauntless Count. It should be borne in mind, however, that
of the hundreds of passengers carried in his ships of the air, all
have come to land safely--a record that it would be difficult to match
with any other form of travel. The accidents which have destroyed the
Zeppelins have never happened in the air, excepting only the wrecking
of the _Deutschland_ by a thunderstorm.
The indefatigable Count is now constructing another airship with the
new alloy, electron, instead of aluminum. He estimates that 5,000
pounds’ weight can be saved in this way.
CAPTAIN THOMAS S. BALDWIN.
CAPTAIN THOMAS S. BALDWIN, balloonist and aviator, was born in
Mississippi in 1855. His first aeronautical experience was as a
parachute rider from a balloon in the air. He invented the parachute
he used, and received for it a gold medal from the Balloon Society
of Great Britain. Exhibiting this parachute, Captain Baldwin made an
extensive tour of the civilized world.
In 1892 he built his first airship, a combination of a balloon, a
screw propeller, and a bicycle, the last to furnish the motive power.
It was not until 1902, when be installed an automobile engine in his
airship, that he succeeded in making it sail. It was not yet dirigible,
however; but after two years of devising and experimenting, he sailed
away from Oakland, Cal., on August 2, 1904, against the wind, and
after a short voyage, turned and came back to his balloon-shed. From
this time on he made several successful dirigibles, and in 1908 he met
all the requirements of the United States Government for a military
dirigible, and sold to it the only dirigible it possesses.
He became interested in the experiments of Curtiss and McCurdy at
Hammondsport, in 1908, and aided in building the remarkable series of
biplanes with which record flights were made. The newer design, known
as the Baldwin biplane, is unique in the pivoted balancing plane set
upright above the upper plane, a device entirely distinct from the
warping or other manipulation of horizontal surfaces for the purpose of
restoring lateral balance.
GLENN HAMMOND CURTISS.
GLENN HAMMOND CURTISS was born at Hammondsport, N. Y., on the shore
of Lake Keuka, in 1878. From boyhood he was a competitor and winner
in all sorts of races where speed was the supreme test. By nature a
mechanic, he became noted for his ingenious contrivances in this line,
and built a series of extremely fast motor-cycles, with one of which he
made the record of one mile in 26⅖ seconds, which still stands as the
fastest mile ever made by man with any form of mechanism.
Through the purchasing of one of his light engines by Captain Baldwin
for his dirigible, Curtiss became interested in aeronautical matters,
and soon built a glider with which he sailed down from the Hammondsport
hills. The combination of his motor and the glider was the next step,
and on July 4, 1908, he flew 1½ miles with the _June Bug_, winning the
_Scientific American_ trophy.
Learning that the United States was not to be represented at the Rheims
meet in August, 1909, he hastily built a biplane and went there. He won
the first prize for the course of 30 kilometres (18.6 miles), second
prize for the course of 10 kilometres, the James Gordon Bennett cup,
and the tenth prize in the contest for distance. From Rheims he went to
Brescia, Italy, and there won the first prize for speed. In all these
contests he was matching his biplane against monoplanes which were
acknowledged to be a faster type than the biplane.
On May 29, 1910, Mr. Curtiss made the first stated aeroplane tour to
take place in this country, travelling from Albany to New York City,
137 miles, with but one stop for fuel. With this flight he won a prize
of $10,000.
He has made many other notable flights and stands in the foremost rank
of the active aviators. At the same time he is busily engaged in the
manufacture of the Curtiss biplane and the Curtiss engine, both staple
productions in their line.
CHARLES KEENEY HAMILTON.
CHARLES KEENEY HAMILTON is justly regarded as one of the most skilful
of aviators. He was born in Connecticut in 1881, and showed his “bent”
by making distressing, and often disastrous, leaps from high places
with the family umbrella for a parachute.
In 1904 he worked with Mr. Israel Ludlow, who at that time was
experimenting with gliders of his own construction, and when Mr. Ludlow
began towing them behind automobiles, Hamilton rode on the gliders and
steered them. Later he became interested in ballooning, and made a
tour of Japan with a small dirigible.
[Illustration: Hamilton and Latham.]
He early became famous in the aviation world by his spectacular
glides from a great height. He has said that the first of these was
unintentional, but his motor having stopped suddenly while he was high
in the air, he had only the other alternative of falling vertically.
The sensation of the swift gliding having pleased him, he does it
frequently “for the fun of it.” These glides are made at so steep an
angle that they have gained the distinctive name, “Hamilton dives.”
Hamilton came most prominently before the public at large with his
flight from Governor’s Island to Philadelphia and back, on June 13,
1910. Following close upon Curtiss’s flight from Albany to New York, it
was not only a record-breaking achievement, but helped to establish in
this country the value of the aeroplane as a vehicle for place-to-place
journeyings.
HUBERT LATHAM.
HUBERT LATHAM, the famous Antoinette pilot, is a graduate of Oxford.
His father was a naturalized Frenchman.
His first aeronautical experience was as companion to his cousin,
Jacques Faure, the balloonist, on his famous trip from London to Paris
in 6½ hours, the fastest time ever made between the two places until
the Clement-Bayard dirigible surpassed it by a few minutes on October
16, 1910.
The Antoinette monoplane with which M. Latham has identified himself
began with the ingenious engine of Levavasseur, which was speedily
made use of for aeroplanes by Santos-Dumont, Bleriot, and Farman.
Levavasseur also had ideas about aeroplanes, and persuaded some
capitalists to back him in the enterprise. When it was done, no one
could be found to fly it. Here M. Latham, a lieutenant of miners and
sappers in the French army, stepped into the breach, and has made a
name for himself and for the Antoinette machine in the forefront of the
progress of aviation.
After winning several contests he set out, on July 19, 1909, to cross
the British Channel. After flying about half the distance he fell into
the sea. Six days later Bleriot made the crossing successfully, and
Latham made a second attempt on July 27th, and this time got within a
mile of the Dover coast before he again came down in the water.
He has shown unsurpassed daring and skill in flying in gales blowing
at 40 miles per hour, a record which few other aviators have cared to
rival.
ALFRED LEBLANC.
ALFRED LEBLANC, the champion cross-country flier of the world, was
born in France in 1879. By profession he is a metallurgist. A friend
of Bleriot, he became interested in monoplane flying, the more readily
because he was already a skilled balloonist.
At the time Bleriot made his historic flight across the British
Channel, Leblanc preceded him, and, standing on the Dover shore,
signalled Bleriot where to strike the land.
He organized Bleriot’s school for aviators at Pau, and became its
director. Its excellence is exhibited in the quality of its pupils;
among them Chavez, Morane, and Aubrun.
The achievement through which Leblanc is most widely known is his
winning of the 489-mile race over the northern part of France in
August, 1910, and with the victory the prize of $20,000 offered.
CLAUDE GRAHAME-WHITE.
CLAUDE GRAHAME-WHITE, the most famous of British aviators, learned to
fly in France, under the tutelage of M. Bleriot, Having accomplished
so much, he went to Mourmelon, the location of Farman’s establishment,
and made himself equally proficient on the Farman biplane. While in
France he taught many pupils, among them Armstrong Drexel. Returning
to England, he opened a school for English aviators.
He came into prominent public notice in his contest with Paulhan in the
race from London to Manchester, and although Paulhan won the prize,
Grahame-White received a full share of glory for his plucky persistence
against discouraging mishaps.
At the Boston-Harvard meet, in September, 1910, Grahame-White carried
off nearly all the prizes, and in addition won for himself a large
measure of personal popularity.
On October 14th he flew from the Benning Race Track 6 miles away, over
the Potomac River, around the dome of the Capitol, the Washington
Monument, and over the course of Pennsylvania Avenue, up to the State,
War, and Navy Department building, alighting accurately with his
40-foot biplane in the 60-foot street. Having ended his “call,” he
mounted his machine and rose skilfully into the air and returned to his
starting point.
At the Belmont Park meet, in October, Grahame-White captured the
international speed prize with his 100-horse-power Bleriot monoplane,
and finished second in the race around the Statue of Liberty, being
beaten by only 43 seconds.
LOUIS PAULHAN.
LOUIS PAULHAN was, in January, 1909, a mechanic in Mourmelon, France,
earning the good wages in that country of $15 per week. He became
an aviator, making his first flight on July 10, 1909, of 1¼ miles.
Five days later he flew over 40 miles, remaining in the air 1 hour
17 minutes, and rising to an altitude of 357 feet, then the world’s
record. He flew constantly in public through the remainder of 1909,
winning many prizes and breaking and making records.
In January, 1910, he was the most prominent aviator at the Los Angeles
meet, and there made a new world’s record for altitude, 4,166 feet.
Within the 13 months and 3 weeks (up to October 1, 1910) that he has
been flying, he has won over $100,000 in prizes, besides receiving many
handsome fees for other flights and for instruction to pupils.
CLIFFORD B. HARMON.
CLIFFORD B. HARMON has the double distinction of being not only the
foremost amateur aviator of America, but his feats have also at times
excelled those of the professional airmen. On July 2, 1910, Mr. Harmon
made a continuous flight of more than 2 hours, breaking all American
records, and this he held for several months.
Mr. Harmon’s first experience in the air was as a balloonist, and in
this capacity he held the duration record of 48 hours 26 minutes for a
year. On this same voyage, at the St. Louis Centennial, he made a new
record in America for altitude attained, 24,400 feet.
At the Los Angeles aviation meet, in January, 1910, where he went with
his balloon _New York_, he met Paulhan, and became his pupil. At that
meet Paulhan made a new world’s record for altitude with a Farman
biplane, and this machine Mr. Harmon bought, and brought to Mineola, L.
I., where he practised assiduously, crowning his minor achievements by
flying from there across Long Island Sound to Greenwich, Conn.
At the Boston-Harvard aviation meet, in September, 1910, Mr. Harmon won
every prize offered to amateur contestants.
WALTER BROOKINS.
WALTER BROOKINS is one of the youngest of noted aviators. He was born
in Dayton, Ohio, in 1890, and went to school to Miss Katherine Wright,
sister of the Wright brothers. Young Walter was greatly interested
in the experiments made by the Wrights, and Orville one day promised
him that when he grew up they would build a flying machine for him.
Brookins appeared at Dayton in the early part of 1910, after several
years’ absence, during which he had grown up, and demanded the promised
flying machine. The Wrights met the demand, and developed Brookins into
one of the most successful American aviators.
Brookins’s first leap into prominence was at the Indianapolis meet,
in June, 1910, where he made a new world’s record for altitude, 4,803
feet. This being beaten soon after in Europe, by J. Armstrong Drexel,
with 6,600 feet, Brookins attempted, at Atlantic City, in September, to
excel Drexel’s record, and rose to a height of 6,175 feet, being forced
to come down by the missing of his motor.
On September 29, 1910, he left Chicago for Springfield, Ill. He made
two stops on the way for repairs and fuel, and reached Springfield in
7 hours 9 minutes elapsed time. His actual time in the air was 5 hours
47 minutes. The air-line distance between the two cities is 187 miles,
but as Brookins flew in the face of a wind blowing 10 miles an hour,
he actually travelled 250 miles. During the journey Brookins made a new
cross-country record for America in a continuous flight for 2 hours 38
minutes.
JOHN B. MOISANT.
JOHN B. MOISANT is an architect of Chicago, born there of Spanish
parentage in 1883. Becoming interested in aviation, he went to France
in 1909, and began the construction of two aeroplanes, one of them
entirely of metal. He started to learn to fly on a Bleriot machine, and
one day took one of his mechanicians aboard and started for London. The
mechanician had never before been up in an aeroplane. After battling
with storms and repairing consequent accidents to his machine, Moisant
landed his passenger in London three weeks after the start. It was
the first trip between the two cities for an aeroplane carrying a
passenger, and although Moisant failed to win the prize which had been
offered for such a feat, he received a great ovation, and a special
medal was struck for him.
At the Belmont Park meet, in October, 1910, Moisant, after wrecking
his own machine in a gale, climbed into Leblanc’s Bleriot, which had
been secured for him but a few minutes before, and made the trip around
the Statue of Liberty in New York Bay and returned to the Park in 34
minutes 38 seconds. As the distance is over 34 miles, the speed was
nearly a mile a minute. This feat won for him, and for America, the
grand prize of the meet--$10,000.
J. ARMSTRONG DREXEL.
J. ARMSTRONG DREXEL is a native of Philadelphia. He was taught to
fly a Bleriot machine at Pau by Grahame-White, and he has frequently
surpassed his instructor in contests where both took part. At the
English meets in 1910 he won many of the prizes, being excelled in this
respect only by Leon Morane.
At Lanark, Scotland, he established a new world’s record for altitude,
6,600 feet. At the Belmont Park meet he passed his former record with
an altitude of 7,185 feet, making this the American record, though it
had been excelled in Europe. At Philadelphia, November 23, 1910, he
reached an altitude of 9,970 feet, according to the recording barometer
he carried, thus making a new world’s record. This record was disputed
by the Aero Club, and it may be reduced. A millionaire, he flies for
sheer love of the sport.
RALPH JOHNSTONE.
RALPH JOHNSTONE was born in Kansas City, Mo., in 1880. He became an
expert bicycle rider, and travelled extensively in many countries
giving exhibitions of trick bicycle riding, including the feat known
as “looping the loop.” He joined the staff of the Wright Brothers’
aviators in April, 1910, and speedily became one of the most skilful
aeroplane operators.
He made a specialty of altitude flying, breaking his former records day
after day, and finally, at the International Aviation Meet at Belmont
Park, L. I., in October, 1910, he made a new world’s altitude record
of 9,714 feet, surpassing the previous record of 9,121 feet made by
Wynmalen at Mourmelon, on October 1st.
Johnstone was instantly killed at Denver, Col., on November 14, 1910,
by a fall with his machine owing to the breaking of one of the wings at
a height of 800 feet.