In the beginning of the twentieth century many of the leading European
newspapers contained brief reports of aerial experiments which were
being carried out at Dayton, in the State of Ohio, America. So wonderful
were the results of these experiments, and so mysterious were the
movements of the two brothers--Orville and Wilbur Wright--who conducted
them, that many Europeans would not believe the reports.
No inventors have gone about their work more carefully, methodically,
and secretly than did these two Americans, who, hidden from prying
eyes, "far from the madding crowd", obtained results which brought them
undying fame in the world of aviation.
For years they worked at their self-imposed task of constructing a
flying machine which would really soar among the clouds. They had read
brief accounts of the experiments carried out by Otto Lilienthal, and
in many ways the ground had been well paved for them. It was their great
ambition to become real "human birds"; "birds" that would not only glide
along down the hillside, but would fly free and unfettered, choosing
their aerial paths of travel and their places of destination.
Though there are few reliable accounts of their work in those remote
American haunts, during the first six years of the present century, the
main facts of their life-history are now well known, and we are able
to trace their experiments, step by step, from the time when they
constructed their first simple aeroplane down to the appearance of the
marvellous biplane which has made them world-famed.
For some time the Wrights experimented with a glider, with which
they accomplished even more wonderful results than those obtained
by Lilienthal. These two young American engineers--bicycle-makers by
trade--were never in a hurry. Step by step they made progress, first
with kites, then with small gliders, and ultimately with a large one.
The latter was launched into the air by men running forward with it
until sufficient momentum had been gained for the craft to go forward on
its own account.
The first aeroplane made by the two brothers was a very simple one, as
was the method adopted to balance the craft. There were two main planes
made of long spreads of canvas arranged one above another, and on the
lower plane the pilot lay. A little plane in front of the man was known
as the ELEVATOR, and it could be moved up and down by the pilot; when
the elevator was tilted up, the aeroplane ascended, when lowered, the
machine descended.
At the back was a rudder, also under control of the pilot. The pilot's
feet, in a modern aeroplane, rest upon a bar working on a central
swivel, and this moves the rudder. To turn to the left, the left foot is
moved forward; to turn to the right the right foot.
But it was in the balancing control of their machine that the Wrights
showed such great ingenuity. Running from the edges of the lower plane
were some wires which met at a point where the pilot could control
them. The edges of the plane were flexible; that is, they could be bent
slightly either up or down, and this movement of the flexible plane is
known as WING WARPING.
You know that when a cyclist is going round a curve his machine leans
inwards. Perhaps some of you have seen motor races, such as those held
at Brooklands; if so, you must have noticed that the track is banked
very steeply at the corners, and when the motorist is going round these
corners at, say, 80 miles an hour, his motor makes a considerable
angle with the level ground, and looks as if it must topple over. The
aeroplane acts in a similar manner, and, unless some means are taken to
prevent it, it will turn over.
Let us now see how the pilot worked the "Wright" glider. Suppose the
machine tilted down on one side, while in the air, the pilot would pull
down, or warp, the edges of the planes on that side of the machine which
was the lower. By an ingenious contrivance, when one side was warped
down, the other was warped up, with the effect that the machine would
be brought back into a horizontal position. (As we shall return to
the subject of wing warping in a later chapter, we need not discuss it
further here.)
It must not be imagined that as soon as the Wrights had constructed
a glider fitted with this clever system of controlling mechanism they
could fly when and where they liked. They had to practise for two
or three years before they were satisfied with the results of their
experiments: neglecting no detail, profiting by their failures, and
moving logically from step to step. They never attempted an experiment
rashly: there was always a reason for what they did. In fact,
their success was due to systematic progress, achieved by wonderful
perseverance.
But now, for a short time, we must leave the pioneer work of the Wright
brothers, and turn to the invention of the petrol engine as applied
to the motor car, an invention which was destined to have far-reaching
results on the science of aviation.