We have several times remarked upon the great handicap placed upon
the pioneers of aviation by the absence of a light but powerful motor
engine. The invention of the internal-combustion engine may be said to
have revolutionized the science of flying; had it appeared a century
ago, there is no reason to doubt that Sir George Cayley would have
produced an aeroplane giving as good results as the machines which have
appeared during the last five or six years.
The motor engine and the aeroplane are inseparably connected; one is as
necessary to the other as clay is to the potter's wheel, or coal to the
blast-furnace. This being the case, it is well that we trace briefly the
development of the engine during the last quarter of a century.
The original mechanical genius of the motoring industry was Gottlieb
Daimler, the founder of the immense Daimler Motor Works of Coventry.
Perhaps nothing in the world of industry has made more rapid strides
during the last twenty years than automobilism. In 1900 our road
traction was carried on by means of horses; now, especially in the large
cities, it is already more than half mechanical, and at the present rate
of progress it bids fair to be soon entirely horseless.
About the year 1885 Daimler was experimenting with models of a
small motor engine, and the following year he fitted one of his
most successful models to a light wagonette. The results were
so satisfactory, that in 1888 he took out a patent for an
internal-combustion engine--as the motor engine is technically
called--and the principle on which this engine was worked aroused great
enthusiasm on the Continent.
Soon a young French engineer, named Levassor, began to experiment with
models of motor engines, and in 1889 he obtained, with others, the
Daimler rights to construct similar engines in France. From now on,
French engineers began to give serious attention to the new engine,
and soon great improvements were made in it. All this time Britain held
aloof from the motor-car; indeed, many Britons scoffed at the idea of
mechanically-propelled vehicles, saying that the time and money required
for their development would be wasted.
During the years 1888-1900 strange reports of smooth-moving, horseless
cars, frequently appearing in public in France, began to reach Britain,
and people wondered if the French had stolen a march on us, and if there
were anything in the new invention after all. Our engineers had just
begun to grasp the immense possibilities of Daimler's engine, but the
Government gave them no encouragement.
At length the Hon. Evelyn Ellis, one of the first British motorists,
introduced the "horseless carriage" into this country, and the following
account of his early trips, which appeared in the Windsor and Eton
Express of 27th July, 1895, may be interesting.
"If anyone cares to run over to Datchet, they will see the Hon. Evelyn
Ellis, of Rosenau, careering round the roads, up hill and down dale,
and without danger to life or limb, in his new motor carriage, which he
brought over a short time ago from Paris.
"In appearance it is not unlike a four-wheeled dog-cart, except that the
front part has a hood for use on long 'driving' tours, in the event of
wet weather; it will accommodate four persons, one of whom, on the
seat behind, would, of course, be the 'groom', a misnomer, perhaps, for
carriage attendant. Under the front seat are receptacles, one for tools
with which to repair damages, in the event of a breakdown on the road,
and the other for a store of oil, petroleum, or naphtha in cans, from
which to replenish the oil tank of the carriage on the journey, if it be
a long one.
"Can it be easily driven? We cannot say that such a vehicle would be
suitable for a lady, unless rubber-tyred wheels and other improvements
are made to the carriage, for a grim grip of the steering handle and
a keen eye are necessary for its safe guidance, more especially if the
high road be rough. It never requires to be fed, and as it is, moreover,
unsusceptible of fatigue, it is obviously the sort of vehicle that
should soon achieve a widespread popularity in this country.
"It is a splendid hill climber, and, in fact, such a hill as that of
Priest Hill (a pretty good test of its capabilities) shows that it
climbs at a faster pace than a pedestrian can walk.
"A trip from Rosenau to Old Windsor, to the entrance of Beaumont
College, up Priest Hill, descending the steep, rough, and treacherous
hill on the opposite side by Woodside Farm, past the workhouse, through
old Windsor, and back to Rosenau within an hour, amply demonstrated how
perfectly under control this carriage is, while the sensation of being
whirled rapidly along is decidedly pleasing."
Another pioneer of motorism was the Hon. C. S. Rolls, whose untimely
death at Bournemouth in 1910, while taking part in the Bournemouth
aviation meeting, was deeply deplored all over the country. Mr. Rolls
made a tour of the country in a motor-car in 1895, with the double
object of impressing people with the stupidity of the law with regard
to locomotion, and of illustrating the practical possibilities of the
motor. You may know that Mr. Rolls was the first man to fly across the
Channel, and back again to Dover, without once alighting.