FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS AND CERTAIN ENEMY MACHINES
The earliest experiments in the construction of aeroplanes were, as we
have seen, to a considerable extent made in France. The United States
have also played an active part. Meanwhile England had not been idle.
Mr. Henry Farman, the inventor of the Farman Biplane, was the first
to apply the now famous Gnome motor, in which seven or more cylinders
revolved. The influence of this motor in facilitating flight generally
has been remarkable. The early forms of aeroplane engines had proved
unreliable, owing to the great speed demanded. Indeed, it is said
that if the aeroplanes of the great European War were flying over the
enemy’s line with old-fashioned engines they would drop down into
hostile hands as quickly as dying flies from the ceiling on the first
winter day.
Side by side with the efforts of Mr. Henry Farman in the construction
of biplanes, M. Bleriot gave his attention to the construction of
monoplanes. After attempts, which unfortunately brought disaster
and disappointment, he produced a machine which astonished by its
remarkable performances the whole aeronautical world.
Simplicity was the keynote of the Bleriot monoplane. The machine in
which M. Bleriot flew over the Channel in 1909 has been described by
a well-known member of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain as
‘stretching like the wings of a bird on either side of a tubular wooden
frame partly covered with canvas and tapering to the rear, with two
supporting planes, rounded at the ends. At the front was placed the
motor, geared direct to a 6 feet 6 inch wooden propeller, and on a
level with the rear end of the planes. Immediately behind the engine
was a petrol tank, and behind that the aviator’s seat. Near the end
of the frame and beneath it was the fixed tail, with two moveable,
elevating tips. The act of moving a lever backwards and forwards
actuated the tips of the fixed tail at the back of the machine, and
caused it to rise and fall. Moving the same lever from side to side
warped the rear surfaces of the supporting planes. The act of pushing
from side to side a bar on which the aviator’s feet rested put the
rudder into action and steered the machine.’
Still fresh in the memory is the flight in which the Bleriot monoplane
carried M. Prior from London to Paris, covering 250 miles in three
hours and fifty-six minutes. Later, a Bleriot monoplane carried M.
Garros up to a height of 5,000 metres. At this height the engine broke
down, but in virtue of wonderful gliding powers the machine was landed
safely. It was this same type of machine that flew over the Alpine
peaks, and later carried the first aeroplane post, flying from Hendon
to Windsor in seventeen minutes.
Another monoplane which calls for special reference is the Latham
Antoinette monoplane, which enjoyed the great distinction of being
the first to fly effectively in a wind. Before the invention of this
machine, aviators had only dared to fly in favourable conditions. It
consisted of large, strongly constructed wings. The motor was about 60
h.-p. At the rear of the machine were fixed horizontal and vertical
fins. At the end of the tail there were hinged horizontal planes
for elevating or lowering the machine. The machine, with its ability
to withstand high winds, gave great impetus to the adoption of the
aeroplane for military purposes. Latham, the inventor, performed some
remarkable feats, and must be accounted an heroic pioneer in the more
recent history of flying.
Progress continued on the lines indicated. But it is impossible, for
obvious reasons, to touch upon the modern types of machines employed
by Great Britain and her Allies. We may, however, deal briefly with
certain outstanding types of enemy machines.
One of the most familiar German machines is the Aviatik biplane. The
vital parts of this ‘fighting dragon’ are fortified with metallic
‘capot.’ The rest of the fuselage is also armoured. In the forepart of
the fuselage a space is provided allowing the observer free movement
for scouting, photographing, &c. The machine can be quickly erected and
dismantled. The supporting surface consists of two planes of unequal
dimensions, the upper plane being the larger. Stability is assured by
a fixed plane prolonged by a rudder. Two ‘ailerons’ at the back of the
upper planes give lateral stability. Steering is effected by means
of a vertical rudder placed between the two portions of the horizontal
plane rudder.
[Illustration: REDUCED REPRODUCTION OF A DIAGRAM ISSUED AT THE EARLY
PART OF THE WAR BY THE FRENCH WAR OFFICE, BEARING THE WORDS: ‘GERMAN
AEROPLANES, FIRE ON THESE MACHINES.’]
Another familiar type, the Etrich monoplane, is on the lines of the
German bird-shape design. The wing-shaped supporting planes have
upturned wing tips at the back, which are flexed up and down for the
purpose of lateral stability. The back part of the tail planes is also
moveable, and can be flexed for elevating.
The Germans also have large numbers of the well-known Albatross
biplanes and various monoplanes of the Taube design, and also many
waterplanes of the Albatross type. An interesting feature of these
machines is the fact that they are all double seated with the exception
of the Argo type of monoplane.
The swiftly dashing scouting monoplane did not at first find favour
with the enemy, but the war has brought many sudden and sweeping
changes, and, following the much-vaunted Fokker, we learn of a German
machine able to attain the astonishing speed of 120 miles an hour!
The Albatross, a much used type of German machine, was first made at
Johnnisthal, near Berlin (about 200 of these machines were made in
1913). Mercedes motors are fitted, capable of attaining a high speed.
In the Rumpler monoplane, another well-known German type, the wings are
again in the shape of a dove’s wings, the ends being flexible. ‘The
stability of the apparatus,’ writes a well-known authority, ‘is assured
both by the shape of the wings and their flexibility. It is at once a
combination of the inherent stability type and the depending on the
warping of surfaces.’
The Rumpler biplane, as in the case of the Aviatik, is remarkable for
the space provided for the pilot and observer. In this case also the
fuselage is strongly protected. The upper plane varies from that of
the majority of German machines; it is not made to move in the centre.
There is a short moveable central plane, attached to the fuselage by
four tubes. The other planes are fixed to this central plane.
The Rumpler monoplane is shown, together with other German designs,
including the Gotha monoplane, in a diagram issued in the early part
of the war by the French War Office, bearing the words: _German
Aeroplanes. Fire on these machines._ (See page 41.)