DAWN OF FLIGHT
The Wrights complete their conquest--First trials
of the power-driven machine--Their negotiations
with Governments--How these hung fire and caused
delay--Activity in France--Santos-Dumont, Farman,
and Delagrange.
Now, as they stood upon the threshold of success, the method and
patience of the Wrights came strikingly to their aid. Their machine was
not strange to them--not a monster they had no notion of controlling, as
the first of the large machines had been to those who built them. They
had flown almost precisely similar craft in their gliding tests; they
knew the system of control; knew how to make a landing after flight. All
this experience they had gained before attempting to drive a machine
with a motor; and herein lay the secret of their success. They were not
superhuman; they were instead talented, patient, assiduously-careful
men; and their triumph goes to prove what can be done if a man will work
in the right way, is quietly and persistently enthusiastic, and ignores
all disappointments and rebuffs.
It was in December 1903 that the power-driven machine was piloted in its
first flights, the longest of which lasted for one second less than a
minute. But the ascents from the earth were made without mishap, the
machine was under control while it flew, and it landed without injury.
[Illustration: _Photo, “Daily Mirror.”_
PLATE IV.--LATHAM’S FALL INTO THE SEA.
The _Antoinette_ is seen above, just after its descent upon the water.
The torpedo-boat which followed its flight is standing by, and efforts
are being made to prevent the aircraft from sinking, and to draw it on
board.]
And this was the beginning. Here was a machine that would not merely
glide from a hilltop; it would sweep in any direction, and sustain its
flight without falter or flag, so long as its engine drove it through
the air. The craft was crude; its motor awkward to “tune” for a spell of
running; and the brothers were novices in the element they invaded. They
did not proclaim their triumph, therefore, or declare themselves
conquerors. They said nothing. In their gliding tests, and even with the
power-driven machine, they had attracted little public attention. Mild
interest had been taken; but the scene of their work was remote and
lonely; and what news leaked to the cities was disbelieved or treated
with unconcern. The world did not know what had been accomplished.
At the end of 1903, as stated, they first flew with the motor-driven
machine; and during the next two years they did nothing to exploit the
invention, being content to increase their skill and lengthen their
flights: even with the problem solved, they refused to hurry. The best
performance in 1904 was a flight of 5 minutes 4 seconds. Circles in the
air were now effected, and the aeroplane was instantly responsive to its
controls. Then in 1905 a great stride was made, Wilbur remaining in the
air for 38 minutes--wheeling, circling, rising, and falling; showing, in
fact, that he had perfect mastery over his machine.
But now rumours of the Wrights’ triumph began to reach the world; and at
a meeting of the Aeronautical Society in England a sensation was caused
one evening when Mr. Patrick Alexander, reading a letter he had received
from the Wrights, was able to announce that their aeroplane had flown
for 24 miles. Interest was aroused everywhere, and newspaper
correspondents hastened to interview the Wrights and photograph their
machine. But they were disappointed. Having proved to their own
satisfaction that their biplane was a success, the Wrights dismantled it
and packed it away, doing no more flying. Thus the reports that were
telegraphed round the world were mainly hearsay, and people refused to
believe that the Wrights had done what was claimed. They themselves said
little, but were busy with plans; and what they sought was to sell the
secret of their aeroplane to a Government. They foresaw the future of
the aeroplane as a weapon of war, and reckoned that some country would
pay handsomely for the sole rights to their machine.
Upon coming into touch with Governments, they found the French most
interested. The French War Department, in fact, sent an agent to America
to see the brothers; and this agent, on his return to France, reported
favourably upon the invention. But experimenters were now nearing
success in France, and the Wrights would consider nothing but a large
cash payment; so negotiations fell through.
During the next two years, practically nothing was heard of the Wrights.
They were, as a matter of fact, still perfecting their machine, still
negotiating for its sale; but they declined to come into the open and
show what their craft would do. There was method, of course, in this
attitude; they aimed for one definite goal--that being a large sum as a
reward for their labours. But there is no doubt that precious time was
lost. Had the Wrights been able to place confidence in some agent or
manager, he would have acted for them and advised them; their position
would have been strengthened and vital years would not have slipped
away. They were ready, as we have seen, to fly long distances in 1905;
and yet it was not until 1908 that, persuaded at last to emerge from
their seclusion, they demonstrated effectually what their machine could
do. But others had been busy during those wasted years; and, when the
Wrights did appear, their triumph was not so sweeping as it might have
been. Other men, in fact, could fly; and though neither they, nor their
machines, represented the skill and progress of the Wrights, still they
had flown; and this, at anyrate in the public mind, depreciated the
performance of the two Americans. Had the Wrights come forward when no
one else could fly, they would have been hailed as unchallenged
conquerors of the air; but as it was, they were recognised only as being
a certain distance ahead of their French rivals.
Progress in France, though many inventors were at work, had been slow.
The Wrights, in fact, by the sureness of their methods, had far
outstripped those Frenchmen who had followed up the problem at
Lilienthal’s death. Yet French experiments moved along the same path as
had those of the Wrights. First there had come tests to find
wing-curves; then the flying of gliders.
[Illustration: FIG. 38.--Voisin Glider towed by a motor-car.]
[Illustration: FIG. 39.--Voisin Glider on the river Seine.]
In the launching of gliders, some French experimenters showed ingenuity.
The brothers Voisin, for instance, who played a prominent part in the
early tests in France, adopted the plan illustrated in Fig. 38. The
gilder was towed by a motor-car across an open stretch of ground; then,
when its speed was sufficient for the planes to lift, it rose and flew
behind the car like a kite. Another form of glider, seen in Fig. 39, was
mounted upon hollow wooden floats--anticipating the sea-plane of
to-day--and towed upon the river Seine by a motor-boat. This gilder
also, when its speed became sufficient, rose into the air. In the
construction of the machine, a biplane, one notes resemblances to the
method of the Wrights; and yet generally the craft is dissimilar. There
are, of course, the two main-planes--characteristic of all machines of
this type. Projecting in front of the planes, also, there is an elevator
on the same principle as that of the Wrights. But between the
main-planes are fixed four upright planes, or curtains as they were
called. These were to preserve sideway balance, and prevent the machine
from rolling when in flight. Should the craft tend to heel over, the
surfaces of these planes--acting sideways upon the air--resisted such a
movement. No wing-warping, such as the Wrights used, was fitted to this
glider; the vertical planes alone were relied upon for sideway balance.
The tail of the machine was a reproduction of the main-planes on a
smaller scale, having two horizontal and three vertical surfaces. The
theory of these rear-planes was that of the balancing tail such as is
fitted to a kite; they steadied the machine automatically when in the
air, and checked any tendency to dive.
In 1905 a glider of this type was tested on the Seine; but it was not
until 1906, at a time when the Wright aeroplane was capable of long
flights, that a real French success was obtained; and then the flights
made were brief, and carried out with a craft that was admittedly crude.
It was a biplane of curious construction, built by the Voisin brothers
for M. Santos-Dumont--a rich Brazilian who had spent money freely upon
airships, and had been occupied, for some time before the Voisins made
him this machine, with a craft having propellers to lift it vertically
from the ground. Abandoning this idea, he devoted himself to the machine
the Voisins built, which is seen in Fig. 40. Here are the same box-kite
main-planes, with vertical curtains between them, as shown in the
illustration of the Voisin glider. But now, to give the machine more
sideway stability, these main-planes are tilted up at a pronounced
dihedral angle.
[Illustration: FIG. 40.--Santos-Dumont’s Biplane which flew at
Bagetelle.]
A curious feature of the machine was the large box-kite elevator, set in
front of the main-planes. This, as can be seen in the figure is tilted
down--the position it would occupy were the craft descending from a
flight. The machine, it should be mentioned, flew with its elevator
forward, there being no tail behind the main-planes. This elevator
played a double part; it was intended not only to make the machine rise
and descend, but also--by means of its side surfaces--to increase its
stability when in flight.
Following on lines upon which French inventors had worked, the craft was
fitted with light bicycle wheels, and upon these it was intended it
should run, until its speed was sufficient for the planes to lift. This
plan, of course, had an advantage over the starting-rail of the Wrights,
seeing that a craft so equipped could re-ascend from a spot at which it
might alight without having to be transported on a trolley to its
rail--as was the case with the Wright machine. But there was this
disadvantage of the wheel system of launching; in order to obtain a
running speed, sufficient for the planes to lift, the craft had to be
fitted with a powerful motor. In the Santos-Dumont biplane, an engine of
50 h.p. was used, and even then the machine appeared under-powered. But
this was not so much the fault of the engine as of the machine; it was
heavy, and inefficient.
From July to October 1906, Santos-Dumont was experimenting with this
biplane, using a stretch of grass-land at Bagetelle. Then, having the
motor well tuned, he gave notice to the French Aero Club that he would
make a flight on 23rd October. The Club’s officials came together, and
after some hours delay, owing to unexpected trouble with the engine, the
pilot said he would attempt a flight. At 4.45 p.m. his machine ran
forward across the ground, driven by its two-bladed propeller; then rose
gradually, foot by foot, and flew very low for a distance of about 80
yards. Almost immediately it left ground the craft began to roll from
side to side, showing that its equilibrium was faulty; and this roll
became so pronounced that the pilot switched off his motor and made
rather a heavy landing, breaking the gear beneath his planes. How the
biplane appeared when in flight is shown on Plate II.
The damage, however, was soon repaired, and some alterations made to the
machine; and on 12th November Santos-Dumont flew 160 yards, and then 230
yards. These flights made a sensation, particularly in view of the fact
that, although the Wrights had surpassed them, the stories of their
trials were thought exaggerated. But Santos-Dumont did not follow up his
success with sufficient patience. Instead of seeking to perfect his
machine, he soon abandoned it, and turned his attention to a craft that
should move upon the water before rising into the air.
But the Voisins, not discouraged by the failure of an experimental
craft, soon had another in hand. It was a biplane, with a front
elevating-plane and a box-kite balancing tail, and ran on wheels as the
other machine had done, being driven also by a 50-h.p. motor. This
craft, early in 1907, was acquired by M. Leon Delagrange, a sculptor who
had taken interest in aviation. Transported to Vincennes, it was tested
on 28th February, M. Charles Voisin being the pilot. But the
under-carriage proved too light, collapsing while the machine was
running upon the ground. At Bagatelle, later, having in the meantime
been improved, the craft was again upon trial; but this time its sideway
stability was found to be faulty, and there was another delay. Then on
30th March the machine flew for a distance of 60 yards. But Delagrange,
like Santos-Dumont, did nor persevere; he abandoned this machine in
order to carry out a new series of tests. While he was so engaged M.
Henri Farman came into touch with the Voisins, and acquired a biplane
which was practically identical with that Delagrange had used. Farman
was a man of the same mould as the Wrights--quiet, persevering,
determined to succeed; and succeed he did.