A QUEER LANDING
"Now don't get nervous," said Captain Grantly to Dick, with a grim
smile, as the young millionaire took his seat in the place provided for
the third occupant of the biplane.
"Well, I'll try my best," answered Dick, smiling ruefully. "Am I to do
anything?"
"Not a thing," Captain Grantly assured him. "Just sit still; that's
all."
Dick rather wished he could have gone in the other machine, for he had
no liking for the surly lieutenant with the captain. But Dick had been
assigned to this craft, and military rules prevailed at Kentfield. You
did as you were told without question.
Dick took his place, and watched with interest the operations of
Captain Grantly and his lieutenant. Whatever one thought of the
latter, personally, it must be admitted that he knew his business when
it came to airships. In some matters even his superior officer,
Captain Grantley, deferred to the judgment of Larson.
"You won't have to do a thing," went on the lieutenant to Dick. "Just
sit still, and, above all, no matter what happens, don't touch any of
the wheels or levers."
"No, that might wreck us," added the captain.
"We'll manipulate the machine, at the same time telling you, and
showing you, how to do it. In time you will run it yourself, with us
looking on, and I believe it is the intention of Colonel Masterly to
have you cadets finally operate a machine on your own responsibility."
"I hope I may learn to do so," spoke Dick, "for I'm going to have a
craft of my own."
"Are you indeed?" asked the captain, interestedly. "It's rather an
expensive pleasure--not like automobiling."
"Well, luckily or not, I happen to have plenty of money," said Dick.
"I'm going to have quite a large machine built."
Was it fancy, or did Lieutenant Larson look at Dick with peculiar
meaning in his rather shifty eyes. Dick, however, was too much
occupied in the coming flight to pay much attention to this.
"If you're going to have a machine, perhaps you're going to have a try
for the twenty thousand dollar prize," suggested Captain Grantly, as he
tested the gasolene and spark levers, and looked at several
turn-buckles which tightened the guy wires.
"Well, I have about decided to," answered Dick, looking over at the
other aircraft, in which Paul Drew was to make an ascent.
"Jove! I wish I had that chance!" exclaimed Larson. "I'm sure, with my
mercury balancer I could--"
"There you go again!" cried Captain Grantly. "I tell you your idea is
all wrong about that balancer! Wing warping is the only proper way."
"But that isn't automatic, and what is needed is an automatic balancer
or equilibrizer," insisted the lieutenant.
"Well, we won't discuss it now," went on the captain. "Are you all
ready, Mr. Hamilton?"
"All ready, yes, sir."
The captain and Lieutenant Larson took their places, one on either side
of Dick. Some of the orderlies at the Academy had been detailed to
assist in the start, holding back on the biplane until the engine had
attained the necessary speed.
There was an arrangement whereby the machine could be held in leash, as
it were, by a rope, and when the necessary pressure developed from the
propeller blades, the rope could be loosed from the aviator's seat.
But that attachment was not in use at Kentfield then.
The powerful motor hummed and throbbed, for a muffler was temporarily
dispensed with on account of its weight. Every unnecessary ounce
counts on an airship, as it is needful to carry as much oil and
gasolene as possible, and the weight given over to a muffler could be
more advantageously applied to gasolene, on the smaller craft.
Faster and faster whirled the big blades, cutting through the air. The
captain kept his eyes on a balance scale, by which was registered the
pull of the propellers.
"That's enough!" he cried. "Let her go!"
Dick felt the machine move slowly forward on the rubber tired bicycle
wheels over the grassy starting ground, gradually acquiring speed
before it would mount upward into the air.
Perhaps a word of explanation about airships may not be out of place.
Those of you who know the principle on which they work, or who have
seen them, may skip this part if you wish.
The main difference between a balloon and an aeroplane, is that the
balloon is lighter than air, being filled with a very light gas, which
causes it to rise.
An aeroplane is heavier than air, and, in order to keep suspended, must
be constantly in motion. The moment it stops moving forward it begins
to fall downward.
There are several kinds of airships, but the principle ones are
monoplanes and biplanes. Mono means one, and monoplane has but one set
of "wings," being built much after the fashion of a bird.
A biplane, as the name indicates, consists of two sets of planes, one
above the other. There are some triplanes, but they have not been very
successful, and there are some freak aeroplanes built with as many as
eight sets.
If you will scale a sheet of tin, or a thin, flat stone, or even a
slate from a roof, into the air, you will have the simplest form of an
aeroplane. The stone, or tin, is heavier than the amount of air it
displaces, but it stays up for a comparatively long time because it is
in motion. The moment the impulse you have given it by throwing fails,
then it begins to fall.
The engine, or motor, aboard an aeroplane keeps it constantly in
motion, and it glides along through the air, resting on the atmosphere,
by means of the planes or wings.
If you will take a clam shell, and, holding it with the concave side
toward the ground, scale it into the air, you will see it gradually
mount upward. If you hold the convex side toward the ground and throw
it, you will see the clam shell curve downward.
That is the principle on which airships mount upward and descend while
in motion. In a biplane there is either a forward or rear deflecting
rudder, as well as one for steering from side to side. The latter works
an the same principle as does the rudder of a boat in the water. If
this rudder is bent to the right, the craft goes to the right, because
of the pressure of air or water on the rudder twisted in that
direction. And if the rudder is deflected to the left, the head of the
craft takes that direction.
Just as the curve of a clam shell helps it to mount upward, so the
curve of the elevating or depressing rudder on an airship helps it to
go up or down. If the rudder is inclined upward the aeroplane shoots
toward the clouds. When the rudder is parallel to the plane of the
earth's surface, the airship flies in a straight line. When the rudder
is tilted downward, down goes the craft.
I hope I have not wearied you with this description, but it was,
perhaps, needful, to enable those who have never seen an aeroplane to
understand the working principle. One point more. A gasolene motor,
very powerful, is used to whirl the wooden propeller blades that shove
the airship through the air, as the propeller of a motor-boat shoves
that craft through the water.
Faster and faster across the grassy ground went the biplane containing
Dick Hamilton and the army officers. It was necessary to get this
"running start" to acquire enough momentum so that the craft would
rise, just as a heavy bird has sometimes to run along the ground a few
steps before its wings will take it up.
"Here we go!" suddenly exclaimed the captain, and as he raised the
elevating rudder the big craft slowly mounted on a slant.
Dick caught his breath sharply as he felt himself leaving the earth. He
had once gone up in a captive balloon at a fair, but then the earth
seemed sinking away beneath him. This time it seemed that he was
leaving the earth behind.
Higher and higher they went, and Dick could feel the strong wind in his
face. His eyes were protected by goggles, made of celluloid to avoid
accidents from broken glass in case of a fall, and on his head he wore
a heavy leather helmet, not unlike those used by football players. He
was strapped to his seat, as were the others, in case the machine
should turn turtle. The straps would then prevent them from falling
out, and give them a chance to right the craft.
For this can be done, and now some aviators practice plying upside down
to get used to doing it in case they have to by some accidental shift
of the wind. Some of them can turn complete somersaults, though this
is mostly done in monoplanes, and seldom in a biplane, which is much
more stable in the air.
"Feel all right?" asked Captain Grantly of Dick. He asked this, but
Dick could not hear a word, on account of the great noise of the motor.
But he could read the officer's lip motions.
"Yes, I'm all right," the young millionaire nodded back.
He was surprised to find, that, after that first sinking sensation at
the pit of his stomach, he was not afraid. He now felt a glorious
sense of elation and delight.
He was actually flying, or the next thing to it.
"We'll go a little higher," said the captain, as he elevated the rudder
a little more. The aeroplane kept on ascending. Dick looked down. He
did not feel dizzy as he had half expected. Far below him were the
buildings of Kentfield, and the green parade ground. But what were
those things like little ants, crawling over the campus?
Why the cadets, of course! They looked like flies, or specks. Dick
was ready to laugh.
On a level keel they now darted ahead at greater speed as Lieutenant
Larson turned on more gasolene. Then, when Dick had become a little
used to the novel sensation, they showed him how to work the different
levers. The motor was controlled by spark and gasolene exactly as is
an automobile. But there was no water radiator, the engine being an
up-to-date rotating one, and cooling in the air. The use of the
wing-warping devices, by which the alerons, or wing-tips are "warped"
to allow for "banking" in going around a curve, were also explained to
Dick by means of the levers controlling them.
You know that a horse, a bicyclist, or a runner leans in toward the
centre of the circle in making a curve. This is called "banking" and
is done to prevent the centrifugal force of motion from taking one off
in a straight line. The same thing must be done in an airship. That
is, it must be inclined at an angle in making a curve.
And this is accomplished by means of bending down the tips of the
planes, pulling them to the desired position by means of long wires. It
can also he accomplished by small auxiliary planes, called alerons,
placed between the two larger, or main, planes. There is an aleron at
the end of each main wing.
Straight ahead flew the army men and Dick, and then, when the cadet was
more used to it, they went around on a sharp curve. It made the young
millionaire catch his breath, at first, for the airship seemed to tilt
at a dangerous angle. But it was soon righted and straightened out
again.
Suddenly a shadow seemed to pass over Dick's head. He looked up,
thinking it was a dark cloud, low down, but, to his surprise, it was
the other army craft flying above them.
"A race!" thought Dick, and he wondered how his chum Paul was faring.
There was an impromptu race between the two aircraft, and then they
separated, neither one gaining much advantage. Back and forth they
went, over the school grounds, and then in circles. Dick was rapidly
acquiring knowledge of how to operate the big biplane.
"We'll go down now!" spoke the captain, though Dick could not hear the
words. The young millionaire made up his mind that he would have a
muffler on his airship, and also more room to move about. He intended
to make rather a long flight.
The deflecting rudder was tilted downward, and the descent began. They
were some distance out from the Kentfield grounds now, but were headed
for them on a long slant. Dick wondered if they would reach them.
At a nod from the captain, Lieutenant Larson reached up and shut off
the motor. The sudden silence was startling.
Dick understood what was to be done. They were to glide, or as it is
called "volplane" (pronounced vol-pla-nay, with the accent on the last
syllable) to the ground.
"I hope we make it safely," mused Dick. But it did not look as though
they had been near enough the landing place when the motor was cut off.
Dick saw the two army men glance rather apprehensively at one another.
Was something wrong?
Dick was sure of it a moment later when, as Captain Grantly pulled the
lever of the deflecting rudder toward him, there was a snapping,
breaking sound.
"Lost control!" cried the captain. "Wire snapped! Look out,
everybody!"
Dick wanted to jump, but he knew that would be rash, as they were still
some distance above the ground.
"Can't you guide her?" asked Larson.
"No! We've got to land the best we can!" was the answer.
They were right over a little farm now, and seemed to be headed
directly for a small, low building.
"Something is going to smash!" thought Dick grimly.
The next moment the airship had come down on the roof of the low farm
building, crashing right through it, and a second later Dick and his
companions found themselves in the midst of a squealing lot of pigs,
that fairly rushed over them.