How It Flies; or, The Conquest of the Air / The Story of Man's Endeavors to Fly and of the Inventions by Which He Has Succeeded

Having made sure that the ripping cord and the valve rope are free from each other, and properly connected with their active parts, and that the valve is fastened in place, the net is laid over the whole, and spread out symmetrically. A few bags of ballast are hooked into the net around the circumference of the balloon as it lies, and the assistants distributed around it. It should be the duty of one man to hold the neck of the balloon, and not to leave it for any purpose whatever. The gas may then be turned on, and, as the balloon fills, more bags of ballast are hung symmetrically around the net; and all are continually moved downward as the balloon rises.

Constant watching is necessary during the inflation, so that the material of the balloon opens fully without creases, and the net preserves its correct position. When the inflation is finished the hoop and car are to be hooked in place. The car should be fitted up and hung with an abundance of ballast. Disconnect the gas hose and tie the neck of the balloon in such fashion that it may be opened with a pull of the cord when the ascent begins.

The ballast is then transferred to the hoop, or ring, and the balloon allowed to rise until this is clear of the ground. The car is then moved underneath, and the ballast moved down from the ring into it. The trail-rope should be made fast to the car directly under the ripping panel, the object being to retard that side of the balloon in landing, so that the gas may escape freely when the panel is torn open, and not underneath the balloon, as would happen if the balloon came to earth with the ripping panel underneath.

The balloon is now ready to start, and the captain and passengers take their places in the car. The neck of the balloon is opened, and a glance upward will determine if the valve rope hangs freely through it. The lower end of this should be tied to one of the car ropes. The cord to the ripping panel should be tied in a different place, and in such fashion that no mistake can be made between them. The assistants stand around the edge of the basket, holding it so that it shall not rise until the word is given. The captain then adjusts the load of ballast, throwing off sufficient to allow the balloon to pull upward lightly against the men who are holding it. A little more ballast is then thrown off, and the word given to let go. The trail-rope should be in charge of some one who will see that it lifts freely from the ground.

The balloon rises into the air to an altitude where a bulk of the higher and therefore lighter air equal to the bulk of the balloon has exactly the same weight. This is ordinarily about 2,000 feet. If the sun should be shining the gas in the balloon will be expanded by the heat, and some of it will be forced out through the neck. This explains the importance of the open neck. In some of the early ascensions no such provision for the expansion of the gas was made, and the balloons burst with disastrous consequences.

When some of the gas has been driven out by the heat, there is less weight of gas in the balloon, though it occupies the same space. It therefore has a tendency to rise still higher. On the other hand, if it passes into a cloud, or the sun is otherwise obscured, the volume of the gas will contract; it will become denser, and the balloon will descend. To check the descent the load carried by the balloon must be lightened, and this is accomplished by throwing out some ballast; generally, a few handfuls is enough.

There is always more or less leakage of gas through the envelope as well as from the neck, and this also lessens the lifting power. To restore the balance, more ballast must be thrown out, and in this way an approximate level is kept during the journey.

When the ballast is nearly exhausted it will be necessary to come down, for a comfortable landing cannot be made without the use of ballast. A good landing place having been selected, the valve is opened, and the balloon brought down within a few yards of the ground. The ripping cord is then pulled and ballast thrown out so that the basket will touch as lightly as possible. Some aeronauts use a small anchor or grapnel to assist in making a landing, but on a windy day, when the car is liable to do some bumping before coming to rest, the grapnel often makes matters much worse for the passengers by a series of holdings and slippings, and sometimes causes a destructive strain upon the balloon.

In making an ascent with a balloon full of gas there is certain to be a waste of gas as it expands. This expansion is due not only to the heat of the sun, but also to the lighter pressure of the air in the upper altitudes. It is therefore the custom with some aeronauts to ascend with a partially filled balloon, allowing the expansion to completely fill it. This process is particularly advised if a very high altitude is sought. When it is desired to make a long voyage it is wise to make the start at twilight, and so avoid the heat of the sun. The balloon will then float along on an almost unchanging level without expenditure of ballast. Rain and even the moisture from clouds will sometimes wet the balloon so that it will cause a much greater loss of ballast than would have been required to be thrown out to rise above the cloud or storm. Such details in the handling of a balloon during a voyage will demand the skilled judgment of the captain.

The trail-rope is a valuable adjunct when the balloon is travelling near the ground. The longer the part of the trail-rope that is dragging on the ground the less weight the balloon is carrying. And at night, when it is impossible to tell the direction in which one is travelling in any other way, the line of the trailing rope will show the direction from which the wind is blowing, and hence the drift of the balloon.

The care of the balloon and its instruments upon landing falls upon the captain, for he is not likely to find assistants at hand competent to relieve him of any part of the necessary work. The car and the ring are first detached. The ropes are laid out free and clear, and the valve is unscrewed and taken off. The material of the balloon is folded smoothly, gore by gore. The ballast bags are emptied. After all is bundled up it should be packed in the car, the covering cloth bound on with ropes, and definite instructions affixed for transportation to the starting-point.

It is apparent that the whole of the gas is lost at the end of the journey. The cost of this is the largest expense of ballooning. For a small balloon of about 50,000 cubic feet, the coal-gas for inflating will cost about $35 to $40. If hydrogen is used, it will cost probably ten times as much.

In important voyages it is customary to send up pilot balloons, to discover the direction of the wind currents at the different levels, so that the level which promises the best may be selected before the balloon leaves the ground. A study of the weather conditions throughout the surrounding country is a wise precaution, and no start should be made if a storm is imminent. The extent of control possible in ballooning being so limited, all risks should be scrupulously avoided, both before and during the voyage, and nothing left to haphazard.

Chapter XVI.
BALLOONS: HOW TO MAKE.

The fabrics used—Preliminary varnishing—Varnishes—Rubberized fabrics—Pegamoid—Weight of varnish—Latitudes of the balloon—Calculating gores—Laying out patterns and cutting—Sewing—Varnishing—Drying—Oiling—The neck—The valve—The net—The basket.

The making of a balloon is almost always placed in the hands of a professional balloon-maker. But as the use of balloons increases, and their owners multiply, it is becoming a matter of importance that the most improved methods of making them should be known to the intending purchaser, as well as to the amateur who wishes to construct his own balloon.

The fabric of which the gas envelope is made may be either silk, cotton (percale), or linen. It should be of a tight, diagonal weave, of uniform and strong threads in both warp and woof, unbleached, and without dressing, or finish. If it is colored, care should be exercised that the dye is one that will not affect injuriously the strength or texture of the fabric. Lightness in weight, and great strength (as tested by tearing), are the essentials.

The finest German percale weighs about 2½ ounces per square yard; Russian percale, 3⅓ ounces, and French percale, 3¾ounces, per square yard. The white silk used in Russian military balloons weighs about the same as German percale, but is very much stronger. Pongee silk is a trifle heavier. The silk used for sounding balloons is much lighter, weighing only a little over one ounce to the square yard.

Goldbeater’s skin and rubber have been used to some extent, but the great cost of the former places it in reach only of governmental departments, and the latter is of use only in small balloons for scientific work—up to about 175 cubic feet capacity.

The fabric is first to be varnished, to fill up the pores and render it gas-tight. For this purpose a thin linseed-oil varnish has been commonly used. To 100 parts of pure linseed-oil are added 4 parts of litharge and 1 part of umber, and the mixture is heated to about 350° Fahr., for six or seven hours, and stirred constantly. After standing a few days the clear part is drawn off for use. For the thicker varnish used on later coats, the heat should be raised to 450° and kept at about that temperature until it becomes thick. This operation is attended with much danger of the oil taking fire, and should be done only by an experienced varnish-maker.

The only advantages of the linseed-oil varnish are its ease of application, and its cheapness. Its drawbacks are stickiness—requiring continual examination of the balloon envelope, especially when the deflated bag is stored away—its liability to spontaneous combustion, particularly when the varnish is new, and its very slow drying qualities, requiring a long wait between the coats.

Another varnish made by dissolving rubber in benzine, has been largely used. It requires vulcanizing after application. It is never sticky, and is always soft and pliable. However, the rubber is liable to decomposition from the action of the violet ray of light, and a balloon so varnished requires the protection of an outer yellow covering—either of paint, or an additional yellow fabric. Unfortunately, a single sheet of rubberized material is not gas-tight, and it is necessary to make the envelope of two, or even three, layers of the fabric, thus adding much to the weight.

The great gas-bags of the Zeppelin airships are varnished with “Pegamoid,” a patent preparation the constituents of which are not known. Its use by Count Zeppelin is the highest recommendation possible.

The weight of the varnish adds largely to the weight of the envelope. French pongee silk after receiving its five coats of linseed-oil varnish, weighs 8 ounces per square yard. A double bag of percale with a layer of vulcanized rubber between, and a coating of rubber on the inside, and painted yellow on the outside, will weigh 11 ounces per square yard. Pegamoid material, which comes ready prepared, weighs but about 4 ounces per square yard, but is much more costly.

In cutting out the gores of the envelope it is possible to waste fully ⅓ of the material unless the work is skilfully planned. Taking the width of the chosen material as a basis, we must first deduct from ¾ of an inch to 1½ inches, in proportion to the size of the proposed balloon, for a broad seam and the overlapping necessary. Dividing the circumference at the largest diameter—the “equator” of the balloon—by the remaining width of the fabric gives the number of gores required. To obtain the breadth of each gore at the different “latitudes” (supposing the globe of the balloon to be divided by parallels similar to those of the earth) the following table is to be used; 0° representing the equator, and 90° the apex of the balloon. The breadth of the gore in inches at any latitude is the product of the decimal opposite that latitude in the table by the original width of the fabric in inches, thus allowing for seams.

Table for Calculating Shape of Gores for Spherical Balloons

In practice, the shape of the gore is calculated by the above table, and plotted out on a heavy pasteboard, generally in two sections for convenience in handling. The board is cut to the plotted shape and used as the pattern for every gore. In large establishments all the gores are cut at once by a machine.

The raw edges are hemmed, and folded into one another to give a flat seam, and are then sewn together “through and through,” in twos and threes: afterward these sections are sewn together. Puckering must be scrupulously avoided. In the case of rubberized material, the thread holes should be smeared with rubber solution, and narrow strips of the fabric cemented over the seams with the same substance.

Varnishing is the next process, the gores being treated in turn. Half of the envelope is varnished first, and allowed to dry in a well-ventilated place out of reach of the sun’s rays. The other half is varnished when the first is dry. A framework which holds half of the balloon in the shape of a bell is usually employed. In case of haste, the balloon may be blown up with air, but this must be constantly renewed to be of any service.

The first step in varnishing is to get one side (the outer, or the inner) coated with a varnish thin enough to penetrate the material: then turn the envelope the other side out and give that a coat of the thin varnish. Next, after all is thoroughly dry, give the outer side a coat of thick varnish closing all pores. When this is dry give the inner side a similar coat. Finally, after drying thoroughly, give both sides a coat of olive oil to prevent stickiness. The amount of varnish required is, for the first coat 1½ times the weight of the envelope, and for the second coat ½ the weight—of the thin varnish. For the thick coat on the outer side ⅓ of the weight of the envelope, and on the inner side about half as much. For the olive-oil coat, about ⅛ of the weight of the envelope will be needed. These figures are approximate, some material requiring more, some less; and a wasteful workman will cause a greater difference.

The neck of the balloon (also called the tail) is in form a cylindrical tube of the fabric, sewn to an opening in the bottom of the balloon, which has been strengthened by an extra ring of fabric to support it. The lower end of the tube, called the mouth, is sewn to a wooden ring, which stiffens it. The size of the neck is dependent upon the size of the balloon. Its diameter is determined by finding the cube of one-half the diameter of the balloon, and dividing it by 1,000. In length, the neck should be at least four times its diameter.

The apex of the balloon envelope is fitted with a large valve to permit the escape of gas when it is desired that the balloon shall descend. The door of the valve is made to open inward into the envelope, and is pulled open by the valve-cord which passes through the neck of the balloon into the basket, or car. This valve is called the manœuvring valve, and there are many different designs equally efficient. As they may be had ready made, it is best for the amateur, unless he is a machinist, to purchase one. The main point to see to is that the seat of the valve is of soft pliable rubber, and that the door of the valve presses a comparatively sharp edge of metal or wood so firmly upon the seat as to indent it; and the springs of the valve should be strong enough to hold it evenly to its place.

The making of the net of the balloon is another part of the work which must be delegated to professionals. The material point is that the net distributes the weight evenly over the surface of the upper hemisphere of the envelope. The strength of the cordage is an item which must be carefully tested. Different samples of the same material show such wide variations in strength that nothing but an actual test will determine. In general, however, it may be said that China-grass cordage is four times as strong as hemp cordage, and silk cordage is ten times as strong as hemp—for the same size cords.

The meshes of the net should be small, allowing the use of a small cord. Large cords mean large knots, and these wear seriously upon the balloon envelope, and are very likely to cause leaks. In large meshes, also, the envelope puffs out between the cords and becomes somewhat stretched, opening pores through which much gas is lost by diffusion.

The “star,” or centre of the net at the apex of the balloon, must be fastened immovably to the rim of the valve. The suspension cords begin at from 30° to 45° below the equator of the envelope, and are looped through rings in what are called “goose-necks.” These allow a measure of sliding motion to the cordage as the basket sways in the wind.

For protecting the net against rotting from frequent wetting, it is recommended to saturate it thoroughly with a solution of acetate of soda, drying immediately. Paraffin is sometimes used with more or less success, but tarring should be avoided, as it materially weakens the cordage. Oil or grease are even worse.

At the bottom of the net proper the few large cords into which the many small cords have been merged are attached to the ring of the balloon. This is either of steel or of several layers of wood well bound together. The ropes supporting the basket are also fastened to this ring, and from it hang the trail-rope and the holding ropes.

The basket is also to be made by a professional, as upon its workmanship may depend the lives of its occupants, though every other feature of the balloon be faultless. It must be light, and still very strong to carry its load and withstand severe bumping. It should be from 3 to 4 feet deep, with a floor space of 4 feet by 5 feet. It is usually made of willow and rattan woven substantially together. The ropes supporting the car are passed through the bottom and woven in with it. Buffers are woven on to the outside, and the inside is padded. The seats are small baskets in which is stored the equipment. With the completion of these the balloon is ready for its furnishings and equipment, which come under the direction of the pilot, or captain, as detailed in the preceding chapter.

Chapter XVII.
MILITARY AERONAUTICS.

The pioneer Meusnier—L’Entreprenant—First aerostiers—First aerial warship—Bombardment by balloons—Free balloons in observations—Ordering artillery from balloon—The postal balloons of Paris—Compressed hydrogen—National experiments—Bomb dropping—Falling explosives—Widespread activity in gathering fleets—Controversies—Range of vision—Reassuring outlook.

Almost from the beginning of success in traversing the air the great possibilities of all forms of aircraft as aids in warfare have been recognized by military authorities, and, as has so often been the case with other inventions by non-military minds, the practically unlimited funds at the disposal of national war departments have been available for the development of the balloon at first, then the airship, and now of the aeroplane.

The Montgolfiers had scarcely proved the possibility of rising into the air, in 1783, before General Meusnier was busily engaged in inventing improvements in their balloon with the expressed purpose of making it of service to his army, and before he was killed in battle he had secured the appointment of a commission to test the improved balloon as to its efficiency in war. The report of the committee being favorable, a balloon corps was formed in April, 1794, and the balloon L’Entreprenant was used during the battle of Fleurus, on June 26th, by Meusnier’s successor, General Jourdan, less than a year after Meusnier’s death. In 1795 this balloon was used in the battle of Mayence. In both instances it was employed for observation only.

But when the French entered Moscow, they found there, and captured, a balloon laden with 1,000 pounds of gunpowder which was intended to have been used against them.

In 1796 two other balloons were used by the French army then in front of Andernach and Ehrenbreitstein, and in 1798 the 1st Company of Aerostiers was sent to Egypt, and operated at the battle of the Nile, and later at Cairo. In the year following, this balloon corps was disbanded.

In 1812 Russia secured the services of a German balloon builder named Leppich, or Leppig, to build a war balloon. It had the form of a fish, and was so large that the inflation required five days, but the construction of the framework was faulty, and some important parts gave way during inflation, and the airship never left the ground. As it was intended that this balloon should be dirigible and supplied with explosives, and take an active part in attacks on enemies, it may be regarded as the first aerial warship.

In 1849, however, the first actual employment of the balloon in warfare took place. Austria was engaged in the bombardment of Venice, and the range of the besieging batteries was not great enough to permit shells to be dropped into the city. The engineers formed a balloon detachment, and made a number of Montgolfiers out of paper. These were of a size sufficient to carry bombs weighing 30 pounds for half an hour before coming down. These war balloons were taken to the windward side of the city, and after a pilot balloon had been floated over the point where the bombs were to fall, and the time consumed in the flight ascertained, the fuses of the bombs were set for the same time, and the war balloons were released. The actual damage done by the dropping of these bombs was not great, but the moral effect upon the people of the city was enormous. The balloon detachment changed its position as the wind changed, and many shells were exploded in the heart of the city, one of them in the market place. But the destruction wrought was insignificant as compared with that usually resulting from cannonading. As these little Montgolfiers were sent up unmanned, perhaps they are not strictly entitled to be dignified by the name of war balloon, being only what in this day would be called aerial bombs.

The next use of the balloon in warfare was by Napoleon III, in 1859. He sent up Lieutenant Godard, formerly a manufacturer of balloons, and Nadar, the balloonist, at Castiglione. It was a tour of observation only, and Godard made the important discovery that the inhabitants were gathering their flocks of domestic animals and choking the roads with them, to oppose the advance of the French.

The first military use of balloons in the United States was at the time of the Civil War. Within a month after the war broke out, Professor T. S. C. Lowe, of Washington, put himself and his balloon at the command of President Lincoln, and on June 18, 1861, he sent to the President a telegram from the balloon—the first record of the kind in history.

After the defeat at Manassas, on July 24, 1861, Professor Lowe made a free ascent, and discovered the true position of the Confederates, and proved the falsity of rumors of their advance. The organization of a regular balloon corps followed, and it was attached to McClellan’s army, and used in reconnoitering before Yorktown. The balloons were operated under heavy artillery fire, but were not injured.

On May 24th, for the first time in history, a general officer—in this case, General Stoneman—directed the fire of artillery at a hidden enemy from a balloon.

Later in the month balloons were used at Chickahominy, and again at Fair Oaks and Richmond, being towed about by locomotives. On the retreat from before Richmond, McClellan’s balloons and gas generators were captured and destroyed.

In 1869, during the siege of a fort at Wakamatzu by the Imperial Japanese troops, the besieged sent up a man-carrying kite. After making observations, the officer ascended again with explosives, with which he attempted to disperse the besieging army, but without success.

During the siege of Paris, in 1870, there were several experienced balloonists shut up in the city, and the six balloons at hand were quickly repaired and put to use by the army for carrying dispatches and mail beyond the besieging lines. The first trips were made by the professional aeronauts, but, as they could not return, there was soon a scarcity of pilots. Sailors, and acrobats from the Hippodrome, were pressed into the service, and before the siege was raised 64 of these postal balloons had been dispatched. Fifty-seven out of the 64 landed safely on French territory, and fulfilled their mission; 4 were captured by the Germans; 1 floated to Norway; 1 was lost, with its crew of two sailors, who faithfully dropped their dispatches on the rocks near the Lizard as they were swept out to sea; and 1 landed on the islet Hoedic, in the Atlantic. In all, 164 persons left Paris in these balloons, always at night, and there were carried a total of 9 tons of dispatches and 3,000,000 letters. At first dogs were carried to bring back replies, but none ever returned. Then carrier pigeons were used successfully. Replies were set in type and printed. These printed sheets were reduced by photography so that 16 folio pages of print, containing 32,000 words, were reduced to a space of 2 inches by 1¼ inches on the thinnest of gelatine film. Twenty of these films were packed in a quill, and constituted the load for each pigeon. When received in Paris, the films were enlarged by means of a magic lantern, copied, and delivered to the persons addressed.

In more recent times the French used balloons at Tonkin, in 1884; the English, in Africa, in 1885; the Italians, in Abyssinia, in 1888; and the United States, at Santiago, in 1898. During the Boer War, in 1900, balloons were used by the British for directing artillery fire, and one was shot to pieces by well-aimed Boer cannon. At Port Arthur, both the Japanese and the Russians used balloons and man-carrying kites for observation. The most recent use is that by Spain, in her campaign against the Moors, in 1909.

The introduction of compressed hydrogen in compact cylinders, which are easily transported, has simplified the problem of inflating balloons in the field, and of restoring gas lost by leakage.

The advent of the dirigible has engaged the active attention of the war departments of all the civilized nations, and experiments are constantly progressing, in many instances in secret. It is a fact at once significant and interesting, as marking the rapidity of the march of improvement, that the German Government has lately refused to buy the newest Zeppelin dirigible, on the ground that it is built of aluminum, which is out of date since the discovery of its lighter alloys.

Practically all the armies are being provided with fleets of aeroplanes, ostensibly for use in scouting. But there have been many contests by aviators in “bomb-dropping” which have at least proved that it is possible to drop explosives from an aeroplane with a great degree of accuracy. The favorite target in these contests has been the life-sized outline of a battleship.

Glenn Curtiss, after his trip down the Hudson from Albany, declared that he could have dropped a large enough torpedo upon the Poughkeepsie Bridge to have wrecked it. His subsequent feats in dropping “bombs,” represented by oranges, have given weight to his claims.

By some writers it is asserted that the successful navigation of the air will guarantee universal peace; that war with aircraft will be so destructive that the whole world will rise against its horrors. Against a fleet of flying machines dropping explosives into the heart of great cities there can be no adequate defence.

On the other hand, Mr. Hudson Maxim declares that the exploding of the limited quantities of dynamite that can be carried on the present types of aeroplanes, on the decks of warships would not do any vital damage. He also says that many tons of dynamite might be exploded in Madison Square, New York City, with no more serious results than the blowing out of the windows of the adjacent buildings as the air within rushed out to fill the void caused by the uprush of air heated by the explosion.

As yet, the only experience that may be instanced is that of the Russo-Japanese War, where cast-iron shells, weighing 448 lbs., containing 28 lbs. of powder, were fired from a high angle into Port Arthur, and did but little damage.

In 1899 the Hague Conference passed a resolution prohibiting the use of aircraft to discharge projectiles or explosives, and limited their use in war to observation. Germany, France, and Italy withheld consent upon the proposition.

In general, undefended places are regarded as exempt from attack by bombardment of any kind.

Nevertheless, there are straws which show how the wind is blowing. German citizens and clubs which purchase a type of airship approved by the War Office of the German Empire are to receive a substantial subsidy, with the understanding that in case of war the aircraft is to be at the disposal of the Government. Under this plan it is expected that the German Government will control a large fleet of ships of the air without being obliged to own them.

And, in France, funds were raised recently, by popular subscription, sufficient to provide the nation with a fleet of fourteen airships (dirigibles) and thirty aeroplanes. These are already being built, and it will not be long before France will have the largest air-fleet afloat.

The results of the German manœuvres with a fleet of four dirigibles in a night attack upon strong fortresses have been kept a profound secret, as if of great value to the War Office.

In the United States the Signal Corps has been active in operating the Baldwin dirigible and the Wright aeroplanes owned by the Government. To the latter, wireless telegraphic apparatus has been attached and is operated successfully when the machines are in flight. In addition, the United States Aeronautical Reserve has been formed, with a large membership of prominent amateur and professional aviators.

Some military experts, however, assert that the dirigible is hopelessly outclassed for warfare by the aeroplane, which can operate in winds in which the dirigible dare not venture, and can soar so high above any altitude that the dirigible can reach as to easily destroy it. Another argument used against the availability of the dirigible as a war-vessel is, that if it were launched on a wind which carried it over the enemy’s country, it might not be able to return at sufficient speed to escape destruction by high-firing guns, even if its limited fuel capacity did not force a landing.

Even the observation value of the aircraft is in some dispute. The following table is quoted as giving the ranges possible to an observer in the air:

As a matter of fact, the moisture ordinarily in the air effectually limits the range of both natural vision and the use of the camera for photographing objects on the ground. The usual limit of practical range of the best telescope is eight miles.

All things considered, however, it is to be expected that the experimenting by army and navy officers all over the world will lead to such improvement and invention in the art of navigating the air as will develop its benevolent, rather than its malevolent, possibilities—“a consummation devoutly to be wished.”

Chapter XVIII.
BIOGRAPHIES OF PROMINENT AERONAUTS.

The Wright Brothers—Santos-Dumont—Louis Bleriot—Gabriel Voisin—Leon Delagrange—Henri Farman—Robert Esnault-Pelterie—Count von Zeppelin—Glenn H. Curtiss—Charles K. Hamilton—Hubert Latham—Alfred Leblanc—Claude Grahame-White—Louis Paulhan—Clifford B. Harmon—Walter Brookins—John B. Moisant—J. Armstrong Drexel—Ralph Johnstone.

On January 1, 1909, it would have been a brief task to write a few biographical notes about the “prominent” aviators. At that date there were but five who had made flights exceeding ten minutes in duration—the Wright brothers, Farman, Delagrange, and Bleriot. At the close of 1910 the roll of aviators who have distinguished themselves by winning prizes or breaking previous records has increased to more than 100, and the number of qualified pilots of flying machines now numbers over 300. The impossibility of giving even a mention of the notable airmen in this chapter is apparent, and the few whose names have been selected are those who have more recently in our own country come into larger public notice, and those of the pioneers whose names will never lose their first prominence.

THE WRIGHT BROTHERS.

The Wright Brothers have so systematically linked their individual personalities in all their work, in private no less than in public, that the brief life story to be told here is but one for them both. In fact, until Wilbur went to France in 1908, and Orville to Washington, the nearest approach to a separation is illustrated by a historic remark of Wilbur’s to an acquaintance in Dayton, one afternoon: “Orville flew 21 miles yesterday; I am going to beat that to-day.” And he did—by 3 miles.

Their early life in their home town of Dayton, Ohio, was unmarked by significant incident. They were interested in bicycles, and at length went into the business of repairing and selling these machines.

Their attention seems to have been strongly turned to the subject of human flight by the death of Lilienthal in August, 1896, at which time the press published some of the results of his experiments. A magazine article by Octave Chanute, himself an experimenter with gliders, led to correspondence with him, and the Wrights began a series of similar investigations with models of their own building.

By 1900 they had succeeded in flying a large glider by running with a string, as with a kite, and in the following year they had made some flights on their gliders, of which they had several of differing types. For two years the Wrights studied and tested and disproved nearly every formula laid down by scientific works for the relations of gravity to air, and finally gave themselves up to discovering by actual trial what the true conditions were, and to the improvement of their gliders accordingly. Meanwhile they continued their constant personal practice in the air.

The most of this experimental work was done at Kitty Hawk, N. C.; for the reason that there the winds blow more uniformly than at any other place in the United States, and the great sand dunes there gave the Wrights the needed elevation from which to leap into the wind with their gliders. Consequently, when at last they were ready to try a machine driven by a motor, it was at this secluded spot that the first flights ever made by man with a heavier-than-air machine took place. On December 17, 1903, their first machine left the ground under its own power, and remained in the air for twelve seconds. From this time on progress was even slower than before, on account of the complications added by the motive power; but by the time another year had passed they were making flights which lasted five minutes, and had their machine in such control that they could fly in a circle and make a safe landing within a few feet of the spot designated.

On the 5th of October, 1905, Wilbur Wright made his historic flight of 24 miles at Dayton, Ohio, beating the record of Orville, made the day before, of 21 miles. The average speed of these flights was 38 miles an hour. No contention as to the priority of the device known as wing-warping can ever set aside the fact that these long practical flights were made more than a year before any other man had flown 500 feet, or had remained in the air half a minute, with a heavier-than-air machine driven by power.

The Wrights are now at the head of one of the largest aeroplane manufactories in the world, and devote the larger part of their time to research work in the line of the navigation of the air.

ALBERTO SANTOS-DUMONT.

Alberto Santos-Dumont was born in Brazil in 1877. When but a lad he became intensely interested in aeronautics, having been aroused by witnessing the ascension at a show of an ordinary hot-air balloon. Within the next few years he had made several trips to Paris, and in 1897 made his first ascent in a balloon with the balloon builder Machuron, the partner of the famous Lachambre.

In 1898 he began the construction of his notable series of dirigibles, which eventually reached twelve in number. With his No. 6 he won the $20,000 prize offered by M. Deutsch (de la Meurthe) for the first trip from the Paris Aero Club’s grounds to and around the Eiffel Tower in 30 minutes or less. The distance was nearly 7 miles. It is characteristic of M. Santos-Dumont that he should give $15,000 of the prize to relieve distress among the poor of Paris, and the remainder to his mechanicians who had built the balloon.

His smallest dirigible was the No. 9, which held 7,770 cubic feet of gas; the largest was the No. 10, which held 80,000 cubic feet.

In 1905, when Bleriot, Voisin, and their comrades were striving to accomplish flight with machines heavier than air, Santos-Dumont turned his genius upon the same problem, and on August 14, 1906, he made his first flight with a cellular biplane driven by a 24 horse-power motor. On November 13th of the same year he flew 720 feet with the same machine. These were the first flights of heavier-than-air machines in Europe, and the first public flights anywhere. Later he turned to the monoplane type, and with “La Demoiselle” added new laurels to those already won with his dirigibles.

LOUIS BLERIOT.

Louis Bleriot, designer and builder of the celebrated Bleriot monoplanes, and himself a pilot of the first rank, was born in Cambrai, France, in 1872. He graduated from a noted technical school, and soon attached himself to the group of young men—all under thirty years of age—who were experimenting with gliders in the effort to fly. His attempts at first were with the flapping-wing contrivances, but he soon gave these up as a failure, and devoted his energy to the automobile industry; and the excellent Bleriot acetylene headlight testifies to his constructive ability in that field.

Attracted by the experiments of M. Ernest Archdeacon he joined his following, and with Gabriel Voisin engaged in building gliders of the biplane type. By 1907 he had turned wholly to the monoplane idea, and in April of that year made his first leap into the air with a power-driven monoplane. By September he had so improved his machine that he was able to fly 600 feet, and in June, 1908, he broke the record for monoplanes by flying nearly a mile. Again and again he beat his own records, and at length the whole civilized world was thrilled by his triumphant flight across the British Channel on July 25, 1909.

The Bleriot machines hold nearly all the speed records, and many of those in other lines of achievement, and M. Bleriot enjoys the double honor of being an eminently successful manufacturer as well as a dauntless aviator of heroic rank.

GABRIEL VOISIN.

Gabriel Voisin, the elder of the two Voisin brothers, was born in 1879 at Belleville-sur-Saone, near the city of Lyons, France. He was educated as an architect, but early became interested in aeronautics, and engaged in gliding, stimulated by the achievements of Pilcher, in England, and Captain Ferber, in his own country. He assisted M. Archdeacon in his experiments on the Seine, often riding the gliders which were towed by the swift motor boats.

In 1906 he associated himself with his brother in the business of manufacturing biplane machines, and in March, 1907, he himself made the first long flight with a power-driven machine in Europe. This aeroplane was built for his friend Delagrange, and was one in which the latter was soon breaking records and winning prizes. The second machine was for Farman, who made the Voisin biplane famous by winning the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize of $10,000 for making a flight of 1,093 yards in a circle.

The Voisin biplane is distinctive in structure, and is accounted one of the leading aeroplanes of the present day.

LEON DELAGRANGE.

Leon Delagrange was born at Orleans, France, in 1873. He entered the School of Arts as a student in sculpture, about the same time that Henri Farman went there to study painting, and Gabriel Voisin, architecture. He exhibited at the Salon, and won several medals. In 1905, he took up aeronautics, assisted at the experiments of M. Archdeacon. His first aeroplane was built by Voisin, and he made his first flight at Issy, March 14, 1907. Less than a month later—on April 11—he made a new record for duration of flight, remaining in the air for 9 minutes and 15 seconds—twice as long as the previous record made by Farman.