FLYING MACHINES VS. BALLOONS.
While wonderful success has attended the development
of the dirigible (steerable) balloon the most ardent
advocates of this form of aerial navigation admit that it
has serious drawbacks. Some of these may be described
as follows:
Expense and Other Items.
Great Initial Expense.--The modern dirigible balloon
costs a fortune. The Zeppelin, for instance, costs more
than
Expense of Inflation.--Gas evaporates rapidly, and a
balloon must be re-inflated, or partially re-inflated, every
time it is used. The Zeppelin holds 460,000 cubic feet
of gas which, even at $1 per thousand, would cost $460.
Difficulty of Obtaining Gas.--If a balloon suddenly
becomes deflated, by accident or atmospheric conditions,
far from a source of gas supply, it is practically worthless.
Gas must be piped to it, or the balloon carted to
the gas house--an expensive proceeding in either event.
Lack of Speed and Control.
Lack of Speed.--Under the most favorable conditions
the maximum speed of a balloon is 30 miles an hour.
Its great bulk makes the high speed attained by flying
machines impossible.
Difficulty of Control.--While the modern dirigible balloon is
readily handled in calm or light winds, its bulk
makes it difficult to control in heavy winds.
The Element of Danger.--Numerous balloons have
been destroyed by lightning and similar causes. One of
the largest of the Zeppelins was thus lost at Stuttgart
in 1908.
Some Balloon Performances.
It is only a matter of fairness to state that, under
favorable conditions, some very creditable records have
been made with modern balloons, viz:
November 23d, 1907, the French dirigible Patrie, travelled
187 miles in 6 hours and 45 minutes against a
light wind. This was a little over 28 miles an hour.
The Clement-Bayard, another French machine, sold
to the Russian government, made a trip of 125 miles at
a rate of 27 miles an hour.
Zeppelin No. 3, carrying eight passengers, and having
a total lifting capacity of 5,500 pounds of ballast in
addition to passengers, weight of equipment, etc., was
tested in October, 1906, and made 67 miles in 2 hours
and 17 minutes, about 30 miles an hour.
These are the best balloon trips on record, and show
forcefully the limitations of speed, the greatest being not
over 30 miles an hour.
Speed of Flying Machines.
Opposed to the balloon performances we have flying
machine trips (of authentic records) as follows:
Bleriot--monoplane--in 1908--52 miles an hour.
Delagrange--June 22, 1908--10 1/2 miles in 16 minutes,
approximately 42 miles an hour.
Wrights--October, 1905--the machine was then in its
infancy--24 miles in 38 minutes, approximately 44 miles
an hour. On December 31, 1908, the Wrights made 77
miles in 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Lambert, a pupil of the Wrights, and using a Wright
biplane, on October 18, 1909, covered 29.82 miles in 49
minutes and 39 seconds, being at the rate of 36 miles
an hour. This flight was made at a height of 1,312 feet.
Latham--October 21, 1909--made a short flight, about
11 minutes, in the teeth of a 40 mile gale, at Blackpool,
Eng. He used an Antoniette monoplane, and the official
report says: "This exhibition of nerve, daring and ability
is unparalled in the history of aviation."
Farman--October 20, 1909--was in the air for 1 hour,
32 min., 16 seconds, travelling 47 miles, 1,184 yards, a
duration record for England.
Paulhan--January 18, 1901--47 1/2 miles at the rate of
45 miles an hour, maintaining an altitude of from 1,000
to 2,000 feet.
Expense of Producing Gas.
Gas is indispensable in the operation of dirigible balloons,
and gas is expensive. Besides this it is not always
possible to obtain it in sufficient quantities even in large
cities, as the supply on hand is generally needed for
regular customers. Such as can be had is either water
or coal gas, neither of which is as efficient in lifting
power as hydrogen.
Hydrogen is the lightest and consequently the most
buoyant of all known gases. It is secured commercially
by treating zinc or iron with dilute sulphuric or
hydrochloric acid. The average cost may be safely placed
at $10 per 1,000 feet so that, to inflate a balloon of the
size of the Zeppelin, holding 460,000 cubic feet, would
cost $4,600.
Proportions of Materials Required.
In making hydrogen gas it is customary to allow 20
per cent for loss between the generation and the introduction
of the gas into the balloon. Thus, while the
formula calls for iron 28 times heavier than the weight
of the hydrogen required, and acid 49 times heavier, the
real quantities are 20 per cent greater. Hydrogen weighs
about 0.09 ounce to the cubic foot. Consequently if we
need say 450,000 cubic feet of gas we must have 2,531.25
pounds in weight. To produce this, allowing for the 20
percent loss, we must have 35 times its weight in iron,
or over 44 tons. Of acid it would take 60 times the
weight of the gas, or nearly 76 tons.
In Time of Emergency.
These figures are appalling, and under ordinary conditions
would be prohibitive, but there are times when
the balloon operator, unable to obtain water or coal gas,
must foot the bills. In military maneuvers, where the
field of operation is fixed, it is possible to furnish supplies
of hydrogen gas in portable cylinders, but on long
trips where sudden leakage or other cause makes descent
in an unexpected spot unavoidable, it becomes a question
of making your own hydrogen gas or deserting the balloon.
And when this occurs the balloonist is up against
another serious proposition--can he find the necessary
zinc or iron? Can he get the acid?
Balloons for Commercial Use.
Despite all this the balloon has its uses. If there is to
be such a thing as aerial navigation in a commercial
way--the carrying of freight and passengers--it will
come through the employment of such monster balloons
as Count Zeppelin is building. But even then the carrying
capacity must of necessity be limited. The latest
Zeppelin creation, a monster in size, is 450 feet long,
and 42 1/2 feet in diameter. The dimensions are such as
to make all other balloons look like pigmies; even many
ocean-going steamers are much smaller, and yet its passenger
capacity is very small. On its 36-hour flight in
May, 1909, the Zeppelin, carried only eight passengers.
The speed, however, was quite respectable, 850 miles
being covered in the 36 hours, a trifle over 23 miles an
hour. The reserve buoyancy, that is the total lifting
capacity aside from the weight of the airship and its
equipment, is estimated at three tons.
More
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ABOUT WIND CURRENTS
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Owing to the fact that the Wright brothers have enjoined a number of professional aviators from using their system of control, amateurs have been slow to adopt it. They recognize its merits, and would like to use the system, but have been apprehens... CONSTRUCTING A GLIDING MACHINE.
First decide upon the kind of a machine you want-- monoplane, biplane, or triplane. For a novice the biplane will, as a rule, be found the most satisfactory as it is more compact and therefore the more easily handled. This will be easily understood... DEMAND FOR FLYING MACHINES.
As a commercial proposition the manufacture and sale of motor-equipped aeroplanes is making much more rapid advance than at first obtained in the similar handling of the automobile. Great, and even phenomenal, as was the commercial development of t... EVOLUTION OF TWOSURFACE FLYING MACHINE.
By Octave Chanute. I am asked to set forth the development of the "two- surface" type of flying machine which is now used with modifications by Wright Brothers, Farman, [1]Delagrange, Herring and others. [1] Now dead. This type origin... FLYING MACHINES VS. BALLOONS.
While wonderful success has attended the development of the dirigible (steerable) balloon the most ardent advocates of this form of aerial navigation admit that it has serious drawbacks. Some of these may be described as follows: Expense and Oth... HINTS ON PROPELLER CONSTRUCTION.
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It is a mistaken idea that flying machines must be operated at extreme altitudes. True, under the impetus of handsome prizes, and the incentive to advance scientific knowledge, professional aviators have ascended to considerable heights, flights at... LAW OF THE AIRSHIP.
Successful aviation has evoked some peculiar things in the way of legal action and interpretation of the law. It is well understood that a man's property cannot be used without his consent. This is an old established principle in common law which... LEARNING TO FLY.
Don't be too ambitious at the start. Go slow, and avoid unnecessary risks. At its best there is an element of danger in aviation which cannot be entirely eliminated, but it may be greatly reduced and minimized by the use of common sense. Theoret... MECHANICAL BIRD ACTION
In order to understand the theory of the modern flying machine one must also understand bird action and wind action. In this connection the following simple experiment will be of interest: Take a circular-shaped bit of cardboard, like the lid of ... MONOPLANES, TRIPLANES, MULTIPLANES.
Until recently, American aviators had not given serious attention to any form of flying machines aside from biplanes. Of the twenty-one monoplanes competing at the International meet at Belmont Park, N. Y., in November, 1910, only three makes were ... NEW MOTORS AND DEVICES.
Since the first edition of this book was printed, early in 1910, there has been a remarkable advance in the construction of aeroplane motors, which has resulted in a wonderful decrease in the amount of surface area from that formerly required. Mark... PECULIARITIES OF AIRSHIP POWER.
As a general proposition it takes much more power to propel an airship a given number of miles in a certain time than it does an automobile carrying a far heavier load. Automobiles with a gross load of 4,000 pounds, and equipped with engines of 30 ... PLANE AND RUDDER CONTROL.
Having constructed and equipped your machine, the next thing is to decide upon the method of controlling the various rudders and auxiliary planes by which the direction and equilibrium and ascending and descending of the machine are governed. Th... PREFACE.
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In a lecture before the Royal Society of Arts, reported in Engineering, F. W. Lanchester took the position that practical flight was not the abstract question which some apparently considered it to be, but a problem in locomotive engineering. The f... PROPER DIMENSIONS OF MACHINES.
In laying out plans for a flying machine the first thing to decide upon is the size of the plane surfaces. The proportions of these must be based upon the load to be carried. This includes the total weight of the machine and equipment, and also the... PUTTING ON THE RUDDER.
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Changes, many of them extremely radical in their nature, are continually being made by prominent aviators, and particularly those who have won the greatest amount of success. Wonderful as the results have been few of the aviators are really satisfi... SELECTION OF THE MOTOR.
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Spurred on by the success attained by the more experienced and better known aviators numerous inventors of lesser fame are almost daily producing practical flying machines varying radically in construction from those now in general use. One of t... THE ELEMENT OF DANGER.
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We will now assume that you have become proficient enough to warrant an attempt at the construction of a real flying machine--one that will not only remain suspended in the air at the will of the operator, but make respectable progress in whatever ... THEORY, DEVELOPMENT, AND USE.
While every craft that navigates the air is an airship, all airships are not flying machines. The balloon, for instance, is an airship, but it is not what is known among aviators as a flying machine. This latter term is properly used only in refe... VARIOUS FORMS OF FLYING MACHINES.
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