Achievements of the Wright Brothers.

Progress, Volume III, Issue 5, 1 March 1908, Page 164

Achievements of the Wright Brothers.

OiTTuesday, 10th February, the great news was published in the evening papers of the Dominion that the long-observed Brothers Wright had got their aeroplane accepted by the Government of the United States. The message was as follows • — " New York, February 9. Mr. Taft, United States Secretary for War, on behalf of the American Board of Ordnance, has accepted three offers of heavier than air flying machines, including Wright Brothers', which are to be delivered within 200 days, at a cost of £5000."

The problem of aviation is divided into five parts. These are lifting, propulsion, stability, steering, and alighting. Of these the most difficult is stability. For that reason the pioneers of aviation, the ill-fated Iyilienthal, Pilcher, Chanute, Archdeacon, and others made up their minds to experiment for stability before trying to overcome the other difficulties. They urged that al] would be useless without stability. Lilienthal lost his life, but left behind him a mass of valuable records, and formulae. Pilcher, who also lost his life in a " glider," left valuable records, too, and the work of the other pioneers , among whom ought to be mentioned Dr. Graham Bell, of telephone fame, has been of considerable worth to the cause of aviation. As all will remember who have followed our researches into the subject, the most successful of the " glider " pioneers were the Brothers Wright (Wilbur and Orville) of Dayton, Ohio. After three years they concluded that they had secured stability, and they turned their attention to lifting, propulsion, and the other divisions of the subject of aviation. By the year 1904, they had constructed an aeroplane, which was nothing more than their latest " glider " supplied with motors and rudders. No pictures were ever taken of the machine, and the brothers stated that they had no intention of competing for prizes, despite the large amounts offering, preferring to deal with some powerful Government to buy +he machine from them. They supplied, after the first successful trial of the machine, which no one described and very few saw, the following particulars : —

L,e lgth, fore and aft, 20 feet ; width of wings from tip to tip, 40 feet ; weight, 700 lbs. ; two serial screws — one behind the wings for propulsion, the other behind the machine for suspension ; a gasoline engine of 16 b.h.p. capable of driving the screws at 1200 revolutions ; four cylinders of four-inch stroke, a rudder for direction, and a single rail track with a rail eight inches above ground, for the run before rising to fly. With this equipment they took their machine into the air on their farm near Dayton, and they flew it round the paddock for half-a-mile (measured distance) steering it with ease and certainty. But for the fact that they were flying too low and therefore struck a sand hummock, thereby damaging the aeroplane considerably, they would have flown further. The next year they started with a new machine, weighing 925 lbs., and provided with a lighter as well as more powerful motor. They made six ascents — that at all events is the number they have recorded for public information — from 1 1 to 24 and onefifth miles, at speeds running up to nearly 40 miles an hour. After that they proceeded to Hurope, presumably to carry out their intention announced in 1904, of dealing with some powerful government for the purchase of their machine They made no public appearance, though much pressed by a public which knew of their fame as the first aviators of the day. Rumours pervaded the capitals about them, but they made no sign of their progress. Why they made no progress there is no reason to ask, because the Governments of Europe,

— French, Italian, Germrn, British — all had embarked decisively on the cult of the dirigible balloon. The brothers were often seen, however, among aeronauts, and were recognised always as well in. lront. But, owing to their reticence about their machine

and its prospects, the supremacy for aviatioi in public opinion passed from them to Santos Dumont, and from the latter the other day it went to Mr. Farman. At the various trials of the latter aeronaut, the brothers emphatically placed him in the first rank, declaring that he had arrived nearer to their aeroplane than any other aviator, adding that there was still a good deal of ground to be covered before he could be said to have reached equality with them. The announcement that they have made terms with the American Government suddenly lifts them to the very top of the tree. That Government was the only one that had not done anything with the dirigible balloon type of airship. At latest advices (mail) they were installing some captive round balloons for observatiou purposes, but it was evident that this was all that the world was allowed to know of their intentions, for there was very much more activity on the subject of ballooning in the war department than could be accounted for by the determination to use the long exploded type of airship. Suspicions to that effect have been justified by the announcement just received about the deal with the Brothers Wright. It is stated by a recent writer that the only difference between the aeroplane of the Wrights and the " gliders " of their predecessors in the art of aviation, lies in the shape of their machine. It was alluded to as an " unnoticed variation " which had made all the difference in value, the modification having, as they claim, ensured them the perfect stability. On this subject^ they themselves

have said that there is no difficulty whatever in acquiring command of the aeroplane. It is not at all, as was supposed, a case of exceptional expertness acquired by constant practice. On the contrary, they said that anyone can acquire the art as easily and as certainly as

the art of riding a bicycle. About as easily, intact, as a young bird learns to fly. }(~£~& This is vague, with however a vagueness in keeping with the behaviour of the famous brothers since they left their own country. They have conducted as quiet, steady determined young men, knowing their own business, masters of it, and determined to get for its fruits the utmost value, without inopportune disclosure of its chief characteristics. Conjecture mast therefore be our only guide untj] authemie information is forthcoming on the point of stability* wnich is the one point thai" counts. In the beginning, as our headers will remember who have read our desc.ipt-ons of what occurred at the time and was said in explanation, the special point to which the brothers directed their attention during their gliding period was the vast difference between the centres of pressure and of gravity. They felt that until two "could be made to coincide and Jto remain in coincidence there could be no 'stability. the outset it was a question of curve of the wing surface. Lilienthal had discovered that, and constructed a tabla of curves after the manner of the

Firstly, it was shown that the impact of the wind on a kite aloft was followed by the rebuttal of the wind by the kite surface at the same angle as that of impact. But as the rebutted air did not, by reason of the resisting stratum of air immediately below

curves of the wings of birds. L,ebrie, the French mariner, who described how he had on one occasion felt himself drawn kito the wind by an albatross wing he was examining, had given the first hint, and Iyilienthal had improved on it. The Brothers Wright in their turn improved on Iyilienthal's method, with the discovery that his table was not accurate. They, therefore, altered the curve to a shape which pleased them so well in practice that they decided to go on to the other parts of aviation, in the full belief that they had secured stability at last with certainty and completeness. Have they then secured stability at last with certainty and completeness by means of a special curve ? In must not be forgotten that in the description supplied by the brothers of their seroplane in 1904, there was mention of a second serew — that placed under the wings " for suspension." This must, in the nature of things be a horizontal screw, for a vertical would not have room to revolve. Now, the device of Jules Verne for suspension was a horizontal screw or set of screws. He was writing fiction of course, but the fiction ol this writer was based on scientific principles and after the manner of a master always. Moreover, what could " suspension " have meant, if not equilibrium ? The seroplane in question had achieved suspension without the screw : relying on the ascertained fact that little or no power is required for keeping a moving seroplane in suspension. That fact was demonstrated 20 years ago

it, get away quickly enough, it acted for a moment as a cushion for the support of the kite ; and as long as the wind kept blowing and the bird moved ahead fast, so long would these wave cushions succeed one another

quickly enough to practically form a solid support. Moreover, some of the rebutted air would escape along the lower surfaces of the kite. Some of it might even, it was thought, escape to windward, if the kite were inclined to the horizontal direction of the wind. But I/ilienthal, in the course of his " gliding " once found himself ascending in the face of a six-mile breeze, and was carried dead to windward. The fact made such an impression upon him^that he concluded (1) that, with a motor to help, the command over the wind would be greatly increased, and (2) that he would construct a machine to test his conclusion. The idea of curving the surface of the end entering the air was subsidiary to this. If some of the air escaped to windward along the inclined surface of the kite, it must follow that a curvature of the end, and indeed of the whole of the surface would make a cup out of which the violent rushing rebutted air could not escape. The result of which state of things would be that the imprisoned wind would propel the kite forward. This, by throwing before the mind's eye the possibilities in action of a strong motor in combination with the effects of the imprisoned, or rather checked, air, acting as a propeller, leads us to most suggestive and fascinating speculations, and perhaps to correct views of speed and control in aviation But this is not in the region of stability at all. All this might happen and yet stability might fail at any moment, as it did in the

case of I/ilienthal on the fatal day of his death. A sudden current surprised him in the midst of a particularly pleasant and apparently most safe " glide," turned his " glider " over in a fraction of a second, and precipitated him to his death. Now, suspension having been provided for, it is probable that the word must have been used in the sense of stability by the Wrights in designating the purpose of their second screw. At the same time, it is not clear how the horizontal screw described by the Wrights as part of the equipment of their aeroplane could of itself ensure stability. But if used as a gyroscope, as used in the monorail of Mr. Brennan, it is easy to accept the word in that sense. Mr. Brennan was very emphatic in his statement, when asked months ago, that the gyroscope would be very suitable for ensuring stability in aeroplanes. And that was not the first time the connection between the gyroscope and stability was mentioned. In fact, Mr. Brennan took the idea from a species of flying machine, namely, the well-known toy which is taken up into the air and back by a couple of revolving screws. It is impossible to dogmatise at this stage, but it is certain that the mention of that horizontal screw by the Wrights as part of their equipment is a matter of considerable interest and curiosity, to be enlightened at no distant date. It is of course evident that the decision of the American Government was not arrived at without careful consideration and exhaustive trial, by competent persons who abound in the States, and would be only too glad to place their services at the disposal of the head of the War Department for the purpose of conducting tests; of these, the greatest c.re Chanute, the eminent engineer of Chicago, — whose researches into the question of aviation, and experiments and numerous writings are of classical importance — and Professor Langley, whose model of an aeroplane flew half a mile along the course of the Potomac river twelve years ago, and would have flown longer had more steam been given to its engine. In Canada lives Dr. Graham Bell, and he is accessible for the same work at any time. He it was who said. at the time of Langley's exhibition, which he described as an eyewitness, that the art of flying had now been mastered in the model stage, in a manner which made it only a question of ability and contrivance to construct a working machine with the same mastery over the air. With all this talent and more at command, it is not possible that the aeroplane of the Wrights has been lightly accepted by the American War Secreatry. We may safely conclude that he has satisfied competent authority of the performances of his machines, namely, that they have flown up to 25 miles, and that they are stable, and that any one can acquire easily the art of controlling them and keeping their stability. This carries aviation far further than Mr. Farman, who won the big prize the other day. 1908 is already a big year in the history of flying. We give an illustration (see page 164) of the first " glider ' whose performances satisfied the Wrights that they had secured stability. It is said that the latest machine differs but little in essentials from this. The small plane in front is a movable guide. In the machine, we learn from a sketchy description recently published, there is a vertical rudder in the rear, and from the description of the Wrights in 1904 we can imagine a screw near the rudder and another under the floor of the machine , also a gasoline engine disposed somewhere about the fabric. Thus is Mr. Farman eclipsed by the Wrights Speaking of that aviator, Messrs. Charles and

Gabriel Voisin, the well known aeronauts and constructors of Issy-les-Moullineaux, who are publishing a series of papers on ' ' The Practice of Aviation " in the Revue de VAviation, say, " After all let us not forget that our record holder is an Englishman. His level-headed coolness is a quality common to most Englishmen, whereas here (France) it is all too rare."