[8April2017]
Extracts, mainly
from Le Matin, on Henry Farman’s
flying, autumn 1907.
Though first a
comment on Farman by François Peyrey, in ‘La conquête du Grand Prix de
l’Aviation’, MAELB, dossier FARMAN, Henry, Perso F3 (probably originally in La Vie au Grand Air, date unknown)
‘Son of one of our
most esteemed colleagues, the Paris correspondent of the Standard, Henry Farman is English. Cold, and thus not at all expansive,
he hides, as if from modesty, his disappointments and his joys. He seems
perfectly happy, however, with his great success. Shall I say what his
preferred occupation is outside sport? It is simple and healthy: the
cultivation of fruit trees.’
………………………………………...
And – from
‘Souvenir’, by Hélène Dutrieu, in MAELB, dossier FARMAN, Henry, Perso F3 [no
publication data, though probably 1958]
‘I was fifteen when
I first knew him. The Farman brothers were training on their tandem, and when I
arrived at the track – a kid, with my plait down my back – Henry, who was
always kind, shouted to me “Come on! Come on! Dutrieu, come along. Get behind
us, we’ll lead!” And I followed, pedaling as hard as I could.
Life separated us.
I reencountered Henry Farman in 1907. He lived close to Monmartre, in an attic
that he had decorated delightfully as an artist’s studio. I introduced him to
the director of “Gil Blas”, Pierre Mortier; they liked each other and quickly
became friends. How many times we climbed that little stairway to pass the
evening and talk of painting.’
…………………………………………
From L’Aérophile, November 1907 (15:11)
‘Portraits d’aviateurs contemporains’
[Most of what is
here about Farman is shown elsewhere in these notes. But the following
description is attractive:]
‘Avaricious in
words, but prodigal in acts, he charms his rare moments of leisure by
completing the fine collection of works of art that he has gathered, in which
is revealed his clear and certain taste as a former pupil in Fine Arts.’
…………………………………………
And -- from Musée
de l’Air et de l’Espace [MAELB] library, photo file FARMAN, Henry, and the
folder in this ‘!er Bouclé. Issy-les-Moulineaux. 13 Janv. 1908’
1907:
1 June – Farman
orders his first aircraft from the Voisin brothers.
30 September – he
makes his first flight.
26 October – world
records for speed, distance, and endurance at Issy, winning the Coupe
Archdeacon for his 771 metre flight in 52 seconds (at 54.3 kph).
9 November – first
turns.
………………………………………….
And – Scientific American, 8 August 1908, p.
86
On 1 September 1907
Farman first flew [in his Voisin aircraft] – a ‘short flight of 20 yards’
[probably dropping to the ground again after this take off because he was
holding the elevator control at full ‘up’, thus causing so much drag that the
aircraft would not continue flying].
………………………………………….
And – MAELB, photo
file FARMAN, HENRY, folder FARMAN dossier 2/2
Column by Hervé
Lauwick, Le Figaro, 22 July 1958, ‘Le
petit carnet noir’ [apparently the name that Farman gave to the notebook
recording his flights in 1907-1908; he said he made 225 attempts at flight, or
flights, in his first 45 days].
[This piece is
based on an interview of Farman by Lauwick, probably soon before he died, at
his apartment at 55, Avenue Foch, Paris. It contains much direct quotation,
presumably remembered by Lauwick or reconstructed – or possibly taped].
[Farman speaking]: [When
he first became interested in flight] Archdeacon sent him to see Gabriel
Voisin. Archdeacon was ‘a prodigious being’, the first to believe in
aeroplanes, one of the first men to have a phone in France, and an early car
driver (one trip from Paris to Lyon took 15 days, with the car weighing 150
kilos more at the end because of repairs). Archdeacon was ‘an unheard of being’
[‘un être inoui’].
‘With Voisin, we
first made a glider, which disappointed us. Then aeroplanes.’ They had no
excessive ambitions. ‘We wanted to slip over the trees, nothing more … Like
bees.’
Farman talks of his
fear of dying through flying in the early days; but only of dying before he
achieved what he pursued [flight].
He speaks of early
take off attempts with an excessive angle of incidence. When that was reduced,
take off followed.
‘It was necessary
to guess everything, learn everything, create everything. Having the steering
control at one’s feet, obviously, is stupid, but I had the idea of connecting
my left foot with the left cable [‘ficelle’] and the right foot with the right
cable. And that worked.’
‘We concentrated
the controls on a single vertical lever, and Voisin shouted out ‘A broomstick!’
The word has stayed with us. [When did the change to a control wheel happen?
Probably 1 November 1907 – see the entry below.]
‘Nothing was easy
for us, but everything was so simple. The first ailerons were drawn on the
wings with chalk. One day, at Mourmelon, I controlled the elevator with my
right hand, the fuel with the left, with my feet on the rudder, and the aileron
cable between my teeth … Mais oui!’ Santos Dumont-Dumont at the time shut off
fuel with his back, leaning onto a string.
[This article
stresses at the start, like several other pieces, Farman’s shyness, simplicity,
and goodness. Another comment is that he is always smoking. Certainly the
photographs of him in 1907-1908 always show him with a cigarette in hand.]
………………………………………………..
And -- MAELB, Photo
file FARMAN, HENRY, article from Semaine,
23 October 1941
‘Les Farman. Trois
frères ont donné des ailes à la France.’
Henry Farman tried
free ballooning with his brother Maurice. ‘After that we had the first gliders.
We went to Berck, and there, on a sandhill, we tried to go aloft. A complete
fiasco! The machine didn’t want to know anything about it. I lost interest at
that point in gliding. I thought only of a motor. As soon as a motor began to
turn we put it, naturally, on our bicycles; that is how the Werner motorcycle
was born.’
………………………………………………..
And -- MAELB, photo
file FARMAN, Henry, folder H. FARMAN. PRESSES DIVERSES. Perso F4 – a page 17
from an unidentified journal ‘Victor Breyer vous parle. Henry FARMAN’ [perhaps
from the late 1940s, since on the next page is a cutaway drawing of an F86
Sabre]
Henry Farman was
the youngest of three brothers. He was born at Boulogne-sur-Mer on 26 March
1874, and spent his childhood there. He spoke English with difficulty.
As an adolescent he
showed a great ‘penchant’ for the arts, especially painting. By then the family
was in Paris, where Farman studied painting with some success. Several of his paintings
were shown at Salons. But he was then conquered by the ‘demon’ of sports,
especially cycling, in which he ranked as ‘amongst the best practitioners on
the track’. In 1892 he took part in a road race between Paris and
Clermont-Ferrand. In that year he was also the French champion over 100
kilometres on a track. At the same time he formed a pair with his brother
Maurice, ‘with vests in a good shade of gold’.
By around 1900 he
was among the ‘virtuosi of the steering wheel’, and was chosen in 1903 to
represent France in the Gordon Bennett cup, coming third. In 1902 he won the
Paris-Vienna race in the category ‘voitures’.
[this article
continues on p. 35 of the journal; but that is missing from the file].
…………………………………………
And -- from the Revue
Aéronautique des Vieilles Racines, No. 9, January 1986
[From their
understanding of how lift was produced by a wing – that the wing gave lift at a
high angle of attack -- the early French pilots pulled back on their elevators
on take off, holding down the tail of the aircraft. This increased drag,
preventing the machines from gaining enough speed to generate the lift needed
to fly. Farman was the first to realize this error and find the solution.]
On 21 October 1907
[according to Joseph Franz, who was at Issy that day] Farman was trying to take
off for the fourth time. He became impatient after the aircraft, moving forward
under full power, three times failed to lift. ‘We saw Farman violently move his
elevator control backwards and forwards, shouting “Are you going to take off or
not? Will you take off?”’ [With the elevator forward, and the aircraft
horizontal on the ground] the two tailwheels rose, the machine gained speed,
leaving the ground without the nose lifting, and did three seconds of
horizontal flight. Farman, ‘who had recovered his phlegm, afterwards said
calmly to Herbster [his mechanic], ‘I know how to fly … clean the lumières
[sparking plugs?] of the engine … I’ll start again’. A few days later [26
October] Farman flew 771 metres.
[Comment by Michel
Dulud, Président des Anciens d’Air France] Aerodynamically, the higher speed
reached as the aircraft ran level on the ground brought the upper surface of
the wing into action. [Most of a wing’s lift is generated by the top surface.] This
was made even more effective later by the covering of the rear longeron [of the
wing, presumably] suggested by Henri Fabre. [That is true; but it is also true
that, with the tail up, the aircraft would generate less drag, and hence reach
a greater speed – producing more lift.]
……………………………………………….
And -- [another
account of the same event, by Farman himself]
From MAELB Photo file FARMAN, HENRY, ‘Presses diverses.
H. Farman. Perso F4 – page 15 from Inter
Avia, May 1947:
(this has three
photographs of the Farman 1, and a text obviously by Farman himself describing
his discovery of the take off technique)
Pilots of the time
[1907] were sure of only one thing – that an airplane was like a kite [needing
inclination of its surfaces to the relative wind to fly]. Therefore, as soon as
the airplane moved, the pilot put it into a nose up position, and held it
there. The motor could not then accelerate the aircraft to flight speed.
One day Farman,
having rolled on the ground for several hours without success, and exasperated
by the movements of the landing gear shafts by his side, let go of the control
handle [‘manche’] to press down as hard as possible on the two shafts. [The
aircraft had a very substantial undercarriage; on each side of the pilot were
the tops of the nearly vertical rods that had the wheels at their lower ends.
Coil springs were around those rods below the pilot to absorb shocks from the
ground]. It was a useless gesture but one that contributed to the development
of flight, because the aircraft, free of control, rolled forward and took off
to a few centimetres height. This was Farman’s first ‘aerial leap’.
There was
skepticism among onlookers, however, and Farman continued to try to get off the
ground with the nose-up technique.
Another chance
event, however, took place several days later. ‘I was rolling along the ground,
with the control lever in my belly, and the belly of aircraft, alas, close to
the ground.’ A storm suddenly came up. Farman received a signal to return to
the hangar as soon as possible, and from the far end of the field began to taxi
as fast as possible, leaving the controls loose. Suddenly the aircraft lifted
off for several metres through the cloud of dust that the storm stirred up –
making in fact several leaps at a height of 80 centimetres.
Farman began to see
what was happening. ‘The next day, on the board that limited the movement of
the control stick, I made several marks – four in all if my memories are exact
– spaced at distances that were quickly calculated.’
He started the
aircraft moving with the stick at the first mark. No result. ‘Voisin, who was
running alongside, started shouting impetuous imprecations to make me abandon
this preposterous idea which could only, he said, cost us money and precious
time without any result.’
Farman tried the
stick at the second mark. Voisin, very upset, headed back to the hangar. Farman
felt the aircraft was faster, lighter, and more docile. At the third mark, it
took off – after a run of a few metres Farman ‘accentuated’ [pushed forward?] a
very little the movement of the stick, and was airborne. ‘That day I truly felt
myself born in space [naître de l’espace]… I knew how to fly.’ Voisin returned
to see Farman fly at 1.5 metres height and 50 kph, and immediately understood.
………………………………………
Another account of
the same story comes from Farman in 1956 (in an interview with Jean Grampaix
quoted in Emile Perio, Introduction au
pilotage, Editions Amphora 1966 – excerpted in Michel Garnier, ‘Henry
Farman ou le décollage maîtrisé’, p. 22 in Pégase,
No. 128, March 2008):
‘I succeeded after
many attempts. I spent days rolling on the wheels, trying, trying, trying (in
that, you know fundamentally, lies the secret of success), and I noted every
day what I had tried, and I was sure that in this way, little by little, I
would succeed … One morning, over a distance of one metre there were no wheels
tracks: we were getting closer.
I continued my
trials: nothing. Exasperated, I shook the controls. But the machine refused to
take off!
But then it did! I
took the controls, lifted the nose a bit – and the aircraft landed. But I had
flown about thirty metres at one metre altitude. Another attempt: nothing. I
had taken off, but neither Voisin, nor I, nor anyone else could say why.
My first take off
happened on 7 October 1907. After that, the trials continued to be
disappointing. But on the 15th of October, an interesting event took
place. There was a lot of wind, and I decided to go back [to the start point].
I was rolling at speed towards the hangar, into the wind, with the controls
slack … A miracle: the aircraft took off, and for 200 metres there were no
wheel tracks.
I thought about it
the whole night.
With those machines
it was impossible to gain enough speed for take off, and even if they did leave
the ground, they immediately dropped again because of increased drag –
especially because it was universally thought by those who were trying to fly
that once one had left the ground, the nose had to be further raised.
I resumed my
trials, planning to try four positions for the elevator [‘l’équilibreur’] so as
to find the best one. All these positions were for diving [i.e. nose down – in
French ‘au piqué], which stupefied everyone. It was the fourth position [i.e.
the most nose down] that was the good one.
That was it. After
then I could take off at will.’
………………………………….
[This is truly a
fascinating story. It is unclear whether, before he learned this tail-up method
of take off, Farman had ever been able to get off the ground. Perhaps he had,
but only for very brief hops. At all events, it made take off much easier and
routine. The accidental sources of the discovery are also fascinating to read
of. And it is typical of Farman that he related them, rather than simply
presenting the tail up take off as a product of his thought alone. He was, in
any case, the discoverer of the tail up take off for tail wheel aircraft.
Interesting, too,
are his references here to a control stick or column. Photographs of the Farman
1 show a wheel as the primary control, operating the forward elevator with fore
and aft movements, and the rudder by turning. The report in Le Matin for 1 November, below, states
that the Voisins had just fitted a wheel to the airplane. Before then, perhaps,
it had a control column?]
……………………………………………….
And -- from La
Vie au Grand Air, 26 October 1907, No. 75
p. 291 François
Peyrey, ‘La Semaine Aéronautique’
Henry Farman is
close behind Santos-Dumont and Blériot. On 15 October he made a ‘superbe vol’
of over 200 metres (not officially observed), and should soon exceed
Santos-Dumont’s 220 metre record.
Farman is now
‘absolute master’ of his elevator control. He says he flies at an average height
of 6 metres. The aircraft tilts from one side to the other, but corrects itself
– proof of good lateral stability. But on his last flight, Farman did not go
directly into the wind. The Voisin brothers feared that he could easily be
deflected by a lateral gust, and signaled him to stop.
The dimensions of
Farman’s aircraft: spacing of wings, 1.5 metres; the streamlined body, 4.5
metres; tail span, 6 metres (x 2 metres chord) – the tail cell is ‘provided
with a special stabilizing empennage’ [not explained]; propeller, 2.1 metres
diameter and 1.1 metres pitch. The lifting area is 50 square metres, and total
weight 500 kilos.
On 30 September
Farman made flights of 30-80 metres. He is a ‘new and excellent recruit’ to
aviation. [This date is suspect.]
………………………………………………
And -- MAELB Photo
file FARMAN, HENRY. Folder H. Farman. Presses diverses. Perso F.4
France Aviation, No. 46,
September 1958
pp. 1 & 3. Henry [sic] Beaubois, ‘Souvenirs sur Henry
Farman’
p. 1. In 1907
Farman’s devoted mechanics were Maurice Herbster and Charles Kieffer, known as
‘Charlot’.
Beaubois emphasizes
the trickiness of the Levavasseur Antoinette motor, especially the ‘shakers’ [‘trembleurs’]
providing ignition[‘allumage’] at the ‘mouches’ -- ‘small connectors [‘raccords’] pierced with
a very small hole [‘trou infime’] by which the cylinders received fuel’.
p.3. Re problems of
turning. Farman told the writer that he had to face the opposition of
theoreticians, who held that an aeroplane, ‘with the danger of losing its point
of support in the air and of slipping [in and down] on the wing without
recourse, would never be able to attempt a change in direction’. Farman boosted
the effect of the rudder by moving on his seat [leaning into turns?]. The
rudder here is described as being of ‘happily vast dimensions’ [which it was
not]. In this way he began making S turns.
[Farman’s practical
experimentation and demonstrations of turning here proved the theoreticians
wrong. But their view that turns were impossible is part of the prevailing French
belief, until late 1908, that an aircraft had to be kept straight and level as
far as possible. By turning with wings level, as far as they could, Farman and
others certainly produced skidding, and the tendency of the inner wing on the
turn to slide inwards and downwards.]
………………………………………………..
Finally, a comment
from Ferdinand Ferber about the field at Issy-les-Moulineux: ‘It was at the
bottom of a basin bordered by viaducts, fortifications, factories, and electric
wires’. Quoted in Louis Blériot and Edouard Ramond, La Gloire des Ailes. L’Aviation de Clément Ader à Costes, Les
Editions de France, Paris 1927, p.79.
……………………………………………….
From here, excerpts
mostly from Le Matin
5 May 1907
p. 5 MM. Farman [in the plural – the previous
paragraph refers to Maurice and Dick Farman recently flying a balloon from the parc of the AéroClub de France,
presumably at St. Cloud] are now having an aeroplane built, of 30 square metre
surface and a total weight of 250 kilos. It will have a 20 hp motor. The
contract states that they will not accept the aircraft until it can make of
circuit of 1,500 metres without touching the ground. The builders are not
specified. [This may be the first mention of any Farmans in Le Matin – although earlier references
are possibly in paragraphs about ballooning. Maurice Farman did not in fact do
any flying of aeroplanes at this point, and Dick Farman was even further from
the aeroplane story. There is a possibility here of confusion of these two with
their brother Henry.]
……………………………………………….
15 August 1907
p. 4 A new aéroplane
will be tested soon – Farman’s. Construction began by the Voisin brothers last
month, and it is now finished. [A description of the machine follows. It is odd
that it is not compared to Delagrange’s aircraft.]
The aircraft has a
wing [‘cellule centrale’] of two planes (10.2 span by 2 metres chord), set 1.5
metres apart. The wings are connected aft by a beam 4.5 metres long, at the
rear of which is the rear cell. This has two surfaces of 6 x 2 metres, and special
tail surfaces [‘empennage’] assuring
perfect stability. Inside the rear cell is a vertical rudder [‘gouverneur’]. In the central cell [the
biplane wing] is a reinforced beam carrying the motor [‘groupe moto-propulseur’]. At the front is an elevator [‘gouverneur de profondeur ou équilibreur’].
The frame is made
of ash wood, and is covered with cloth, with a special varnish. The whole
stands on a framework [‘châssis’]
with orientable wheels, so that landing is possible in a cross wind. The total wing surface is 52 square meters;
the span, 10.2 metres; the total length, 10 metres; the motor, 50 hp; the
propeller, 2.1 metres long and 1.1 metres in pitch; total weight, 500
kilograms; predicted speed, 50 kph.
The first trials
will be made next week at Issy, where a very large hangar is being made to
house the machine.
[The description of
the tail given here is rather odd. What exactly the ‘empennage’ is, is rather puzzling. The word usually refers to all
tail surfaces of an aircraft. Here, possibly, it applies only to the two fixed
vertical surfaces at each end of the horizontal planes. This is the first
description of Farman’s aircraft.
……………………………………………
23 August 1907
p. 5 Because of a strike by carpenters at Issy,
trials of the Delagrange, Archdeacon [sic] and Farman airplanes are delayed for
several days. (What is delayed is the building of the hangars.)
……………………………………………
3 September 1907
p. 5 Farman’s hangar is now finished and the
aircraft fully installed there. Trials will start soon.
…………………………………………..
4 September 1907
p. 6 Farman’s airplane was assembled yesterday at
Issy, and then immediately placed in the hangar. The first trials are possible
today, weather permitting.
………………………………………….
7 September 1907
p. 5 On 6 September Henry Farman carried out
motor tests, with the help of Gabriel Voisin
…………………………………………
11 September 1907
p. 6 on 10 September Farman made a trial of his
aircraft.
………………………………………..
18 September 1907
p. 6 At Issy yesterday Farman performed trials of
the 50 hp motor of his ‘cellular aeroplane No. 1’. [This is the first time the
machine is so described.]
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
25 September 1907
p. 6 Yesterday morning the Henry Farman No. 1
could not, because of lack of batteries, make any attempt at flight. Towards
lunchtime the motor was started. In the afternoon, M. Dick Farman made two or
three ground trials (‘essais de marche à terre’), but did not try to take off.
The stability of the aircraft seemed sufficient. [This is the only instance of
Dick Farman’s taking part in the trials of the aircraft.]
……………………………………….
27 September 1907
p. 5 Yesterday Farman performed stability trials
on his aircraft.
………………………………………
2 October 1907
p. 4 The Farman machine flew some 80 metres.
It was very stable. The flight was witnessed by Archdeacon, Delagrange, Captain
Ferber, the Voisin brothers, André Fournier, et al [unspecified].
[This is the first
flight recorded in Le Matin of the
Henry Farman 1 – taking place presumably on 1 October, with Farman as pilot]
…………………………………..
16 October 1907
p. 1 [front page article with photograph] ‘Victoire de l’aviation. 280 mètres en aéroplane. M. Henry Farman bat
le record que détenait Santos-Dumont depuis le 12 novembre.’
‘Aeronautical
science has just made a new ‘flight’ on the road to progress.’ Farman’s 280 metres flight took place
yesterday afternoon at Issy. The ground was wet from recent rain. It seemed more
of a marsh than a testing ground. Farman did not hesitate, but between two
showers took his machine near to the Porte d’Issy. After a take off roll of
some 10 metres he rose from the ground gracefully and stably. Using the front
plane [elevator] Farman went to some 10 metres of altitude, and then closer to
the ground, and continued to fly until, responding to continued appeals from
Gustave Voisin, he landed in thick mud.
A distance of 280 metres was measured. The aircraft is of the Chanute type –
i.e. it has ‘cellules’ [biplane wing and tail]. It had been slightly modified
after a first trial. The angle of incidence of the rear cell had been reduced,
and the ‘equilibreur biplan’ [biplane elevator in the nose] replaced by a
single plane. This structure was advanced [placed further forward, presumably}
on the fuselage by 10 centimetres, and raised 30 centimetres, so that the whole
of the bearing surface would act effectively.
This is a great
success for Farman, and for the Voisin brothers and Colliex, to whom [all
three, presumably] Farman had left all initiative about construction. [So the
reduction of the biplane elevator to a single plane was the Voisins’
decision?].
[A photograph of
the aircraft here shows the monoplane elevator in the nose, but still the wide
biplane tail – which was not reduced in span until early December 1907. Over
the engine is a water tank.]
[There is no
reference here to other trials by Farman after 2 October.]
………………………………….
20 October 1907
p. 4 On 19 October Farman made 5 flights, of
150-200 metres, despite the ‘horriblement’ wet ground. There was a cross wind.
………………………………..
23 October 1907
p. 5 Farman made a 170 flight yesterday at Issy.
An abrupt movement of the elevator [‘équilibreur’] brought the machine to the
ground too sharply. One propeller blade was slightly damaged.
……………………………….
24 October 1907
p.4 In the presence of the Archiduc Salvator
[possibly Archduke Léopold Salvator de Habsbourg-Toscane], Don Jaime de Borbón
[the Carlist pretender to the Spanish crown?], Captain Cody (pilot of the
English dirigible), and Delagrange, H. Kapferer, Besançon (Secretary of the
AéroClub de France), Archdeacon, Blériot, Tissandier, de La Vaulx, Deakin, and
others, Farman yesterday made several flights. The best was of 186 metres, in
13 2/5 seconds. Numerous spectators, spread over the field, prevented Farman
form doing more, or better. But he won the ‘plaquette’ of 150 metres.
……………………………..
25 October 1907
p. 4 On 24 October Farman made 7 flights (of 95, 110,
140, 128, 115, 180, and 175 metres), at an average speed of 9-10 metres/second.
On the sixth flight the aircraft made a wide curve and Farman did not hesitate
to fly over spectators. The flight were seen by Archdeacon, Santos-Dumont,
Surcouf, Delagrange, Max Richard, Lhermit [sic]. The article notes that take
off, flight, and landing without damage
are now routine (in contrast to what happened 6-8 months ago).
…………………………….
26 October 1907
p. 5 On 25 October Farman made some 10 flights at
Issy, of 150-200 metres. He will soon be able to beat the 220 metre record.
……………………….......
27 October 1907
p. 1 ‘770 mètres en aéroplane. M. Henry Farman bat officiellement tous les
records’
Recently Farman had
flown 280 metres before friends and spectators. Yesterday morning and afternoon
he started with a flight of 363 metres, but without official witnesses. In the
afternoon, with Archdeacon, Kapferer and Tatin present (all members of the
Commission d’Aviation) he flew 403 metres; then, towards sunset, he flew the
whole length of the field, stopped only by the fence. He covered 770 metres. It
is clear that Farman will soon pursue the 50,000 francs prize for a 1 kilometre
circuit. Now he has the two prizes of the AéroClub de France for 300 and 500
metres: a total of 1,500 francs. Farman was fêted last night at the AéroClub de
France. The bet between Archdeacon/Santos-Dumont and de Dion/Charron that a 500
metres flight would occur before 1 January 1908 has therefore been lost by de
Dion and Charron.
…………………………….
L’Aérophile, October
1907
p. 286-289 ‘Henri Farman vole près d’un kilomètre’
[This article
confirms the above information from Le
Matin, adding detail about the flights, but little of substance. It
summarizes Farman’s flights since 15 October 1907, emphasizing how easily
Farman controls the aircraft and how gently it lands. Spectators on the field
prevented Farman from flying further on 26 October; but then they were excluded
and conditions for flight improved. There is emphasis that the 771 metre flight
on 26 October could have been much longer, but Farman ran out of space on the
Issy field, stopping only 10 metres from the surrounding wall. The total
distance flown by Farman on 26 October was 2,597 metres. Farman has won prizes
for 300 and 500 metres from the Aviation-Club de France, worth 1,500 francs. ]
‘It is certainly
difficult to render too much homage to the courage, sang-froid, and skill of
Henry Farman, a man already legendary for all cyclists and drivers.. We must
also bow before the untiring and intelligent stubbornness with which he has
methodically pursued his apprenticeship as an aviator.’
But Farman would
not like to dissociate his name from those of Gabriel and Charles Voisin, who
studied and built his machine in accord with their aviators’ ideas – already
experienced, practiced and universally
well reputed. Levavasseur, the producer of the Antoinette motor, must also be
included in this record.
Farman will now
attempt to turn. Already, on 28 October, he managed a quarter circle. It is now
clear that he could make a large radius turn if he had enough space, and thus
take the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize.
The Farman aircraft
has been modified. The forward elevator has been changed from biplane to
monoplane. The upper surface of the tail has been made into a lifting surface
[by giving it forward-aft curve].
[Farman’s tail-up
take off technique is also described here]. He does not touch the elevator
until the machine has taken off, when he can easily judge the small movements
needed to keep the aircraft at a good angle of attack, and to fly indefinitely
(as long as fuel lasts). [Not so, in fact: the cooling system of the engine at
this point involved the cooling water being boiled off as steam; after a few
minutes, the engine had no more coolant fluid.]
…………………………….
29 October 1907, p.
5.
Henry Farman
‘s’entrame/s’éntrâine en virage’. [Hard to read; ‘s’entrâine’ certainly makes
more sense]. For some weeks past few people have come to Issy-les-Moulineaux;
but yesterday it seemed to be a ‘garage d’automobiles’.
In the afternoon,
Farman sketched out his first planned turn (‘a esquissé … son premier virage
raisonné’). A strong cross wind carried the aircraft sideways. It was low.
Farman could not straighten it, and one wheel ran on the ground, and was a
little buckled (‘voilée’). This was the first damage to the aircraft.
…………………………………………………
L’Aérophile, November
1907, p. 302. ‘Premiers virages de l’Aéroplane Henri Farman’
[unusual spelling
of Henri with final ‘I’ – usually ‘y’]
Farman, well known
for his cycling and automobile past, has now shown himself to be a ‘marvellous
practician of mechanical flight’.
With the Voisin
aircraft that Farman has, the role of the technician is finished, and the role
of the ‘sportsman-aviator’ begins. This latter role is of prime importance at
the current stage of development of mechanical flight. Farman has tackled this
need. He is dealing with the problems of flight as they arise: take off,
sustained flight, stability in height, landing. Today he managed turning, the
last task of his difficult apprenticeship.
Farman is now
complete master of his machine. On 1 November he performed two trials at Issy.
In the first he took off easily, but did not turn. In the second the aircraft began a turn, but touched the ground,
suffering slight damage. This repaired, on 2 November Farman carried out
taxiing trials at Issy, using the rudder to change direction. On 5 November
there were numerous successful flights of 300-400 metres, with the beginnings
of turns.
On 9 November
Farman started with an 800 metre flight, making a ¾ turn. After this came a
flight with two turns in S form. In the third flight achieved a complete turn
in the air, following a U course. The turn was sharper than expected, but was
done without loss of height, at roughly 3 metres altitude. The aircraft was
hardly banked into the turn. The wings were level once the turn was finished,
and the return flight almost parallel to the outward leg. The flight lasted 1
minute 14 seconds (measured by Archdeacon, and a record flight for a powered
machine). The speed was 14 metres/second, and the distance flown 1.036 km.
Farman is now ready to take the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize (and would have won it
with the flight described, except that he did not close the loop).
………………………………………..
1 November 1907,
p.6.
A false
announcement was made that Farman’s trials would continue yesterday. The result
[at Issy] was an elegant crowd on the swampy airfield (‘public élégant sur
l’aérodrome marécageux’).
Farman will do
trials today. The chassis of the airplane has been remounted (‘remonté’). The
Voisin brothers have placed in front of the pilot’s seat a wheel operating all
controls of the machine (‘un volant sur lequel aboutiront toutes les commandes
de l’appareil’). [These would be the rudder in the tail, and the forward
elevator.]
………………………………………………….
2 November 1907,
p.6.
A substantial
police presence was needed yesterday at Issy to allow Farman to continue his
trials. The ‘public élégant’ included Léon Barbon [Barthou?], Besançon,
Delagrange, Archdeacon, Blériot, the Voisin brothers, Tissandier, Henry Kapferer,
Commandant Bouttieaux, Captain Voyer, Santos-Dumont, Captain Ferber, Garnier,
de La Vaulx, Tatin, Gastambide, Chanvière, and others. There was a crowd of a thousand
on the fortifications and the wall around the field (in contrast to the twenty
or so [‘vingtaine’] spectators of early flights).
Farman’s first
flight was of about 400 metres from a corner of the field. On the second
flight, owing to a bad control movement, the machine tilted to the right. Two
uprights of the interior layout of the wing cell and of the elevator were
broken [‘deux montants du plan intérieur de la cellule et de l’équilibreur se
brisèrent’].
The crowd burst
through the cordon of police onto the field to see the ‘monstre’ up close. The
densest pack came through the Porte d’Issy. Immediate action was taken. Some
drivers directed [outwards] as best they could the five or six thousand people
immobilized on the field. Farman made two more flights to display the aircraft.
Then it was taken back to the hangar. [‘On répara immédiatement; quelque
chauffeurs canalisèrent tant bien que mal les cinq à six mille personnes
immobilisées dans l’aérodrome. Farman fit encore deux vols mécaniques pour la
vulgarisation de l’aéroplane’]
[These flights were
presumably made before the aircraft was damaged. The order of events is not
clear from the account.]
2 November 1907, La Vie au Grand Air, No. 476, p. 303
A full picture of
Farman’s machine in flight – supposedly the flight of 26 October 1907 at Issy
with which he took the distance record of 771 metres, after making several
flights of more than 300 metres. The flight was at 6 metres altitude, without
undulations, straight, and with a very smooth landing. It lasted 52 seconds.
[The aircraft has a monoplane forward elevator, but still the wide tail.]
………………………………………………
7 November 1907,
p.4.
Farman made a
remarkable series of 450-650 metre flights yesterday, with a strong cross wind.
……………………………………………...
8 November 1907, p.
5.
Farman made a
series of very fine flights yesterday. He was limited only by the size of the field
at Issy (950-1,000 metres long, but 200 metres are needed for take off and
landing; so 800 metres is the longest straight line flight possible). The
‘sympathique aviateur’ says he will soon be able to turn, but he will go to
Beauce or the camps de Châlons, where there are ‘vastes distances’. [He did
not.]
……………………………………………………..
9 November 1907,
p.5.
Yesterday, late in
the day, Farman turned at Issy – an event [‘évènement’] in aviation. He said he could have completed a circle if
the belt on the water pump had not come off. The aircraft did a half-circle at
2-3 metres height and of some 300 metres diameter.
[This was indeed a major event in the
development of flight in France. It was probably the first intentional 180
degree turn. Easing this machine round in a turn was difficult. With only
rudder to make the turn, skidding would have ensued, with increased drag. The
resulting loss of speed meant loss of lift, and a tendency for the machine to
lose height. Keeping enough speed to maintain height must have been a very
delicate matter of control.]
……………………………………………………….
10 November
1907.[Heading] Un virage triomphant. Un kilomètre en aéroplane. Henry Farman a fixé le Record de l’Aviation.’
[A photograph shows the aircraft
allegedly during this flight. It still has the wide tail, which was not
replaced by a tail of lesser span until the beginning of December 1907.]
Farman flew one
kilometer, making two turns. Aviation now looks to become a new means of
locomotion. Farman has now fulfilled the conditions of the Deutsch-Archdeacon
prize (of 50,000 francs). He landed close his departure point. The flight
lasted 74 seconds, at 13.5 metres per second, giving 999 metres flown. Farman
was applauded by Archdeacon, the Voisin brothers, Henry and Marcel Kapferer, Blériot, de
Fayette, Humphrey, Buisson, Risse, and others.
Farman took off
again and flew a long S turn. There is nothing finer than to see ‘the immense
white bird which stood out against a framework shadowed by night and fog, and
which, slipping through the air, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left,
levelled itself, rose, and fell according to the will of the pilot.’
Farman will try for
the official prize [the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize] next week.
………………………………………………………….
12 November 1907,
p.5.
Farman yesterday
continued his trials, before a ‘elegant audience’.
They were
interrupted by malfunction of the water circulating system; but will restart in
a few days.
………………………………………………………….
15 November
1907, p.6.
Farman was to
attempt today a 1 kilometer closed circuit for the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize.
But the detachment [it was ‘déclavetée’ – unriveted?] of one blade of his
propeller prevented this try. Repair will happen today.
………………………………………………………….
15 November 1907, La Revue de l’Aviation, 15 November 1907
(No. 12, 2e année)
p. 3 ‘Un
Interview de M. Archdeacon’
Archdeacon says
that the only thing that has prevented Farman from taking the
Deutsch-Archdeacon prize is the fact that, once in the air, he cannot estimate
the angle at which he is flying his machine. His take off angle allows for
maximum speed [apparently, then, this opinion is being give after Farman had
learned to keep the machine’s tail up and level during take off]; but then he
cannot judge the angle of the machine relative to the flight line – the angle
increases and the aircraft drops. Its speed, which should be 5-55 kph, declines
to 20 kph. Slowing of the motor does not seem to be the cause of this loss of
speed. It seems that the reason is that Farman, occupied with much else in the air,
‘can scarcely survey his line of flight continuously’. What is needed is an
instrument that would give a reading of the machine’s pitch attitude. It would
have to be very quick. Such instruments exist for cars, but they are too slow
to react. A good airborne instrument would enable pilots to fly at a pitch
angle producing the least drag.
[Archdeacon
continues:] A new prize – perhaps of
10,000 francs – could stimulate the development of such an instrument.
Farman, when asked
about the above, said:
He has thought
along the same lines as Archdeacon. But he cannot say that such an instrument
would remove all the difficulties of remaining for some time in the air –
though it would help enormously. For the moment he thinks that once he can make
his motor function regularly, he will be able to stay in the air as long as he
wishes, relying on instinct and practice to keep to a good line of flight.
Until now he has judged the pitching movements of the aircraft by looking at
its forward end in relation to distant objects. That is a crude method, but
will have to suffice until an instrument of the sort proposed by Archdeacon
appears.
Personally, Farman
thinks that all that is needed now to win the [Deutsch-Archdeacon] prize and
achieve more remarkable flying is to have a steady [‘regulier’] motor and much
practice. ‘Only practice, nothing else, allows mastery of an airplane.’
[Commentary of the
magazine:]
Archdeacon’s point that high into-wind angles
cause loss of speed is true. This view is supported by the fact that when
Farman started flying some months ago he was never able to fly more than 200
metres, even with his motor in excellent condition. He took off at too high an
angle, resulting in rapid loss of speed and descent to the ground. It was not
until he took off at such a low angle that it was hard to say at what point the
wheels left the ground, that long flights became possible.
[Farman was right.
It is easy to maintain a correct pitch angle by looking ahead. No instrument is
needed so long as there is visibility. His stress on practice is worth noting.
Unlike most other French pilots in 1907-8 he flew often, and suffered only one
accident. He is possibly realizing that controlling an aircraft in three
dimensions is a new human experience, different from controlling machines on
the ground or on water. Finally, his dissatisfaction with the Antoinette engine
is beginning to emerge. It becomes greater in 1908.]
………………………………………………………….
18 November 1907,
p.4.
Farman plans to
attempt the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize tomorrow, between 9 a.m. and 4.30 p,m.
……………………………………………………..
19 November 1907,
p.5.
Farman did not win
the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize today because of a repair needed to the propeller
shaft.
The public had
scarcely left the field when the dirigible Ville de Paris arrived at Issy, at
midday, and landed. Henry Kapferer and ??
Paulhan, dressed like eskimos, and M. Baudry emerged from the nacelle.
‘Le Tout-Issy et le Tout-les-Moulineaux vinrent examiner de près le vaisseau
aérien.’
At 2.30 Farman was ready.
‘Policemen, agents [security men?], mounted soldiers, civilian devotees wearing
armbands, dignified the chosen and elegant crowd. All the countries of the
world were represented; the English Aeroclub had sent its president, the German
Aeroclub had delegated one of its members. A hundred or so cars were parked
hither and yon. Although he was modest and shy, Henry Farman did not lose his
self-possession in front of this select audience. He had, moreover, much to do:
checking balance, handling the steering,, regulating the motor, seeing to good
carburation are not child’s play. Carburation alone did not favour the aviator.
Having changed the pump which keeps the fuel tank under pressure, M. Farman
realized that he must modify the control of fuel admission to the engine.
[ ‘Des gendarmes,
des agents, des cavaliers, de devoués civils portant des brassards endignèrent
la foule élégante et choisie. Tous les pays du monde étaient représentés:
L’Aéroclub de l’Angleterre avait envoyé son président, l’Aéroclub d’Allemagne
avait délegué un de ces membres. Une centaine d’autos étaient garées un peu
partout. Bien que modeste et timide, Henry Farman ne perdit pas son sang-froid
devant ce public select. Il avait d’ailleurs beaucoup à faire: surveiller
l’équilibre, commander le gouvernail, régler le moteur, avoir la bonne
carburation ne sont pas jeux d’enfant. La carburation seule ne favorisa pas
l’aviateur. Ayant changé la pompe avec laquelle il tient le reservoir d’essence
sous pression, M. Farman se rendit compte qu’il devait modifier le réglage
d’admission d’essence dans le moteur.’]
Then, in six trials
of 400-600 metres each, the aircraft touched down at the moment of turning .
For the final trial, Farman reset carburation in a happy way, and the aircraft
covered some 1,500 metres in a circle [‘en circuit’] – but grazing [‘effleurant’]
the ground twice in a space of 6 to 8 metres.
Meanwhile the Ville
de Paris left Issy, after flying over the field.
Farman’s efforts
show he is the strongest contender for the prize.
Santo Dumont will
do trials this morning at Bagatelle, and may come to Issy if he decides to try
for the prize.
………………………………………………………….
20 November 1907,
p.5.
Farman did not fly
yesterday at Issy. He worked on mechanical parts of his aircraft. He changed the
pitch of the propeller. He will try for the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize today
between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
……………………………………………………….
21 November 1907,
p.4.
Farman tried for
the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize yesterday, without success. He had problems of
carburation, and flew only in straight lines for 400 to 600 metres.
……………………………………………………….
22 November 1907,
p.5.
Though intending to
fly for the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize yesterday, Farman only practiced, though
not until after sunset. The aircraft behaved well in straight line flight,
despite a strong and variable wind.
To get constant
fuel pressure, Farman has placed the fuel tank above the wing [gravity feed
instead of use of a pump?], and proposes to raise it still further. This will,
he hopes, prevent fall in fuel pressure during turns, which he hopes to manage
without loss of height [‘abattée’].
[Generally Farman
now is tweaking the engine and propeller to achieve more power, especially for
turning.]
………………………………………………………
23 November 1907,
p.5.
Farman (‘le brillant
aviateur’) made flights yesterday in his No. 1 machine, with what purpose is
not clear, though his recent efforts seem to have led to a decline in progress.
Farman has been concentrating lately on mechanical matters, thinking that the
motor shaft may have suffered with the breakage [‘rupture’] of the propeller.
He will, nonetheless, try for the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize at Issy today, from
10 a.m. on.
……………………………………………………….
24 November 1907,
p. 5.
Yesterday Farman
made a circling flight of 600 metres. Flying in the afternoon was prevented by
a storm [‘tempête’]. He has restored the end of the motor shaft, which he thinks
was slightly bent [ ‘faussée’].
……………………………………………………….
29 November 1907,
p.4.
Farman will try
again today for the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize, despite the poor weather – from
9.30 a.m. until sunset.
………………………………………………………
30 November 1907,
p.4.
Farman got his
aircraft out yesterday, but the field was very wet. Mud and water on the ground
prevented him from gaining enough speed to fly.
……………………………………………………..
3 December 1907,
p.5.
Farman took his
aircraft out yesterday at nightfall. The fuselage frame has been lightened by 7
kilos. But mud and water on the ground prevented flying. The weather may
improve today.
…………………………………………………….
4 December 1907,
p.5.
Farman has modified
the tail surfaces [‘la cellule arrière’] of his aircraft, reducing the span.
The new tail will provide the same lift but resist the air less. The aircraft
has had reductions of 15 kilos in weight and 13 kilos in drag [‘résistance’].
Altogether Farman has gained 35 kilos [i.e. reduced weight by 35 kilos], and 5
hp in thrust (because of reduced drag). [The span of the tail was reduced from
5 to 2.7 metres. In addition the lower surface was now given curve, whereas it
had been flat before. The intent was to increase lift from the tail. This from
Michel Garnier, ‘Henry Farman ou le décollage maîtrisé’, in Pégase, No 128, March 2008, p. 29.]
……………………………………………………..
7 December 1907,
p.4.
Yesterday Farman
tried his machine for the first time with a smaller tail. The tail rose too
quickly, causing a forward shift in weight, and a risk of pitching down onto
its nose. Some tubes in the frame have been replaced by others that are
stronger. But these fitted together badly [‘s’embottèrent mal’], and while the
aircraft was being pushed towards the departure point, rods gave way [‘les
tiges cédèrent’] and the front of the aircraft sagged. But the damaged was
repaired in five hours.
……………………………………………………..
[there follow more
than ten days here without reports of flying – possibly because of bad
weather?]
……………………………………………………...
27 December 1907,
p.5.
Farman began his
flying activities again last week, but is not getting the ‘brilliant results’
of last month. The aircraft is flying and is stable, but progress seems blocked
for mechanical reasons. Farman said yesterday that the engine was giving only
1,080 revolutions, rather than 1,200. According to the builders’ calculations,
the aircraft can fly with 45-50 hp, but, according to Farman, only 38-40 hp are
now available.
……………………………………………………….
1 January 1908,
p.5.
Farman will
continue trials tomorrow. Yesterday he practiced turns, and will spend 1
January covering the wooden longerons of his cellular apparatus [‘à entoiler
les longerons de bois de son appareil cellulaire’]. He is not wasting time. He
[‘le recordman du monde’] plans to modify the rear cell of the aircraft. [Whether
he did modify the tail of the machine is unclear. But the covering with cloth
of the upward projecting rear spars on the wing – the ‘longerons de bois’
mentioned here – was clearly done before his prize winning flight on 13
January. The reduction in drag was probably considerable.]
……………………………………………………….
6 January 1908,
p.5.
Farman, having
flown a cellular (i.e. biplane) aircraft with perfect stability, now intends to
use a lower drag monoplane, which will be faster but more dangerous. The Voisin
brothers will build this for him. He wants four pairs of wings: 1 [far] forward
as an elevator [‘équilibreur’], 2 near the nose, and 1 in tail. It is reported
that a new, light motor will power this aircraft, though this is still several
months off.
[This aircraft was
never finished. There are photographs of it in the Voisins’ factory, but
apparently it was abandoned.]
………………………………………………………
7 January 1908,
p.5.
Farman resumed
flying today, making several flights, interrupted by a breakdown of ignition [‘allumage’].
……………………………………………………..
12 January 1908,
p.6.
Farman flew
yesterday at Issy, making eight trials despite the cold and frozen ground. He
succeeded twice in completing a 180 degree turn, returning to his departure
point, and staying airborne for 1 minute 45 secs (thus flying about 1,500
metres). Weather permitting, he will attempt the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize
tomorrow.
……………………………………………………..
25
January 1908
La Vie au Grand Air, No. 488. François Peyrey, ‘La Conquête du Grand Prix
d’Aviation’
pp.52-3.
During the turn on the prize winning flight, the aircraft dropped a little
(though very slightly banked), and then regained height immediately. The radius
of the turn was 200 metres.
Before
the flight, the ‘projections [‘aspérités] presenting damaging resistance had
been covered with cloth and masked’. With resistance [i.e. drag] thus reduced,
the builders estimate that the equivalent of 12 hp had been gained.
[This
is very likely a reference to Farman’s covering with cloth the previously
exposed rear spar on the upper and lower wings of the aircraft. It stuck up
from the top surface perhaps two inches, and perhaps two feet forward of the
trailing edge. The decrease in drag on the upper surface of the wing after the
spar was covered would have been considerable. This change seems to have been
made on 1 January -- see the entry for that date, above.]
………………………………………………………
See
also for the covering of the spar Revue
Aéronautique des Vieilles Racines, No. 9, January 1986.
p.9.
Michel Dulud wrote to Henri Fabre (then 97 years old) asking him about Pierre
Lissarague’s report that Fabre had recommended to Farman, before the 1
kilometre prize flight, that he should cover the upper surface of the wings of
the aircraft. Fabre replied that he spoke to Farman about the rear spar
[‘longeron arrière’] before the flight. Everyone knew that Blériot made wings
on which the upper surface was covered with paper; and Fabre knew that the
Wrights covered their wings top and bottom with cloth. It took all of Farman’s
energy to do the ‘enormous work’ of sewing on both the upper and lower wings.
The total length of spar [‘longeron’] was 20 metres. The strip of cloth being
applied had to be sewn on both its forward and rear edges – a total of 40
metres of sewing. A female worker was required to pull and prick the cloth. The
work on the upper wing required a scaffold.
[Photographs
of the aircraft in the fall of 1907 show no sign of this strip of cloth towards
the rear of the wing. By contrast, photos taken after the 13 January flight
clearly show a dark strip running the whole span of the wing; there is a double
thickness of cloth there. And the photograph of the aircraft about to cross the
finishing line on the prize winning flight appears to show that same strip,
though it is not wholly clear. But the note above shows that Farman added the
strips over the spar on 1 January.]
………………………………………………………
ON THE NEXT DAY, 13
JANUARY 1908, FARMAN DID INDEED MAKE THE 1 KILOMETRE FLIGHT, INCLUDING A 180
DEGREE TURN BACK TO HIS STARTING POINT.
(This was a
repetition, in front the required official witnesses, of what Farman had done
on 10 November 1907.)
………………………………
Gabriel Voisin left
a description of this flight (quoted in Michel Garner, ‘Henry Farman ou le
décollage maîtrisé’, in Pégase No.
128, March 2008, p. 27):
‘About 7 a.m. my
brother set out the flags. The weather was calm, and the sky clear. The
airplane was kept in a hangar besides the exercise field. On trial days we
placed a bridge made of planks over the wall that closed off the field, and we
crossed the wall to get to the field … We pushed the machine to the end of the
field, near the Pont de Sèvres. Present were the commissioners [of the
AéroClub]; among the people from the AéroClub was Blériot. The two departure
posts were placed on the side of the field that looks towards Paris, because I
had predicted that day a light westerly wind that would favour the departure.
The flag at the other end of the field was barely visible because of the
morning mist. Farman climbed into the fuselage, the commissioners took their
places close to the departure posts, and I myself started the engine. The take off
was extremely quick. About twenty metres after lifting off the machine was at
the height of the posts. The tight turn seemed to me too steep, but the return
was completely reassuring. The aircraft, guided by its pilot with consummate
skill, crossed the finish line at about ten metres height, and then landed
close to me.
The time of this
flight was very short: 1 minute 28 seconds; but the cooling water had had time
to evaporate, and I can still see the little cloud of steam which rose for a
few seconds after the aircraft stopped.’
………………………………..
Farman wrote a
description of the aircraft flown on 13 January for the Académie des Sciences
in Paris. It was read to a meeting of the Academy by M Henri Deslandres on 20
January 1908:
The apparatus is
composed of a principal cell [biplane wing] of 10 metres span by 2 metres
chord, formed by two superimposed planes measuring 40 square metres [in area].
It has a smaller cell in the tail, of 3 metres span by 2 metres chord, with an
area of 12 square metres. Placed forward is an elevator [‘équilibreur’],
consisting of a single plane, hinged to allow variation of its angle, and by
this movement make the machine rise or fall. The motor is at the centre of the
main cell, in a sort of streamlined nacelle in which the pilot has his place.
In the tail is the hinged rudder used to make the airplane turn right or left.
The aircraft is
carried on a frame [‘châssis’] of steel tube, fitted with two steerable
[‘orientables’] pneumatic wheels … I chose the cellular or biplane form for my
aircraft because I consider this to be the most studied form, and the one that
gives the best stability; I have chosen it also because of its simple
construction and its solidity. I believe that my success is due, above all, not
to the general form of the aircraft, but to the numerous methodical trials and
successive modifications inspired by experience.
The Voisin
brothers, who built my aircraft, have certainly played a large part in my
success, for it is thanks to their competence in the matter [of flight], to
their activity, and to their intelligence, that I have arrived at the result …’
[This is from p.27
of Michel Garnier, ‘Henry Farman ou le décollage maîtrisé’, in Pégase, No. 128, March 2008, pp. 22-31.]
[On p. 29 of the
same issue of Pégase, Garnier adds to
Farman’s description]:
Construction is of
wood, except for the châssis
[undercarriage frame], which is made of steel tube. The covering of the flying
surfaces [wings and tail] is of rubberized cotton, and of single thickness
because lightness is the aim; the aerodynamic advantage of thickness in the
wing has not yet been realized. The wing ribs are in sewn gussets.
Total length is
10.50 metres.
Total weight is 530
kilos, giving a wing loading of 10 kilos per square metre – which today is ridiculously
low, but at the time normal, or even high.
The motor is an
Antoinette of 50 hp, at 1,400 rpm; though it was used at only 1,050 rpm,
driving directly a two-bladed steel propeller of 2.30 metres diameter designed
and made by Gabriel Voisin.
Flight controls:
the pilot has in front of him a wheel that he can push or pull, controlling the
forward elevator, and thus producing climb or dive. He can also turn it to
right or left, moving the [vertical] rudder [in the tail]. There is no engine
speed control. The engine runs at full throttle; the pilot cuts ignition just
before landing.
…………………………………………
…………………………………………
What particularly
draws attention in the flights leading up to success on 13 January 1908 are the
modifications to, and lightening of, the aircraft. The rear spar of the wing, which previously
projected upwards into the airflow, was covered with a strip of cloth (as
explained above). The span of the tail was reduced, with savings in weight and
drag. Problems with irregular fuel feed, or pressure, were apparently solved by
putting the fuel tank above the upper wing, and using gravity to provide a
constant and even flow of fuel to the motor. The recurring problem of small
amounts of damage – wheels bending, parts of the fuselage not fitting together
well – is clear. The engine appears to lose power, for reasons not explained
but perhaps having to do with fuel feed. The resolution of that problem is not
explained in Le Matin; perhaps the
placing of the fuel tank above the wing was enough. The problems of muddy
ground are clear, making it hard for the aircraft to move easily. It is notable
that the ground was frozen when Farman made his prize-winning flight on 13
January 1908.
Farman’s growing eminence
as an aviator is also reflected in the changing descriptions applied to him by Le Matin, from ‘le sympathique aviateur’
on 8 November, to ‘le brillant aviateur’ towards the end of that month, to ‘le
recordman du monde’ on 1 January 1908. It
was in early November that Farman learned how to turn the aircraft, a very
remarkable accomplishment considering that it had only a quite small rudder to
produce the turn. Le Matin’s reports
do not emphasize enough the importance of this development, which Farman was
the first to achieve. French aircraft had been designed to fly straight; he had
a struggle, fighting his machine’s natural directional stability, to persuade
it not to do so. It tended to lose height while turning; hence Farman’s efforts
to lighten it. He succeeded finally in making turns, with difficulty and practice;
although it was not until a year later, after Wilbur Wright had demonstrated in
France the efficacy of wing warping for turning, that the French adopted either
warping or ailerons as the means of producing bank, and resulting turn. Clearly
the Voisin-Farman 1 aircraft flown by Farman had only just enough power, if the
engine were working at full power, to achieve turning flight. It was a heavy and
draggy machine. Early in 1909 Farman designed and built another aircraft on the
same pattern, but much lighter. He did well in that machine in 1909.
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