9 April 2017
Wilbur Wright (in
France)
From Le Matin, with added material from other
sources.
L’Aérophile, January 1906, pp. 18-23, ‘L’aéroplane Wright’ [article signed Aérophile]
p. 18 L’Aérophile, in December 1905, published statements by the Wright
brothers on their powered airplane experiences in September and October 1905.
The Wrights’ successes in Dayton seem to be confirmed. Now the journal has more
detail, which confirms earlier statements by the Wrights.
Robert Coquelle, representing the journal Auto, has published in that journal interesting information that he
collected in the USA. Coquelle arrived in Dayton (OH) on 12 December 1905. Not
without difficulty he found the Wright brothers’ home. They are makers and
sellers of bicycles. The brothers
confirmed to Coquelle the truth of what had been reported in the Auto – that they had built a motor for
their machine, that they had witnesses of their flights in September and
October 1905. The Wrights have given Coquelle the address of the Dayton Daily News, a newspaper that had
wanted to publish an article on their experiences – but they had managed to
block publication. Coquelle managed to get a copy of that issue of the
newspaper. What follow are extracts from the article.
[no date] The Wrights have demonstrated their aircraft at Huffman
Prairie, before around ten witnesses. The machine rose to about 25 feet. Lack
of fuel ended the flight. The machine came down slowly. A fuel line was
replaced in an hour, and the machine flew again. Before landing it made a great
figure 8 at a height of some 40 feet.
p. 19 The Wrights have been
working mysteriously for the past eight weeks. When they arrived at Springfield
yesterday they were sure of success. The machine takes off from a rail. The
motor gives 21 hp. The machine has a maximum dimension [presumably wingspan] of
40 feet; and six feet in its greatest length [more likely height]. It is
covered with canvas. In the centre is the motor. The operator is prone, with a
cushion protecting his stomach. He directs the machine with two fabric guides
[‘guides en étoffe’]. When the machine is launched, the propellers turn
extraordinarily fast. The Wrights, it seems will soon reach a speed of 40 mph. They
say that the absence of wind is as difficult for them a very strong wind. The
Wrights are the son of Bishop Milton Wright, a man who spends all his leisure
time overlooking and blessing the flying machine. [end of article]
After finding this document, Coquelle looked for witnesses of the
Wrights’ flying. One whom he found is magistrate [‘juge de paix’] who owns a
small house near Springfield and also near the great prairie where the Wrights
most recently flew. He saw them making various flights in the early morning
(their preferred flying time). The machine flew at several metres above the
surface, evenly, and made large circles before returning to its departure
point.
Coquelle also went with his friend Johnson, by car, to the trial
field, and spoke to the owners of the two closest farms. These confirmed the
Wrights’ flights.
Back in Dayton, Coquelle spoke to the father of an associate of Johnson’s
who had happened to see, from the tramway, the Wrights’ machine flying a large
8 over the prairie; and also to the director of the Dayton Daily News, who was present at the trial reported in the
newspaper.
Coquelle returned to France firmly convinced of the reality of the
Wrights’ success – as he has declared in writing in the Auto, and as he declared at a meeting of the Commission d’aviation
de l’AéroClub de France on 27 December.
[L’Aérophile’s words] ‘After the detailed information gathered on
site by our colleague, it became increasingly difficult to be doubtful of this
capital point in the history of aerial locomotion: the complete success of the first self-propelled
aeroplane, carrying a man, covering distances of several miles, flying
according to the will of the experimenter, and regaining at his command its point
of departure.’]
After the above had taken place, L’Aérophile
received a reply to a letter it had sent to the Wrights. This contained information
that completed what they had previously sent.
[Wrights’ letter, Dayton, 13 December 1905]
Thanks for letter of 30 November.
Names of people who attended their flights in early October are given,
but the request is that they should not be published, for fear that the people
would be inundated with requests for information.
The terrain where the most recent trials took places is a prairie, 0.8
x 0.4 kms in size. But its form is irregular, so that the circles flown were of
barely 1.5 km. [total length?] The length of flights was measured by a Richard
anemometer, set up to start at launch and stop when the engine stopped. As the
motor was cut a little before landing, the flights are slight longer than
indicated. With straight-line flights, the anemometer corresponded closely with
measured distance. In circling flight, measurement could not be easily done. So
the distances given there are those recorded by the anemometer. The 30 km
flight contained 29.7 circuits around the prairie. The time was recorded by
three chronometers, one attached to the anemometer.
Airspeed in all flights was close to 1 km/minute. Groundspeed varied
with wind and the part of the course being overflown. From 3 to 9 October,
flying was at 25 metres above ground. Before then, the height used was 3-4
metres. Speed seems much higher close to the ground.
p. 20 For the moment, the
Wrights prefer not to give details of their machine. They note only that
lightness has not been particularly pursued. The parts of the motor are of the
same weight as is found with car engines. The wings and building of the
aircraft are much heavier than is usual in flying machines.
They have no difficulties with landings, and the aircraft flies
repeatedly without repair. This is the result of ‘high scientific efficiency’
of the aircraft and propellers, and particularly of the recently perfected
methods of balance and steering. It was often said in the 19th
century that lack of light motors prevented flight. This is quite wrong. At the
normal speed of birds, a well designed airplane can now carry 30 kilos per
horsepower. Motors designed 50 years ago would serve well in such airplanes.
There follow the names of 17 witnesses, 14 of them from Dayton.
‘Letter of Mr Weawer [sic] to Mr. Frank S. Lahm’
After the publication of an article on the Wrights’ experiences in the
Auto of 30 November 1905, Mr Lahm
cabled a relative, M. Weawer (junior), asking for confirmation of the Wrights’
assertions . (Lahm is described here as the ‘doyen’ of pilots in the AéroClub
de France, who has done much to make public the accomplishments of the Wright
brothers.)
Weawer, not knowing the purpose of the message, passed it to his
father in Chicago. He, in turn, sent a cable to ‘Wright Dayton’, and in the
end, reached them. Weawer [which?] then sent Lahm a confirming telegram,
published in L’Aérophile in December
1905. A letter from him followed.
[the letter] Mansfield, Ohio,
6 December 1905.
He was in Chicago on 1 December 1905 at the Grand Pacific Hotel. He
went to bed early after a hard day, but was wakened by a phone called
announcing the arrival of a telegram – which told him to verify the claims of
the Wright brothers, if necessary by going to Dayton. [This is presumably the
telegram from Weawer, son.] He telegraphed the Wrights, for enlightenment. They
replied, but he was not enlightened. He cabled again, asking if they knew Lahm,
in Paris. They replied that they did.
Weawer was uncertain who the Wrights were; but then recalled reports
of their flights in N. Carolina some years ago. He informed them that he would
be in Dayton the following morning. When he arrived, no-one knew of the
Wrights. Finally the boy who had delivered the telegrams told him where they
lived. Returning to his hotel, Weawer there found Orville Wright.
Orville’s appearance inspired trust. He was a young man of about thirty,
slender, with more a poet’s face than an inventor’s or a businessman’s. His
head and face recall Edgar Allen Poe.
The place where the Wrights had flown was only 12 km away. They
quickly took the tramway, and were there in less than an hour. The field had a
hangar for the plane, and three trees, which showed the limits of the circles
flown. During the tramway journey, Orville Wright had reported on the 1905
flights, totaling about 50. The frame of the aircraft is of larch wood. The
width [wingspan] is 40 feet. The motor burns gasoline; though built by the
Wrights, it is very similar to the Pope-Taylor car engine. It gives 12-15 hp,
and weighs 240 lbs.
p. 21 The frame is covered
with good quality ‘mousseline’ [muslin?]. The aircraft has skids, like a
sledge, high enough to protect the propellers. The total weight, with motor, is
925 lbs. The pilot lies prone. It is found that if weight is placed below the
centre of gravity, a tendency to roll results. Therefore the weight is as far
as possible concentrated. There is no rudder, strictly speaking. The tail
serves only to change vertical direction[?]. The aircraft is steered in a
different way [not described], to make circles or figure eights.
By 1 October 1905 the Wrights had made flights of 10-12 miles; then 16
miles on 3 October; 21 miles on 4 October; 21.25 miles on 5 October. Wright
[which?] weighs 145 lbs; they also carried 50 lbs of iron in the front of the
aircraft. The machine made 29 circles in 38 minutes. With following wind, speed
reached 60 mph. The flight was at 20 metres height, just above the top of the
trees. Height was increased slightly in turns.
The Wrights have kept these flights as secret as possible. The tramway
stock passes every half hour. They flew while nothing was passing. The
surrounding farmers are the only ones who saw the flights; and after two years
they have become blasé.
M. D. Beard lives on the other side of the road to Springfield, close
to the trial field. Orville Wright took Weawer to see him. He, a man of about
60, says there is no doubt about the flights. He has seen many of them. Another
nearby farmer confirmed the flights.
p. 22 Then Weawer and O. Wright
returned to Dayton. They saw W. C. Foust, a friend of Wright’s. He had been a
witness of the flight of 5 October, confirming its length and the number of
times the aircraft had circled the field. Foust is young and enthusiastic; and
though the Wrights had warned him not to speak of their flying, he did so, so
that the next day the field was crowded with people carrying ‘kodak’s. The
Wrights regretfully stopped their trials and took the aircraft back to town. That
was the end of trials in 1905.
Then Weawer went to the Wrights’ house, where they live with their
father, as ‘pasteur’. ‘I found the elder brother, Wilbur, still calmer, less
demonstrative than his brother; he is of the student, reclusive type.’ Neither
is married. The brothers say they cannot afford at the same time the cost of a
family and of a flying machine. They
have gradually abandoned making bicycles, which they started twelve years ago.
They have carefully studied bird flight, and have made pressure tables that can
be applied to aircraft. In doing this they have found many errors in the rules
established by others; though they think Lilienthal very advanced – more so
than others who followed him.
The Wrights have paid much attention to the scientific building of
their motor, to the arrangement of wings, and of propellers. Their success
shows that they know more than others.
[end of Weawer’s letter]
[L’Aérophile’s editors] Lahm considers his correspondent as a most
reliable man, and one capable of judging declarations made to him. It becomes
more and more difficult to avoid sharing his reports and view [‘Il semble de
plus en plus difficile de ne point partager son opinion’.]
[This seems, then, the acceptance by a major French aviation journal,
at the end of 1905, that the Wrights had flown successfully. This finding,
however, was not generally accepted by the French aviation community. Only in
August 1908, when Wilbur Wright flew in France, did French fliers see, and
finally acknowledge, what the Wrights had done. Seeing was (finally)
believing.]
………………………………………..
L’Aérophile, January 1906, pp. 18-23, ‘L’aéroplane Wright’ [article signed Aérophile] [The last section of this
article, pp. 22-3, is entitled ‘L’achat de l’aéroplane Wright par un Syndicat
français]
p. 22 Some people in France
are so convinced of the truth of the above reports that they have made a
contract with the Wrights for the purchase of their machine.
M. Arnold Fordyce left Paris in mid-December last for Dayton, OH, for
discussions with the Wright brothers. Only a few people knew of his journey,
and its purpose. There was therefore great surprise [in Paris] when telegrams
came from American journals about a French Syndicate. But reports of the
purchase of the Wrights’ machine became more certain. The New Work Herald published an article on the topic, the content of
which has never been challenged.
[The article, in French] New
York, Thursday, 4 January 1906.
Mr. Fordyce, from Paris, has revealed in an interview that a contract
exists for the purchase of the Wright aeroplane. The contract stipulates that
the Wrights shall within three months demonstrate their machine, flying 50 km
in an hour (after take off under its own power). The Wrights showed photographs
of their aircraft in flight. If the trials are successful, the French
government will possess the greatest discovery of the age.
Having returned to Paris, Mr. Fordyce has confirmed his dealings with
the Wrights. What he says is backed by a letter from the Wright brothers to
Frank S. Lahm in Paris:
Dayton, Ohio, 3 January 1906
They have just signed with Mr. Arnold Fordyce, who represents various
people in Paris,
p. 23 an option contract
[‘contrat d’option’] about the first machine they are offering for sale, which
will be destined for the French army. They have alsojust received a letter from
a ‘Société National du Commerce’ of another European country [Austria], which,
having heard of their sale offer for one million [francs? dollars?] to the
French government, also wishes to offer the aircraft, as a national gift, to
the Emperor. But their engagement with the French prevents them from giving an
exclusive option.
Their motor is very satisfactory in reliability [‘régularité’] and
power, but weighs much more than French motors of the same power. But doubling
its weight would not create any difficulties for flight. They have not striven
to save weight, but have pursued solidity and efficiency. The aircraft takes
off and lands without damage. The motor is reasonably powerful, consuming less
than a pound of gasoline per hp/hour.
They have not yet begun to consider commercial companies, because they
hope to be adequately remunerated without doing that. [end of letter]
[L’Aérophile’s comments]
What is the Wrights’ selling price? $300,000 has been mentioned. Is
the approach from an individual or a group of investors? What is the French
government’s interest? These are questions that are still open.
The journal accepts that the Wrights have flown. It may be regretted
that that was not accomplished in France. But the Wrights will receive the
glory due to them, and the material benefit that is due to them.
………………………………………
1908
9 May, p.5.
[this is the first
report seen in Le Matin about the
Wright brothers]
There is a report
in the USA of the Wrights’ experiences at Manteu [sic -- i.e. Manteo, NC] on 6
May 1908.
Their aircraft,
with a 20 hp motor, took off from an iron rail, running along it for 100
metres. The take off was at 25 mph (40 kph). The aircraft rose to height of 6
metres. Both Wrights were in the
aircraft, for a flight of some 300 metres. The landing was easy.
This – after
aviation events in France over the past six months – would be banal except for
the aircraft carrying two people.
Detail is needed on
the take off rail. Was the flight straight? Was the height consistent?
‘It seems to be
written that the Wrights’ experiences will always be wrapped in mystery.’ The
Wrights’ work is hidden, in contrast with French aviators’ activities.
About the Wrights,
only these figures are known (provided by the Wrights themselves): on 3 October
1905, they flew 24 kilometres; on 4 October 1905, 33 kilometres; on 5 October,
38 kilometres in 38 minutes.
[There is another
puzzled and skeptical response to reports on the Wrights in Le Matin, 16 May 1908.]
……………………………………
17 May, p.5.
Henry Farman has
issued a challenge to the Wrights for speed and distance flying in France, with
a prize of 25,000 francs.
…………………………………..
6 August, p.?
Wright’s aeroplane
has been taken to the horse racing track at Le Mans [‘le champs de course du
Mans’] from the workshop [‘usine’] where it was assembled. The first trials
will take place when Wright is in perfect health to pilot the aircraft.
………………………………………..
9 August, p.1.
[title] ‘Wright has
flown. Moving with the ease of a bird, he has executed a circuit of 800 metres
and has flown for a minute and forty-five seconds.’
From Le Mans, 8
August, dispatch of a special reporter:
A legend
disappears; a mystery is dispelled. Wright has flown with such ease that there
is no doubt now about the enigmatic experiences previously reported from America.
There is no doubt he can stay in the air for an hour.
Present at the Le
Mans race course were a small group of sportsmen, aviators, and aeronauts: Hart
O. Berg (who is sponsoring Wright in France), Archdeacon, Blériot, Paul and
Edmond Zens, Léon Bollée, and two officers of the Russian army sent by their
government to study aviation in France.
Wright refused to
allow photographs, though photographers were present.
About 3 p.m. Wright
decided to take the aircraft from the hangar. ’He installed slowly, meticulously -- for this man is meticulousness itself –
his machine’s rudder. He installed the two towing trolleys. Then, close to the
point of departure, he took pleasure in turning the motor over several times,
to check ignition, the inlet of fuel, and to set, in several stages,
distribution [of fuel?]. Then he installed, with infinite precautions, the
launching machine.’
The aircraft rests
on two wooden skates, not on wheels, and must be launched. A small trolley with
two wheels moves along a single rail, as the aircraft is pulled by a rope
attached to a 300 kilo weight (with the rope passing over a pulley). The weight
is at the top of a 3 metre pylon. The pilot can release the weight – as Wright
did, once he was seated in the aircraft with the propellers turning. As the
trolley stopped at the end of its run, the aircraft took flight, pitching up.
It was the most extraordinary thing that can be imagined. ‘The aeroplane was in
the air, slipping along with an incomparable ‘maestria’. It seemed to move on
waves, slightly rising and falling, making graceful curves and easy turns.
Wright flew two
circles of 800 metres with great ease of manoeuvre. He moved levers for changes
of direction, stability, and warping [‘gauchissement’] with his hands and feet.
He returned to the departure point, and there landed with marvelous certainty.
For the sake of coquetry, Wright stopped between a building and a stand of
trees, without touching either. The spectators rushed towards him with loud
applause. ‘M. Hart O. Berg, transported – to each his turn [‘chacun son tour’]
– planted a big kiss on his cheek.’
Wright was calm and phlegmatic, but possibly a little moved. ‘His face
was shining with pleasure.’
The flight began at
6.30 p.m. and lasted 1 minute 45 seconds.
Wright said he had
fuel and water to fly for an hour. But today he wanted only to check that his
controls were working well. He said he had made several control errors, because
the ‘direction controls were not the same as they were in my last flights in
the USA’. But he recovered immediately from errors. He was a little disturbed
by the complete absence of wind [for launch?], but all went well.
He will continue
trials on Monday, and will soon be able to fly for an hour, ‘and to make a
visit to the inhabitants of Le Mans’.
Then, calmly,
Wright (who likes to do everything himself) replaced the two dollies under the
aircraft and returned to the hangar.
The Russian
officers, asked about this experience, said it was interesting. A similar
machine could have army use for reconnaissance.
Blériot told the Le Matin reporter: ‘This machine, I
admit, shows a current superiority over our aeroplanes. But wait a little. In a
short time Wright will be equaled and even passed. Aviation will make progress
that we cannot even imagine.’
……………………………………………..
Monday 10 August,
p.1.
(from Le Matin’s correspondent in Le Mans, 9
August)
It is clear that
Wright could have won the Deutsch-Archdeacon prize before Farman. He shows such
facility in flying an aircraft that has been in France for a year. [The
aircraft was indeed brought to France in 1907.] ‘One is left somewhat
astounded.’ Wright could also have taken the 15 minutes duration award – in
fact, all prizes. ‘But Wright, who has however nothing in common with the
Garonne, did not want to [compete for prizes, presumably]. We have perhaps
misjudged them, Orville and Wilbur.’
Only a few minutes
with Wilbur Wright convinces one that he cannot lie.
‘Very
uncommunicative, talking little (he cheered up a little only yesterday),
leading an ascetic’s life, seeing only his flying machine, thinking only of it,
eating and sleeping beside it, with a meticulousness that is at times
irritating – which is to be explained by the care he takes to leave nothing to
chance – Wright an is infinitely curious type.’
Wilbur and Orville
are the sons of a bishop. They worked for some years with the ‘great Chanute’.
One recalls their ‘mysterious experiments’ of 1903-05’, well before
Santos-Dumont, and a recent demonstration during a fortnight on the dunes of
Manteo ([North] Carolina).
[The article then
describes the Wrights’ airplane, with good pictures and drawings. The engine
and control levers are shown. The simplicity and lightness are stressed. ]
p.2. The lever
controlling direction moves fore and aft to control the rudder, and from side
to side for warping the wing. Warping [‘gauchissement’] is still described as a
means of levelling the wings.
But the Wright
aircraft is not perfect, as questions posed to French aviators present show:
Positive aspects –
all is used, nothing wasted; the air works on all parts of the planes; there is
no vertical surface (apart from the rudder) to cause resistance. All the force
of the motor is used. Aviators say this is the most interesting aspect of the
machine. They use propellers turning at 1,050-1,100 rpm, and some ‘force’ is
lost. They are content with engines giving 50 hp, and no less. Wright uses 25
hp. His propellers (geared down through pulleys) turn at 450-500 rpm, yet he
flies at 55-60 kph with a weight of 450-500 kilos. This is surprising and
instructive.
Blériot states that
the action of the wind is nil, and must be made nil through the speed of the
machine [sic]. Wright is happy only when he finds a rather strong wind. He uses
it in employing his warping and his elevator.
There is no
framework in the fuselage [‘châssis’] to add weight and drag – an advantage,
says Archdeacon.
Negative aspects –
the aircraft cannot take off again if it lands away from the launch point.
On this point, Berg
says that Wright has said he will fit two wheels, which will retract after take
off, ‘just as a bird folds up its legs when it flies’.
Archdeacon thinks
that the handling [‘conduite’] of the Wright machine – rather like ‘an aerial
yacht with wings’ – will take longer than that of French machines, and is more
dangerous.
Blériot and Gasnier
think that wing warping will deform the airplane. They prefer balanced ailerons
on the wings (in the case of biplanes) or on the monoplane wing. Ailerons do
exactly the same thing as warping and are more easily handled.
‘Farman,
Delagrange, Blériot are flying men; Wright is the bird man.’
The purpose of
Wright’s trials:
Berg says that
Wright must twice fly more than 50 kilometres in less than one hour, in an
average wind, with the aircraft carrying two men and with enough fuel to cover
200 kilometres. If he does this, Wright will receive 500,000 francs [$100,000],
but will surrender his patents for France and its colonies. It is possible,
says Berg, that Wright will not fly over the race course to cover the 50
kilometres, but will go across country and return to the starting point. Height does bother him.
Wright will
continue his trials tomorrow. Photographs will now be allowed.
………………………………………
11 August, p.1.
Though Wright had
said that he would now allow photographs of his machine, he changed his mind
this morning – to the point of demanding and receiving the ‘Kodack’ of a
Captain from the 117th infantry who had taken a picture of the
machine. Wright threatened to put the aircraft away if the camera were not
handed over.
Wright emerged at 6
a.m., and brought the aircraft out of the hangar at 10 a.m.. But he did not fly
until 6.32 p.m.. The first take off was not successful because of a ‘false
manoeuvre’ by an aide. The right wing touched the ground, and the aircraft
stopped in a very tilted position. The second flight took place at 7.10 p.m..
The take off was good but the motor had an excess of fuel and misfired. The
flight lasted only 48 seconds.
The third flight
was at 7.30 p.m., almost nightfall. It was a fine trial. Wright flew figures of
eight for about 1,700 metres in 1 minutes 37.35 seconds, landing at the take
off point.
………………………………………..
12 August, p.1.
Wright flew 4
kilometres on 11 August. He was in very good humour, but was still phlegmatic
and astonished by the interest of the public. ‘I work for myself, not for the
public’, he said.
Wright takes a one
hour siesta every afternoon, and will not change his habits, despite public
impatience. Yesterday he took the aircraft out at 5 p.m., interrupting assembly
to make reels with a piece of string that he always carries wrapped around a
finger, or to sit on the grass.
Berg and Bollée
urge patience. Wright is now simply preparing the aircraft and himself for a
10, 15, or 25 kilometre flight next week.
Delagrange, now
back in Paris, has declared his admiration for Wright. He has said ‘We are
beaten’.
There is continued
‘war’ today against photographs. Police have been posted to prevent any
photographing of the aircraft. Photographers have taken to hiding behind bushes
and trees, and crawling through the brush on their stomachs to get pictures.
Wright flew at 6.40
p.m., four times around the racecourse for 8[?] minutes and 42 seconds, landing
in front of an enthusiastic crowd. There was no wind. Wright waited until late
in the day for this calm.
……………………………………….
13 August, p.1.
Wright flew for 6
minutes yesterday [or possibly today – he flew very early in the morning, and
the report is dated 13 August, Le Mans].
He was this morning
in a ‘charming humour’. Few spectators, reporters and photographers were
present. Wright ‘is certainly the most extraordinary man one can imagine’, ‘the
perfect type of inventor pushing minutiae to the smallest details, meticulous
to the point of mania.’ For example, he
refused to use French string for certain attachments on his aircraft; Bollée
had to get some from the USA.
He lives as a
veritable ascetic in his hangar, where he sleeps by his aircraft in a bed made
from a wooden box. Needing a needle to
repair a tear in his jacket, he refused those offered to him and made one from
a piece of steel wire.
The flight showed
the controllability and capacity for manoeuvre of the aircraft. This was in a
gusty wind. Wright flew some 6 kilometres.
Kapferer, the
engineer of the dirigible Ville-de-Paris, has come to see Wright fly. He is
most enthusiastic and congratulates Wright.
[Kapferer’s
comments}: he and Henri Deutsch had long believed in the Wrights’ successes in
the USA from 1900 onwards. They had published pamphlets on the Wrights’ gliding
flights. He (Kapferer) had always opposed people who accused the Wrights of
bluffing. Kapferer is especially impressed by Wright’s motor, since there was
no light motor in America. The Wrights are now having four motors of their
design built in France. The maker [not identified] says the motor is
remarkable.
Kapferer is also
surprised by how slowly the aircraft flies, and that it stays up at such a low
speed. Also impressive is how easily it
counters the yaws caused by the wind. ‘One has the impression that he is going
for a ride in the air, as we are in an armchair.’
Wright’s aircraft
is very ‘rustic, almost rudimentary, and nonetheless a marvel of ingenuity’.
Imagine what the performance of such an aircraft would be if it were made with
complete mechanical perfection. Kapferer finds the launching method very practical.
It has been hard in France to find terrain suited to wheeled take offs.
Wright’s light rail could be set anywhere, and the pylon could be any post held
up by three wires.
The Wright aircraft
would give valuable service in the military. Its price is minimal. It would
complement the service of dirigibles. A secret of the aircraft is its use of
large propellers, turning slowly. The same principle is used on the
Ville-de-Paris. Wright’s success should
give French fliers total confidence in the future of their own aircraft. [End
of Kapferer’s comments.]
………………………………………..
13 August, p.3.
At Les Hunaudières,
Wright flew this evening (12 August) despite strong winds, because of the
presence of Miss Pierpont Morgan, daughter of the American millionaire, and Miss
Elizabeth Murray, daughter of the well-known publisher. Wright flew twice. On
the second flight, at 7 p.m., he went to 20 metres height and flew 2
kilometres. Miss Pierpont Morgan congratulated him warmly.
Wright says that
manoeuvering his aircraft is currently very difficult. ‘He has to manoeuvre
with two levers, which he is obliged to move in contrary directions at the same
time. This dissociation of the movements of each one, contrary to the habits of
symmetry of human limbs, demands an apprenticeship which he is now
undertaking.’ [This sounds odd, unless Wright had changed the working of
controls on his aircraft from what they had been since 1903. It is just
possible that he was contrasting the controls on his machine with the generally
simpler arrangement on the French aircraft.]
……………………………………….
Friday, 14 August,
p.1.
[the article has a
large photograph of the Wright aircraft in flight, and a smaller one of Wilbur
Wright seated at the controls.]
[title] ‘Wright
climbs to 30 metres height. He performance has been discussed.’ (Report from
the Le Matin correspondent at Le
Mans, 13 August 1908)
[The article starts
with a possibly rather happy report that Wright crashed yesterday]
‘He has truly, like
other flying men, broken some wood and torn some cloth.’ The day began well.
Wright emerged about 7.15 a.m., performed a standard take off, and turned, as
before, to the left side of the race course. Then he climbed, turned sharply,
returned to the centre of the field; and then, ‘with a movement of the stabilizer,
almost lurching’, the airplane rose to 25-30 metres, turned over a line of
poplars, came back and, nine times, flew a complete circle. It landed gently
after 8 minutes 16 seconds.
There were few
spectators present. Wright took off again. But the motor, with the ignition too
far advanced, misfired. At 25 metres Wright cut the electrical circuit,
intending to glide a half circle and land between the pylon and a building. But
he accidentally applied warping opposite to what he intended. The left wing tip
hit the ground. Wood broke and cloth tore. Wright rose from the aircraft,
lifting his arms like an automaton, and then dropping them again without saying
a word. And that was all.’ He said it
was an ‘incident’, not an ‘accident’. He recovered his phlegm, whistled, and
said that repair would take a few days. He began work.
The Wright aircraft
gives rise to much discussion. Here are the views of a young Italian naval
officer, Mario Calderara, who recently arrived in Paris to see the current
development of French flying. He has been working hard on aerial navigation for
ten years.
Calderara has a
great respect for the Wrights’ accomplishments. He admires their reflexive
ability to use difficult controls – clearly the result of a long
apprenticeship. But French genius is the equal of American genius. The Wrights
have gone for quick success, while the French engineers have aimed to make
aircraft accessible to all – i.e. they have sought to remove the risks of a
long learning period by making aircraft capable of taking off from anywhere,
and also easy to manoeuvre. French aviation has been reflexively [and
negatively] compared to American aviation, and French fliers were fully aware
of the Wrights’ doings [they were not]. In 1904 Gabriel Voisin, then
collaborating with Archdeacon, had ‘established perfect and complete plans of a
Wright machine’; and Calderara had also studied the type.
[Calderara
continues] The Wright aircraft is intrinsically unstable. Its balance in the
air is achieved only through levers for wing warping, the elevator, and the
rudder. The pilot must constantly use these levers. The ‘French school’ has
sought to eliminate that necessity by creating stable aircraft that
automatically balance themselves. The French biplane has no warping, but has a
biplane or monoplane tail to achieve
balance [in pitch – no reference to roll]. Farman and Delagrange are
high-achieving examples of this. French aircraft are still developing. Blériot
has been moving towards monoplanes. Voisin is faithful to superimposed wings,
reducing span.
The French and
American schools of flight will compete. France will prevail. French aircraft
have balance by virtue of their form, without warping.
[Interesting
commentary from Calderara. His emphasis on the inbuilt stability of French
aircraft is correct. He was right about French aircraft prevailing – but only
after they had added roll control (with warping or ailerons) which he ignores
or dismisses].
…………………………………………..
14 August, p.3.
[article by the
Voisin brothers, reproduced from Éclair] ‘Farman et Wright’
There is much talk
of the ‘amazing mechanical utilization [efficiency?]’ of Wright.
But comparison
refutes this: Farman, in a biplane Voisin
machine, flew 1,500 metres (limited only by the length of the field) carrying
Ernest Archdeacon as a passenger [at Ghent, presumably]. The total weight
lifted was 645 kilos, with the motor giving 38 hp at 1,100 rpm [presumably the
Antoinette – in which case the power should have been higher than 38 hp].
The Wright aircraft
weighs 450 kilos, and has 25-27 hp. Also consider that the Voisin aircraft has
greater drag, because of its framework [‘châssis’].
[Hence the
arithmetic: 645/38 = 16.97 kilos/hp for
the Voisin machine. 450/25 = 18 kilos/hp for the Wright aircraft. How this
shows the superiority of the Voisin aircraft perhaps only the Voisins could
explain].
………………………………………….
15 August, La Vie au Grand Air, supplement to No.
517
pp. 127-30 François
Peyrey, ‘Wilbur Wright s’envole’
[This starts with
standard enthusing about Wright’s ease of flight manoeuvring]
The take off rail
is sufficient for launch when there is wind. The pylon and 700 kilo weight are
used only in calm. The use of the pylon gives a very short take off run. This
could be useful in military applications. [The comparison with a helicopter is
raised.]
Spectators could
observe the warping of the wings during turns.
[The article
recognizes the truth of reports about the Wrights’ flights in 1905; and the
relative lag of French aviation. French biplanes at Issy are only an incomplete
copy of the Wright machine.]
Wright’s motor
works perfectly. Its bare weight is 70 kilos; 90 kilos in working order [‘ordre
de marche’]. [The power is given again as 25 hp – which would mean that the
power-to-weight ratios of French motors are better than the Wrights’.]
[Nothing else new
here. There is no further mention of the link between wing warping and turning
– only of warping’s link with stability.]
…………………………………….
18 August, p.5.
The Le Hunaudières
racecourse is too small. Wright had to turn every 12 seconds. The military have
approved his move to the Camp d’Auvours once troops have left for manoeuvres.
Two hangars are to be built and two pylons at a distance of 5 kilometres from
each other. Wright will fly between them. There will be less fatigue for him,
and distances will be exactly measured. Wright may try to fly there from Les
Hunaudières. Repairs to the Wright aircraft from the recent accident are mostly
done.
…………………………………………
19 August, p.5.
Wright’s aircraft
was carried to the Camp d’Auvours on a cart pulled by a car (on 18 August). It
is now repaired and ready to fly.
………………………………………..
19 August, p.1.
‘Les Chercheurs
d’Ailes’ [article on the Voisin brothers; extracted here are Gabriel Voisin’s
remarks about the Wrights]
His admiration for
the Wrights is very great. But the Wright aircraft will never be usable, except
possibly as a sporting device. It will never be an industrial product. The
machine is like a unicycle, in comparison to a tricycle or bicycle. To use it
demands long study and a calling as an acrobat. Wright’s aircraft can only be
an ‘amateur’s or sportsman’s bird’. It is too big (12 metres span). With such
wings it is impossible to make sharp turns or to move along routes [‘circuler
sur les routes’]. And the machine is too open to control errors. [Is Voisin
referring to Wright’s recent accident? And has he seen the aircraft fly? If so,
he could not say that it was incapable of sharp turns.]
Voisin repeats the
standard criticism of the Wright aircraft’s launching from a rail.
………………………………………...
22 August, La Vie au Grand Air, No. 518
pp. 132-3. François
Peyrey, ‘Wilbur Wright s’entrâine’
[There is whole
paragraph here on warping, but without reference to its function in turning. It
is seen as a means of stability. Peyrey does note the adverse yaw effect of the
wing with the lowered trailing edge. He discusses warping as a greater or
lesser angle of incidence, and admires the warping mechanism. The adverse yaw
and slowing of the wing with increased incidence causes no problem.]
[He offers one new
criticism of the Wright aircraft: the propeller shafts run in bronze bearings
without thrust ball races [‘buttées à billes’]. These have overheated in the
past in the USA – according to a ‘famous letter’ from the Wrights to Georges
Besançon of 17 November 1905. But there seems to be no problem now in Wright’s
French flights.]
[In stability,
Wright’s aircraft is likened to a bicycle; and the French machines to a
tricycle, with almost automatic stability provided by the tail (where there is
none in the Wright machine){not so – although the Wrights’ tail has only
vertical surfaces}. The Wrights’ airplane may be preferable because it is more
manoeuvrable, more responsive to the pilot, and more flexible [‘souple’].
………………………………………………..
Scientific American, 22 August
1908
p. 125 [end of article ‘Recent foreign aeroplanes’]
At ‘the end of a
second two minute flight, [Wright] struck one wing in landing while attempting
to make a sharp turn, and damaged the machine slightly. The first flight was
made at 6.30 am and there was a fresh breeze blowing at the time. This seemed
to have no effect upon Mr. Wright’s control of the machine, however, and he
soared to a height of from 50 to 60 feet, and maintained this elevation with
the greatest ease. As no material was at hand for repairing the aeroplane,
several days will be required in which to do this.
The flights of Mr.
Wilbur Wright have completely vindicated him in the eyes of the foreign
aeronautic world, and all the aeronauts and men of science have watched his
performances with the greatest enthusiasm. His brother, Orville Wright, expects
to experiment, during the present week, or the week immediately following, at
Fort Myer, near WashingtonD.C.’
…………………………………………………
24 August, p.5.
At the Comice
Agricole de la Flêche [the agricultural show at La Flêche] Wright received an
ovation, with many notable people present. The American anthem [‘hymne’] was
played, and the public shouted ‘Vive la science’. The president of the Comice,
Senator d’Estournelles de Constant, praised France for its aviators, and
congratulated Wright on coming to France to find a more favourable milieu for
his trials. The two Wrights received commemorative medals.
……………………………………….
25 August, p.2.
[column title]
‘Wright travaille et laisse dire. Il est heureux and calme’.
[telephoned
dispatch from Le Mans, 24 August]
Wright will try
long distances soon. He ran his motor for half an hour yesterday with long flights
in mind. All was well. He did not fly today, the wind being too strong (though
it was less than 6 metres/second, which is the minimum [maximum?] speed set for
his trials).
Blériot, the Zens
brothers, and H and M Kapferer were at Auvours today. Blériot wonders how long
Wright will delay [in doing what?] – a month, a year? Wright has great
patience.
Wright meanwhile
does as he pleases, paying little attention to comment from any source. At
Auvours he is ‘as happy as a prince’, receiving daily visits from a thousand
people coming in cars, on bicycles, and on foot, or on the special ‘voitures
omnibus’ [from Le Mans?] carrying the sign ‘Aéroplane Auvours’.
He has a free guard
of thirty cavalry or infantry on fatigue duty -- who assure him free access to
the field, clear [the ground in front of] the hangar, guard the reserved
enclosure, and inspect invitees’ passes.
At La Flèche
yesterday he was received with four American tunes, since the head of the
orchestra did not know which was the correct one.
Henry Farman
arrived at Le Mans in the evening [of the 24th or 25th],
and was much fêted by friends, aviators, and ‘simple mortals’.
[The contrast
between Farman’s reception in New York and Wright’s in France is striking; as is also the contrast between the services
provided to Wright and those given to French flyers.]
…………………………………………
27 August, p.1.
‘Wright, calm,
waits for Nature’s calm.’
[Le Mans, 26
August]
‘Wright is making
us languish’
The weather seemed
fine for flight today, with winds of 3-4 metres/second; but Wright did nothing.
The public, rather irritated by this inaction, offers various explanations:
there is too much wind; there are too many flies; or the presence of Henry
Farman at Le Mans (is stopping Wright from flying until he leaves).
The best
explanation seems to be that Wright has slightly modified the front stabilizer
[elevator?], as well as one [other?] control. So as not to make a mistake
before a public that might laugh at him, he awaits calm conditions.
……………………………………………
Scientific American, 29 August
1908
p. 135 Wilbur Wright has moved from the race track
[Les Hunaudières] at Le Mans because of its small size (670x2,600 feet) and
because the ‘great crowd of spectators somewhat confused him’.
He has gone to a
military field at Auvours, which is ‘several miles’ in length and almost one
mile wide.
After repairs to a
broken plane [i.e. wing] the aircraft was towed to Auvours by automobile – a
distance of 7 miles in 45 minutes. There followed a delay of several days [not
explained]. Then on 21 August Wright resumed practice with two ‘excellent’
flights of 1 minutes 46 seconds and 2 minutes 18 seconds, in a 7 mph wind. He
flew a figure eight and other ‘complicated curves’ at a height of 10 to 50
feet. A ‘great crowd’ saw these flights, even though the field is much less
accessible than the race track.
‘Some German
military men who witnessed [the flights] expressed great admiration of the
machine and its aviator.’
When flying with
the wind on his second flight, Wright estimated his speed at almost 50 mph
[presumably the ground speed], faster than he has ever flown before. It is
probably that Wright will be required to make a 50 kilometre flight ‘within a
very few days’ [a condition set by the body that was proposing to build Wright
aircraft in France].
………………………………………….
31 August, p.1.
‘The history of W.
Wright, recounted by himself’
Wright emphasizes
his collaboration with Orville Wright. They began in 1900, when aviation seemed
dead. The science of aviation had had a period of extraordinary activity from
1889 to 1896, when men of great genius (Langley and Chanute in the USA, Maxim,
Phillips and Pilcher in England, Marey, Ader and Mouillard in France,
Lilienthal in Germany, Hargrave in Australia) had given glimpses of great
things.
But the deaths of
Lilienthal and Pilcher, and the enormous sums spent on research by Maxim, Ader
and others, brought the beginning enthusiasm to an end – and discouragement.
The Wrights learned
of the experience of their predecessors by reading their books and pamphlets.
They studied their failures and thought that most of the mistakes could be
corrected. At first the Wrights thought of aviation as a sport they could
engage in for part of the year in some large and deserted place, using a simple
camp. They had few funds. They chose Kitty-Hawk because it was a large and
deserted area, with strong, regular winds. They began in October 1900. Their
first glider was quite similar, in its form and systems [‘dispositifs’], to
their most recent aircraft. It had the forward stabilizer [‘équilibreur’] and
wing warping. These were two novelties that derived from the Wrights’ observation.
The 1901 aircraft
was similar to that of 1900, but twice as big. Its performance did not,
however, match expectations that they had gained from reading studies by the
precursors. So they decided to throw out all pamphlets and to work alone. They
devoted themselves in their workshop [‘laboratoire’] to scientific research on
various forms of wings.
After they found
that making a glider float in the wind, with the help of a cord, was barely
practicable, ‘we decided to launch ourselves off the top of the dunes, and,
lying flat on the aircraft, in 1900 and 1901 we made a great many gliding
flights’.
But only with the
1902 machine, built according to their own formulae, did they make quick
progress. They made more than 1,000 gliding flights, the longest lasting 26
seconds and covering about 200 metres. Many flights were made in winds of 15-16
metres/second.
They invited Octave
Chanute, an aviation writer and experimenter to Kitty Hawk. In 1903 Chanute, on
a trip to Europe, gave in France an account of the Wrights’ activities, and
published in a technical journal a description of the 1902 glider, with drawings.
At that time Archdeacon, whose interest was roused by Chanute’s visit,
contracted two young mechanics, the Voisin brothers, to build him a glider of
the Wright type.
To the end of 1902
the Wrights worked merely to do better than their predecessors – there was
pleasure in that – without a thought of regaining what they had spent, and
without much hope of seeing the question of aviation soon resolved. But the
success of the third glider was such that they thought it possible to make a
powered aircraft of practical value.
They spent 1903 on
the design of an airplane motor, which did not exist at the time. They had to
do everything – the motor and the aircraft. On 17 December 1903 they made four
flights into a 9-10 metre/second wind. The longest lasted 59 seconds and
travelled 260 metres in the air.
In 1904 they
continued trials in Dayton, their town of birth. They flew a first full circle
on 20 September. Before the end of 1904 they had twice stayed in the air for
five minutes, doing four laps of 1 kilometre.
Trials continued in
1905, with a new machine. [There had been a new machine also in 1904, if I
remember right]. On 3 October 1905 Orville flew for 25 minutes, and for 33
minutes on 4 October . On 5 October Wilbur flew 39 kilometres in 38 minutes.
Orville then could
have flown for an hour. ‘But the enormous curiosity caused by these trials,
which were followed by a considerable number of people from Dayton, made new
experiments impossible without dangerous publicity. And, as we were by then
quite sure of having made a flying machine, we were determined to stop all
trials until we had some guarantees for the future, and had concluded serious
arrangements for the exploitation of our aeroplane.’ After getting commitments
from the US government about the sale of their machine (to the government) and
the sale of rights in France, they made new flights at Kitty Hawk in May 1908.
In 1900 nobody
thought that mechanical flight was possible. Now there are twelve aviators
undertaking conquest of the air. Wright is also grateful for the enthusiastic
welcome he has had from French fliers and the public.
[This interview
gives away very little on technical matters, and is a rather bland telling of
the Wrights’ tale.]
……………………………………….
1 September, p.2.
Wright had a slight
accident at Le Mans because of a fault in the control wire linking the rudder
to the control lever. A mechanic had become caught in the wire; Wright said
there was not a problem, but that is not so.
After take off Wright found the rudder not operating. The aircraft flew
for about a minute in a disturbingly oblique attitude. Wright, with a fierce
pull on the controls, straightened it. But there was a rough landing in which
several wires and the right rear skid broke. Pine from America was available to
make quick repairs.
………………………………………
Le Matin, late August and
early September 1908: reports start appearing of Orville Wright’s flights in
Washington (before the army trials).
……………………………………..
4 September, p.2.
Wilbur Wright flew
11 kilometres at 7.45 a.m. yesterday – in 10 minutes 40 seconds, and at 25
metres height. This was his longest flight in France. It was witnessed by the
president of the AéroClub de la Sarthe. At 10 a.m. Wright flew again. But a
motor fault limited his flight to 400 metres.
…………………………………….
6 September, p.?
On 5 September
Wright flew for 19 minutes 48.25 seconds in the morning. He flew again at 9.30,
in a wind with 3 metres/second gusts. One of these pushed him towards trees. He
tried to turn, but the left wing touched [the trees or the ground?]. Longerons
broke and fabric was torn. Wright was unhurt.
…………………………………..
10 September, p.1.
Report of Orville
Wright’s 57 minute flight at Fort Myer, near Washington. This flight beats all
records by a wide margin. The distance flown was probably 55 kilometers (in
laps of the field); the maximum height was 45 metres.
………………………………….
18 September, p.3.
Report of the
tragic crash of Orville Wright at Fort Myer, and the death of Lt. Selfridge.
[This is a factual report, without comment.]
…………………………………
19 September, p.1.
On 17 September,
Wilbur Wright had a fine flight. He said his machine had never worked so well.
But on the 18th
came news of Orville Wright’s crash at Fort Meyer. Wilbur was informed by Hart
O. Berg at Auvours. Wright’s reaction: ‘His enigmatic mask became violently
coloured, two tears formed in his eyes, he trembled for a second…’ – then he
slowly read the telegram. Then, having controlled himself, Wright cycled to Le
Mans, where he could better receive news from Washington.
Wright’s mechanic
[at Auvours] is Fleury, who is ‘brave et excellent’.
[Comments on
Orville’s accident by Gabriel Voisin]:
What happened was
an inevitable result of the Wrights’ two propeller design. If one propeller
fails, the aircraft is pushed around by the other in a ‘giratory movement’. As
the centre of pressure diverges from the centre of gravity, the wing with the
working propeller rises until the aircraft overturns. This all happens
extremely fast, in hundredths of a second. Warping can offset it, but the
aircraft descends in a ‘tragic pirouette’.
‘We’ [the Voisins,
or the French generally?] had predicted this. For this reason Farman declined
to ask for a flight on the Wrights’ machine. Propellers have twice failed on
Voisin aircraft (in 7,000 flights). But with only one propeller, there is no
problem. The airplane can descend safely.
If a Voisin
aircraft did have two propellers, the rotatory movement would be resisted by
the vertical tails [but the Wright aircraft also had double vertical fins in the
tail]. Rotatory movement would be resisted by these. The Voisin aircraft would descend in that situation.
‘But the centre of pressure, before the aircraft begins to pitch up and down
[‘basculer’], would have to move all along the beam connecting the forward
elevator to the tail surfaces. And, in falling, the two flying surfaces
[‘aéroplanes’], which form the apparatus and its tail, working against each
other, would retard it, would slow it, in gliding flight that would take the
aviator to the ground, safe and sound.’
‘Yes, the biplanes
[‘cellules’], the vertical surfaces, the tail, the true aeroplane – they’re
ugly, they’re heavy, they’re devilishly heavy – but, you must see, it’s safety,
it’s mechanical stability (in place of the stability provided by the balancing
[by the pilot, presumably], it’s the achievement of future victories, it’s the
triumph, today painful, without doubt, of French ideas over those of the
Wrights.’
…………………………………………
19 September, La Vie au Grand Air, No. 522
p. 196. On Wright’s move to Auvours – it is a bigger
space, more suited to distance flights. The ‘camp’ is an artillery firing
range, 7 kilometres long and 900 metres wide, amidst pine forests. Many fierce
mosquitoes disturb Wright’s sleep.
………………………………………...
23 September, p.1.
On 21 September at
Auvours Wright flew 66.6 kilometres in 1 hour, 31 minutes 25.8 seconds. These
are records for distance and time flown. He had three failed take offs before
this flight. The fourth was good after Wright moved the take off rail into the
wind from its previous cross wind position. The fourth take off was at 5.16
p.m. The dignitaries present were: Mr White, US ambassador to France; the
prefect of La Sarthe; General Bazaine-Hayter. But there were few aviators –
only Paul and Ernest Zens, who have been installed at Le Mans for several
weeks. The flight speed was 45-48 kph.
Some 6,000 watched, coming by rail, car, bicycle, or on foot. Wright
flew till well after sunset.
…………………………………...
29 September, p.1.
Wilbur Wright, on
28 September, broke his own record for the prize of the Commission d’Aviation.
He flew 48.12 kilometres in 1 hour, 7 minutes and 2.25 seconds. His previous
record was 39.95 kilometres. [On 23 September he had flown 66.6 kilometres,
according to Le Matin’s report.]
The, at 5.23 p.m.
Wright set a new record for a flight with a passenger, of 11 minutes, 35.4
seconds. Paul Tissandier was the passenger. Then at 5.55 he flew, with the
Comte de Lambert as passenger, for 7 minutes 15 seconds. Both passengers were
impressed by the stability of the aircraft. [A few days earlier Wright had said
that he would not take up passengers because of the danger shown by Orville
Wright’s crash.]
……………………………………
30 September, p.3.
Wright is not
flying today. He has taken his motor to the Bollée factory for adjustment and
cleaning.
……………………………………
11 October, p.1.
‘L’Homme Vole’
[this is an article
on Wilbur Wright, with short pieces on his activities earlier in October 1908
(not noted) – flights with passengers, distances flown, etc.]
Le Mans, 10 October
1908.
Wilbur Wright flew
this afternoon with M [Paul?] Painlevé (Membre de l’Institut) for 1 hour, 9
minutes, 45 seconds. The official distance was 55 kilometres – in reality,
65-70 kilometres.
The ‘Syndicat’
formed to buy patents [‘brevets’] for Wright aircraft for France has now
decided that the terms of the contract have been fulfilled by Wright. Therefore
in a few days he will be given a cheque for 250,000 francs. Another 250,000
francs will be given to him in one month after he has trained three pilots
selected by the Syndicat. These will be the Comte de Lambert, an officer chosen
by the Ministry of War or by the Navy, and probably one of the Zens brothers.
[This is followed by
an effusive article by Painlevé, mostly froth – but note the final sentence:
‘1908 will be, in the history of the sciences, the glorious year in which the
first man flew.’ He thus ignores both the Wrights’ flights in 1903 and
Santos-Dumont’s flight in 1906.]
…………………………………
13 October, p.1.
‘Wright’
He speaks little.
He explained the other day that he knew of only one talking bird – the parrot –
which is not a bird that flies high.
In conversation
with Lazare Weiller, who said that he would have his cheque for 250,000 francs
the next day, Wright replied ‘Thanks’. ‘And then he continued his eternal
little whistling’ [‘son éternel petit sifflotement’].
…………………………………
Saturday 14
November, p.1.
Wright has taken
off without pylon and weight. The aircraft rose under its own power from a rail
on 13 November. Wright also took the height prize – 30 metres – offered by the
AéroClub de la Sarthe. He overflew the line of small balloons at 45 metres,
then at 60 metres.
…………………………………
29 November, p.5.
Wright,
passing through Paris yesterday, visited the Voisins’ workshop at Billancourt,
accompanied by Hart O. Berg. This was the first time that thee representatives
of the French and American schools [of flight] had met.
……………………….
19 December 1908, The Automotor Journal, pp. 1666-1667, 1696-1697. F.W. Lanchester,
‘The Wright and Voisin Types of Flying Machines’
[This
– originally a lecture – contains much detailed information. Only information
and argument not found in other sources is included in these notes]
Lanchester
has observed both Wright and Farman flying in France, near Le Mans and at
Mourmelon le Grand.
The
Wright machine: The machine can trace
its ancestry back to Lilienthal. According to Gustave Lilienthal (brother of
Otto) two Lilienthal machines were sent to the USA – one to Octave Chanute and
the other to Augustus Herring. The machine was improved by Chanute and the
Wrights; and the Wrights finally added a petrol [gasoline] motor to produce the
first man-bearing machine driven by its own motive power.
[Measurement
of the current Wright machine follow here] ‘Ordinary’ maximum velocity is 64
kph (58 ft/sec). Aspect ratio of the wing is 6.2. The forward small fins,
half-moon in shape, are fixed. The propellers have a diameter of 8 feet 6
inches (2.6 metres), and an estimated effective pitch of 9-9.5 feet. The
propellers are 11 feet (3.5 metres) apart. The number of teeth on the driving
pinions (counted by the author) gives a gear ratio of 10:33.
The
diameter of the cylinders in the four cylinder motor is 106-108 mm, and the
stroke is 1—102 mm. Motor total weight is given as 200 lbs (90 kg) and power as
24 hp at 1,200 rpm. Another source gives 34 hp at 1,400 rpm. Wright told
Lanchester that he could fly with 15-16 hp, and that he had normally a power
reserve of 40%. The gliding angle of the machine is about 7 degrees.
The
Voisin machine: The Voisins are still
largely unknown, despite the achievements of Farman and Delagrange with their
machines. The Voisin design derives directly from the large ‘cellular kites’
that G. Voisin built for Archdeacon in 1904, which were towed over the Seine.
Voisin sued data from those machines to build his current aircraft. Colliex,
the Voisins’ engineer or work manager, is largely responsible for their
designs. The Voisins say that they base their work on Lilienthal, Langley and
others. But at the same time they take little for granted. They have an
‘artificial wind’ apparatus that they use on models before settling on a
design.
To
date they have built about five machines of the Farman/Delagrange type, and four
machines with ‘three superposed members’.
Only the former have flown.
Lanchester
has spoken with the Farmans. Farman made flights before Delagrange mostly
because he had made in advance ‘appropriate arrangements’ for trials on the
Issy field – which Delagrange did not do. The Delagrange machine also went
through some early changes, such as the fitting of swiveling main wheels to
accommodate slight cross winds on take off or landing.
With
pilot aboard, the Faramn aircraft weighs 1,540 lbs (700 kg), and has 535 square
feet of supporting surface (this includes the tail, which contributes to lift).
The ordinary maximum velocity is 45 mph, or 72 kph.
Various
vertical surfaces contribute to controlling direction of flight and give
lateral stability. These have a total area of some 255 square feet. The wings
are 10 x 2 metres (aspect ratio of 5); the aspect ratio of the tail is 1.25; it
is almost square. The propeller is of 7ft 6 in diameter (2.3 metres), with an
effective pitch of 3 ft. (the actual pitch being much higher, but there is much
‘slip’). The motor is an 8 cylinder Antoinette of 4.35 ins.cylinder diameter by
4.15 ins. stroke. It is said to give 49 bhp at 1100 rpm. Its weight is given as
265 lbs (120 kg). The gliding angle of the machine was originally 1:5, or 11
degrees; but reductions in resistance [drag] by rounding off and covering in
‘to form stream-line sections’ has improved the ratio to between 1:6 and 1:7,
or roughly 9 degrees.
[note
1 on this page: The Voisins guarantee their machines will fly. The buyer makes
a deposit and pays the balance when the machine has flown. Delagrange and
Farman had nothing to do with the design of their machines – no more than the
buyer of a car has with its manufacturer.]
[note
2: Lanchester is informed that triplane machines, such as the Goupy 1, do not
perform as well as the Farman type of machine. This may be the outcome of
little experience with triplanes. Lanchester thinks that the three wings are
too close to each other for maximum efficiency. The position of the propeller [in the nose] ‘is not one conducive
to the best efficiency’, and the placing
of the propeller in the nose ‘may materially add to body resistance’.
p.
1667 ‘Comparison of the two machines’
The
Wright machine is 40% lighter than the Voisin. Since both can carry two people,
it could be thought that the Wright machine has an advantage, or even more
scientific design. But a major difference between the machines is that the
Voisin has a ‘chassis’, carrying a wheeled undercarriage. The wheels swivel
freely, and the front wheel are sprung (to absorb shocks from the ground). The
Wright machine has only runners.
The
chassis on the Voisin probably increases its weight to 60-70 lbs more than the
Wright aircraft. The total inert load carried by the two aircraft (the pilot
and sundries) is about 200 lbs. The total weight of the machine should be
proportional to the inert weight it has to lift – i.e. in the ratio of 200 to
270 lbs – thus the greater weight of the Voisin is in large part explained. The
Voisin machine can take off from any ‘reasonably smooth surface’. The Wright
aircraft needs a launching gear. Hence it is not legitimate to attribute its
relative lightness to superiority of design. [On very smooth ground the Wright
aircraft could take off on its skids – as Wilbur Wright is reported to have
done in Italy in 1909. But otherwise it required at least a take off rail.]
Horse-power:
The
author has shown that ‘for equal perfection of design the resistance to flight
of two machines of equal weight is approximately independent of the velocity of
flight, consequently the horse -power will vary directly as the velocity of
flight, and the Voisin machine is entitled to more power both on account of its
greater weight and … its greater velocity.’ The Voisin’s velocity seems to be
10% higher than the Wrights’, which is roughly in accordance with known
figures.
Figures
for power are not reliable. Power is expressed in ‘a rather elastic manner’.
Estimating, however, by cylinder dimensions and rpm, and assuming a ‘mean
pressure’ of 72 lbs/square inch ‘as appearing at the brake’, the comparison is
thus:
Wright 4.25” bore 4” stroke 1,200 rpm 24.7 bhp
Voisin/Antoinette 4.35” bore 4.15” stroke 1,100 rpm
49.2 bhp
‘which
agree remarkably well with declared h.p. in both cases’.
Lanchester
thinks that engine revolutions are understated for ordinary flight. The bhp
supplied to the Voisin machine is almost exactly double that supplied to the
Wrights’. The actual bhp of the Voisin machine is 49.2 – an excess of some 28%
-- which must be seen as an excess of power (which is shown by how fast the
machine can gain altitude), or represents loss of efficiency in propulsion or
sustentation. Both machines seem to have 10-20% surplus power (Wright says
more, but his machine does not seem to show it).
[There
follows discussion of the efficiency of propellers on the two machines. This
involces calculations of ‘effective pitch’ – calculated as 3.6 feet for the
Voisin machine, and 9.6 feet for the Wrights’. Efficiency of propulsion is
calculated as 0.54 for the Voisin, 0.63 for the Wright.]
The
following table shows several figures for each motor, pre revolution, on the
basis of 72 lbs per square inch of mean pressure.
Foot lbs per
rev feet travelled per rev efficiency lbs thrust weight
Wright 708 2.9 .63 155 1,300
Voisin 1,550 3.6 .54 230 1,720
[Col.
2 gives feet travelled by the machine.
Col. 3 is the efficiency of propulsion.
Col. 4 thrust in lbs.
Col.
5 shows the weights of the machines
‘augmented by an amount that would absorb the whole thrust in horizontal
flight, that is the maximum weight that can be sustained in flight’.]
p.
1696
The
Voisin machine seems ‘considerably less efficient in its screw propeller (a tax
paid for the constructional advantage of a direct drive) ‘, and also slightly
less efficient as a glider – its gliding angle is not quite as good as the
Wrights’. ‘The machine aerodynamically
less efficient.’ There are many possible causes of this: a lesser aspect ratio;
a relatively larger ‘idle surface’ subject to skin friction; and the fact that
the tail surfaces act on air that has already been “trodden” by the
aerofoil.’
[There
follows discussion of ‘skin friction’ for the two aircraft, with estimates as
close as Lanchester can make].
Wright
believes skin friction on his aircraft to be negligible. Lanchester does not agree.
It is ‘qite certain’ that the gliding angles of the two machines are between
1:6 and 1:8 – and nowhere near the 1:12 given in a recent paper.
‘On
the whole the advantage certainly rests with the Wright machine from the
aerodynamic standpoint.’
Stability
and control:
Longitudinal
stability – Wilbur Wright says that
stability depends entirely on the skill of the pilot. Wright does not agree
that safety can come from the inherent stability of a machine; a ‘fatal puff’
will eventually a flight.
Lanchester
agrees that Wright relies entirely on his piloting skills. The layout of the
aircraft ensures that when it pitches up or down, the change of pressure on the
forward elevator will exaggerate the initial movement and make the machine turn
over. The aircraft is like an arrow travelling feather first. Thus Wright pays
constant attention to pitch; the machine is designed for ‘hand-controlled
equilibrium’.
The
Voisin machine, on the other hand, is made to be ‘automatically and inherently
stable’, and indeed is so to a very large degree. The aircraft is automatically
stable [in pitch] if 1. Pressure on the tail per square foot is less than on the main aerofoil 2. ‘if the
areas and disposition of the surfaces, the amount of inertia, the velocity of
flight, and the natural gliding angle, are related to comply with the equation of stability so that any
oscillation in the vertical plane of flight will not tend to an increase in
amplitude.’ It cannot be said if this is
the case, because the provision of the forward elevator enables the pilot to
correct from deviation from level flight. From Lanchester’s observations of the
machine in flight, he considers that in reality it is just a much
hand-controlled as the Wright machine. With a beginner, the aircraft would
oscillate [horizontally], but ‘would take care of the aeronaut to some extent’.
In the beginnings of Farman’s and Delagrange’s flying, observers saw a ‘fugoid
oscillation’; whereas Lanchester, observing Farman recently, saw none – and the
day was breezy.
M.
Colliex, Farman’s engineer, says that the flight path of the aircraft is stable
because: 1. A tenth scale model showed
itself to be stable in gliding flight. 2. A machine flown by Delagrange glided
smoothly down from 8 metres after ignition cut.
p.
1697
Lanchester
objects that the distance glided from 8 metres would be roughly 55 metres, or
only a quarter of a phase length. A true demonstration would require gliding
down from some 150 metres height, allowing four or five free oscillations, with
the phase length being some 600 feet. Thus there is no proof of the horizontal
stability of the Voisin machine; although the builders intend it to be so.
Lateral
stability -- In the Wright machine, lateral stability is
directly controlled by the pilot through wing warping. When warped, the wings
meet the oncoming air at different angles of incidence; this gives ‘any desired
turning moment about the axis of flight’. This mechanism is used to counteract
the effects of wind gusts, and to correct the position of the machine if it
acquires an ‘undesirable list’. Warping is also used to prevent the machine
from ‘canting’ too much when turning. To facilitate this, the control of
warping and of the rudders in the tail is on one lever – movement to the side
producing warping, and back and forth movement altering the rudder position. It
is wrong to think that warping is used to give the wing cant [bank] required
for turns. This is not so. When the rudder is moved to one side, the machine
cants because one wing then moves faster through the air than the other, and
produces more lift. This cant can become severe is not unchecked – which
warping does. Warping is used to
increase the angle of incidence on the inner wing, and thus resist the
excess lift from the outer, faster-moving, wing. [An interesting understanding
of a turn, with the rudder in the tail taking precedence in producing it. What
is not considered is that a banked wing produces a lateral force, needed for
anything but a long, shallow turn. Wilbur Wright impressed observers in France
by the sharpness of his turning, which was the result of lateral force produced
by the banked wing. Once the wing was banked, ‘opposite’ warping might be
required to prevent overbanking, just as ‘opposite’ aileron is used for that
same purpose.]
The
Voisin machine is steered by a vertical rudder in the tail. There is no control
of lateral stability. Farman’s turns are therefore ‘leisurely’ – whereas Wright
can be seen turning sharply, with bank angles of almost 30 degrees and a turn
radius of 60-70 yards.
Farman
has recently fitted his machine with ‘adjustable flaps’, giving the same
‘wing-twist’ effect as Wright’s warping. ‘Presumably this is to facilitate
turning, for the flight of the machine does not suggest that they are otherwise
wanted.’ [It is interesting to see
Lanchester uninformed about ailerons – which Farman fitted to his aircraft late
in 1908. He (Lanchester), though one of the foremost thinkers about
aerodynamics of his time, has still not grasped the basic fact that it is
banked wing that produces turn – although the example of the Wright flyer would
seem to have made this blindingly clear.]
In
a comparison of the two machines, from the ‘aerodonetic’ viewpoint, the Voisin
machine has the advantage. It has more of what will be embodied in future
flying machines. Wright is correct is saying that a puff of wind can upset an
aircraft dependent on inbuilt stability. But the same is true of hand
controlled aircraft – since control has limits, and the human may fail. ‘The
fact is that the secret of stability is contained in the one word velocity, and until it is possible to
attain higher speeds of flight, we cannot hope to see the flying machine in
everyday use.’
Construction:
The
Wright machine is ‘astonishing in its simplicity’. It is almost surprising that
it holds together. The Voisin machine has at least ‘some pretensions to be
considered an engineering job’. But the Wright machine continues to fly from
day to day without falling apart, or showing signs of weakness. It has an
‘aggressive simplicity of constructional detail’.
The
Voisin’s direct propeller mount to the engine is ‘immeasurably superior’, from
a mechanical viewpoint, to the Wrights’ use of chain drive and wooden
propellers. But the Voisins’ arrangement of engine and propeller brings about a
loss of some 15% of transmitted horsepower [this is not explained – it may be
that Lanchester considers that the propeller on the Voisin machine turns too
fast for efficiency]. The use of gearing [i.e. reduction of engine revolutions
in the chain drive] allows better proportions of propeller to be used by the
Wrights. Future aircraft may have central, but geared, propellers. Or the
simplicity of direct drive may outweigh gearing altogether.
Lanchester
considers the Wrights’ arrangement of propellers dangerous. If one propeller
stops, because a chain breaks or from some other cause, the whole power of the
engine is transferred to the other propeller – resulting in a ‘torque about a
vertical axis that must be overwhelming.’ If one propeller stops turning, the
motor must be immediately stopped also. The risk from unequal thrust from the
propellers is great. Whether wing warping can overcome that danger is unknown.
A recent press report states that a drive chain did break in flight, at an
aircraft altitude of 4-5 metres. W. Wright landed safely from that height.
…………………………………
…………………………………
20 December, p.5.
Wright intended to
fly on 19 December to beat his own record [of 18 December? – see 24 December
entry]. in the Coupe Michelin. But rain stopped flying. [It is interesting that
Henry Farman also planned to fly for the Michelin cup on 19 December.]
…………………………………
24 December, p.4.
The Commission
Sportive of the AéroClub de France yesterday officially recognized the distances
and times flown by Wright on 18 December 1908: for the Coupe Michelin, 99
kilometres in 1 hour 53 minutes 39.4 seconds; a world record of 99.8 kilometres
in 1 hour 54 minutes 53.4 seconds.
…………………………………
25 December, p.2.
The Wright biplane
is displayed at the first Salon d’Aéronautique, which opened yesterday in the
Grand Palais. It is not yet fully assembled.
…………………………………
Sunday 27 December,
p.6.
Wright did not fly
because of cold weather. The temperature at Auvours was minus 3 degrees
centigrade, with a north wind. He said he could fly for a short time, but two
hours would bring the risk of freezing his ‘nasal appendix’. He does not wish
to fly, unless he was sure of beating his existing record. He thinks it will be
difficult for others to beat the record time he set on [18?] December. [See
note for 24 December above.]
[Either he now has
two aircraft, or the aircraft displayed at the Salon d’Aéronautique was removed
– or it was never there.]
Early in January,
Wright says, he will move south to Pau, with aircraft and mechanics. Orville
Wright will arrive within two weeks. Wright intends to complete, in the first
two months of the year, the training of the pilots [the three specified in the
contract with the French syndicate in October 1908? If so, he was late – they
should have been trained already.] The first of them, M. de Lambert, is now
able to fly solo. Then, perhaps in March, Wright will go to the USA with the
intent of fulfilling a contract with the US government.
………………………………..
29 December, p.5.
Wright, avoiding
cold temperatures, came yesterday to Paris to visit the exposition at the Grand
Palais.
………………………………..
31 December, p.1.
Despite minus 5
degree temperatures, Wright flew this morning for 1 hour 52 minutes 40 seconds
– a distance of 98.1 kilometres. He already flew 99 kilometres last week.
……………………………….
L’Aéroplane des Frères Wright. Historique – Expériences – Description, Berger-Levrault & Cie. Éditeurs, Paris and
Nancy, 1908 [no author or editor named in title page]
pp. 19-22 Lucas-Girardville, Capitaine d’artillerie, ‘Brevets des Frères Wright’
20-21 [interesting
because of its description of adverse yaw: when using wing warping to make a
turn, the Wrights found that the aircraft turned towards the wing whose
trailing edge was lowered – because of the drag added by the lowering of the
edge; they used the vertical rudder, moved in the opposite direction, to
correct this undesired turn.]
pp. 23-30. ‘Annexe’
{signed B.-L.] [noted here is information not given elsewhere in these notes]
23 The [forward] elevator has biplane
structure, whose action seems much more powerful than that of a single plane.
There are two small vertical surfaces placed between these two planes, to
resist sideways movement [slipping and skidding]. In the tail is a two-surface vertical rudder.
The pilot’s seat,
and that of the second flyer, have been moved a little left, so that the weight
of the motor is balanced.
24 Two Galle chains carry the power of the
motor to the wooden propellers [one of them crossed, so that the propellers
rotate in opposite directions, cancelling torque effects].
The wingspan is
12.5 metres, and the chord 2 metres. They wings are 1.8 metres apart. The total
surface is around 50 square metres.
The biplane
elevator [‘gouvernail de profondeur’] is about 4 metres in front of the wing.
The rudder [‘gouvernail de direction’] is 2.5 metres behind the wing.
The total length of
the machine is 10 metres. The space needed to store it is therefore 12.5 x 10
metres.
The motor is placed
a little to the right [looking forward] in the centre section of the wing. It
is a 25 hp motor, of four cylinders – which are contained in aluminium. The radiator
is of copper. The bare weight of the engine is 90 kilograms, including the
ignition equipment – or 3.6 kilograms per hp. The bore is of 108 mm and the stroke 100 mm – so that
maximum power can barely exceed 32 hp. [sic] There is no carburetor. A pump
injects gasoline into the cylinders.
25 This motor, designed by the Wrights, and
built by Bariquand and Mars in Paris, works well, but has no superiority over
the good light motors fitted to cars.
The wooden
propellers are 2.6 metres long. They are light and turn (in opposite
directions) at 450 rpm.
The total weight of
the machine, with one flyer aboard, is 450 kilograms – 9 kg per square metre of
lifting surface.
The whole aircraft
is made of American pine, which is light and strong. It consists, in fact, of a
lattice beam of remarkable solidity.
[There follows a
list of Wright’s flights in France]: the most recent being at Auvours on 21
September, lasting one hour, 31 minutes, and 25 seconds – 66.6 kilometres at an
average height of 15 metres. On 28 September, at Auvours, Wright flew with a
passenger for 11 minutes 35 seconds.
26 Wright flies his machine with the greatest
ease. He gives the impression of being a true bird. He is apparently not
bothered by wind, having excellent control over his machine.
27 The Wrights’ flights have not been witnessed
and recorded by officials of sports federations, but there is no doubting their
reality. They do not , fly so well because they have exceptional abilities.The
reality is that the Wright aircraft flies easily. It does so in large part
because of the use of wing warping. M. Blériot’s use of ailerons [‘ailerons
latéraux’], which have the same function as warping, has recently demonstrated
the fecundity of the principle applied by the Wrights. The Wrights have also
limited their ambitions. They have not aimed for great speed.
28 They wrote in 1906 that their aim was to
make a machine of practical utility rather than some extravagant and unusable
toy. They have therefore avoided excessive lightness in construction. They have
done all they could to increase the theoretical efficiency of their flying
surfaces and propellers. Thus, even solidly built machines can be operated with
little energy.
Their rule of
procedure has been to make a solid and practical apparatus with existing
elements [knowledge and materials?]. That is why they have built biplanes,
despite the advantages attributed to monoplanes by many French aviators.
Biplanes are stronger. Monoplanes also require much bracing, which greatly
reduces their advantage [in lower drag]. The Wrights do not think they have
found the ideal framework; but it is sufficient.
29 They have studied the curvature of surfaces,
eventually getting satisfactory results. They have studied propellers, and
finally arrived at a remarkable result.
Their motor is an ‘honest car engine’ running at 1,200 rpm. With its
original 16 hp they could get off the ground. With the current 25 hp they can
lift a passenger without difficulty, and they have flown for long periods at 30
above the ground.
‘To tell the truth,
these Americans were not poets, they had no imagination, they were simple
mechanics.’ [‘À vrai dire, ces Américans n’étaient point des poètes, ils
n’avaient aucune imagination, c’étaient de simples mécaniciens.’]
Is the Wright
aircraft beyond criticism? No – its controls are complicated. Wilbur Wright had
to retrain himself. The launching mechanism can also be criticized; though
ingenious, it requires special advance installation. But Wilbur Wright, who can
be remarkably deadpan, would doubtless reply to such criticisms with Galileo’s
words: ‘Eppur si muove’.
[This is an honest
and direct French evaluation of the Wrights’ machine. Its good qualities are
recognized. The importance of wing warping for directional control is
recognized – as is the effectiveness of ailerons for doing the same thing. The
comment about the Wrights’ simplicity is a little undercutting. To say that
they had no imagination is hardly true – though it is certainly true that they
were not poets.]
………………...................
1909
1 January, p.1.
Wright on 31
December flew 124.7 kilometres in 2 hours 20 minutes 23 seconds, starting at
about 2 p.m. and ending at 4.20.23. But for the Coupe Michelin the permitted
time ended at sunset (4.19). By then Wright had flown 2 hours 18 minutes 33
seconds, and 123.2 kilometres.
Present were M.
Barthou (Minister of Travaux Publics), his brother Léon Barthou, M. Koberg (a
Zeppelin engineer) and several other Germans, the American Captain Levelen, and
the endurance balloon record holder, M. Beauclair. The entire flight was over
the field.
…………………………………..
1 January, p.6.
Wilbur Wright is
the unquestioned winner of the Coupe Michelin. Donors have given money for future
Michelin prizes until December 1915.
………………………………….
Sunday 3 January,
p.3.
Wright did four
final short flights on 2 January at Le Mans. The aircraft was weighed – 364
kilos. The greatest take off weight recorded is 566 kilos. Wright’s weight on
arrival at Le Mans was 63 kilos; it is now 71 kilos. Wright will pack on Monday
for Pau; then will go to the USA in several weeks.
…………………………………
22 March, p.5.
The three pupils of
Wilbur Wright (the Comte de Lambert, Lucas-Gérardville, and Paul Tissandier)
have almost completed their training (which started last September [and was
supposed to be finished in one month]). In December 1908 Lambert had finished,
except for take offs and landings. Yesterday Lambert flew for 21 minutes over
the ‘landes béarnaises’. Then Tissandier flew for 23 minutes.
………………………………..
24 March, p.5.
Wright will soon
leave Pau for Italy. He will be replaced as instructor at Pau by the Comte de
Lambert.
……………………………….
1 April 1909, L’Aérophile, p. 157
Wilbur Wright’s
flying in France has ended. His two pupils, de Lambert and Tissandier, now fly
solo, proving that it is not necessary [as some have said] to have ‘special
acrobatic qualities’ to fly a Wright machine. Their training has seemed long,
but especially in the case of the Comte de Lambert, it was thinly spread over
time. If flight time is considered, ‘some hours’ are seen to suffice to fly the
aircraft.
De Lambert’s first
solo was on 17 March. A skid broke in a heavy landing. Tissandier soloed
without accident on 18 March. [A photograph here shows Captain
Lucas-Gérardville, Wright’s third initial student, at the controls of an
aircraft; but there is no reference to his soloing.]
………………………………………
4 April, p.1.
Especially wet
weather has interrupted aviation activities. Only Wright, at Pau in the pays
béarnais, has been able to continue, and has trained two pilots (Tissandier and
Lambert), who now themselves instruct (after the departure of Wright).
Tissandier will teach Gasnier and Alfred Leblanc (a well known aeronaut).
Wilbur Wright has gone to Rome, to give displays for three weeks.
……………………………………..
15 May, L’Aérophile, p. 224-5
On 26 April Wright
took off without a rail, with the aircraft sliding on skids for about 150
metres before lifting. The surface was short grass [‘pelouse’]. This was in
Italy, at Centocelle. The take off was possible because a heavy dew on the
grass made it slippery. Wright made five flights that day, taking up as
passengers MMes Delafeld and Belville. It is not clear if the machine could
take off on its skids while carrying a passenger. Wilbur, Orville, and
Katherine Wright left Rome on 28 April. They were briefly in Paris, attended a
banquet at Le Mans on 1 May, went to London on 2 May, and on 5 May took ship
for the USA.
……………………………………..
28 May, p.5.
It is reported that
the Wrights are beginning legal proceedings against the Herring-Curtiss company
in the USA over warping [‘gauchissement’]. It is more precise to say that the
Wrights are defending their warping system on a biplane aircraft – an
arrangement that operates only on the tips of the wings.
The principle of
warping was revealed by Ader in 1894, well before the Wrights’ efforts started.
Blériot says he uses warping, but in a different way from the Wrights: first,
on a monoplane; second, producing twisting of the whole wing, not merely the
tips. Blériot says that, ‘until the contrary is proved, the Wrights’ device is
patentable, but the principle has long fallen into the public domain.’
……………………………………
……………………………………
Wright made a
tremendous splash in France when he started flying in August 1908. It is
striking that he did not fly near Paris, but at Les Hunaudières, and then the
military field at Auvours, near Le Mans. He had always preferred privacy, and
he probably got more of that where he was than he would have done near Paris.
If the French aviators wanted to see him fly, they had to travel. Some did, and
some did not. But there were, according to the above reports, considerable
crowds who came to see him perform.
What struck the
French immediately and forcefully was the degree of control that Wright had
over his machine; and especially his ability to turn it easily and sharply.
That was the result of his use of wing warping. The French were still possessed
of the idea that an aircraft should be inherently stable, and hence hard to
turn. Warping (and ailerons) was still for them a means of levelling wings
after they had been moved from the horizontal by gusts, or by a turn produced
by the aircraft’s rudder. (The possible exception to this is Blériot, who
fitted ailerons to various of his aircraft in 1908, with some indication that
he did so for purposes of turning. Whether the idea was his, or from one of his
mechanics, is an open question.) Over the autumn of 1908, however, some French
flyers came to realise that the banked wing was the proper source of turns. It
produced a lateral force that made an aircraft change direction. Warping or
ailerons, producing banking, were the true source of turns. The rudder was
there simply to keep the machine moving straight through the air as it turned
(and so minimizing drag). Farman had fitted ailerons to all four wings of his
Voisin aircraft before the end of 1908, and used them thereafter on other
designs. The Blériot 11 and the Antoinette monoplane, the other two outstanding
machines of 1909 besides Farman’s No. 3, used either ailerons or warping. These
three machines were better airplanes than the Wright machines.
Wright had come to
France to demonstrate his aircraft to a French business group, or syndicate,
that was considering manufacturing it in France. If it could fly for certain
distances and times – as it showed it could – then Wright would receive half a
million francs ($100,000) for the grant
of production rights. Over the fall and early winter months of 1908-09 Wright
flew the aircraft, fulfilled the flight conditions, and trained three French
pilots who would become instructors on the Wright aircraft. Then, in early May 1910,
he returned to the USA. There, the Wright brothers tried to assert their
complete rights over wing warping, and slowed the development of aircraft in
the country. In Europe their legal actions had very little effect, and European
aviation exploded in the years before the first World War. It did so in part because
Wilbur had shown the French, and through them others, how to turn in the air.
You can install the Fixd reader to your phone, and start reading the codes on your car. The sensor is compatible with Android and iOS devices, so it can connect to your smartphone and download the necessary data to your device. Get more interesting details about total car diagnostics check out this site.
ReplyDelete