FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0604.PDF
OCTOBER 2, 1909 understood by these French flying machine and motor manufacturers, for as soon as they found they were being talked to on behalf of British publications they welcomed one with open arms, knowing full well that this country is the only one that possesses newspapers that will devote their columns to the ingenuities of a product for the mere sake of the interest it may be to the public. There are many truly French touches about the Ex- hibition, most of them very attractive, a very few of a kind that are not creditable. Under the heading of the attractive and typical French touches may be mentioned the rationally cheap, exceedingly artistic and splendidly effective uniform scheme of stand decoration, though it appears to us to be considerably invidious that there should be four " Stands of Honour " deliberately so styled in the official plan of the Exhibition. Moreover, these four stands are occupied respectively by the Wright, Antoinette, Farman, and Esnault-Pelterie machines, so that we find that Voisin, whose biplanes must certainly rank as the parent practical ones in the history of French aeronautics, is not included among the honoured quartette. In the centre of an amply vast space there is fittingly shown the oil-stained Bleriot cross-Channel flyer. None will dispute its right to be there. But anyone may wander about the Exhibition for a day, and from any part of the ground floor might view the display for all eternity, and yet would not be able to discover that in that building there is shown the first machine to achieve motor-propelled flight with a pilot on board and a voluntary conclusion. It is tucked away in the most perfectly complete manner conceivable, whereas surely such an aeroplane should have been put under the vast dome in the ample space beside the Bleriot mono- plane, particularly as this first power-driven flyer of a practical sort is a biplane, the features of which differ radically from the modern single-surface machine. The pioneer flyer in question is the Wrights' biplane that flew as long ago as December 17th, 1903, and which is the identical biplane that was ahead of all competitors up to the last day of last year, when it made the memorable long-distance flight that won the Michelin Prize. There can be no manner of excuse for hiding such a historic production in a room at the top of the grand staircase, with a wall in front of the machine, so that you cannot see any part of it until you chance to go right into the room. For ourselves, we would suggest that the Exhibition would have been rendered twice as interesting if, in the vast space at disposal in the centre, the Bleriot cross-Channel monoplane had been placed facing the entrance, as at present, while on one side it should have been flanked by Ader's famous "Avion," that was the frrst power-driven machine to make a flight, albeit it had an involuntary conclusion, and on the other side by the Wright biplane that flew at Kittyhawk nearly six years ago, and which at least two kings have much enjoyed the privilege of studying in detail. What the Frankfort Exhibition is to dirigible balloon- ing, the current display is in relation to aeroplaning. This Show in the Grand Palais will go down to history as the first display of nearly 30 full-scale modern aero- planes. And it is certain that by next season some understanding will have to be arrived at whereby when balloons and dirigible balloons are being shown there shall be no aeroplanes, and the other way about, for there is only one very small dirigible, the Mallet-built " Zodiac" for Comte De La Vaulx, and there are only three modern spherical balloons, including the "Continental" and the " Michelin," in the main hall, yet it is amply full. To attempt to house full-scale military dirigibles even in so vast a hall would be to create an atmosphere of depression by over-shadowing everything. At the rate at which the industry is growing, it is plain that by next year it will be necessary to limit the exhibits to one of each type of aeroplane. Also there is room for a certain amount of organisation so that in certain cases the arrangement of the exhibits shall not be quite so invidious. The display divides itself into interests of two sorts. As soon as one is in the building, one takes it for granted that this is primarily an exhibition of aeroplanes and aerial motors, and is instinctively inclined very much to disregard the lighter-than-air machines, looking on them merely as features of the decoration, quite one of the most beautiful things being the very faithful reproduction in light brown and dark blue of the Montgolfier, familiar to all students of aeronautics. Now, either the slight modifications and changes in the well-known aeroplanes and aerial engines may first of all be chosen for study, or those of both sorts which are quite new may be sought out. The improvements of familiar types are, of course, not so obvious as are the entire novelties. For example, one may spend many hours looking over the Wright and Voisin biplanes and the Bleriot and Antoinette mono- planes without discovering a single change of detail, while even in the Pelterie monoplane, that is a conspicuous exhibit by reason of the red Continental fabric used, the changes are not numerous, albeit they chance to be of such a nature as to catch the eye, for there is now no horizontal rudder at the back, there being a feathering plane only, while in regard to rising or falling, the pilot now employs only the angle at which the main planes attack the wind, that angle being variable on the well- known Pelterie method. The steering-rudder is now above the feathering plane instead of below it, while the sustaining surface of the machine has been extended from 16 to 20 square metres, and the length from fore to aft is 9'6o metres, while the latest Esnault-Pelterie motors have two valves and are rated at 30-35-h.p. Much more easy than the discovery of this class of novelty is that of the radically new machines, quite one of the most conspicuous being the 10-plane machine shown on the De Dion-Bouton stand. In profile it is very like a Wright biplane, but as soon as one glances at it from in front, one sees that the large arms extend at an acute angle from the centre of the machine, carrying each five centrally-pivoted and independent planes graded in size, the largest being at the top or outermost extremity, and the smallest at the bottom, the whole presenting some- what the appearance of two opposed stairways. It is called a " dixplane," has a maximum spread of 39I ft, and an over-all length of 29I ft, while the surface of the ten weight-carrying planes is 54-2 square metres. There are three forward planes in the elevating plane position, only two of them being variable as to the angle at which they are presented to the wind. Four wooden propellers are furnished, being timed to turn at the same speed as- the Wright ones. An S-cylinder V-set 100-h.p. De Dicn motor is used, in combination with chain-power trans- mission. One of the features of the ten sustaining planes is that they are each pivoted centrally to the struts, in such a fashion that they can be inclined symmetrically in relation to the vertical axis of the apparatus. The theory is that the movement of these planes enables lateral stability to be achieved by reason of the increase or decrease of the surface presented to the one side or 6lO
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
