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Aviation History
1910
1910 - 0146.PDF
l/HU FEBRUARY 26, 1910. A NOVEL MONOPLANE. ALTHOUGH most of the machines which have been experimented with in America have been of the biplane type, there is one monoplane with which a certain measure of success has been attained. This is the invention of Mr. A. L. Pfitzner, who has been for some time associated with Mr. Glenn Curtiss, and from the two photographs, which we reproduce from the Scientific American, it will be seen that the design is in some ways reminiscent of the Curtiss biplane. The novel feature of the machine lies in the means for maintaining lateral stability. At each end of the main plane there is a THE PFITZNER FLYER.—The first American mono plane to fly. Note the sliding wing " tips." sliding tip, which normally lies 15 inches beyond the main plane. These tips are interconnected, and controlled by the steering-wheel, so that when one is slid out to its full extent of 30 inches the other is completely withdrawn, any movement of one being accompanied by a corre sponding adjustment of the other. The main plane itself measures 31 ft. by 6 ft., giving an area of 186 sq. ft., while the sliding wing tips are 2% ft. by 5 ft. Fourteen feet in front of the main plane is the elevator, a single plane 6 ft. by 3 ft., while above it is the triangular rudder 2 ft. high by 3 ft. in length, and both these are connected-up to the single steering wheel. At the rear, 10 ft. from the main plane, is the horizontal tail 6 ft. by 2 ft. It will be seen that a single propeller is fitted, driven by a 25-h.p. 4-cyl. Curtiss motor. With THE PFITZNER MONOPLANE.-Mr. Pfitzner at the wheel. In this view the general arrangement of the centre of the machine is clearly shown. 6 gals, of petrol in the tanks, 1 gal. of oil, and 1^ gals, of water the machine weighs 430 lbs. The propeller is 6 ft. in diameter, and is said to give 235 lbs. thrust at 1,200 r.p.m. A large number of short flights have been made, and the machine rises from the ground very quickly, the average distance run to get up being about 100 ft., when the machine was tried over snow. THE '« REPUBLIQUE" SUBSCRIPTION IN FRANCE. with the dirigible which Messrs. Lebaudy are presenting to replace of the ill-fated "Republique" will give the French Government a very imposing aerial fleet. The largest dirigible, of 7,000 to 8,000 cubic metres capacity, will be built by the Astra Company, and named " Lieutenant Chaure," while the other airship will be a Zodiac of 1,400 cubic metres capacity, to be called " Reau-Vincennot." The aeroplanes will be of the Henry Farman, Maurice Farman, Bleriot and Wright types, and they will bear the numbers T1, T, T3, T4, the "T" being a compliment to the journal which raised the fund by which they were purchased. SHORTLY after the "Republique" disaster the Temps opened a public subscription, with a view to replacing the airship. Altogether 312,000 francs (,£12,600) were contributed, and 40,000 francs (^1,600) were spent in providing for the widows of the two Adjutants, MM. Reau and Vincennot. A committee, under the chair manship of M. Cailletet, president of the Aero Club of France, was appointed to deal with the remaining ;£i 1,00c, and they asked the various principal con structors to name the lowest price at which they would supply their dirigibles or aeroplanes. In consequence of their patriotic action in giving very low prices, it has been possible to order two dirigibles and four aeroplanes, which A Transatlantic Project. THE plans of Herr Joseph Brucker, the Austrian aviator, for a trip across the Atlantic in a dirigible, would appear to be progressing, and Capt. Messner, who with Col. Schaeck won the Gordon-Bennett Balloon Cup for Switzerland in 1908, is now associated with the scheme. It is proposed to start from Cadiz, then to steer for Teneriffe, and from there to Porto Rico, then, gradually beating back, to sail over Cuba, Havana, New Orleans, and so back to New York. In case of accident it is proposed that the nacelle of the dirigible should be a motor boat, the engine capable of being connected to either of two shafts, one for working the aerial propeller above the deck, and the other for the marine propeller, should it be necessary to come down on the surface of" the ocean. 142
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