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Aviation History
1910
1910 - 0439.PDF
JUNE 4, 191a GLENN CURTISS* ALBANY.NEW YORK FLIGHT. •SINCE his remarkable success in winning the Gordort-Bennett Trophy at Rheims last year, little has been heard of Glenn Curtiss until Sunday last, when by his fine flight along the Hudson River from Albany to New York he again leapt into publicity and won for •himself a sum of $10,000 (^2,000). The prize was offered by the New York World, in connection with the Hudson-Fulton Centenary celebrations, and the original rules stipulated that the aviator should fly up the river from New York to Albany and make the trip without •a stop. Several dirigibles entered, but none of them got through, and then the rules were somewhat modified, to allow of the journey being made in either direction, with stops for fuel. For some days Mr. Curtiss had been waiting on the weather, and when the conditions on Sunday morning were favourable he decided to start at once. Everything was ready at 7 a.m., and the aeroplane, which is only of 30 ft. span, rose from Van Rensselaer Island and flew above the Hudson river at a height of 1,000 ft. It was followed by a special train, which had to keep up to top speed in order not to lose sight of the flyer. The first stop was at Poughkeepsie Island, where he landed at 8.24 to replenish petrol and look to his engine. An hour later he was under way again, and flew down the river at a steady pace to Manhattan Island, where he made a second stop in a field near Spuyten Duyvil, having covered 137 miles in 2 hrs. 32 mins. After a stop of an hour and ten minutes, Curtiss once more started and flew to Governor's Island, where he landed on the seashore after passing over the shipping in the river, which included the Cunard ss. " Mauretania." The total distance covered was a little under 150 miles, and the net time, not including stops of course, was 2 hrs. 54 mins., the average speed being 5if miles per hour. At the end of the flight, Mr. Curtiss said the conditions were splendid, and he only found the wind troublesome at one point, just between the Catskill cliffs. He had, however, some anxiety during the first part ot the trip, through the excessive vibration 01 a stay wire, but this was tightened at Poughkeepsie and gave no more trouble. THE CURTISS ALBANY-NEW YORK FLIGHT.- View, looking up stream, at one of the most picturesque points on the Hudson River. It was probably at this spot that the most troublesome eddies and cross air currents were encountered by Mr. Curtiss. CORRESPONDENCE. 7*he name and address of the -writer not necessarily for publication) MUST in all cases accompany letters intended for insertion, or containing queries. Correspondents asking questions relating to articles which they have read in FLIGHT, would much facilitate our work of reference by giving the number of the letter. NOTE.—Owing to the great mass of valuable and interesting corre spondence which we receive, immediate publication is impossible, but each letter will appear practically in sequence and at the earliest possible moment. STREAM LINE EXPERIMENTS. [546] With reference to letter No. 376. If your correspondent cares to study the question of stream lines at all closely she may be glad to hear of the manner in which I sought to investigate this subject. There is a dusty old loft in the works where I am employed, and I have sat for hours fixing a paper plane in the path of the sun beams that fell through the skylight, and blowing the dust-laden air over the surface at every angle. I have thus been able to follow the course of the particles in a perfectly easy and simple way. Perhaps also your correspondent will let me know this :— Do her observations for a stationary plane and moving air coincide with those for a moving plane in still air ? If not, will she give a sketch of the disposition of particles, principally at the leading edge, for each case? My method may be rough, but it was a case of necessity being the mother of invention at the time of my experiments. Gravesend. HERBERT F. H. SHIELDS. [547] Would you oblige me by letting me know, through the medium of your valuable paper, Whether you or any of your readers know of any instance on which a " helicopter " type ot aeroplane has flown, with, of course, a pilot, and with what success. Also, what is your opinion of the " helicopter " as regards being a good flyer? Have been a constant reader of your splendid paper, but find no accounts of helicopter flights. Thanking you in antici pation. Liverpool. ' / E. MITCHELL. ' [We are not aware of any successful helicopter, nor do "we think it would be an easy machine to bring to perfection.—ED.]. STRUT SECTIONS. [548] On page 73 of your issue of January 29th last, in an article on " Design and Construction of Aeroplanes," by Messrs. Chittenden and Robinson, referring to the resistance of struts or exposed beams of various sections, fhey say : '' Taking'the resistance of a flat surface R = 1, then for a cylindrical section R = "54, and for an ichthyoid R = "2." In a lecture of Mr. Cody's, which I recently attended, he spoke strongly in favour of the ichthyoid section. But on page 54 of Sir Hiram S. Maxim's " Artificial and Natural Flight," 1908 edition, his experiment* with woods of different sections showed the blunt-nosed ichthyoid section to produce more drift than a double ellipse. I should be much obliged if you could inform me which section is at the present day reckoned the right one for struts or exposed beams of aeroplanes. LEARNER. [On purely theoretical grounds the fish-shaped section, with bluff entry and tapering trail, should offer a minimum resistance to its passage through the air, but it has hardly been established in practice that such refinement offers sufficient material advantage to warrant any extra expense in construction. Reference to our recent article on the new Short biplane will show that this firm, at any rate, have discarded stream line sections for their struts and spars, which are now only finished off to the extent of merely rounding the sharp edges.—ED.]. BUOYANT WINGS. [549] Being deeply interested in the study of aeroplanes I wish to ascertain if the following suggestion has ever been made, and, if so, why it is not carried out. The suggestion is, " Why not make the planes hollow, and fill them with hydrogen ? " I shall be deeply obliged if you will let me know. Upper Clapton, N.E. HAROLD L. GOLDMAN. [We have no doubt that i this idea has occurred to many, but we do not suppose that its advantages would compensate for the diffi culties of its practical application. Moreover, we imagine that a 437
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