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Aviation History
1911
1911 - 0194.PDF
1/LicHf] MARCH II, 191 I. A COAL CITY BIPLANE. AN interesting set of photographs reaches us from Coal City, Illinois, showing the good aviation work in progress in that district. Mr. William E. Sommerville, who is Mayor of the town and is the builder and pilot of his own machine, sends us at the same time the following interesting description and details:— "The total area is 510 sq. ft. Total weight, 1,020 lbs. The upper main plane is 45 ft. by 5 ft. The lower 35 ft. by 5 ft. The tail, 8 ft. by 5 ft., is placed 18 ft. back of the trailing edge. The elevator, 3 ft. by 10 ft., is 10 ft. ahead of the leading edge. The engine has 4 cyls., 4-cycle, 5 ins. by 5 ins., developing 40-h.p. at 1,000 revs, per min., propeller 7 ft. by 6 ft. pitch, flying angle 50. It will be seen from the photos that the top main plane has upturned ends, also a nn placed on top. I have found that the upturned ends and the central fin are sufficient to maintain lateral stability. In calm weather I had no use for the Venetian blind arrangement situated near the extremities of the top plane, but with a breeze the machine rocked a little, so I opened the blind on the high side, and the machine immediately regained an even keel. I am positive, as soon as I get accustomed to being in the air, the blinds will not be required, as the upturned ends and the central fin will maintain lateral stability automatically. During September a few short flights were made, and on October 1st a flight of two miles was made, and the machine flew as if on rails. The flight terminated when the engine went all to pieces. The great difficulty in this country experimenters meet with is in the securing of a reliable engine. I am building an engine myself, and expect to be flying next month. I have also built a monoplane, with upturned ends and central fin, and expect to test it soon. My biplane was built in 1909, but owing to the difficulty of getting an engine same was not tested until late this summer. " I am sure that a flying machine can be designed that will be automatically stable, and a few improvements on the design shown will accomplish it." Mr. W. E. Sommerville and his biplane. I96
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