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Aviation History
1913
1913 - 0059.PDF
JANUARY 18, 1913. the same time a gust of wind caught me and the machine heeled over to one side. I warped immediately, but the warp seemed to have not the slightest effect. We got so far over that my passenger started to crawl up the higher wing. Then I nosed the machine downwards suddenly, a manoeuvre which sent him flying back into his seat. Finally we landed safely. This incident set me thinking, and I did not fly for a couple of days pending some explanation. What was wrong I could not 1/jjGHT conceive. The controls had not and I it impos- a remuus such an upon a in good condition, the ap- in good jammed, thought sible for to have effect machine flying Here again machine was parently condition, for I had flown with her every day for a week, carrying passengers without the slightest trouble. The speed indicator was con clusive proof that the motor was not at fault; so what was wrong? After thinking the matter over for some tims, the final analysis showed me that the only difference between this and my other flights was that it had been made after the sun had gone behind the mountains, a trifling difference to be sure, yet nevertheless the keynote of the whole situation. Subsequently I tried the machine in straight away flights with a passenger, when the sun was shining, when it was cloudy, and when it had sunk below the horizon. To my great satisfaction I found that in bright sunlight the machine would lift easily; but once let the sun get behind the clouds, passenger carrying was only carried out by working the machine above the safety limit. Mr. G. M. Dyott explaining to President Madero of the Mexican Republic, how the controls of his monoplane work. Shortly afterwards the President went for a trip with Mr. Dyott, remaining op for about 16 mios. Having determined this fact, the next thing was to experiment with the little three-cylinder Anzani Deperdussin single seater we had out there, which my friend, the late Capt. Hamilton, had not yet attempted to fly, owing to the aerodrome l>eing so high above sea-lowl. Here the same phenomenon was apparent. The machine would not fly after 5 p.m. Unlike the two-seater it could fly in the morning when the heat eddies were still local in their effect, whereas the two-seater could not carry a passenger until the eddies had become uniform over the whole field. To fly the small 1 >eperdussin was a source of consider able interest. A run would be made over the ground, tail well in the air, making no attempt to get off. Tin- first heal eddy encountered would lift the machine bodily off the ground like a bal loon, some 30 or 40 feet. A slight effort would be made to check the rise until the disturbance had been passed through, then the elevator would be returned to a position of gentle descent, allowing the machine to gradually lose altitude until the next air "chimney" was encountered, when the same performance would be repeated. In this manner altitude could be gained according to the frequency of the heat eddies encountered, it being quite possible to get up to 1,000 ft. in 15 minutes. Towards three and four o'clock in the afternoon the periods of lift would not be as pronounced, as the whole atmosphere would then be rising. The minute the sun went behind the mountains flying was impossible unless the pilot weighed less than 130 lbs. Later observations showed that when the . •mm I* r 1 , • ttttttfif- jSPSIWW*.***-- • "iSMEt'fii :-•.•:•..'; FLIGHT Mr. G. M. Dyott, on ois 60'h.p. Aazani'Deperiussln, flyiag over forest fires in Cmml Amei 59 D
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