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Aviation History
1913
1913 - 0868.PDF
J/DSH?) AUGUST 16, 1913. THE CODY WATERPLANE. No doubt most of our readers will agree that in no better way could we honour the name of the great pioneer, than by publishing illustrations and particulars of the latest machine built by the late Col. S. F. Cody for the Daily Mail race round Britain, the machine in which he had incorporated all the improvements that his great experi ence and ever-alert inventive genius had suggested to him, and of which his opinion—as expressed by himself a short time before his death—was that she was " A Ixauty, and as steady as a rock." We believe that the scale drawings and sketches of the Cody Waterplane, which we publish herewith, and which were made a few days before Mr. Cody's death, are the only complete drawings available of the ill-fated machine, and they should therefore be of exceptional value to all who have followed with interest the work of the great pioneer. Size and weight have always been the characteristics of Cody machines, and it was only to be expected that for a contest like the Daily Mail Round Britain Race, which will impose upon both pilot and machine much more severe strains than any to which aeroplanes have hitherto been subject that these characteristics would be retained, and as regards dimensions and weight the Cody is far in excess of any of the other machines entered. In this latest machine the span of the main planes has been considerably increased, while the overall length has been greatly reduced by bringing both the front elevator and the rudder closer in towards the main planes. It will be remembered that the machine on which Mr. Cody won first prize in the Military Competition last year had two rudders of cruciform shape. In the present machine only a single rudder is fitted, which has conse quently had to be made of much larger area, situated, as it is, closer to the main planes, and therefore working on a smaller leverage. One of the features of the earlier Cody biplanes has disappeared, i.e., the divided front elevator, which worked in conjunction with the main planes for maintenance of lateral stability. In its stead is fitted an elevator of more orthodox type, which has a slot cut in the centre for the accommodation of the central elevator booms. These, as well as the tail out riggers are made of bamboo bound with fabric. The S94
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