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Aviation History
1916
1916 - 1062.PDF
pJGHTJ NOVEMBER 30, 1916. THE DEATH OF SIR HIRAM MAXIM. BY the death of Sir Hiram Maxim aviation has lost one of its notable pioneers, although the world-fame brought to Sir Hiram by his invention of the Maxim gun overshadowed his work in connection with aeronautics. Being of a very mechanical turn of mind, it was, perhaps, not unnatural that he should attack the problem of making a machine to navigate the air, and in 1894 he experimented at Baldwyn's Park, Bexley, with a giant biplane fitted with a steam engine of 400 h.p So sure was the inventor that the machine would lift, that he had special guards fitted to the track to prevent the aeroplane rising more than a few inches. And they proved its undoing, for the lift led to the breaking of cne of the axles, while one of the guards was torn- up and catching the propeller smashed it, besides seriously damaging other parts of the machine. Those who are interested in these experiments will find a brief resume of them, written by- Sir Hiram Maxim, in " FLIGHT " of March, 1910. Although Sir Hiram was convinced of the practicability of his machine, he saw that he would have to abandon the steam plant en account of the amount of water required for a long flight. He therefore set to work to design an internal combustion engine, but a severe illness, followed by great pressure cf work in connection with his many other inventions, led to the scheme being abandoned; In 1909 Sir Hiram Maxim built a new biplane, this time at Erith, and full details, with photo graphs and scale drawings of the completed machine, were given in " FLIGHT " of April 30th, 1910. In 1909 Sir Hiram Maxim published a little book, " Arti ficial and Natural Flight," which set forth the results of Sir Hiram's experiments to ascertain the relative effects pro duced by winds of known velocity upon objects of different shape, and also the resistance offered by similar shaped bodies passing through the air. Coming as it did at a time when there was not a great deal of literature available of a practical nature, this book, although the experiments were unfinished and the results unchecked, proved of great use to designers in the early days. Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim had a frank, breezy nature, which won for him friends wherever he happened to be. Born at Sangerville, Maine, U.S.A., on February 5th, 1840, he started life as a coachbuilder, and tried his hand at various trades before coming to Europe in 1881. For the latter part of his life he made England his home, and, having been naturalised, he was knighted in 1901. The funeral took place at Norwood Cemetery on November 28th, and among the mourners were Lady Maxim (widow), Master Maxim Joubert (grandson), the Hon. H. Fletcher Moulton (representing the Controller and the Munitions The late Sir Hiram S. Maxim, whose name is so well known throughout the world as an inventive genius. Sir Hiram is seen at the control gear of the aeroplane which he designed and built in 1910. Inventions Department), Sir Trevor Dawson and Mr. V. C. Vickers (representing Messrs. Vickers, Ltd., of which firm Sir Hiram Maxim was for many years a director, its title then being Vickers, Sons and Maxim) f The biplane which was the conception of the late Sir Hiram S. Maxim, of how man should fly. This I machine was built by him in 1910, and a full description of it appeared in "FLIGHT " of April 30th, 1910. m m The S.B.A.C. Still Growing. RECENT recruits to the ranks of the Society of British Aircraft Constructors include the following :— Ordinary Members.—Peter Brotherhood, Ltd. ; Crossley, Motors, Ltd. ; Hooper & Co., Ltd. ; Willans & Robinson, Ltd. a EI Associate Members.—Aeronautical Instrument!Co.," Ltd. ; Thos. Firth and Sons, Ltd.; J. Gliksten and'Son,'Ltd. ; William Jessop and Son, Ltd. ; Swift, Levick and Sons; S. Smith and Sons, Ltd.; Alexander Stephen'and Sens, Ltd. IO54
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