A Story of How Man Is
Conquering the Air
and of the Toll the
Aeroplane
Is Exacting.
Copyright, 1915, by
The International Syndicate.
FROM time
immemorial man has desired to fly. Even in the Psalms we find David saying, “Oh,
that I had wings like a dove, for then I would fly away and be at rest!”
[This newspaper article, published in 1915, begins with Icarius,
who according to Roman mythology, attempted to fly with wings attached to his body by wax. The article includes J. B. Dante,
a mathematician flew over a lake with artificial wings, but fell an broke his
leg when he attempted to fly over Notre Dame in Paris. A Scotchman, Damian, attempted
to fly from Scotland to France
using wings made of bird feathers, but made one leap and fell, breaking both
legs. He claimed he failed because he did not use eagle feathers. Many others named in the article tried and failed.
Gliders
were once thought to be the answer to human flight. These were tried in Germany , England ,
France and the United States .
But the glider was not totally satisfactory, either. It was not until gasoline
engines were available that real flight was possible. This article relates the
story of aviation, not only from early times, but also from the flight of the
Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk, Dare
County , NC
 |
| Wright brothers third test glider at Kill Devil's Hill, Dare County, NC in 1902. Wilbur Wright is the pilot, Orville Wright at left, and local resident Dan Tate at right. Found at Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1902_Wright_Brothers%27_ Glider_Tests_-_GPN-2002-000125.jpg |
After Gliders.
This type (gliders)
was soon followed by the aeroplane, and in 1903 the Wright brothers first used
a petrol engine and astonished the world by their flights. Their tests were
conducted with the greatest secrecy. While these experiments were going on
Monsieur Voisen constructed a number of kites, and after testing their
qualities as fliers he built an aeroplane along the same lines. (The Voisen brothers
were early developers of airplanes in France .) This type afterward became
very popular, both Farman (an Anglo-French aviator who set records in the
Voisen planes) and Delgrange (a pioneering French aviator and sculptor) piloting
them. In 1909 Robert Esnault-Pelterie, who was already known as the inventor of
the R.E.P. motor (a seven cylinder radial engine) which appeared in 1904, built
a curious looking machine which for a time created a sensation. Then came the
famous Curtiss-Herring “June Bug” which did some remarkable flying at the Rheims aviation meet—the
first one ever held. This was in 1909, and gave a special impetus to the
heavier than air machine.
 |
| Wright Flyer in which the Wright brothers made the first powered flights on December 17, 1903. Wright Brothers Museum website: http://www.wright-brothers.org/Information_Desk/Help_with_Homework/Expert_Interview/Expert_Interview.htm |
Aviation
schools were started in various parts of the world and aeroplaning soon became
known as a sport. (Samuel Pierpont)
Langly, (Samuel Franklin) Cody
[of wild west show fame], (Louis
Charles Joseph) Bleriot, (Arthur
Charles Hubert) Latham, (Glenn Hammond) Curtiss and (John Bevins) Moisant
at once became famous, the last three named having made flights across the English Channel .
Three years
ago an American woman, Miss Harriet Quimby [first American woman to become a
licensed pilot], accomplished the same feat flying in a monoplane. Miss Quimby
was killed near Boston
a year later by falling one thousand feet.
Unique Damage Suits.
Soon
aeroplanes became so common in France
that the farmers of that country began to consider them a nuisance and several
entered suit for damages, claiming that their crops had been destroyed by the
machines alighting on their land. Then, too, they claimed that colts had been
ruined by being frightened by the noise of the motor, that the animals are
never able to overcome the fright and cannot be used for driving horses.
Chickens and ducks they declared died from fright when the big machines “swooped”
down over the barnyards. Some of the French farmers contend that property in
soil carries with it property of the air above it and the earth beneath. These
cases are still pending in the French Courts.
During the
last two years great progress has been made in aviation, and at present nearly
3,000 persons hold Aviator’s Licenses. France
has the greatest number, Great Britain
is second, Germany
third and the United States fourth. In fancy flying France leads, for the average
French aviator seems to be able to do almost anything, including
looping-the-loop and flying upside down. This was accomplished first by Adolph
Pegond, and later our own Lincoln Beachy did the same thing while flying in California .
Curious Accidents.
Flying over
cities was the next achievement in aeroplaning, and in one or two places this
has led to curious accidents such as that which happened to Monsieur Gilbert, a
French aviator, who while flying over the suburbs of Paris was compelled to
drop on the roof of a factory to avoid falling into a crowded street. This was
caused by his miscalculating the distance. Another curious accident which also
happened in France
was that which occurred during a race at Buc where the machine piloted by (Andre)
Bidot, who was carrying a passenger, dropped upon another aeroplane. Both the
machines took fire; the pilot of one together with his passenger was burned to
death. Several times two machines have collided in the air and last year near Vienna during a mimic
battle in the clouds an aeroplane collided with a dirigible balloon. This
accident is said to have been caused by the pilot of the aeroplane misjudging
the height at which the dirigible was flying.
During the
past year one hundred and fifty-two people have been killed in aviation
accidents. This does not include those killed in war. They have been such
causes as loss of control of the machine, broken planes, explosions, wind
gusts, violent landings, hitting trees, machine turning turtle, collisions, air
pockets, motor trouble, etc. One man, Doctor O’Ringe, died of heart failure
while in the air flying over the aviation field at Johannisthal , Germany
One of the
most remarkable air accidents occurred at Annapolis ,
Maryland Lieutenant John
Towers Lieutenant
Towers Lieutenant Towers
It will be
remembered that during the aviation meet held in Baltimore a few years ago an aeroplane driven
by Arch Hoxey fell five hundred feet landing in a cabbage patch a mile of more
from the grounds. When the man who was working in the field reached him he
found Hoxsey standing in a dazed fashion beside his wrecked machine complaining
that he had “lost his glasses.” Hoxsey was afterwards killed at an aviation meet
in California .
 |
| Hoxsey took Theodore Roosevelt for his first plane ride in 1910. From the UPI website: http://www.upi.com/Archives/1910/10/12/TRs-flight-was-risky-flier-says/7117403814718/ |
Fate Plays Strange Pranks.
Fate has
played strange pranks with aviators. For instance, John Moisant, who flew
across the English Channel, carried a passenger over Paris
and did a lot of remarkable stunts, was killed in New Orleans when his machine dropped less
than fifty feet. The same thing occurred to (Jorge) Chavez, the man who made
such a great flight over the Alps and in the
end died when the aeroplane fell fifteen feet. [Chavez completed the flight
over the Alps , but crashed during the
landing.] Colonel F. S. Cody, England ’s
greatest military aviator, who is said to have been one of the greatest
mechanicians as well, went to his death by the collapse of a plane which he had
pronounced perfect just before the flight. Fancy flying, too, has caused a
number of deaths, among them Eugene Ely, who was the first man to fly from the
deck of a battleship. This he accomplished successfully, but later while giving
an exhibition at a county fair he attempted a “spiral glide” of the Beachey
type and was killed.
 |
| Jorge Chavez, the first to fly across the Alps, beside his Farman plane. Found at The Early Brids of Aviation: http://www.earlyaviators.com/echavez.htm |
The newest
flier is of the self-righting type—a machine which won the Bonnet prize in France . It was
driven by Morceau who flew for thirty minutes without touching his planes.
During his flight the wind was blowing almost a gale and the aeroplane was
tossed about but it always returned to an even keel. Lieutenant Dunne also gave
an exhibition with a self-righting machine of his own invention. Recently a
self-righting machine has been built in the United States but as yet its flying
qualities have had no fair test.
The Aeroplane In The European War.
When the
European war began the aviators of each of the warring nations at once
volunteered, fancy flying was laid aside, and a regular mobilization of
aviators took place in each country. Exhibition machines were turned into
military fliers over night and long before the armies were ready for the field
the aviators were scouting about watching the preparations of the enemy, and before
the war was a fortnight old we began to read of spectacular encounters in the
air between the aeroplanes of the different nations.
Very soon these fliers became the real eyes of the armies and navies, and their scout work has surprised even the most enthusiastic believer in the use of the aeroplane in war.
Very soon these fliers became the real eyes of the armies and navies, and their scout work has surprised even the most enthusiastic believer in the use of the aeroplane in war.
Bomb
dropping and being brought down and killed has become so common that almost
every day we read of military aviators being brought down by the enemy. In air
battles it is no uncommon thing for both aviators to meet death.
As the
carrying power of aeroplanes is limited, all sorts of death dealing vehicles
have been invented; among them what is known as the steel arrow—a tiny missile
about six inches in length, rounded at one end and brought to a needle point.
The other end is deeply grooved for about four inches, which gives the top the
shape of a four leafed clover. The finished arrow weights about six ounces.
Shortly after the war began a test was made and one of these arrows dropped
from the height of fifteen hundred feet killed a horse, the arrow going
entirely through the body of the animal. One thousand of these arrows are
placed in a box fitted with bottoms which open with a spring release. The box
is placed between the struts of the aeroplane and the aviator can drop as many
as he pleases by the mere pushing of a button.
News and Observer (Raleigh ,
NC
