The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1907-01-10
GENESIS or THE FIRST
SUCCESSFUL AER0PLANE.

FROM THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

in all the history OF invention there
is probably no parallel to the unos-
tentatious manner IL which the
Wright brothers, OF dayton. Ohio.
ushered into the world their epoch
making invention of the first success
full aeroplane flying machine. AT a
time when the various experimental
lists in the field of aeronautics we're
dumbfounded by the failure of the
deservedly renowned Langley to
make practical fight with his gov
ernment-backed $4,000 machine, II
was suddenly announced that two
young machinists had produced an
aeroplane which had made con-
tinuous fight, with one of the in
ventors on board, of over twenty
miles at high speed and under per-
feet control
Their success marked such an en-
ormous stride forward in the art.
was so completely unheralded. and
was so brilliant that doubt as to the
truth of the story was freely enter
tanned; especially as the inventors
refused to give either access to the
machine or make any statement as to
its broad details.
The Scientific American, however,
wrote to the seventeen eye witnesses
who were mentioned as having seen
the various flights and received let
ters from these reputable local resi-
dents, and published extracts there
from, which completely set at rest
all doubt as to what had been ac-
complished. Unfortunately. the for
eign aeronautical world failed to ap-
preciate the significance of the facts
as thus made known; and when San
tos Dumont made his recent short
| fight of a few hundred feet. with a
machine built on the lines of the
Wright brothers aeroplane. he Sc
cured in Europe the credit of having
made the first successful fight.
One of the editors of the Scientific
| American was recently accorded the
| first interview given to any technical
journal, in which the Messrs. Wright
gave some hints as to what they had
actually accomplished, and outlined
the investigation which led up to
their final success.
After becoming interested in the
problem of aerial navigation some
| ten years ago, the brothers expert
mented during several summers with
double-surface glider, with which
they became so proficient that they
could make long glides from the
SUBMITS of the sand dunes and de-
| n nf
improved their machine by the addi-
tion of a vertical and horizontal
rudder and a method of twisting the
planes to preserve lateral equilibri-
um. After reaching sufficient prof.
cheney in controlling the machine in
gliding, the brothers undertook to
transform it into a power-driven ma
chine. AS no lightweight gasoline
motors were to be had at that time,
they were obliged to build their own
motor. They decided upon a four
cylinder, water-cooled, horizontal en-
gine, which, when completed. weighed
$50 pounds and developed about six
teen horsepower, although it would
show twenty-four horsepower for
the first fifteen seconds.
AS they were unable to find any
authorities giving definite rules for
designing air propellers, they we're
obliged to work out q theory of their
own on this important subject. They
designed propellers for their ma
chine, and calculated the speed at
which it should travel with the
horsepower at their disposal. In the
first trial with a motor lin Decem-
ber, 1909 the machine flew at prac-
tically the speed the brothers figured
it should attain; which speaks we'll
for the truth of their theory of the
action of screw propellers. In this
first flight the machine went in a
straight line a distance of S52 feet
against a twenty-fve-mile wind. Hay-
ing proved that the glider would ily
with a motor, the brothers returned
home. and during the spring of the
following year resumed their expert
ments in meadow some eight miles
from Dayton, where they built shed
to house their machine. The greater
part of the spring, summer and au-
tumn of 1904 and 1905 was spent in
experimental work with new aero.
plane. A number of obscure diff.
culties were encountered, and 1t was
found that the machine acted quite
differently from what 1t did wher
merely gliding without a motor. II
fact, with the motor installed, the
operator had to make some moves
for control of equilibrium exactly
opposite to those which were neces
sary when the machine was simply
gliding. For starting the machine
a light steel rail some seventy-fiv,
feet long was laid on the ground A
small carriage having two double
flanged wheels was placed on this raj
and supported the aeroplane. The
machine was steadied by one mar
standing at one side and holding it
1t was hitched to a post and helC
while the motor and propellers were
started. Then. 1t was suddenly re
leased and allowed to shoot forward
whereupon it would rise in the ali
3 before the end of the rail was
reached. AS the field was a compare
lively small one, approximately rec
!. tanguar in shape, 1t was necessary
! to make sharp turns to keep within
its boundaries. In making thes,