Evening star., 1927-10-09

question of strength was left to the
judgment of the builder. None of
| Mr.. Simmons planes ever crashed to
| a complete wash out" so strongly
were they built, and in every accident,
of which there were many, the craft
was ready to fly either that evening
or the following morning. Peck was
the only airman who lost his life in
| plane with whose construction Mr..
Simmons was identified.
When the Washington Aeroplane
Co. turned out the Columbia flying
boat" the aeronautical world sat up
and took notice. 1t was built to the
order OF Marshall Reid. aviator-sports.
man Of Philadelphia, who made the
first test flight on March IA, 1913 A
published account of that flight says:
THE trials were in every way a sue
cess, Reid making six flights during
the afternoon. A speed of over 65
miles an hour was attained in the
air and in the water the new craft
was particularly handy, as no difficult
ty was experienced in leaving the
water after 100-foot run. This new
addition to the flying boat fleet was
designed by Lee Simmons of the
washington Aeroplane Co. to fill the
special requirements of Reid, who ex-
pects TO use 1t for sporting purposes
during the coming season. The boat
is driven by one of the new model
Gyros of so horsepower. which has
proved to be an ideal power plant for
this type of plane"
A feature of the boats construction
was the folding wings. Not so long
ago well known manufacturer
brought out a plane with folding
wings, advertising it as capable of
being stored in a garage. Mr.. Sim.
mons saw this possibility in 1913 and
applied it. The flying boat, fully
loaded, weighed 1910 pounds.
In 1912 Mr.. Simmons built a mono.
plane and Peck flew it at College
Park to demonstrate the 50-horse.
power Gyro motor. "The machine
last week." said a published account
at the time, climbed 900 feet in two
minutes without any added load. 1t
probably, as it's constructors say, can
better all Of the existing American
records, but is not likely to be sent
against any of them till there is
something more in it than mere
glory" Mr.. Berliner was character.
lied the sponsor" of the machine.
This monoplane shared in the first
glory that came to College Park field
when 1t took off as one of a forma ton
OF five, the largest number of planes
ever in the air at one time at that
place.
Mr.. Simmons maintains that the
monoplane was the fastest plane in
America at that time-faster than
the Curtiss and Wright ships which
the Army had bought and were flying
at College Park. He relates an Incl
dent in support of his contention
which happened on May S, 1912. The
Aero Club Of Washington held
program in honor of Prof. Samuel P.
Langley's work in aeronautics at the
Chevy Chase Club. The Army planes
were to fly over to the club from Col
lege Park and Peck was to fly with
them. In accordance with reg,lla.
tiOns, however, the highest ranking
Army pilot was to land first, and SO
on down to the lowest ranking pilot.
Peck, being civilian, was to land
last.
Claims Record.
Peck arrived over the club several
minutes in advance OF the Army
planes and was forced to circle about
for several minutes until they put in
appearance and landed, Mr.. Simmons
declares.
In 1913 Mr.. Simmons claimed a
record for aircraft construction. An
order for ship was received by the
Washington company and % days
later 1t was delivered. During this
time 1t was designed and built. 1t
was sold for 81 800.
When Mr.. Berliner resumed his
heiicopter experiments in earnest, Mr..
Simmons put aside his airplane build.
ing and worked with the inventor on
this type OF craft. About six of them
were built, the last two of which
flew. Mr.. Simmons did all the con-
struction on them, including the pro-
pellorJ, except the metal work. One
of the helicopters, the first to fly. Is
in the Smithsonian institution now
and the most recent one has been
dismantled.
There is no question about the
ability of this airplane to rise from the
ground vertically, but the big problem.
in Mr.. Simmons opinion, is to build
a helicopter that will perform as to
speed, maneuverability. weight-carry-
ing and other characteristics of the
airplane. He has not given up hope
by any means.
After such long period Of close as
sociation with the aircraft from the
pioneering days until the present, Mr..
Simmons believes the science is only
begun. The basic principles and facts
have been established, but there
never will be an end to the refinement
work that can be carried out on the
flying machine, he believes.
GaIileo dropped a halfpound weight