Bulletins, from January 4, 1909 to April 12, 1909 ASSOCIATION'S COPY BULLETINS OF THE Aerial Experiment Association 1 Bulletin No. XXVI Issued MONDAY, Jan. 4, 1908 ASSOCIATION COPY. BEINN BHREAGH, NEAR BADDECK, NOVA SCOTIA BULLETIN STAFF. Alexander Graham Bell Editor Gardiner H. Bell AssistantEditor Charles R. Cox Typewriter Mabel B. McCurdy Stenographer Bulletins of the Aerial Experiment Association . BULLETIN NO.XXVI ISSUED MONDAY JAN. 4, 1908. Beinn Bhreagh, Near Baddeck, Nova Scotia . TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1. Editorial Notes and Comments:— Dec. 26, Langley Medal and Tablet 1–1 Dec. 26, Aero Club Medal 2–2 Dec. 26, Patent Matters 3–4 Bulletins, from January 4, 1909 to April 12, 1909 http://www.loc.gov/resource/magbell.14200101 Dec. 28, Visit to Hammondsport 5–8 The “Silver–Dart” 5–8 The “Loon” 8–8 Dec. 29, Important Conference at Hammondsport 9–11 Dec. 31, The Launching of the “Query” 12–12 2. Hammondsport Work:— Dec. 16, Curtiss to Bell, about increasing the pitch of the propeller and fitting hydroplanes to the “Loon” 13–13 Dec. 17, McCurdy to Mrs. Bell, describing a flight in the “Silver-Dart” 14–14 Dec. 17, Curtiss to Mrs. Bell, relating to McCurdy's flight in the “Silver-Dart” 15–15 Dec. 19, McCurdy to Mrs. Bell, about building a shed for the “Silver-Dart” to replace tent 16–16 Dec. 22 Curtiss to Mrs. Bell, about shipping the “Silver-Dart” to Baddeck and trying the “Loon” with hydroplanes 17–18 3. Beinn Bhreagh Work:— Brake Tests:— By F.W. Baldwin 19–22 Launching of the “Query” 22–23 4. Miscellaneous Communications:— Dec. 17, Gen. Allen to Bell, conveying congratulations on successful flight of the “Silver-Dart” 24–24 Dec. 23, Morrell to Bell, concerning Aero Club plans to honor the Wright Brothers 25–26 Dec. 25, Means to Bell, conveying congratulations upon th r e work of the Association 27–27 Dec. 31, Bell to Claudy, concerning the preservation in the National Museum of photographic records of the historic flights of Orville Wright at Fort Meyer 28–29 Bulletins, from January 4, 1909 to April 12, 1909 http://www.loc.gov/resource/magbell.14200101 5. The Outlook on Aviation: By the Asst. Editor 30–35 Aeronautics for December:— (Foreign news for the month) Belgium, France. L'Aerophile for December:— Delagrange at Savigny, The Lejeune Aerodrome, Italy and French Aviation, Aerodrome “R.E.P. 2 bis”, Foreign Aerodromes; Spanish in Belgium, Henry Farman in his triple surface Aerodrome. Items from the Newspapers:- The Aero Club of America, Wright, Michelin Cup, Bleriot, Farman, Delagrange, John D. Hall, Toy Dirigibles in Germany, President Bishop, The Aero Club, Mr. Lahm. ILLUSTRATIONS . 1. Accident to the “Silver-Dart” Dec. 8 (upper picture) 18 2. “Silver-Dart” on its way back to the tent (middle) 18 3. Camp “Silver-Dart” (lower) 18 4. Brake used at Beinn Bhreagh in testing brake horse-power 21 5. Launching Baldwin's new hydrodrome. Mrs. Baldwin with her hand extended over the bow is saying “I name thee the “Query”. The name will be painted upon the bow and an interrogation mark placed upon the stern. Note the important innovation of the vertical rudder placed at the bow. Aerial steering is to be attempted with no rudder in the water 22 23 1 EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS . Langley Medal and Tablet . December 26, 1908: — I have just returned to Beinn Bhreagh after a visit to Washington, D.C., and Hammondsport, N.Y. I left Beinn Bhreagh December 11, and returned December 25 in time for Christmas dinner. On December 15, I attended a meeting of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Bulletins, from January 4, 1909 to April 12, 1909 http://www.loc.gov/resource/magbell.14200101 Secretary Walcott read a letter he had received from me which reads as follows:— Beinn Bhreagh Dec. 5, 1908: — The Wright Brothers are being deservedly honored in Europe. Cannot America do anything for them? Why should not the Smithsonian Institution give a Langley Medal to encourage Aviation? (Signed) Alexander Graham Bell. Secretary Walcott seconded the suggestion which met with the unanimous approval of the Board of Regents, and Senator Cullom moved the following resolution which was adopted:— “ RESOLVED: — That the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution establish a medal to be known as the Langley Medal, to be awarded for specially meritorious investigations in connection with the Science of Aerodromics and its application to Aviation”. Senator Cabot Lodge then moved the following resolution which was adopted:— “ RESOLVED: — That the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution be requested to report to the Board of Regents as soon as practicable upon the erection in the Institution Building of a Tablet to the memory of Secretary Langley, setting forth his services in connection with the subject of Aerial Navigation”. A.G.B. 2 AERO CLUB MEDAL . December 26, 1908: — On December 16, I visited President Roosevelt at the White House as a member of the Committee on Medals of the Aero Club of America. The delegation was a large one under the leadership of the Hon. Mr. Parsons, a member of the House of Representatives. The delegation explained to the President that the Aero Club of America proposed to give a medal to the Wright Brothers at a banquet to be held in New York as soon as the Wright Brothers return from Europe. The object of the conference was to invite President Roosevelt to attend the banquet and present the medal. President Roosevelt made an eloquent address in response to the invitation of the Committee showing thorough appreciation of the great work accomplished by the Wright Brothers, and his Bulletins, from January 4, 1909 to April 12, 1909 http://www.loc.gov/resource/magbell.14200101 desire, as head of the Nation, to bestow the medal upon them. He regretted, however, that it would be impossible for him to attend a banquet in New York and proposed an alternative plan. He suggested that the medal should be given in the White House and he placed the Blue Room of the White House at the disposal of the Committee to accommodate a meeting of persons interested in Aerial Locomotion. The invitation of the President has been accepted by the Aero Club but the date has not yet been fixed. A.G.B. 3 PATENT MATTERS . December 26, 1908: — On Dec. 16, Mr. Cameron of the firm of Mauro, Cameron, Lewis & Massie, spent the evening with me at my house in Washington and we went over very carefully the specification he has prepared for a patent upon the Hammondsport work. We found that the difficulty regarding the use of the word aeroplane as applied to a concavo-convex surface could be very easily gotten over by omitting the word aeroplane wherever it occurs and substituting “supporting surface”. I suggested to Mr. Cameron that a broad claim might be added covering a unique feature of the truss employed in the Hammondsport machines. The vertical compression members (of fish-shaped cross section) have considerable extension in the fore and aft direction, but are very thin in the lateral direction in order to reduce head resistance and weight as much as possible. In order to prevent lateral deflection they are supported by tension members in the form of tie wires. Mr. Baldwin thinks that this is a unique feature in trusses, and I agree with him in believing that it will become a necessary feature in aerodrome trussing. In bridge trusses and in fact in trusses of all sorts not intended for aerial work compression members, thin in their la a t eral cross section, strengthened by tension members in the form of tie wires, do not seem to possess much advantage and the plan seems universally to have been adopted of strengthening the 4 compression members by making them thick enough to resist deflecting strains. In aerodrome t ?? r? ssing, on the other hand, compression members thick in lateral cross section, are undesirable because such thickening adds weight and increases head resistance. The plan adopted in the Hammondsport machines gives the necessary strength to resist deflection without material increase of weight or head resistance. For this reason such a construction will appear as an element in all the flying machines of the future, Bulletins, from January 4, 1909 to April 12, 1909 http://www.loc.gov/resource/magbell.14200101 and if a claim for this element is sustained by the Patent Office it would render our patent of great value. I have therefore suggested the insertion of a claim somewhat as follows:— In a flying machine, a truss containing compression members supported against lateral deflection by tension members in the form of tie wires, or The combination of a compression member witha tension member to resist deflection. The suggested claim may not, perhaps, be in proper form but Mr. Cameron now has the idea and approves of it and will put it in proper shape for submission to the Patent Office. A.G.B. 5 VISIT TO HAMMONDSPORT . December 28, 1908: — I spent Sunday and Monday (Dec. 20 & 21) at Hammondsport, N.Y., and examined with interest our Drome ? N o. 4, McCurdy's Silver-Dart, and our Drome No. 3, Curtiss' June Bug, placed upon floats and renamed the Loon. On Sunday, Dec. 20, three gentlemen from a distance appeared in Hammondsport to witness any experiments that might be made for my benefit. These were Mr. Means of Boston, the Editor of the Aeronautical Annual; Mr. E.L. Jones, Editor of Aeronautics; and Mr. Kimball, the Secretary of the Aeronautical Society of New York.