94 ■PROGRESS IN "FLYING MACHINES j a The American Engineer and Railroad Journal 47 Cedar Street, New York T L <*7o *5 ,C 5 / 614- .i 5/- .-.'B V h INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. Those marked with a * have been tested by experiment. Fig. Page x Sir G. Cayley, 1809. Diagram of bird gliding...»* 6 a Leonardo da Vinci, 1500. Wing-flapping device. xi 3 *Besnier, 1678. Alleged artificial wings. 13 4 *Marquis de Bacqueville, 1742. Alleged artificial wings. 14 5 *Bourcart, 1866. Experimental feathering wings. 15 6 *Dandrieux, 1879. Experimental figure of 8 wingp. 15 7 *Degen, 1812. Umbrella-like, valvular wings.... 18 8 *Letur, 1853. Parachute-like wings..*... 19 9 *De Groof, 1864. Winged parachute. 30 xo Bréant, 1854. Valvular-flapping wings. 21 xi *Le Bris, 1857. Flapping wings. 22 la Gérard, 1784. Flapping wings. 34 X3 Struvé and Telescheff, 1864. Multiple-flapping wings. 2s 14 *Kaufmann, 1867. Aerial steam machine. 26 15 Prigent, 1871. Machine, like dragon fly.,. 27 16 *Jobert, 1871. Artificial bird. 28 17 ♦Penaud, 1872. Artificial bird. 28 18 ♦flureau de Villeneuve, 1872. Artificial bird. 29 19 ♦Jobert, 1872. Artificial bird. 30 30 ♦Pichancourt, 1889. Artificial bird. 31 21 De Louvrié, 1877. Flapping wings, “ Anthropornis.”. 32 sa ♦Frost, 1890. Steam bird machine. 34 23 ♦Trouvé, 1870. Artificial bird, driven by explosives. 36 24 Method of starting Trouvé’s bird. 37 25 *Launoy and Bienvenu, 1784. Ascending superposed screws. 49 26 Cossus, X845. Project for screw flying machine. 51 27 ♦Bright, 1859. Superposed screws under a balloon. 52 28 *Ponton d’Amecourt, 1863. Steam driven superposed screws. 54 29 *Pénaud, 1870. Superposed flying screws. 55 30 Pomès and de la Pauze, 1871. Project for flying screw. 57 31 *Dieuaide, 1877. Experiment with superposed screws. 59 9 32 Mélikoff, 1877. Project for screw parachute. 60 33 ♦Castel, 1878. Multiple superposed screws. 6r 34 ♦Forlanini, 1878. Steam flying screw. 63 35 ^Trouvé, 1886. Electric aerial screw...« . 69 36 The sparrow-hawk's excursion... 79 37 *Henson, 1842. The first aeroplane project. 83 38 Aubaud, 1851. Multiplane flying-machine project. 87 iy INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. Fig. Page 33 Loup, 1852. Aeroplane with rotating wings. 88 40 Carlingford, 1856. Aeroplane project. 89 41 *Du Temple, 1857-77. Steam aeroplane.. .. 91 42 Smythies, i860. Aeroplane and vibrating wings... 93 43 De Louvrié, 1863. Kite-like aeroplane.»... 94 44 D’Esterno, 1864. Aeroplane for soaring flight . .. 97 45 Claudel, 1864. Aeroplane with rotating wings... 99 46 *Wenham, 1866. Experimental apparatus No. .. 100 47 *Wenham, 1866. Experimental apparatus No. «.101 48 *Le Bris, 1867. Artificial albatross. J°5 49 Smyth, 1867. Aeroplane with lifting and driving screws.- 111 50 Butler and Edwards, 1867. Arrow-like aeroplane. 112 51 *Stringfellow, 1868. Steam aeroplane (superposed). ”3 52 Danjard, 1871. Bi-planes, with vibrating wings. 116 53 *Pénaud, 1871. Experimental automatic aeroplane.». 117 54 Pértaud and Gauchot, 1876. Project for steam flying machine.. 121 55 *Moy, 1875. Aerial steamer. *25 56 *Moy, 1879. Military-kite aeroplane. 129 57 Pomès, 1878. Project fer aeroplane. !35 58 *Tatin, 1879. Compressed air aeroplane. J38 59 *Dandrieux, 1879. Butterfly toy aeroplane... 14* 60 *Brearey, 1879. “ Wave action” flying machine... 143 61 ♦Mouillard, 1865. Soaring apparatus No. 3.149 62 ♦Goupil, 1883. Bird-like aeroplane.. *55 63 Beeson, 1888. Patent soaring device. >63 64 ♦Renard, 1889. Dirigible parachute. I<55 63 ♦Phillips, 1884-91. Experimental curved surfaces. 168 66 ♦Graffigny, 1890. Kite-like aeroplane. *73 67 ♦Jobert, 1887. Kite balanced with cone. 181 68 ♦Maillot, 1887. Kite to sustain a man. 183 69 ♦Simplest form of Chinese kite. *9* 70 ♦Chinese musical kite. *9* 71 *Chinese bird kite... J94 72 ♦Chinese dragon kite'... J95 73 ♦Lilienthal, 1891. Soaring apparatus.*. *°4 74 ♦Lilienthal, 1892. In full flight...206 75 *Ader, 1891. Flying aeroplane... ■•* 23x 76 ♦ Hargrave, 1889. Screw aeroplane driven by India rubber.221 77 * Hargrave, 1890. Flying machine No. 10... *.223 78 ♦Hargrave, 1890. Flying machine No. .. 925 79 ♦Hargrave, 1891. Flying machine No. 13. 227 80 ♦Hargrave, 1893. Cellular kites .. 229 81 * Hargrave, 1893. Cellular kites.*3* 82 ♦Maxim, 189a. Steam-flying machine.* 232 83 Duryea, 1892. Proposed method of experimenting..«62 84 Moy, 1884. Diagram of forces—sailing boat. 273 85 Moy, 1884. Diagram of forces—gliding bird. 274 PREFACE. Thb following pages consist of a series of articles on “ Prog¬ ress in Flying Machines,” as distinguished from balloons, which have been published in The Railroad and Engineering Journal (now redesignated as The American Engineer), of New York City. The first article appeared in October, 1891, and the series comprised 27 issues. It was at first expected to explore the subject in six or eight articles, but investigation disclosed that far more experimenting of instructive value had been done than was at first supposed, and not only have these articles run to greater length than was expected, but they have been thought worthy of issuing in book form. * Naturally enough the public has taken little heed of the prog¬ ress really made toward the evolution of a complicated prob¬ lem, hitheito generally considered as impossible of solution. It will probably be surprised to learn how much has been accomplished toward overcoming the various difficulties in¬ volved, and how far the elements of a possible future success have accumulated within the last five years. The writer’s object in preparing these articles was threefold : 1. To satisfy himself whether, with our piesent mechanical knowledge and appliances, more particularly the light motors recently developed, men might reasonably hope eventua ly to fly through the air. He now thinks that this question can be answered in the affirmative. 2. To save the waste of effort on the part of experimenter;, involved in trying again devices which have already failed ; and to point out, as much as may be, the causes cf such failures. To this end an earnest effort was made to gather all the experi¬ mental records which were accessible, and to obtain a thor¬ ough understanding of them, so as to bring out clearly the reason of the failure. The reader must be the judge as to the measure of success which has attended this effort. 3. To furnish an account of those recent achievements which render it less chimerical than it was a few years ago to experi¬ ment with a flying machine, and to give such an understanding of the principles involved and of the results thus far accom¬ plished, as to enable an investigator to distinguish between an inadequate proposal, sure to fail, and a reasonable design, worthy of consideraiion, and perhaps (after due investigation and preliminary trial) of experiment upon an adequate scale. Chicago, January, 1894. KEYING MACHINES. INTRODUCTION. Having in a previous volume treated the general sub¬ ject of “ Aerial Navigation,” in which a sketch was given of what has been accomplished with balloons, I propose in the following chapters to treat of Flying Machines proper —that is to say, of forms of apparatus heavier than the air which they displace ; deriving their support from and progressing through the air, like the birds, by purely dy¬ namical means. i It is intended to give sketches of many machines, and to attempt to criticise them. We know comparatively so little of the laws and princi¬ ples which govern air resistances and reactions, and the subject will be so novel to most readers, that it would be difficult to follow the more rational plan of first laying down the general principles, to serve as a basis for dis¬ cussing past attempts to effect artificial flight. The course will therefore be adopted of first stating a few general considerations and laws, and of postponing the statement of others until the discussion of some machines and past failures permits of showing at once the application of the principles. The first inquiry in the mind of the reader will probably be as to whether we know just how birds fly and what power they consume. The answer must, unfortunately, be that we as yet know very little about it. Here is a phenomenon going on daily under our eyes, and it has not been reduced to the sway of mathematical law. There has been controversy not only about the power required, but about the principle or method in which sup¬ port is derived. The earlier idea, now abandoned, so far I 2 FLYING MACHINES. as large birds are concerned, was that when they flapped their wings downward they produced thereby a reacting air pressure wholly equal to their weight, and so obtained their support. This is known as the “ orthogonal theory,” and has been disproved by calculations of the velocity and resulting pressures of the wing beats of large birds, and by the more recent labors of Professor Marey. It seems likely that the smaller birds, who, as will be explained hereafter, are probably stronger in proportion to their weight than the larger birds, possess the power of deliver¬ ing blows upon the air equal to a supporting reaction. Such may be the case in the hovering of the humming¬ bird and the rising vertically of the sparrow ; but the latter exertion is evidently severe, and cannot be long continued. Mr. Drzeweicki has shown that a buzzard, beating his wings times a second, with an amplitude of 120°, could only obtain, according to accepted formulae of air pressures, a sustaining orthogonal reaction of 0.40 pounds or about Tv of his weight, while it his wings are considered as in¬ clined planes, progressing horizontally at a speed of 45 miles per hour, a sustaining reaction is easily figured out. It seems quite certain that large birds cannot practice orthogonal flight, and that they derive their support main¬ ly if not wholly from the upward reaction or vertical component of the normal air pressure due to their speed.