AERONAUTICS AERONAUTICS hour trip. It was thought that he mistook the English cliffs for fog banks and steered away from shore and was lost in the North Sea. 9 driving the ducks from the marsh out over the ocean he was able to bring down several. On December 28th there was a 5-lap race between the Curtiss machine driven by Ely and a MICHELIN BRITISH PRIZE. The Michelin Wright biplane driven by Parmalee in which the former won, making 84 miles in 10 minutes 5 3-5 seconds. Radley, an English speed champion, on December 29th, using a Blériot machine, defeated Ely on his Curtiss, the former using a "baby" Wright. Radley's time was 9 minutes 13 1-5 seconds for a distance of 84 miles. At this meet, Hoxsey made a crosscountry flight to Mt. Wilson, circling the mountain at an altitude of 8200 feet. The closing days of the meeting were seriously marred by the death of Hoxsey in an accident. MICHELIN CUP. The annual records of the competition for this important prize which is valued at about $4000 and is awarded for the longest flight in a closed circle during the year offered most interesting evidence of the progress of aviation. This trophy was won in 1908 by Wilbur Wright who covered 78 miles in 2 1-3 hours. The following year Henri Farman, received the cup with a record of 126 miles in 44 hours. In 1910 the competition was comparatively keen and even up to the last day on December 31st, flights were made with the hope of winning this cherished trophy. Maurice Tabuteau with a Maurice Farman biplane in a series of prolonged distance flights during the year held the best record until December 21st, when it was taken from him by Legagneux with a flight of 320.62 miles in six hours and one minute in a Blériot monoplane. On December 30th, M. Tabuteau in a Farman biplane made a record of about 365 miles in seven hours, and this record stood at the end of the year and carried with it the Michelin Cup. On the last day of the year H. Farman endeavored to repeat his performance of 1909, but was unable to secure more than 309 miles in 7 hours. Nor was he the only aviator in the competition for this trophy on December 31st. Forty-two other attempts were made, and as showing the general interest in aviation it may be said that a hitherto unknown aviator, Marie, made his appearance and flew 331 miles. Breguet cov ered 205 miles and Sommer 109 miles. THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN TROPHY. This first aeronautical trophy to be offered for competition in America was won for the third time by Glenn H. Curtiss and thus becomes his permanent property. His first leg on this trophy was gained in 1907 by a flight of slightly over a mile in his then new biplane. In 1909 the flight from Albany to Poughkeepsie of 744 miles without a stop was the best achievement in competition for this cup. British Empire prize of $2500 for the longest flight by a British aviator and a British-made machine over a marked circuit was won by Capt. F. F. Cody of the British army balloon division. On December 31st he ascended at Farnborough and flew approximately 195 miles in 4 hours and 51 minutes. The best previous flight for the year was 1471⁄2 miles made on December 28th in a flight by A. Ogilvie in Sussex. Cody, it will be remembered, was a former American who became a British subject to supervise the balloon work of the British army, while Ogilvie was a member of the British team in the International Aviation Meet, at Belmont Park, where he operated a Wright biplane. An interesting event was the trip of J. B. Moisant, an American, from Paris to London, carrying a passenger. The distance from Paris to Amiens was made in two hours on August 16, from Amiens to Calais in two hours and six minutes and the crossing of the Channel was made in 37 minutes. An unfortunate accident thirty miles from London prevented a complete journey to the British metropolis which was reached eventually on September 6th. The journey from Paris to Brussels, 180 miles, has also been made with a passenger, while Farman in his biplane carried two passengers on a 62 minute flight and Kinet carried one passenger on a flight of 2 hours and 20 minutes. A Sommer biplane made a trip with three passengers for a 5 minute flight and an H. Farman biplane was able to make a very short flight of two circuits of the course with six people on board. This passenger-carrying capacity indicated an increased use of the aeroplane for military reconnoitering and observation, as one or more observers are left free to photograph or otherwise record features of interest while the aviator himself controls the machine. CHAVEZ CROSSES THE ALPS. The first crossing of the Alps by an aeroplane was made on September 23rd, by Georges Chavez, who on September 8th had made a word's altitude record at Issy-les-Moulineux, reaching a height of 8790 feet. He started from Brigue and flew towards the Simplon Culm passing to the right of the summit and crossing the Col de la Montscera whose height is about 8202 feet. Fortytwo minutes after his departure he reached the Domodossala Valley, where the wings of his aeroplane broke and he fell to the ground meeting with an accident which forced him to retire to a hospital and ended fatally a few days DEFORREST PRIZE. The prize of $20,000 later. Although the conditions of the compeoffered by Baron DeForrest for the longest tition which required a flight to Milan were flight including the crossing of the English not fulfilled, nevertheless this first passage of Channel made by an Englishman in an English- the Alps was attended with many sensational made machine was won by Thomas Sopwith, features due to the high winds and low temperawith a flight of 174 miles in a Howard-Wright tures which were experienced among the mounbiplane on December 18th. Leaving Sheppey tain peaks. Island he crossed the Channel to Dover and from Dover he went to Calais and landed on the Belgian frontier. While competing for this prize Grahame-White met with a bad accident on the same day, and Cecil Grace the only other competitor who started in the flight across the Channel, perished on his return trip. He was flying a Short-Wright biplane and left France on December 22nd with fuel for a five FEMINA CUP. The Femina Cup for the best record by a woman aviator was won by Mlle. Hélène Dutrieu with a record of 1034 miles in 2 hours, 35 minutes made on Dec. 21st with a Farman biplane. Jane Herven on December 31st attempted to win this cup but was only able to cover 90 miles in 2 hours. Mlle. Dutrieu, who had received a pilot's license in August, distinguished herself also by a trip with a pas senger from Ostend to Bruges and back in record time, a distance of 28 miles. THE PATENT SITUATION IN AMERICA. Various legal complications involving the use of basic and other patents in connection with the aeroplane had taken place in the United States, and it was believed in some quarters that many difficulties would attend the bringing out of new types of machines by American manufacturers. Preliminary injunctions had been obtained by the Wright brothers against Curtiss and Paulhan and under these interlocutory decrees the Wright brothers were able to control flying in the United States for the several months they were in force. These injunctions were dissolved by the U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals and made possible the appearance in the United States of the various foreign aviators whose machines figured so prominently in the Belmont Park and subsequent meets. ALTITUDE RECORDS. The following list of the principal height records of the present year taken from the Scientific American shows at a glance the rapid progress that was made in aeroplane climbing during 1910. Aeroplane Altitude Records in 1910: 9,104 9,714 Oct. 31. Johnstone. Nov. 23. Drexel. Dec. 9. Legagneux. Dec. 26. Hoxsey. 8,471 8,485 9,897 10,499 11,474 biplane.... U.S. Blériot monoplane U.S. Blériot monoplane. France. Wright biplane.... U. S. THE FATAL ACCIDENTS OF THE YEAR. While there was considerable progress in aviation during the year 1910 yet it was marked by an extraordinary list of fatalities which possessed more than usual signficance in view of the fact that a number of the most skillful aviators lost their lives under conditions particularly distressing. In the list given below, which includes the names of more important airmen who were killed, will be found a number whose records and exploits have been discussed in previous paragraphs. At the end of the year which was marked by several serious fatalities the conclusion was general that lack of care in flying had been manifested by a number of aviators and that in the construction of machines a sufficient factor of safety had not been employed. Furthermore the demand of the spectators at the large aviation meets had been for sensational performances and many of the aviators, anxious to gain the applause of the crowds, had taken chances which prudence should not have permitted. The record below also tells of an increased number of fatalities caused by failure of the aeroplanes themselves. The breaking of various parts of machinery, or imperfect repairs, stopping of engines and other such misfortunes, were not infrequent and called for careful attention in future flights. The following list gives the more important fatalities due to the accidents with aeroplanes during the year 1910: January 4th, Léon Delagrange met his death by a fall in a Blériot monoplane at Bordeaux. April 2d, Hubert Le Blon was killed at San Sebastian, Spain, in a Blériot monoplane. May 13th, Hauvette Michelin was killed at This accident Lyons in an Antoinette machine. occurred when the machine was on the ground, and was the result of a collision with a pylon. June 17th, Eugene Speyer was killed in a glider towed by an automobile at San Francisco, Cal. June 18th, Thaddeus Robi was killed at Stettin, Germany, in a Farman biplane. July 3d, Charles Louis Wachter, a French aviwas killed at Rheims in an Antoinette ator, machine. July 10th, Daniel Kinet, a Belgian aviator, dropped in a Farman machine from 300 feet at Ghent as the result of motor trouble. He died five days later. July 12th, the Hon. C. S. Rolls was killed at Bournemouth, England, in a Wright biplane of French construction. Daniel, was flying 650 feet up when a rear wire August 3d, Nicholas Kinet, Belgian, brother of in his Farman biplane became entangled in the motor mechanism, stopping the engine. The machine dropped. August 20th, Lieutenant Marquis Vivaldi of the Italian Army, killed near Rome in a Farman biplane. In descending he lost control. August 27th, Van Maasdyk, a Dutchman, was making a cross-country flight in a Sommer biplane when the motor stopped, causing the machine to turn turtle. September 23d, Georges Chavez, Peruvian, after a flight over the Alps from Brigue, Switzerland, on a Blériot machine. He tried to make a landing within thirty miles of Milan. He was within thirty feet of the ground when the wind caught his aeroplane and dashed it to the ground. Chavez died September 27. September 25th, Edmond Poillot, Frenchman, killed at Chartres, France, while flying with a passenger, who escaped with slight injuries. The machine was up 90 feet when a piece of canvas was ripped from one of the planes, causing it to overturn backwards. September 28th, Plochmann, German, was in a machine that collapsed near Mühlhausen, Germany, at a height of 150 feet. He died the next day. October 1st, Herr Haas, German, killed at Wellen, on the Moselle River, Germany, by a fall from his aeroplane. Cause unknown. October 7th, Captain Maziewitch, of the Russian Army, fell from a Farman biplane at St. Petersburg when up 1640 feet. Due to failure of motor. October 23d, Captain Madoiton, French Army, at Doual, France, was flying 100 feet up and tried to stop his engine, and plane fell to the ground. The engine refused to stop and the machine upset. October 25th, Lieutenant Mente, German Army, killed near Magdeburg while planing to the ground in a Wright machine. It turned turtle and he was instantly killed. October 26th, Fernando Blanchard, Frenchman, at Issy-les-Moulineaux, France, was preparing to land at the finish of a 140-mile flight from Bourges. He was going at great speed about 120 feet up when he lost control of his monoplane. Army, was killed at Centosello, Italy. The aero plane tipped and Saglietti was unable to right it. November 17th, Ralph Johnstone was making a spiral glide in a Wright biplane at a height of 800 feet, at Denver, when the lower left plane of his machine broke and the machine passed from his control. Accident due to imperfect repairs of parts broken a few days previously. Army, while flying with a soldier near Rome, in a Farman biplane, lost control of the machine, and it dropped. Both were killed. while flying on a return trip across the English December 22d, Cecil Grace perished at sea Channel from France. He was flying a Wright biplane. December 3d, Lieutenant Cammarata, Italian toinette machine at São Paulo, Brazil. December 25th, D. Piccollo killed in an An December 28th, Alexandre Laffont fell 200 feet on what was to have been the start of a flight owned the machine. The latter was also killed. to Brussels in company with M. Paulla, who December 30th, Lieutenant Caumont, French afterward. AERONAUTICS Army Aviation Corps, while testing a new monoplane at Versailles, fell sixty feet and died soon December 31, John B. Moisant, American aviator, winner of the Statue of Liberty Flight prize, killed near New Orleans, La., while trying for the Michelin prize, in a Blériot monoplane. December 31st, Arch Hoxsey, the famous Wright aviator, killed at Los Angeles, Cal. After a flight to a height of 7142 feet and a descent to carried to the ground. Hoxsey was killed inDEATH OF OCTAVE CHANUTE. No record of the progress of aviation in 1910 is complete without mention of the death of Octave Chanute (q. v.), a biographical sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. With that of Professor S. P. Langley Mr. Chanute's pioneer work for artificial flight in America will be held for many years in high apprecia about 500 feet his machine was overturned and stantly. tion. DIRIGIBLE BALLOONS 11 THE WELLMAN AMERICA. A notable event of the year was the attempted crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by Walter Wellman in a large dirgible balloon. Mr. Wellman previously had endeavored to reach the North Pole, leaving a base in Spitzbergen, and two attempts were made in a specially constructed and huge dirigible balloon. The airship used in the flights for 1910 was not the same as that which figured in his previous polar expeditions. The balloon was cigar shaped and contained six ballonets filled with air and fitted with valves. It was increased in size to an over-all length of 228 feet, with a diameter of 52 feet. It had a lifting capacity of 23,650 pounds and the leakage of the gas was reduced to a minimum by the form of its construction, two layers of silk being united with rubber to one of cotton. It was extremely flexible and to it was attached a long car made up of steel tubing in the form of a truss triangular in its cross section, and 156 feet in length. This gave rigidity to the balloon and afforded accommodation for machinery, stores, and crew. The bottom chord of the truss was a hollow cylindrical steel tank in which the gasoline was stored. Tubular extensions of this tank carried to the end of the truss completed its structure, while various stays and brackets stiffened the frame work, the car proper being enclosed in canvas. The motive power was provided by gasoline engines at the centre of the car, of 80 to 90 horse-power, while a smaller or donkey engine was used for a variety of purposes, such as cranking the main engines, and driving a blower to inflate the ballonets. Each shaft was connected by gearing with the propellers, the forward pair being 11 feet 8 inches in diameter, and the aft pair 10 feet 4 inches. The latter could be given an angular motion in a plane parallel with the car so that its direction up or down could be varied at will, thus obviating the necessity for stabilizing planes or sliding weights found in other dirigibles. Sleeping accommodations for the six men composing the crew were provided by hammocks, while below the car was suspended a life boat 27 feet in length and of 6 feet beam, which was well stocked with food, carried a mast and sail, and was to be the refuge for the crew in case of accident to the airship. There was a knife device to be used to rip open the balloon in case a sudden descent was necessary, while a quick releasing arrangement was fitted to the suspension of the boat. There was also a wireless telegraph ap AERONAUTICS paratus with current supplied from a storage battery charged from a dynamo driven by the donkey engine. The engines and propellers were designed to give a speed of 26 miles an hour with both engines working, or 20 miles with one in operation. Theoretically six days would be required to cross the ocean in a calm, but provision was made for a ten days' trip with five tons of gasoline. The forward engine was designed to burn hydrogen as well as gasoline by having a special hydrogen carburetor and as the hydrogen was drawn from the ballonets its place was taken by air forced in from the blower. Suspended from the centre of the car was the equilibrator supported by cables fore and aft. This novel device 330 feet in length took the place of the drag rope of the dirigible balloon, and consisted of 30 steel tanks strung together on a cable. These tanks carried gasoline and as they were exhausted relieved the balloon of weight and compensated for loss of gas. Furthermore the equilibrator dragged in the water, the aim being to keep the airship about 200 In designing the craft there was associated with Mr. Wellman, Melvin Vaniman, as chief engineer, a man who had had considerable experience in the construction of airships and aeroplanes. feet above sea level. VOYAGE OF THE AMERICA. This wonderful But on October airship was assembled at Atlantic City, N. J., By Tuesday it was realized that any continuation of the voyage would be as foolish as barren of results, and when the steamer Trent hove in sight early in the morning when it was still dark, it was determined to abandon the airship. It hardly could have been kept in the air for more than another day, while the problem of launching the life boat and remaining in it until rescued was indeed serious. However, while the Trent stood by, the crew stored their records and the material they could save on the life boat and cut loose from the airship on which the valves were opened so as to permit the escape of gas and prevent the balloon from becoming a menace to navigation. The men from the airship were taken aboard the steamship and the America settled nose down in the water soon to disappear. This voyage, though unsuccessful as a transatlantic trip, was, however, in many ways remarkable. A record of 711⁄2 hours in the air was made for a dirigible balloon as against 36 hours for Zeppelin and a total distance of 1008 miles without coming to earth was recorded in the log book as against 800 by Zeppelin. The one significant failure was the failure of the after motor, but otherwise the structure and machinery proved satisfactory, and the chief engineer, Mr. Vaniman, was confident that the ocean crossing could be made by such a dirigible. ZEPPELIN AIRSHIPS. An accident to the Zeppelin type of airship occurred on April 25th when the huge dirigible Zeppelin II was torn from its anchor in a storm and carried away in a northwesterly direction. An attempt had been made by two companies of soldiers to hold the vessel against the force of the storm but in order to prevent a serious accident the soldiers were ordered to release the anchoring cables and the balloon was driven into the Lahn valley where it was caught broadside by a violent gust and brought down to the earth, being completely wrecked in the telegraph wires and poles along the railway. This airship, since 1909, had been used by the aeronautic division of the German army and had participated in the manœuvres of that year. It had a volume of 15,000 cubic metres, a length of 136 metres and a maximum diameter of 13 metres. It was capable of a speed of 28 miles an hour and could carry passengers and supplies aggregating 8800 pounds. It weighed in all about 23,100 pounds and the balloon proper was made up of 17 gas cells. The various dirigible balloons designed and constructed by Count Zeppelin reached what was believed to be a high state of perfection in the Zeppelin VII or Deutschland, which commenced a series of what were intended to be regular trips carrying passengers. An important trip was made on June 2, between Friedrichshafen and Düsseldorf, 311 miles, and the nine hour journey was made at the rate of 33% miles per hour. Several trips were made with as many as 20 passengers in addition to a crew of 12, and the enterprise seemed on a successful basis when a few weeks later the Deutschland was caught in a storm and driven into a forest where the great balloon was destroyed on June 28th. The Zeppelin VI was destroyed by fire caused by an explosion on September 14th. This airship also had done a considerable passenger carrying business. THE WILLOWS DIRIGIBLE. An English dirigible balloon was designed and operated by E. T. Willows of Cardiff and made some trips during the latter part of the year. The first journey of importance was from Cardiff to London, a distance of 139 miles, and on November 4th a trip across the Channel to Paris was attempted, leaving its hangar at Wormwood Scrubbs, West London. On November 4th, after circling the Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square, Willows laid a course to the south of England coasts, following the railway line and then crossed the Channel, intending to make a complete journey to Paris. Unfortunately he lost his bearings and was forced to descend at Douai on account of a severe gale. Willows's balloon, which was named the "City of Cardiff," was of fish shape and measured 83 feet in length by 22 feet maximum diameter, with a capacity of 20,000 cubic feet. This airship, all things considered, worked very successfully and with better weather conditions it could readily have made the trip from London to Paris. CLEMENT-BAYARD II. Another important flight was that of the Clement-Bayard II, a British dirigible which made a successful trip from Paris to London on October 16th, accomplishing the journey without a stop in a little over 6 hours. This ship was subsequently purchased by the British War Office. NON-DIRIGIBLE BALLOONS GORDON-BENNETT CUP RACE. The 1910 competition for the Gordon-Bennett International Balloon Trophy was held at St. Louis and resulted in one of the most successful events of this kind ever held, and one in which the world's record was all but broken. This competition is for non-dirigible balloons without mechanical motors, and the skill of the aeronauts is employed mainly in attaining levels where the most favorable air currents prevail. The race was started from St. Louis, Mo., on October 17, 1910, there being ten contestants as listed below. The winning balloon was America II, Allan R. Hawley, pilot, and Augustus Post aid, and its trip was one of the most thrilling in the history of aeronautics, the final descent being made in Canada many miles from civilization. For nine days the world at large was without tidings of these adventurous aeronauts and it was believed that they had met with disaster, but eventually after being in the air about 46 hours they landed in the township of Lake du Banc de Sable in Quebec and slowly made their way to civilization. The start of the trip was made at 5:46 P. M. on October 17, 1910, from St. Louis and a course in general northerly and north by east was maintained across Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, the great Canadian Wilderness, and into Quebec as far as Lake St. Johns where it was deemed essential to begin a descent towards the earth. This long trip was made possible by the great buoyancy of the balloon which was able to rise to a height of from 14,000 to 16,000 feet during its journey over the province of Quebec, and six bags of ballast remained at the end of the trip which easily could have been prolonged across the uninhabited wilds of Labrador to the Atlantic Ocean. The decision to land was followed by a descent at 3:45 on October 19th half a mile from a small lake called Sand Bank Lake, four miles north of Lake Tehotagama. The balloon was duly packed and then a journey over cliff and boulder to Lake Tchotagama was undertaken and then to a trapper's camp on the River Blanche where food was obtained and the services of two trappers secured to lead the aeronauts to civilization. These experiences were most extraordinary and the news of their safe arrival in civilization was received with unusual interest. The performance of the German balloon, Düsseldorf II, was also good and secured for it second place, but the experiences of the pilot and aid were far less exciting. BENNETT CUP SUMMARY. The following summary gives the names of the participating balloons together with the distances accomplished as corrected by the U. S. War Department, and other information: America II (America)-Allan R. Hawley, pilot; Augustus Post, aid; landed at Lake |