History of AirplanesIn June, 1909, Roger Summer purchased a biplane constructed by Henri Farman, and on July 3d he made his first flight. Scarcely a month later he held the world’s record for duration of flight, having flown continuously for two and a halt hours. His sudden jump into the ranks of the [...]
The 1910 Paulhan biplane, actively discussed in aviation circles, was remarkable only for the strength and elasticity of its structure, and the ease with which it could be packed and shipped. Louis Paulhan, whose great exploits as an aeroplane pilot were well known, made a happy combination of a new type of [...]
Although similar in general outline and type of construction to the early Farmans, this English biplane was quite different in the method of transverse control, in the absence of any rear direction rudder, and in the structure of the wings.
Many successful flights were made by the Neale VII., and while the [...]
This monoplane was partticularly notable for the position of its propeller, its low center of gravity, the upturned ends of the plane, and the provision of a clutch enabling the aviator to start the motor, step into the machine, and then start the propeller. Many biplanes and monoplanes were built by M. [...]
Resting on its undercarriage of 4 equally-spaced wheels, the Pfitzner monoplane might be compared to a flying grocery cart, with very long, rectangular wings.
In the early part of January, 1910, the monoplane designed by Mr. A. L. Pfitzner and built at the Curtiss aeroplane factory at Hammondsport, N. Y., was completed and flown. [...]
The progress in Germany during 1910 was not restricted to imitating the French, as some supposed at the time, but included the development of many interesting and distinctive aeroplanes. One of the most successful of these was the Dorner monoplane, which resembled the Pischof more than any other. The weight carried per horse-power [...]
Introduced in 1910, the Model B was the Wright Brothers’ first airplane built in production quantities.
While a direct development of their Flyers, it was their first airplane to include wheels and to locate the elevator planes in the rear, behind a twin rudder. It retained skid struts and wing-warping (the Wrights’ preferred method of roll-control). [...]
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The primitive biplane circled the course over Long Island’s Hempstead Plains ten times, covering fifteen miles, and then came down. The pilot was hungry. As Glenn Curtis put it: “I felt hungry and it was time for breakfast. Even an aeroplanist has to eat, and after making ten evolutions of the [...]
The Farman III (or Farman 3) was the first airplane to use ailerons (or flaps) as control surfaces, a great improvement over the Wrights’ method wing-warping.
Henri Farman had purchased a biplane, the Voisin-Farman I, from the Voisin company, and was ready to buy another, but Voisin sold Farman’s plane to another customer. Angered, Farman [...]
The great inventor Alexander Graham Bell, by then extremely wealthy, established the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA) in October 1907 to bring bright young engineers together in a creative environment. The AEA, composed of Bell as mentor, Douglas McCurdy, Frederick Baldwin, Lt. Thomas Selfridge, and Glenn Curtiss, went on to build aircraft as a team [...]