Chapter 2
The Flying Machine of the Future from Practical Aeronautics by Charles B. Hayward. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Bellona Times. Now that flying has become an accomplished fact, speculation as to just what the flying machine of the future will look like
is quite as rife as it ever was when mankind generally regarded human flight as one of those long-cherished illusions which, like perpetual motion, would endure to torment the inventive mind as long as the race existed. Wondrously impossible contrivances, as large as the modern skyscraping hotel, are talked of and pictured, and the imagination is drawn upon to supply details
that will probably never exist elsewhere. But the developments of the past few years have been so marvelous and so rapid that some, even of what now appear to be wholly fanciful machines, may actually be built in the future. With all that has been accomplished in the past five years,
it is evident that the first steps have scarcely been taken. The only thing that actually has been achieved is the establishment of the principles upon which human flight is based, those elusive laws of science that had been sought in vain for centuries previous. So far as the machines themselves are concerned,
they can scarcely be said to have advanced very much. They still represent the same crude assemblage of wood, wire, and canvas that the Wright brothers and their numerous predecessors were forced to adopt for their experiments, as they represented the only materials available.
Before going into this phase of the matter at any length, however, it will be of interest to take up the question as to just what type of machine is likely to survive. Unpromising Types Ornithopter
It was only logical that first attempts at flight should be patterned after nature. Many were of the opinion that if man were ever to fly, he must imitate the birds. Strangely enough, some people are still of this opinion. But since flight based upon a scientific study of the laws governing sustentation in the air
has become a reality, they are in the minority. Man's weight in proportion to the power he is able to exert is so puny in comparison with that of the birds as to make any possibility of development along this line out of the question. Flying with power-driven wings is likewise extremely problematical,
as will be apparent when the weight that must be sustained in the air is taken into consideration. The mechanism necessary to cause huge wings to beat in imitation of the bird would not only be weighty and complicated, but likewise extremely inefficient, as compared with the propeller-driven soaring plane, which in itself has a great deal of room for improvement.
Yet the hope of eventually being able to fly with an ornithopter, as this type of machine is termed, is not yet dead. A Californian, H. Luffy Twining, has carried out an unusually promising series of experiments on a small scale, employing man's power exerted through the medium of bicycle pedals and gearing.
It is very much to be feared, however, that like the hot air engine and numerous other inventions that appeared to promise great results from the success achieved with a small model, the ornithopter would be about as cumbersome and hopeless as its name, when attempted on a scale large enough to be of any practical use.
Helicopter. Just as there is a certain class that still looks to the ultimate development of the ornithopter, so is there likewise another class which does not appear to be influenced to any great extent
by the fact that flight is an established fact. This latter class pins its faith to the helicopter, which affords a still further example of how misleading may be the results obtained with a small model, as related by the Wright brothers in their experience with toy helicopters. A helicopter consists, essentially, of a motor and a propeller,
the propeller being designed to rotate in a horizontal plane and to carry the machine and the aviator aloft by reason of its downward thrust. This is the simplest type of helicopter, next to the toy of the same name, but there are other types which differ only in the elaboration of their detail
or in the combinations with other elements, such as planes, which tend to obscure their true character. Usually two propellers have been employed, designed to turn in opposite directions,
in order that the tendency of one to rotate the whole machine with it could be offset by the other. The fallacy of the helicopter seems very self-evident, and yet large sums of money and no little inventive effort have been expended in attempting to evolve something practical
out of the principle of sustentation by means of the thrust of a horizontal propeller. If the object of a flying machine were merely to shoot straight up into the air from the ground like a rocket, it might be worth something to be able to start into the air
without the necessity of running along the ground, which is the chief advantage claimed by its advocates, though but one helicopter has ever done so with an aviator. But the single reason for the existence of the airplane is the same as that of the locomotive,
the steamship, the automobile, the bicycle, and the wagon transportation. And the ability to ascend straight up into the air does not bring with it any capacity for traveling in a horizontal plane.
In addition to being unable to move except in a vertical plane, the helicopter likewise has the somewhat serious disadvantage of being totally without any supporting surface in case of failure of the motive power. And even with the highly developed internal combustion motor
of the present day, it would indeed be a foolhardy aviator who would risk his life in a machine in which the failure of the power for even a moment meant certain death.
Paul Cornu, a Frenchman, developed this type far beyond any of his contemporaries, and he is said to have actually succeeded in getting off the ground, thus showing an advance in that highly important particular
over other helicopter machines so far built. This machine is likewise an improvement in design, as the propellers are so mounted that they can be turned at an angle, as was the case with Wellman's Dirigible,
the idea being that once in the air at the desired height, the thrust of the propellers, or at least one of them, could be exerted in a horizontal direction,
while the other served as a support, thus providing for horizontal travel. Coming down from a height of 9,000 feet with a dead motor, as has been done in an aeroplane,
would be a brief and exciting experience in a Cornu helicopter. Another attempt to provide a means of horizontal travel took the form of inclined planes. These were not intended in any way for support,
but merely to send the machine ahead by reason of the reaction of the thrust of the horizontal propellers upon them. At the present writing, it seems highly improbable
that anything practical will ever be done with either the ornithopter or the helicopter. Miscellaneous.
Apart from the types mentioned, there are hundreds that could not be classified except as freaks, the majority of which
are not worth even passing mention. One of these, the chief merit of which appears to be its novelty,
this is a combination dirigible balloon and aeroplane, though just what is to be gained in evolving such a hybrid
is difficult to explain. It is neither one nor the other, and has the disadvantages of both
without the merits of either. The gas bag is not of sufficient size to effectually support
any weight, while, on the other hand, it is so large as to prove practically
an anchor for the aeroplane, which could make but a very slow speed with such an encumbrance.
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