Aircar

“ Paul remarked.
"Give me the full details of this," was the request. "Remember, I am not much of an airplane man."
"Well," said Paul, "you know, sir, that it is far more difficult to drive an airplane than to guide an automobile, not merely because you have two steering-gears or rudders to take care of, one for sidewise and the other for up-and-down travel, but also because there are movable planes in the wings of the machine, which have to be worked to tip or 'bank' it when making a turn or to keep it on an even keel when a gust of wind strikes it. ”

“ As it is, at any aerodrome one sees a machine come down, the pilot and passenger (a fare or a pupil) climb out, the mechanics hang round and smoke cigarettes, unless they have to perform the arduous duties of filling up with petrol. In due course another passenger and a pilot climb in, a mechanic swings the propeller, and away they go quite happily. If anything casts loose they come down—and it is truly wonderful how many things can come loose or break in the air without anyone being killed. ”

“ The aviator jumps down, the passenger climbs out with somewhat less agility, perhaps, and expresses his very hearty thanks, the plane is turned around, the propeller started, and the machine flies off again, leaving the passenger to tramp slowly through the grass, contemplating the insignificance of the human creature who is forced to walk humbly along the ground. You may remember that the first time you descended from an automobile and began to walk, you seemed to yourself to be only marking time. ”

“ Van Ness avenue is sole. Nowhere in the wide world does the proud and culminating automobile own and dominate such a wide and sweeping display boulevard.
The automobile, what a magnificent animal it is, long, low, luxurious, purring softly, full of a great reserve, ready to dart forward, not to the cruel touch of a spur or bit, but to the magic touch of a button. It is the culminating achievement of this period of the machine age. The airplane, clumsy and awkward as yet, belongs for its consummation to the men of tomorrow. ”

“ As for the passenger, he climbs into the flying machine, takes his seat beside the operator, and becomes at once the centre of interest to all the people standing by. If he is himself an aviator it is another matter, but if it is his first experience in the air, he is usually the object of a certain shuddering admiration, not unmixed with envy.
The motor is started, making a terrific noise that almost deafens him, and quite drowns the parting speeches and the efforts of the funny men present to improve the occasion. ”

“ The operator moves a lever: the right wing rises, and the machine swings about to the left. You make a very short turn, yet you do not feel the sensation of being thrown from your seat, so often experienced in automobile and railway travel. You find yourself facing toward the point from which you started. The objects on the ground now seem to be moving at much higher speed, though you perceive no change in the pressure of the wind on your face. ”

“ Fitted with a 360 horse-power Rolls-Royce engine, it travels at a speed of 130 miles an hour, and is capable of climbing 10,000 feet in twelve minutes. It has accommodation for two passengers and a pilot, or one passenger with pilot and 200 lbs, of baggage. The machine was designed for business purposes where rapid transit is essential. In all passenger aeroplanes the saloons and cabins are always completely enclosed and well protected with windows, so that it is unnecessary for passengers to wear special clothing, helmets or goggles. ”

“ We have seen how the soaring bird tacks, first up, then down, then up again, and then down again. That conveys the idea of the perfection of rapid transit for passengers and freight. With the captive balloon we can tack up, with the soaring machine we can tack down. Short tacks up, long tacks down; there is no calm for the aeroplane; give it altitude and it can seize from the calm the wind of flight. ”

“ Engine troubles are much fewer than they used to be, and a more dependable form of motor relieves the mind of the aviator from such mental disturbance. Some device in the line of a wind-shield would be a real boon, for even in the best weather there is the ceaseless rush of air into one’s face at 45 to 50 miles an hour. The endurance of this for hours is of itself a tax upon the most vigorous physique. 173
With the passing of the present spectacular stage of the art of flying there will doubtless come a more reliable form of machine, with corresponding relief to the operator. ”

“ And passing constantly along these routes will be a volume of air-borne traffic—neat, privately owned planes; large and speedy passenger machines; multi-winged craft for the transport of goods; and here and there, flying swiftly and high, some slim-built war machine. Upon the land in the day-time, to indicate the direction of the airways, will be signs which may be read from high aloft; while at night, from signal towers, will flash forth lights, differing in the frequency and the colour of the beams they throw skyward, to guide the airman on his path. ”

“ Well, you, Lieutenant, and one of the boys come with me in the aeroplane—it’ll carry all three of us, and what of my stuff here I need to keep—say two thousand pounds—pretty good load, eh? especially over these hills, with all the air-flaws there are. You’ll notice there’s a regular freight platform, aft in the machine. The other boy can ride back, and there’s a young ranchero that lives across the hills that’ll be willing to go with [Pg 32] him, riding one horse and leading the other. “When does the Army Board of Aviation meet, did you say? ”

“ The pilot of a helicopter of today is a very busy fellow. New developments, however, will probably simplify the operation of the machine.
{102}
The year 1945 marks the beginning of the forty-third year of powered flight in America. Before we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the first flight of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk air travel will be the world’s primary means of transportation. No spot on the globe will be more than fifty hours distant from wherever you may live. Truly the shortest distance between any two points on earth will be an airline! ”

“ No. 5 shows that each compartment of this machine carries twelve passengers, six on either side of a central passage-way. The cars are fitted with side windows or port-holes, so that each passenger has a view outwards during the progress of the flight, while in front of the car, as suggested in the illustration, a small observation platform is provided from which passengers may if they wish have an excellent view on all sides. That the amenities of life may not be forgotten, even when in the air, an attendant in each of the cars will serve light refreshments en route. ”

“ If he has engine trouble he can land anywhere and fix his machine and then fly on. Since air resistance is much less than road resistance he can traverse the distance much cheaper than in an inexpensive automobile. If there is no body of water near his place of business he can land his cross-country flier in the park or flying-field just as easily as on the water. This same machine will lend itself to all kinds of pleasure flying, and no other sport gives so much exhilaration, scenic view, and adventuresome excitement as the aeroplane ”

“ I am in the carriage next the engine, and as I lie full length in the darkened empty carriage I look out on snow-patched fields and hills, now partly obscured by wild volumes of vapour, now fierily illumined by the glow of the furnace, the black sky raining showers of red sparks on to the vague night landscape, the engine racing forward past signal-boxes and stations, clattering along the changing points of the rails of junctions, knowing apparently that all signals are for, never anticipating any hindrance, skirling and leaping in the exuberance of accomplishment. ”

“ I thought they were goners sure."
"They handle that sky-clipper like a bicycle."
These admiring exclamations came in a perfect hailstorm as the big biplane air-craft, which had called them forth, swept earthward, bearing her two young occupants downward in a long graceful glide, and landing them at the door of their red aerodrome with the precision of an automobile being driven up to its owner's front steps. ”

“ Moreover, there is even a greater opportunity for the giant sky-liners to provide luxurious cabins and other comforts for the travellers, such as of course cannot possibly be supplied on a heavier-than-air machine, where even the chief engineer cannot so much as leave his seat to examine the engine once the machine is in flight!
The ability of the airship to cruise at low heights is another comfort the dirigible enjoys over the aeroplane, which, to insure a safe landing in event of engine trouble, usually navigates across country at five thousand feet altitude or more. ”

“ Having satisfied yourself that all these things are as they should be in the best of all possible aeroplanes, that the joy-stick works as smoothly as a beer-pull, and that the under-carriage has the necessary wheels, axles and other things that under-carriages are licensed to carry, little remains but to pay for the machine and make a nosedive for home. ”

“ In the engine-car, the floor of which vibrates very slightly with the hum of the motors and the rush of the [Pg 276] machine’s speed, stands the driver upon a raised platform. Immediately before him, as the craft rises slantingly, are the outlook windows; and convenient to hand and eye, as he looks first ahead and then back to his controls, are the wheels, levers, dials, and gauges by which he governs all the movements of his swift-flying charge. Bending forward, he moves his steering-wheel ”

“ You know that when a cyclist is going round a curve his machine leans inwards. Perhaps some of you have seen motor races, such as those held at Brooklands; if so, you must have noticed that the track is banked very steeply at the corners, and when the motorist is going round these corners at, say, 80 miles an hour, his motor makes a considerable angle with the level ground, and looks as if it must topple over. The aeroplane acts in a similar manner, and, unless some means are taken to prevent it, it will turn over.
Let us now see how the pilot worked the "Wright" glider. ”

“ Just as the railroad locomotive attained great speed from 1834 to 1839, and the big steamers cut down the time between New York and Europe, so will airplanes 100 years later cut the time around the world and to all points of the world. Just as the automobile has supplanted the railway passenger trains in carrying passengers across the country, so will the airplane take the place of railroads and automobiles in transportation through the air, because it will be much faster and safer. ”

“ For more than a week our heroes spent most of their time in the aeroplane shed. The gas bag was repaired, and made stronger than ever, the motor was overhauled, a general cleaning of the machinery took place, a new railing was put around the after platform, and the air craft was put in condition to take part in a distance race, a high flight, or to do startling evolutions about the aviation field. ”

“ Airship travel was scarcely a novelty to our heroes now, but, like many other things, there was always some new feature to it. Just as on an auto trip you never can tell what is going to happen, and just as two auto trips are never the same, so with travel in a motor-ship.
“We may start off all right, and we may get there all right,” said Jerry, “but you never can tell what is going to happen in the meanwhile.” ”

“ I have here a design for an air carriage, propelled by electricity, capable of being steered in any direction, and of attaining the stupendous speed of fifteen hundred miles per hour. It can be made large enough to afford all necessary accommodation for at least six persons, and its attendant apparatus is capable of administering to their every requirement. Here is a model of the machine. You will perceive that the material of which it is composed is no metal in common use, nor is its composition, and the method of its manufacture, known to any mortal man but myself. ”

“ Maxim once more, that "the tenure of life of no automobilist is stronger than his steering gear."
It certainly is not looking too far ahead to forecast the entrance of the aeroplane into the commuter's life. The great mass of the people certainly will not take the air-line, any more than they are now coming in by automobile every morning, and yet how many business men–and not necessarily the richest–do make the trip, that twice a day they used to take in a railroad car, in the open air, with the exhilarating breezes of their own automobiles? ”

“ Along past Brighton the aircraft makes her way, and you note the people on the beach—looking no bigger than ants upon a path—as they stand in little groups and watch your progress. High above the piers the biplane flies, and you see the town lying mapped away inland, with the electric railway skirting the water’s edge. ”

“ A larger motor was installed, and radiators and gasoline reservoirs of larger capacity replaced those previously used. No attempt was made to make high or long flights.
In order to show the general reader the way in which the machine operates, let us fancy ourselves ready for the start. The machine is placed upon a single-rail track facing the wind, and is securely fastened with a cable. The engine is put in motion, and the propellers in the rear whir. You take your seat at the center of the machine beside the operator. ”