Chapter I: Introduction

History tells us—what some of us luckier ones heard the Wright Brothers themselves tell—that the Wrights’ active work in aëronautics was a result of the interest aroused by a toy helicopter presented to them by the Reverend Bishop Milton Wright, their father.

Tremendous developments have taken place in aëronautics and aircraft are fast developing in size, speed, and range of action. They have revolutionized warfare, and seem to be destined to become a most important factor in the reconstruction that will follow the war.

The greater the development the truer the fact that model aëroplanes may be instrumental in bringing to aëronautics men who may make valuable contributions to aëronautics. As a matter of fact, there are already in active life, contributing their share to the development of aëronautics, young men who only a few years ago competed for prizes which the writer offered for model competition.

The young men who are now flying models will live in the new age—and they have much to give and much to receive from it.

Through the tremendous strides forward of aëronautics there are wonderful possibilities for the employment of ingenuity, genius and skill, and business opportunities, as great as have ever been created by progress in important lines of human endeavor. Problems of engineering as huge as were solved by master builders; juridical and legal questions to be decided as stupendously difficult as any Gladstone would wish them; possibilities for the development of international relations greater than were ever conceived; problems of transportation to be solved by the application of aircraft, as wonderful as any economist could wish; opportunities to gain distinction splendid enough to satisfy the most ambitious person.

HENRY WOODHOUSE.

New York, June 5th, 1916.

LIST OF CONTENTS

PAGE
INTRODUCTION ix

HISTORY OF MODEL AVIATION 1

CONSTRUCTION 8
Propellers—Wings—Frame—Assembling—Launching—
Chassis—Pontoons—Launching an R. O. G. or Model
Hydroaëroplane.

WORLD RECORD MODELS 52
Lauder Distance and Duration Model—Hittle Tractor
Hydro—La Tour Flying Boat—Cook No. 42 Model—Rudy Funk
Duration Model—Alson H. Wheeler Twin Pusher Biplane.

A MODEL WARPLANE 83

A SIMPLE COMPRESSED AIR ENGINE 85–93

COMPRESSED AIR DRIVEN MODELS 94–102
The Dart Compressed Air Driven Model—The McMahon
Compressed Air Driven Monoplane—The McMahon
Compressed Air Driven Biplane.

COMPRESSED AIR ENGINES 103–109
Wise Compressed Air Engine—Schober-Funk Three Cylinder
Engine—The Schober Four Cylinder Opposed Engine.

GASOLINE ENGINES 110–117
Jopson—Midget Aëro Gasoline Engine.

STEAM POWER PLANTS 118–122
H. H. Groves Steam Power Plants—G. Harris’s Steam
Engine—Professor Langley’s Steam Engine—French
Experiments with Steam Power Plants.

CARBONIC GAS ENGINE 123–124

THE FORMATION OF MODEL CLUBS 125–138

WORLD’S MODEL FLYING RECORDS 139–141

DICTIONARY OF AËRONAUTICAL TERMS 142–152

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
Model Aëroplane in Flight _Frontispiece_

First Model Aëroplane Exhibition Opp. 4

Propellers (Diagram 1) 9

How to cut propellers (Diagram 2) 11

Designs for propellers (Diagram 3) 14

Designs for propellers (Diagram 4) 17

Wing construction (Diagram 5) 20

Members of the Aëro Science Club Opp. 22

Members of the Milwaukee and Illinois Model Aëro
Clubs Opp. 22

Frame construction (Diagram 6) 25

Model Assembly (Diagram 7) 30