A Century of Flight: How Scientific American Helped the "Aeroplane" Get Off the Ground [Slideshow]
Scientific American observes the 100th anniversary of a competition that would bring manned flight to the masses, spawn the aviation industry, and forever change the way we live and travel
A Century of Flight: How Scientific American Helped the "Aeroplane" Get Off the Ground [Slideshow]
- FLYING BOAT AMERICA: A reproduction of Curtiss's "Flying Boat America," which was the first multiengine, water-landing airplane, powered by two OX 90-horsepower, water-cooled, overhead valve, V-8 engines. A later version of the "America," the Curtiss NC-4, made the first transatlantic flight in 1919. Courtesy of the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, Hammondsport, N.Y.
- DOWN THE HUDSON VALLEY: On May 10, 1910, Curtiss made a historic 150-mile (241.4-kilometer) flight from Albany to New York City in his "Albany Flyer" and won permanent possession of the Scientific American trophy. In addition, he won a $10,000 prize from the New York World newspaper. The plane had flotation devices in the event that Curtiss needed to "land" in the Hudson River. Courtesy of the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, Hammondsport, N.Y.
- CURTISS AT THE CONTROLS: A 1910 photo of Glenn H. Curtiss at the controls of the "Albany Flyer," along with wife Lena Curtiss and Augustus Post, secretary of the Aero Club of America, in preparation for the final leg of the Scientific American competition. This plane (also referred to as the "Hudson Flyer") had a 50-horsepower, water-cooled V-8 engine. Courtesy of the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, Hammondsport, N.Y.
- BUILDING A BETTER AEROPLANE: A drawing of the "Golden Flyer" by pilot Charles Willard in 1909 shows how most of the early aeroplanes were constructed with strong, lightweight bamboo for body framing and Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) for wings and tail sections. A "shoulder yoke" operated the ailerons—the hinged controls at the wing that allowed the plane to rise or drop in altitude. Curtiss used bicycle spoke-tension technique to tighten the many support wires. Courtesy of the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, Hammondsport, N.Y.
- FLIGHT: Here the "June Bug" flies over Pleasant Valley, just south of Hammondsport, N.Y., on July 4, 1908. The flight of 5,090 feet (1.6 kilometers) was 1,810 feet (0.6 kilometer) farther than was required for the competition. The success was made possible by the addition of what Alexander Graham Bell referred to as "horizontal rudders" to the wingtips, a technological precursor to the aileron. Courtesy of the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, Hammondsport, N.Y.
- SECRET WEAPON: Although many early aeroplanes used small two- and three-cylinder engines, the "June Bug" was powered by a V-8, air-cooled, 40-horsepower engine (the same power plant he used to build the Curtiss motorcycle, which in 1907 successfully operated at a speed of 136 miles, or 219 kilometers, per hour at Ormond, Fla.). Courtesy of the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, Hammondsport, N.Y.
- GETTING OFF THE GROUND: The first leg of the competition involved flying in a straight line for a distance of 0.62 mile (one kilometer). The Aero Experiment Association's (AEA) "Red Wing" aeroplane had already made its first public flight—20 seconds to go 318 feet (97 meters)—on March 12, 1908. Two months later, the "White Wing" flew 1,017 feet (310 meters). But it was the AEA's "June Bug" that would take the first leg of Scientific American's competition. Courtesy of the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, Hammondsport, N.Y.
- THE CHALLENGE: In 1908 Scientific American established a competition seeking to draw aviators out of their workshops and into the air where all could see the fruits of their labor. On July 4, 1908, the publication'seditors, along with members of the Aero Club of America traveled to the tiny hamlet of Hammondsport, N.Y., to witness the first pre-announced, public flight of an aircraft in America, the "June Bug," which won the first leg of the three-part competition. Courtesy of the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, Hammondsport, N.Y.
