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]
- 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... 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... 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... 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.
