Occasionally, someone asks the question of whether the Wright Brothers were the first to fly an airplane. The latest inquiry to the Smithsonian was initiated by someone who had seen an historical marker in Texas that it was Jakob Brodbeck who first demonstrated manned flight. Not so, says the Smithsonian, it was the Wright Brothers with their historic flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903. The answer to this question of the first manned flight gets one involved in a whole lot of operational definitions. What constitutes manned flight? We won’t even try to outline all the definitions relating to this question, but to recognize that many people made hundreds of attempts to fly. Many never survived their attempt. But, for sure, Jakob Brodbeck worked to develop a machine that would fly. He was a German immigrant, lived for many years near Luckenbach’s Grape Creek area, and died there about 7 years after the Wright Brothers made their historic trip. Brodbeck made a model that was powered by a spring driven propeller that resembled a boat propeller. There is some mystery surrounding his claim of having gone from small scale models to a size that would carry a man. Legend tells us that the flight of record was in the Luckenbach area, the craft rose ten feet off the ground and traversed 100 feet when the spring unwound, and the plane crashed to the ground. No documentation has survived this event. Most critics of the Brodbeck legend of this early flight cited the inability of a propeller designed for watercraft to propel a craft in air. It was the Wright Brothers who utilized an existing discovery that the cross-sectional shape of the blades of the propeller should be like that of a wing in order to provide the thrust needed in air. Simply put, a propeller designed for water would not provide nearly enough thrust in air. However, we accept that everything in Texas is bigger and better, and stories are no exception.
Before the Wright Brothers made their historic powered, controlled, manned flight of 1903, there were many who worked to achieve manned flight from their observations of birds in flight. Records exist of designs to create a heavier than air flying machines dating back to the 1600s. Most of the records are merely drawings, but some were small scale models. Most notable was Leonardo DaVinci’s drawings of ways to achieve manned flight. Most of the early models took the shape and features of birds, even bird-like wings attached to the back and shoulders of a person—even to the extent that the wings were made to flap like those of a bird. A 12th century book describes Eilmer, a monk, attaching bird like flaps to his arms and legs, then jumping from a tower to demonstrate first flight. Instead he landed at the base of the tower with two broken legs, lamenting that he should have added a tail to his body. None of these heavier than air machines were successful. The only heavier than air machines of the earlies times that flew were basically kites, either flown in the wind or towed behind running horses.
In the course of history, kites were probably the first heavier than air devices that were able to fly, albeit tethered to a person on the ground. As it turns out, kites provided a lot of the technology used in the Wright Brothers first flight.
The science of heavier-than-aircraft was not progressing very rapidly in the 1800s but, lighter-than-air aircraft were successful and popular prior to 1900. Most notable of the earliest developments was the hot air balloon. I can recall hot air balloons at an amusement park in the 1940s. At the time I thought it was quite a feat, not knowing that the concept and usage was already over 100 years old. Here’s how it went: A wood fueled fire was built on the ground; a big canvas bag was held with the opening such that the hot gases from the fire filled the balloon. Then with the balloon continually over the fire, the air inside the balloon was so hot that when the balloonist decided it was time to fly, he jumped into a sling fastened to the balloon, had his assistants free the balloon and away he went, waving to the crowd as he rapidly rose into the sky. He stayed on board the balloon as long as the gases in the balloon were still hot and the balloon continued to rise, but at some point as the air in the balloon cooled, he sensed that the ride was coming to an end so he jumped out of the his riding sling, and parachuted back to earth. Then, with no weight on the open end of the balloon, it turned upside down, smoke poured out the open end and the bag plunged to the ground. All this visible to those on the ground because he was at about 3000 feet in altitude and maybe 8 miles down wind when this dramatic end occurred. Here is a 1914 photo from that very amusement park.
Figure 1 Hot air balloon over Reeds Lake
Early balloons had no way to control flight direction, but then later with the development of the German Zeppelins and even to today with the blimps of Goodyear, balloon craft could be propelled and steered.
Early flight capability was developed both in lighter than air and heavier than air inventions, but from the beginning, successful heavier than air flight was the prime objective. There were countless ideas on how to create a manned flying machine, but most ran into a dead end due to the lack of one of four key dynamics of flight. Sir George Cayley is recognized as the pioneer of the physics of flight, having documented several principles for flight based on science of the early 1800s. These principles consist of the four vectors of flight: thrust (forward motion), drag (resistance to motion), lift (opposition to gravity) and weight (effect of gravity). In the 1800s, all these basics of flight were understood, but the only limitation was that there was no way to generate forward motion and control of flight. The engine had not arrived yet and the science of flight control—yaw, pitch and roll---had not been developed at this time. Yet, without the ability to provide forward motion, time was not wasted in the development of flight control principles. It was during the late 1800s that large craft were designed for gliding. It was during this phase of development using gliders that the principles of flight control were developed. Most of this work was done in France. Then, when the gasoline engine became available, Langley came close to becoming the first to demonstrate sustained, manned, controlled flight with his late 1800s experiments in the Potomac River.
Figure 2 Langley's water-based launch platform
Langley’s first design resulted in a successful aircraft, but the engine was too small. He then developed a larger engine, but the plane would not support the weight and power of the newer engine. This was just a few years before the Wright Brothers put all the right pieces together to make their historic flight in 1903. Thus, we can look at the Wright Brothers achievement as applying known technology to create a flyable machine. It is interesting to study old planes for the noteworthy aspects of their design that have developed through the last 120 years, but especially during the time from 1903 to World War II. There is little doubt that the world wars added emphasis to the development of aircraft. After the Wright Brothers demonstrated powered, manned, controlled flight, innovations began to develop rapidly around the world, most notably in France.
This topic of pioneer flight history came to the forefront when we began to dig into the information that was recently gleaned from files that R’s dad had saved relating to his auto trip to the western states in 1929. Dad and two of his friends made the auto trip for several reasons, but one was to stop and spend some time at Lambert Airfield in St. Louis, Missouri. He and his friends were avid aircraft enthusiasts, not pilots as that was beyond their financial means. Lambert Airfield was made famous because it was Lindbergh’s home base where he worked for Robertson Co. as a mail delivery pilot before he made his historic flight across the Atlantic. Lindbergh made big news when he flew a modified Ryan M-2 across the Atlantic in a first-ever flight in 1927. The Ryan M-2 as built was not capable of crossing the Atlantic nonstop from New York to Paris, but Lindbergh worked with the Ryan Company to modify the plane so that it had a good chance to make the flight. The craft was designated the Ryan NYP, the acronym standing for New York to Paris. The big change in the design of the Ryan was to adapt the plane to carry more fuel. The fuel capacity increased to 450 gallons which necessitated the wingspan to be increased by ten feet, the cockpit moved back by two feet and the engine moved forward by two feet---all to maintain balance given the increased fuel load. As built, the pilot had no view out the front, so Ryan provided a periscope for the pilot to see forward.
Figure 3 Lindbergh with the modified Ryan
Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island at 7:52 AM on May 27, 1927 and arrived at Le Bouget field in Paris 33 hours, 30 minutes and 29.5 seconds later. Navigation was accomplished by dead reckoning; flying the great circle to Paris. This method of navigation was perhaps the most basic means of navigating using fundamental instruments of compass, air speed and a chronometer. The procedure for navigating by dead reckoning involves inflight corrections based on an estimate of distance travelled, elapsed time and direction. The method of dead reckoning had been extensively developed since that was the main method of navigation, especially when location was not available from sextant observations. When he arrived at Le Bouget Field, he calculated that he was off by only a small distance and only a few minutes of time from the adjusted plan. That successful flight ignited the whole world’s interest and enthusiasm over the possibilities of flight. When R’s dad visited Lambert Field in 1929, he met Lindbergh who was working at the field. Lindbergh was heavily involved in the design of this airfield in St. Louis and another one in Winslow, Arizona.
Some of the planes at Lambert in photos taken in 1929 were the Douglas O-2, an observation plane produced for the US Army Airforce. Only 30 were built.
Figure 4 Douglas O-2 at Lambert Field, 1929
This series of aircraft was also used as an experimental tanker for inflight refueling tests. There is a two-minute motion picture documentation of the refueling operation filmed during the 1930s now viewable on YouTube. It’s always interesting to see how long ago some aircraft concepts were initiated and then developed over many years as technology was improved. We never realized that in-flight refueling is already 90 years old. Another aircraft on the field was the de Havilland Moth 60.
Figure 5 de Haviland Moth 60, 1929
This photo of the plane on the field was identified for us by the FAA from the registration number on the wing. NC599K. Its serial number was 53. Another photo made in 1929 at Lambert shows many planes in the distance, one of which is the Ford Trimotor. The Ford Trimotor visited San Marcos a few years ago with the Wings of Freedom Tour, sponsored by the Collings Foundation.
Figure 6 Ford Trimotor, San Marcos Airport
The Trimotor has an elegantly furnished interior despite its appearance of being made of corrugated metal (which it is). The interior of this model is furnished with seats that are relatively modern, but there are some versions of the Trimotor that have interiors fitted with wicker chairs and curtains at the windows that reminded us of the smoking-room furnishings of the Victorian era.
Figure 7 Interior of the Trimotor at San Marcos
After a week of cold and rain, Saturday the ninth of November dawned sunny, as predicted, so we took off for the Pioneer Flight Museum’s Fly-In and Drive-In in Kingsbury. Everything was already under way that morning as we arrived. We elected to start our tour by the old gasoline/auto repair building that is a permanent feature of the field. Near this building there were many period autos, trucks and an old ambulance built on a Model A Ford chassis.
Figure 8 The gas station/auto repair building
This old relocated building is an authentic gasoline station and repair shop. Just as the camera was clicked, the rebuilt Model A Ford army ambulance whisked on by. The Ford Model A was parked for a while, so we were able to inspect it carefully. Ford built about 500 of these vehicles and shipped them to Europe during WWI.
Figure 9 World War I American Red Cross Truck
Figure 10 Some of the planes across the field
Figure 11 Curtiss JN-4 at Kingsbury 2019
The museum has three more planes that have a place in aircraft development history. The Fokker Dr-1 shown below is one example. It was the plane that was made famous by the German air ace Baron von Richthoven. It is a triplane and this craft shown on the grounds at Kingsbury is in good flying shape. The red colored biplane off to the right in the photo must be their Fokker D-VII, a biplane from the German air force.
Figure 12 Fokker Dr-1 Triplane
Another aircraft on the grounds is even older, being a 1909 French made Bleriot I. It was the first plane to fly across the English Channel. In this demonstration flight, the pilot was a bit cautious in taking it very far off the ground.
Figure 13 French Bleriot I in flight
The Museum also has a Thomas-Morse S-4c Scout.
Figure 14 Thomas-Morse S-4c Scout
This aircraft it unique in that it did not have a carburetor thus the engine ran only full speed. So, on landing the pilot had to kill the engine and land “dead stick”. Although this report from the Kingsbury Fly in/Drive in centered on old planes, many other aircraft were on display as well, ranging from the light aircraft of the Ercoupe era to the modern single seater gyrocopters. There were many old cars as well. It was worth every minute of the visit.
______Sightings____________________
No sightings of any note this month, we went twice to local stock tanks and Canyon Lake looking for some ducks to photograph but found only Coots. That would make a good T-shirt for vacationers. It might read “I went to all the way to Canyon Lake and only saw Coots” The flock of coots seem to be having a good time near the boat launch on the north side.
