Fryeburg Academy - Academy Bell Yearbook (Fryeburg, ME)

Page 16 text:

l4 The Academy Bell service. As a war record we have the immortal heroes, Colonel Roy Guynemer, Captain Herbert Ball, Lieutenant Frank Luke and, last but not least, our own American Ace, Teddy Roosevelt's son. V During the war period there was no time to study, construct models, and publish statistics in regard to the airplane, but after peace was de- clared the thoughts of men turned to airships as a commercial asset rath- er than a liability of war. Records began to be issued, flyers were seen around small cities doing passenger work as a means of living. Let us look over some of the old documents published by the govern- ment. The 1908 planes were cap- able of traveling at the immense speed of 40 miles per hour. Two years later it was 60 miles, and in 1914 the English held a speed test of 120 miles an hour which was the world's fastest. During the sum- mer of 1921 a speed of three miles per minute or 180 miles per hour was reached and experts all agreed that the limit had been reached. Not daunted by this information the man- ufacturers kept on improving the machines, adding larger engines un- til in November, 1924, a Yankee avi- ator won the Dayton meet at 4.5 miles a minute or 243 miles per hour. As to altitude records there need not be much mentioned of the fact. From 508 feet in 1909 the height has grown to 37,500, a mile and a half, above Mount Everest. At this height the aviators carry compressed oxy- gen both for themselves and for their motors. At a height of 30,000 feet a 400 horsepower Liberty motor will develop only 170 horsepower due to lack of oxygen and a human being would die almost instantly. Some of the noted flights made re- cently are that of the N C 4 across the Atlantic by way of Azores, that of Sir John Alcok from St. Johns, Newfoundland to County Galmay, that of Sir Ross Smith, London to Sydney, Australia, and last the Round World Flight of 1924. The airplane engine has undergone a wonderful change as well as the rest of the machine and no doubt has had great influence on its his- tory. A fifty horsepower engine was unknown in 1910 and those they did have weighed from ten to fifteen pounds per horsepower. In 1918 machines using 300 horsepower were not uncommon and today monstrous engines of 700 to 1,000 horsepower and weighing only one and one- quarter pounds per unit is not at all uncommon. Again the engines will last over seven times as long as before and are not so susceptible to stalling or fail- ing in mid-air. ' One of the most interesting and useful branches of the Government Service is that of the Air Mail from New York to San Francisco. Each plane can carry nearly 20,000 aver- age letters at a cost of less than one dollar a mile figuring all operating and overhead expenses that can be charged to the service. The airplane presents 'a great problem of today and tomorrow and

Page 15 text:

The Academy Bell 13 digiously. He then ate his lunch of bread and cheese, after which he promptly lay down as before and slowly sank back into the arms of Morpheus. In the afternoon a few travellers wandered about the ruins examining the stones curiously and then dis- appeared whence they came. At sunset the goat herd awoke with a start, called his goats together, and drove them in a straggling line down a narrow street towards the newer part of the city, and the ruins were again deserted. The su nsank out of sight behind a bank of orange and purple clouds, and darkness fell over the city of Aquania. Ghosts of times long gone and al- most entirely forgotten, ghosts of the time when the ruinous temples and buildings were things of beauty and elegance, ghosts of times when people thronged the forum and the various viae, all these and many others now came to haunt the ancient ruins. AVERIL HARNDEN. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AIRPLANE One of the world's greatest men has compared this modern age of in- vention with that of life and death. There is no part of it which can be predetermined or foreseen in any way. There are new developments, new experiments, and new ideas be- ing brought forward day by day. In the history of every invention there is a time when the energies of science are not extended in an effort to improve the new fundamental. The history of the airplane has followed this time worn path. Man's first desire to ily verges back into that grand old age when aeronautical science merges into and blends with mythology which has no written record. There are two men mentioned by the immortal Ovid as making an attempt to conquer the force of gravity. They fitted them- selves with patterns of eagle's Wings made of wax and papyrus and with more boldness than discretion they sought to sail the air. There was not, even in the minds of the most learned, any thought that the air would be conquered by the forces of mankind and certainly not that it would be conquered by a machine heavier than air itself. Orville Wright on December 17, 1903, startled the world by announc- ing that he had accomplished the im- possible. Wilbur, his brother, fiew in 1908, flew two hours continuous- ly. People declared airship building had reached its highest point and would gradually die out. But contrary to general opinion the industry flourished and the Am- erican Continent was circled by air- planes in 1911. When the nations were in 1914 plunged into interworld strife and discord, airplanes became one of the most deadly weapons known to the civilized world. Possessed of great speed,vastly mobile and impregnable to attack, they presented a wonder- ful opportunity for development and

Page 17 text:

The Academy Bell 15 of years to come, in the pursuit of peace, and the vigors of war. It remains forius to watch and observe what is taking place in the scientific world. EDGAR GROVER, '25. THE DEVELOPMENT OF WATER POWER IN MAINE Maine has a greater chance for water power development than any other state in the country. During the last session of the Legislature, de- velopment of water power was con- sidered very carefully. Engineers have studied the proposition for months and have given a report that Maine will develop much more water power than Niagara Falls does at the present time. This state does not have the right to build a station sim- ilar to that of Niagara because the building of such a station must be under national control. Perhaps it would be well to give an idea of one proposition. In the center of one of the small bays north- east of Maine there is situated a small island, and the proposition calls for the building of two dams from this island to the mainland, making two large lakes connected by a narrow stream of water. The building of these dams would make one of the lakes much larger than the other. As the tide comes in, it fills both of them and as it goes out, it empties the smaller and leaves the larger one for a reserve. Careful consideration must be given to such a proposition because in it there is a chance to lose millions of dollars. A PERFECT PICTURE One evening, just as the sun was setting, I chanced to be at the lower end of Moose Pond. Looking up the pond, no sign of humanity was vis- ible-not a house, not a bridge, not a clearing. The irregular frame of the flawless mirror seemed just as Nature had wrought it. at the head of water, the sun Beyond the pines the smooth strip of cast purple and rose shadows on the surface. As the rays lengthened the evergreens became perfectly outlined in the lake. The air was as still as if no human being existed. Just then an eagle soared straight into the air from the midst of the forest. The last beams of the glo- rious sunset fell on its white head as though crowning this king of all birds. What, thought I, could be more perfect than this masterpiece of Na- ture ? RUTH SHAW, '26, BRILLIAN TOWN In the year of 1925 there was a Sophomore class, in Fryeburg Acad- emy of twenty-six boys and girls. One bright sunny day they thought they would like to take a trip, so, calling a class meeting, they de- cided to go to Switzerland to see the Alps, about which they had heard so much. So the last of May they started for Switzerland on the Cel- tic with Mr. Stack, Mr. Lovell, Miss