University of Santa Clara - Redwood Yearbook (Santa Clara, CA)

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THE REDWOOD. relation of weight to the surface and the length of the surface to its breadth . To be still more explicit, Montgom- ery ' s study of bird-flight showed him a reciprocal action between bird and air, and the idea of reciprocal action informed him that the problem of aer- ial flight would be solved through the principle that the bird and the sur- rounding air form a system . After approximating the surface-shape of the wing, he obtained an intimate acquaint- ance with the action and re-action of the air, and from his experiments in fluid movements he drew these conclu- sions : 1st, That a surface to act upon the air and to be acted upon by the air, in such a manner as to sustain a human body, must be so formed and adjusted that it will produce certain rotary movements in the air. 2nd, That the parts of the surface must be co-ordinate, so that a change in one part will produce a corresponding change in other parts, and consequent- ly act upon the air so as to induce va- rious modifications of the air move- ment. On these principles, then, Mont- gomery built his aeroplane — two wing- surfaces so placed as to form a para- bolic surface from the front to the rear edge ; the tail-piece consisting of a vertical and horizontal plane. The wings were divided so as to produce a general rotation in the air, the rear portion being so arranged as to be free to change position, either automatical- ly, when under excessive atmospheric pressure, or devisedly when the aero- naut was directing its course. When on one side the wing was tilted, on the other it would take an opposite posi- tion, so that in consequence there would be on either side an opposite but reciprocal change. As to the tail- piece, which had an influence on the entire mechanism, the vertical portion served to secure side equilibrium and to meet antagonistic pressures from above and below the surfaces ; while the hori- zontal was used to assure fore and aft equilibrium and as a necessary element for downward or upward or horizontal motion. This mechanism was briefly described, with illustrations in Le Magasin Pittoresque (Paris), as early as March, 1905, the correspondent, Henry Coupin, eagerly directing the attention of his progressive country- men to Montgomery ' s successful exper- iments in flying-craft. In a recent issue of an aeronautical magazine appeared an advertisement with the boldface topline suggestion: ' ' Build your own aeroplane ! ' ' and thereunder was the statement: We supply blue prints with exact and de- tailed measurements of nearly all fly- ing-machines ; plain and easy to build from! And the public was further advised in the same advertisement: Anyone can build an aeroplane from our blue prints ! ' ' Nobody will doubt that, legally or otherwise, Blue prints and exact detailed measurements of nearly all flying-machines can be supplied, as the advertisement indi- cates, and nobody will doubt that aero- planes can be readily built from the

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THE REDWOOD. the world ' s philosophers, and that Aristotle ' s assertion that falling bodies would descend with a velocity propor- tionate to their weight (a stone weigh- ing ten pounds falling ten times as fast as a stone weighing one pound) had been proven false by Galileo ' s actual experiment of dropping a heavy weight and a light weight at the same instant, side by side, from the tower of Pisa. Even when the weights were heard to strike the gromid together there were some who, in spite of the evidence of their senses, still clung to the doctrine of Aristotle. Montgomery declared that, given the time and the means, he would prove his theories by experi- ments. It was not until 1904 that his matured studies were applied to ma- chines in a conclusive demonstration of l)otli equilibrium and control under the guidance of a rider, and those machines were constructed under patent office protection, so far as that goes, and in- volved, among other tlnngs, the warp- ing of wing surfaces. Through years of struggle Montgom- ery had reached the threshold of suc- cess, and it was the irony of fate that the merited reward should be literally snatched from his hands. He had once experimented with a soaring apparatus Avhicli consisted of true (flat) planes, and failure in the use of the planes had led him to the adoption of curved surfaces. His experiences in the eigh- ties convinced him that the laws of aerodynamics and the formation and adjustment of the proper wing surfaces for flight were not understood, and that it was foolhardy for anyone to at- tempt the navigation of the air while uncertain as to whether or not his ma- chine contained in itself the property of inherent equilibrium. To be ex- plicit, there are two classes of ma- chines, one in which the equilibrium depends ui on the skill of the rider, as in the ease of the bicycle, and one in which the machine has in itself the ele- ments of equilibrium, as in the auto- mobile, the operator of which has merely to use his judgment in directing its course. The materialization of his master-study in 1904 was the prelude to the triumph of April 29th, 1905, and the year 1905, I venture to predict, will be known to the future as something akin to the annus mirabilis of the aeroplane. In his examination of the wings of hawks, buzzards, eagles, seagulls, peli- cans, wild geese and other birds. Profes- sor Montgomery found the under-sur- faee of the wing from the front to the rear edge a true parabola, varying in its curviture, both according to the re- lation between the weight of the bird and its wing surface, and the propor- tion of length and breadth of the wing ; but, although his minute observations and mathematical deductions would fill volumes, suffice it to say that from such observations he reached the con- elusion that the surface best suited to receiving and utilizing the aerial movements and forces is one having a gradually increasing curviture from the rear to the front edge, and that the curviture of this is dependent on the

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THE REDWOOD. plans furnished. Since a piratical play-bnreau flourished for years by acting as an independent agency in supplying copyrighted dramas to the- atrical companies at a rate which amounted to one-third of the royalty demanded by the author, it is not un- reasonable to suppose that somewhat similar liberties might be taken under the patent laws. Moreover, it may be remarked that thousands operate Edi- son ' s electrical inventions as well, if not better, than Edison himself could do ; and not only that, but there are thousands who can make the machines that make the inventions ; but the brain of an Edison was required to conceive and plan and build in order to prepare the way for the procession of imitators. And likewise, the brain of a Montgom- ery was necessary to direct lesser minds to the heights of success in the progress of flying-machines. Prior to the 29th of April, 1905, the successful flying-machine was un- known. The aeroplane which recorded the eight-mile flight at Santa Clara on that day had in it less than twenty dollars ' worth of material. Its weight was just forty-eight pounds, and it con- sisted of nothing more than a wooden frame, two sets of wings and a peculi- arly-shaped rudder or tail. Certainly, the machine was easy to build . Far from being a complex affair, it was simplicity itself, and, with the aid of blue prints and exact and detailed measurements , might have been con- structed in a single day. But that suc- cessful aeroplane was the fruit of twenty-five years of scientific endeav- or, and it cost tens of thousands of dollars, perhaps, in experimentation and study. Nevertheless, when the Montgomery airship was described in the press of the country, even to the exact measurements , it was not diffi- cult for a man to build his own aero- plane . It was an easy matter for the formerly unsuccessful aviator to dis- card his flat planes for curved surfaces and to equal and even surpass Mont- gomery with Montgomery ' s own aero- plane. The California physicist and invent- or was one of the few great minds de- voted to the development of the science of aeronautics. The bird-men are, as a rule, mere jockeys of the airship ; but the skilful jockey is necessary in the progress of flying, and we appreciate the risks he takes, admire his daring spirit, and applaud his nerve and endur- ance. To the discovei ' ers and formulat- ors of principles of aerial navigation, or to the mere inventor of a successful aeroplane, however, comparatively lit- tle attention has been paid ; there being little of a spectacular nature in the pa- tient brainwork of years in studio and laboratory, and the crowds that cheer the sensational feats of the aviator are quite uneoneeimed as to whether the Wrights obtained their normally-flat aeroplane idea from Octave Chanute, as the German patent office infers, or whether the Wright company is using the Montogomery curved surfaces, as the evidence seems to indicate ; and the public may be less concerned to know