In the following transcription italic text is denoted by _underscores_. Small capitals in the original publication have been transcribed as ALL CAPITALS. See end of this document for details of corrections and other changes. ————————————— Start of Book ————————————— [Illustration: Waid Carl’s model in flight. Courtesy Edward P. Warner, Concord Model Club] MODEL AEROPLANES AND THEIR ENGINES _A Practical Book for Beginners_ BY GEORGE A. CAVANAGH MODEL EDITOR “AERIAL AGE” DRAWINGS BY HARRY G. SCHULTZ PRESIDENT THE AERO-SCIENCE CLUB OF AMERICA WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY HENRY WOODHOUSE Managing Editor “Flying” Governor of the Aero Club of America NEW YORK MOFFAT, YARD & COMPANY 1917 COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY NEW YORK ———— _All rights reserved_ Reprinted August, 1917 TO M. T. H. INTRODUCTION History tells us—what some of us luckier ones heard the Wright Brothers themselves tell—that the Wrights’ active work in aëronautics was a result of the interest aroused by a toy helicopter presented to them by the Reverend Bishop Milton Wright, their father. Tremendous developments have taken place in aëronautics and aircraft are fast developing in size, speed, and range of action. They have revolutionized warfare, and seem to be destined to become a most important factor in the reconstruction that will follow the war. The greater the development the truer the fact that model aëroplanes may be instrumental in bringing to aëronautics men who may make valuable contributions to aëronautics. As a matter of fact, there are already in active life, contributing their share to the development of aëronautics, young men who only a few years ago competed for prizes which the writer offered for model competition. The young men who are now flying models will live in the new age—and they have much to give and much to receive from it. Through the tremendous strides forward of aëronautics there are wonderful possibilities for the employment of ingenuity, genius and skill, and business opportunities, as great as have ever been created by progress in important lines of human endeavor. Problems of engineering as huge as were solved by master builders; juridical and legal questions to be decided as stupendously difficult as any Gladstone would wish them; possibilities for the development of international relations greater than were ever conceived; problems of transportation to be solved by the application of aircraft, as wonderful as any economist could wish; opportunities to gain distinction splendid enough to satisfy the most ambitious person. HENRY WOODHOUSE. New York, June 5th, 1916. LIST OF CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION ix HISTORY OF MODEL AVIATION 1 CONSTRUCTION 8 Propellers—Wings—Frame—Assembling—Launching— Chassis—Pontoons—Launching an R. O. G. or Model Hydroaëroplane. WORLD RECORD MODELS 52 Lauder Distance and Duration Model—Hittle Tractor Hydro—La Tour Flying Boat—Cook No. 42 Model—Rudy Funk Duration Model—Alson H. Wheeler Twin Pusher Biplane. A MODEL WARPLANE 83 A SIMPLE COMPRESSED AIR ENGINE 85–93 COMPRESSED AIR DRIVEN MODELS 94–102 The Dart Compressed Air Driven Model—The McMahon Compressed Air Driven Monoplane—The McMahon Compressed Air Driven Biplane. COMPRESSED AIR ENGINES 103–109 Wise Compressed Air Engine—Schober-Funk Three Cylinder Engine—The Schober Four Cylinder Opposed Engine. GASOLINE ENGINES 110–117 Jopson—Midget Aëro Gasoline Engine. STEAM POWER PLANTS 118–122 H. H. Groves Steam Power Plants—G. Harris’s Steam Engine—Professor Langley’s Steam Engine—French Experiments with Steam Power Plants. CARBONIC GAS ENGINE 123–124 THE FORMATION OF MODEL CLUBS 125–138 WORLD’S MODEL FLYING RECORDS 139–141 DICTIONARY OF AËRONAUTICAL TERMS 142–152 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Model Aëroplane in Flight _Frontispiece_ First Model Aëroplane Exhibition Opp. 4 Propellers (Diagram 1) 9 How to cut propellers (Diagram 2) 11 Designs for propellers (Diagram 3) 14 Designs for propellers (Diagram 4) 17 Wing construction (Diagram 5) 20 Members of the Aëro Science...