Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/380

 352

��Popular Science Monthly

English.

Scout

21fl

Sturtevant

all steel

Battleplane

50 ft

Curtiss Triplane

133 ft 30 ft high

"America" type

flyinq boat

72 ft

German "Fritz" Battleplane 80-100ft.

Christmas Battleplane 180 ft spread

Showing the growth of the aeroplane and the comparative sizes of the more important machines now in use or building. The first shown, the scout machine, is very little smaller than the standard size 'planes in use in the United States. Compare it with the others, and an idea may be gained of the great progress recently made in this infant industry

aeroplane was at the time a distinct advance over anything previously built. Under war conditions this machine proved so successful that Glen H. Curtiss is now building them at the rate of one every day.

The Canada, a land machine, was the next aeroplane of note designed by Curtiss. Machines of this type are all manufactured in a Canadian factory, and the plans are sedulously kept from the public. Reports from Canada indicate that these aeroplanes have an eighty-foot wing span, and are able to carry two guns and one ton of explosives. Trial flights made at the testing grounds have resulted in speeds but little under one hundred miles an hour, since the machine is equipped with two motors of great power.

The newest designs of Curtiss call for a triplane, with a wing span of one hundred and thirty-three feet. This great flying boat weighs, fully equipped, nearly eleven tons. When on the water it is driven by a propeller similar to those used on large motor boats, but when it is to be lifted into the air, the great power of its two heavy engines is transmitted directly to the aerial propellers, and the huge machine rises like a seagull. A crew of several men is sheltered by an ample cabin, and a number of guns project from the sides of the compartments. The speed of this craft is probably high, and its cruising radius, when fully loaded, should be about six hundred and seventy-five miles.

European War-planes of Huge Dimensions

From the haze of the European war fronts come reports of aeroplanes which transport unheard-of weights for many hours, and which carry large crews to operate machine guns and cannon, but the censors have been remarkably successful in suppressing all definite news of these marvels.

Before the outbreak of war the Sikorsky biplane, a Russian machine of great size, had startled the world by making successful flights with seventeen passengers. Luxurious accommodations were provided for the guests, and meals were served in the air. This machine, while propelled by four Salmson motors of five hundred horsepower each, had the great disadvantage in war times of being slow, since it could fly but little more than fifty miles an hour. Little has been heard of this aeroplane since it was converted into a battle-plane, but it is certain that numerous machines of similar size and design have been added to the Russian aerial fleet, and that the speed has undoubtedly been greatly increased. The luxurious passenger compartments have been remade into cabins for gunners and bomb droppers, and gun mounts now take the places once occupied by comfortable chairs and dining