CURTISS’S EXPERIENCE IN BUILDING MOTORCYCLE ENGINES LED HIM TO DESIGN AMERICA’S BEST AIRCRAFT ENGINES.
CURTISS WAS ABLE TO STUDY THE WORK OF THE WRIGHT BROTHERS, AND AS HE WAS A NATURAL MECHANIC, HE BUILT SUCCESSFUL PLANES FROM THE START. HIS ENGINES WERE WELL BUILT AND HE SOON BEGAN TO TAKE THE LEAD IN MAKING SPEED RECORDS. CURTISS USED BAMBOO FOR THE FRAMEWORK OF HIS EARLY AIRPLANES. HE WAS THE FIRST TO DEVELOP A TRICYCLE LANDING GEAR, USING WHEELS INSTEAD OF SKIDS.
FROM THE TIME OF HIS FIRST FLIGHTS CURTISS WAS A LEADER IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN AVIATION. HIS FIRST GREAT CONTRIBUTION TO THE SCIENCE OF FLIGHT WAS THE INTRODUCTION OF THE INTER-WING LATERAL CONTROL SURFACES, THE FORERUNNER OF THE AILERONS.]
In November, 1907, Glenn H. Curtiss, in company with two young Canadian engineers, F. W. Baldwin and J. A. D. McCurdy of Dr. Bell’s group, and an official Army observer, Lieutenant Tom Selfridge, started to work on a new airplane. Using all of the available existing flight research and the ingenuity of Glenn H. Curtiss, the group finished their first plane in March, 1908. On March 12 Baldwin flew it 300 feet. Curtiss then designed an improved plane, the _June Bug_. With it he won the _Scientific American_ contest by flying over a measured kilometer course on July 4.
In 1909, Glenn H. Curtiss, in a plane of his own design, again won the _Scientific American_ award, by flying 24.7 miles over a closed course. The plane he flew was built on order for the New York Aëronautical Society. This was the first airplane order ever received by an American aircraft manufacturer.
On July 25, 1909, a Frenchman, Louis Bleriot, flew his monoplane twenty-five miles to cross the English Channel. Immediately there was furor in Europe and golden prizes were posted for new airplane developments and designs. The first big air race, the James Gordon Bennett Cup race, was held at Rheims, France, in 1909. Glenn Curtiss flew his machine against the pick of foreign pilots including Bleriot, whom he beat by six seconds to win the Cup. His speed was forty-six miles an hour.
CLIMB BANK TURN ELEVATOR RUDDER ELEVATOR AND RUDDER CONTROLS AILERON AILERON CONTROL YOKE]
Glenn Curtiss had the benefit of the aëronautical research of the Wright Brothers to aid him in designing his first airplanes, but he could not use the wing warping method of control invented by them. This was thoroughly protected by patents. As a result, Curtiss was forced to work out a new system of lateral controls. He developed the aileron method of control for use in turns or circular flight. He did this by mounting small winglike planes on the rear struts of the plane, between the upper and lower wings. These ailerons were hinged to swing up or down and were attached by cables to a yoke which encircled the pilot’s shoulders. The banking of the plane was produced by the movement of the flier as he leaned against the yoke, pushing it in the direction of the desired bank. Vertical motion was achieved by a fore and aft pressure on the control column by the flier. The wheel on the control column was attached to the vertical rudder by cables. Right or left steering was produced by turning the wheel in the desired direction. To make a climbing turn to the right, the flier would lean against the yoke, pushing to the right. At the same time he would turn his wheel gently to the right and pull the control slightly toward himself. Curtiss’ method of control led the way to the modern type of wing aileron and the general system of control was basically the same as that in use today.