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Monoplane Vs Biplane
Monoplane Vs Biplane
the biplane is the product of engineer- scientist, as its derivation shows, the
ing skill and knowledge of the principles "Knower," one who works outward
of aro-dynamics and construction. from basic principles. This shows not
Otto Lilienthal, a German, a man of only in the types of machines but in the
poetic nature and an enthusiast, studied characters of the men who invent them.
the stork and its manner of flight and Bleriot, who has the best factory facili-
built a monoplane gliding surface on re- ties and equipment in the world, is the
sultant lines. This inspired Octave typical monoplane inventor, the born
Chanute to repeat some of Lilienthal's mechanic; the Wrights created their bi-
experiments near Chicago. Mr. Cha- plane not so much in the shop as in the
nute was at that time chief engineer of study, planning it out completely and
the Erie Railroad, an engineer and sci- working from data previously obtained.
entist of the highest order, and just as The monoplane is, as everyone knows,
Hargrave had improved the kite, Cha- an aeroplane with a single large support-
nute finally improved the bird model of ing surface, while the biplane has the
Lilienthal by building a "Chanute" glid- large or main supporting surfaces placed
ing machine, founded on the basic prin- one over the other, usually strongly held
ciple of the Pratt truss used in all together by struts and braced by cross-
bridge building and engineering con- wires. However, I would put a num-
struction work. ber of machines into a third category,
The monoplane may thus be said to which I would call "double mono-
descend from Lilienthal's poetic model planes" or "double planes," to include
glider, the biplane from the glider of such machines as have two single planes
Chanute, scientifically constructed on tandem, or placed so that one follows the
engineering principles. The Wright other, such as the Langley type. These
Brothers were also experimenting at the have hitherto been considered mono-
time with a glider built with practically planes solely because all their surfaces
the same construction, but made flexible were on the same general plane or level.
at the rear edge for the better mainte- This class would also include ma-
nance of equilibrium. chines with two single planes superim-
The poet is, as the word implies, the posed, which seem to be held apart from
"maker," the doer, the empiricist; the each other, but are not firmly built to-
[197]
198 THE OUTING MAGAZINE
gether as a unit. Such are the hydro- 9,975 feet. He had wrested this from
aroplane recently used by Ferber in his a Wright biplane flown by R. Johnstone
experiments over the bay of Monaco, the to 9,714 feet. Loridan won from the
Goupy machine, and the machine built monoplane in a Farman biplane at
by M. Louis Breguet, which has a mono- Mourmelon in J u l y with 10,761 feet,
plane fusillage with engine and propel- and directly after Lincoln Beachey
ler in front and two supporting surfaces raised the figure to 11,642 feet in a Cur-
held apart by single struts. tiss biplane at the Chicago meet. But
The case for the respective types, it before the end of the season it passed
would appear, resolves itself into a com- again to the monoplanes, and is now
parison of the claims of each to superi- held by Rolland G. Garros in a Bleriot
ority in the qualities which flying-ma- with 13,945 feet, over two and a half
chines must possessspeed, adaptability miles.
for altitude, weight-carrying and dura- A high altitude record depends upon
tion, usefulness, especially in cross-coun- the ability to operate in air with not
try flight in war or peace, and safety. quite half, or at least much less than,
This may partly be indicated by per- the supporting power of air near the sur-
formances, but at this early stage in avi- face, and consequently furnishes an ex-
ation it must be forecast somewhat from cellent test of general efficiency. This
the construction and consequent limita- is one reason why altitude tests, to the
tions of the types. layman often so purposeless, are so im-
The speed record belongs to the mono- portant to constructors of aroplanes, es-
plane and has done so from the begin- pecially just now in the experimental
ning. At this writing it is held by the stage of building. The aviator's reason
late E. Nieuport in a Nieuport at Mour- for exacting high altitude possibilities
melon, France, with a speed of 82 miles is his desire to get into the major cur-
an hour. Although the first Gordon rents, which may be favorable to speedy
Bennett race was won by a biplane, all long-distance flight. If, to his tremen-
others since have been won by mono- dous engine power he can add the speed
planes, and even when the biplane won of the upper currentswell known to
the race, faster time was made in a single ballooniststhere is no reason why he
lap by the contesting monoplane. should not easily add to his machine's
speed the velocity of upper air-currents,
Speed Not the Whole Story which have been recorded as high as one
hundred miles an hour.
In short, if all there were to flying It also enables him to get out of dis-
were going swiftly straight through the turbed conditions at lower altitudes and
air, it would be a clear case for the to cross high mountain ranges anda
monoplane. But it is actually a debat- very important pointgives him a much
able question whether in the final de- safer position for gliding down in case
velopment of the art of flying, extreme the motor gives out. The ultimate pos-
speed is an entirely desirable quality. sibilities of altitude are by no means
Extreme speed in flight is all right while reached, and it is perhaps hazardous to
in the air, and enables one to cut through forecast that the greater supporting sur-
wind disturbances with less chance of face of the biplane will finally count for
loss of equilibrium and consequent in- more in the higher air, though there is
crease of safety, but it complicates se- reason for such a belief.
riously the problems of landing and ma- In weight-carrying, the biplane easily
neuvering. leads. Breguet holds the record with
The altitude record shifts with sur- fourteen passengers, and though Bleriot
prising rapidity. Some idea of this may has built a monoplane that carried seven,
be obtained by a study of the records for demonstration purposes, this ma-
since only the beginning of the present chine was not further developed.
year. Up to December 31, 1910, the Weight-carrying power is a most impor-
world's record was held by Legagneux, tant quality, not, as might be imagined,
in a Bleriot monoplane, with a trifle over for possible passenger traffic, but because
Ready for the Start In Full Flight
it permits taking along a greater amount tant dispositions of the enemy's troops,
of fuel, much increasing the radius of allowing by its lower speed an opportu-
action and permitting the aviator to stay nity for passengers to sketch or photo-
up much longer. Aeroplane makers do graph,something very difficult to do from
not and will not consider passenger-car- a monoplane whose construction affords
rying beyond a comparatively small only a limited field of downward vision.
number; it is the fuel, the life of the This is a most important detail, and this
flight, that they wish to make possible to is the position taken by all military offi-
the aviator in increased quantity. cers and the Aeronautic Corps of France,
From this, it will not be surprising England, and America, who have been
that the duration record should be held training their military aviators for this
by the biplaneG. Fournay at Buc, kind of work. Biplanes have been the
France, September 2, 1911, flying a machines chosen for sketching or map-
Maurice Farman biplane continuously making, because by virtue of the position
for 11 hours 1 minute, and covering 720 of the aviator, the field of vision is so.
kilometers, about 450 miles. much clearer below. The United States
The aeroplane is now, roughly speak- army has no monoplaneswhich may
ing, useful for two purposes,military or may not bear upon the question, ac-
and naval uses in time of war and cross- cording as one has had experience with
country flight for sport or practical pur- the difficulty of getting American appro-
poses in time of peace. For the army, priations for military aeronauticsbut
both types may be, and are readily, util- the French army, with a remarkable gov-
ized without encroaching upon each oth- ernmental co-operation and a strong na-
er's special usefulness. The speedy mono- tional predilection for the monoplane
plane is used for messages where rapid type, is equipped in about the proportion
personal communication must be estab- of sixty biplanes to thirty monoplanes.
lished ; the biplane more for observation For general scouting work, both ma-
and reconnoitering, for locating impor- chines are needed, and at the German
[200]
Photograph from Pictorial News Co.
THE BREGUET BIPLANE HAS THE PROPELLER IN FRONT AND TWO SUPPORTING
SURFACES HELD APART BY SINGLE STRUTS
maneuvers this year proved their effici- a boat for landing on water or for sup-
ency so well as to earn the especial con- plying flotation ; that it should possess
gratulations of the emperor. For wire- exceptional qualities of duration and re-
less operations the biplane is better, on liability, not only for the character, but
account of its construction, which is the for the range of the operations involved;
reason why all experiments of this nature that for the same reason it should have
have been, as far as I know, conducted greater altitude possibilities than mili-
from biplanes. The biplane is able to tary uses require ; and, possibly most
make better landings on rough ground, important, that it should be capable of
an advantage in time of war, and though landing on water and rising from it. To
I have never known of actual experi- meet all these needs a new type has been
ments in such use, I do not see why the evolved from the biplane,the hydro-
biplane could not be used to lay the aeroplane, whose powers of rising and
"buzzer" wire, that marvelous develop- landing have been so developed that it
ment of field communication that comes has been actually launched from a wire.
nearest to actual wireless. The "buz- This shows that it could be readily
zer" wire, now carried in a roll on the launched from a ship, gaining its start
shoulders of a man who lays it as he by sliding down one of the stays of the
goes, could be laid from an aeroplane vessel, aided by the ability of the ship
over impassable ravines, swamps, or to steer and steam into the wind. This
gorges in an incredibly short space of launching from a wire was accomplished
time. for the first time on September 17 of
As for naval uses, all the facts are on this year by the U. S. naval aroplane
the side of the biplane, simply because built by Glenn H. Curtiss and operated
it is the only type that successfully com- by Lieut. Theodore G. Ellysonone of
plies with naval conditions. These are the Hammondsport experiments at which
that the machine should be capable of I was so fortunate as to assist.
carrying the extra weight of pontoons or In the records for cross-country flight
[201]
Photograph from Pictorial News Co.
NIEUPORT ABOARD HIS 28-HORSEPOWER MONOPLANE WITH WHICH HE ESTAB-
LISHED THE WORLD'S SPEED RECORD119 KILOMETERS AN HOUR
expose the aviator to its dangers for a tion of the monoplane seems an evidence
lesser time than a slower machine, al- of greater safety because the engine is
though this very feat has, as it happens, in front and the operator on top, and
been accomplished by a biplane that suc- in case of a fall, it is on top of the engine
cessfully navigated the turbulent air-cur- that he falls. The biplane, unless the
rents. aviator is thrown to one side in falling,
In cross-country flights in America, on is likely to crush him under the engine.
the other hand, the biplane is far ahead. As a matter of fact, the machine is as
Atwood's flight of over 1,200 miles likely to fall sideways as head-first, spill-
from St. Louis to New York in a bi- ing the aviator free of the engineand no
plane establishes at this writing the direct fall from or with a machine is
world's record for long-distance cross- exactly what one would call safe. It is
country flying, so this record, first made an interesting matter of record that the
in Europe by a French monoplane, is Wright Brothers started to experiment
now held in America by an American with monoplanes and gave it up because
biplane. they could not get the factor of safety
Other conditions, however, govern to a point that would satisfy them.
cross-country flights when carrying a The evidence is in, as the case stands
passenger, and here monoplanes are at a to-day, and the partisan of either type
disadvantage for reasons already ex- mayand willuse it to establish the
plained. The wings must be made much claim of his own machine to pre-emi-
larger and this makes them too frail nence, but there is no need for partisan-
to withstand the shock of the machine's ship at all. Nor is there much among
hard contact with the ground in a rough practical flyers, many of whom use the
landing, such as cross-country flights of- two types interchangeably, the monoplane
ten entail, and they are somewhat han- being, according to the records of the
dicapped in landing by not being such French school, the easier for Frenchmen
good gliders, on account of lesser wing to learn, while Americans learn the bi-
area. plane more readily. But the same quali-
It might seem as if the question of ties are needed to make a successful avi-
relative safety could be readily decided ator in either, and every season the rec-
by comparing the number of fatal acci- ords shift back and forth with a rapidity
dents to the score of each class, but it that goes to show that there is no hard
will be seen at once that such a course and fast line of demarcation, and that
would have little value in this period of their uses do not develop so much along
aroplane building, which is still largely sharply diverging lines as students of
experimental. Our knowledge is not yet construction believed at first would be
sufficiently exact always to determine the case. The main points of difference,
whether a fall is due to structural de- as we have seen, develop from basic con-
ficiencies, to unusual strain, oras is struction principles, but only the new
often the case,to the recklessness of age that produced the aroplane, and that
the aviator, or even to a momentary lapse the aroplane will in turn develop, can
of the constant, almost automatic vigi- show which type will be better suited
lance required. However, the construc- to its new civilization.