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Liberal 
Group: Moderator
Posts: 11451
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Apr. 09 2005,7:57 am |
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I found a picture of this old Curtiss out at the Freeborn county fairgrounds. Could that be a young JimHanson in the pilots seat?
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The people are masters of both Congress and courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert it!
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| Post Number: 2
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MADDOG
Group: Moderator
Posts: 7821
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Apr. 09 2005,10:42 am |
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Just because he has grayish hair, doesn't make him that old..... Maybe it's his older brother? ????
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Actually my wife is especially happy when my google check arrives each month. Thanks to douchbags like you, I get paid just for getting you worked up. -Liberal
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jimhanson
Group: Moderator
Posts: 8491
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Apr. 09 2005,11:57 am |
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Yeah--I like you guys, too!  I'm not QUITE that old! But I have (kind of) flown one.
The Curtiss Pusher perhaps the first "modern" airplane, with several unique features. It was one of the first to use the "depperdussin" 3-control system that we have now, with a control stick and rudders. Previous aircraft had used either two sticks, (Wrights) or a shoulder yoke.
It had wheels, instead of skids, like the Wright machines. It also had tricycle gear, instead of a tailwheel.
It was powered by the Curtiss-designed OX-5 engine--a great leap forward in engine reliability. Previous designs had no cooling system at all (wrights) or spun the entire rotary engine for cooling.
Curtiss was fighting with the Wrights on a patent suit over aircraft control. The Wrights used wing-warping. Curtiss (and simultaneously, others) used the moveable aileron. Note in the picture that the ailerons have been placed BETWEEN the wings as a separate surface--this was an attempt to diffuse the Wright's claim of patent infringement.
The Pusher initially (as in this picture) had forward elevators--as in the Wright Flyer. Like the Flyer, the initial airplanes had a biplane forward elevator--later ones had single forward elevators (like this one)--the final aircraft dispensed with forward controls altogether. Note that this aircraft has a fixed vertical fin forward of the pilot.
The first aircraft came out in about 1908--by 1910, it had the single piece horizontal stabilizer--by 1912, the vertical fin had disappeared. That would make this airplane between 1910-1912.
The Pusher was famous. It was the first airplane to do aerobatics--the loop and roll. It was the first to land on a ship. It was a favorite of the "aerial demonstration" pilots. Unlike the later Barnstormers, the early Pushers couldn't carry a passenger. People paid just to see an airplane fly--this was undoubtably the case in this photo. They operated from the confines of the racetrack--there were no lights, and no surrounding houses. In later years, barnstormers did hop rides out of the short space within the track.
I got an opportunity to "fly" one back in the early 60s--a retired Northwest pilot, Walter Bullock, had originally soloed in a Pusher. After retirement, he built a copy of one--with two seats, and a larger, modern engine. Insurance regulations prohibited him from carrying passengers, but I went for a ride down the runway with him. We "crow-hopped" off the ground--flying only in ground effect--so yes, maybe I AM that old!
By the way, several years ago, I found and restored my first airplane--a 1947 Cessna 120.
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"If you want to anger a Conservative, tell him a lie. If you want to anger a LIBERAL, tell him the TRUTH!"
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