From the Early Days of Giant Kites and Birdlike Gliders, The National Geographic Society Has Aided and

S

Encouraged the Growth of Aviation

INCE Langley pioneered thirty-one years ago; since Alexander Graham Bell flew his man-lifting kite; since the Wright Brothers boldly rode the skies in the first crude, careening biplane, the growth and progress of air travel have been steadfastly aided and encouraged by the National Geographic Society.

In its Magazine there has been told in word and picture, year by year, the graphic, cumulative story of the Conquest of the Air.

Twenty-four years ago, during his farreaching experiments with tetrahedral kites, Dr. Bell wrote, in an article for the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE, "A properly constructed kite should be capable of use as a flying machine, when driven by its own propellers."* To-day we see the singular fulfillment of these prophetic phrases. Now the wings of the modern biplane are patterned closely after the "Hargrave Box Kite," from which Dr. Bell started his long, historic experiments.

In 1907 Dr. Bell built and flew the famous Cygnet, a kite more than 40 feet long. Working with Bell then, in his laboratories at Baddeck, Nova Scotia, were Glenn H. Curtiss, J. A. D. McCurdy, F. W. Baldwin, and a young American Army officer, Lieutenant Thomas E. Selfridge-a student of air problems. One day Selfridge climbed into the big kite and rode it up into the air as it was flown. He rose to a height of 168 feet, and then was lowered gently and safely (see, also, page 236).

FROM MAN-LIFTING KITE TO MODERN

AIRPLANE

Selfridge later associated with the Wright Brothers and became one of America's pioneer aviators.

He was killed in line of duty at Arlington, Virginia. Selfridge Flying Field, at Mount Clemens, Michigan, is named for him. In its issue for January, 1908, the NA

* "Aerial Locomotion," by Alexander Graham Bell, in the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE for January, 1907.

TIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE printed an article, "Dr. Bell's Man-Lifting Kite,” with 27 illustrations, describing that unique aerial vehicle. Dr. Gilbert Grosvenor, now President of The Society, was its author.

"While Dr. Bell's ultimate object," wrote Dr. Grosvenor, "is to secure a flying machine that will support itself in the air the experiments with the Cygnet have been mainly studies in stability. . . . Dr. Bell's next step will be to put a powerful light motor on a modified form of the Cygnet."

SPEED PLANE IS FIRST COUSIN TO KITE

It is but twenty years since Selfridge went boldly up in Bell's kite-an unparalleled feat at that time-and remained in air seven minutes. Yet, to get up then, the big kite had to be flown with a long, stout rope, pulled by a horse or a steam launch. Now, propelled by powerful motors, planes may remain aloft forty hours or more. Yet, curiously enough, the graceful speed plane of to-day is but a first cousin to the kite-the same bulky, horse-drawn kite that Bell and Selfridge flew two short decades ago.

Pursuant to its policy of promoting aviation, The Society's annual banquet of 1911 was given "In Honor of the Army and the Wright Brothers." In The Magazine of March for that year, we read notable meetings in the history of The that this banquet was one of the most Society. Among those present were the

President of the United States, William Howard Taft, and members of The Society from 37 States and many foreign countries.

Dangerous and undeveloped as aviation then was, it had already seized men's imaginations. Crude and clumsy as were the planes of 1911, they had even then definitely taken their place as implements of war. Major General Leonard Wood. speaking at this banquet, said: “All of us soldiers look upon the aëroplane as a great addition to our warlike apparatus.

INCORPORATED A.D.1888

THE SOCIETY'S HIGHEST AWARD TO EXPLORERS

The coveted Hubbard Gold Medal of the National Geographic Society has been awarded only eight times, including the award to Col. Charles A. Lindbergh, in the 39 years of The Society's existence (see text, page 242).

We know that its use is going to be invaluable in future wars.'

Three years later, the World War crashed upon civilization. Then, just as General Wood had predicted, the airplane at once took its place.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY RECORDS
AVIATION HISTORY

In the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGA-
ZINE for January, 1918, Admiral Robert
E. Peary, discoverer of the North Pole,
wrote an article on "The Future of the
Airplane," in which he said in part:

"We are now entering upon an era of air power-a stupendous era-which in the near future will be as far superior to the greatest sea power of the present as the unlimited ocean of atmosphere now sweeping unbroken around the globe is greater than the land-bordered Atlantic or Pacific.

"Not only must America depend upon her air fleets to protect her from the attacks of hostile sea fleets, but from air raids upon her cities, for the rapid advancement in the science of aviation makes it only a question of time before we shall be vulnerable to attack from above, even though the enemy be separated from us by thousands of miles of ocean."

Year by year The Society, in sponsoring the development of aviation, has given its members a continuous, chronological record of progress in air traffic, of explorations carried on by means of air

Particular attention has been paid to dirigibles. As early as 1906, when Walter Wellman was preparing for his attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon, The Society coöperated and appointed Major Henry E. Hersey as its representative to take charge of scientific work on the expedition. In 1924 The Society made a grant of funds for the use of Captain Robert A. Bartlett, director of the preliminary surveys of the area north of Alaska, when the Navy considered sending the Shenandoah on a voyage of exploration to that region.

SIR ROSS SMITH WROTE OF EPOCHAL
VOYAGE FOR THE GEOGRAPHIC

Of all the many articles and hundreds of photographs The Society has published on aviation, no story ever aroused more interest than Sir Ross Smith's colorful, stirring narrative of his amazing flight from London to Australia. This outstanding story appeared in The Magazine for March, 1921 (see, also, p. 240).

The MacMillan Arctic Expedition, which sailed in 1925, was operated under the auspices of The Society, with the United States Navy coöperating, seeking to explore the vast area north of the Beaufort Sea.

In The Magazine for November, 1925, in his story "Flying Over the Arctic." Commander Richard E. Byrd, U. S. Navy, gives a vivid description of the work of the three Navy amphibian planes

Photograph by Professor Wood of Johns Hopkins University

LILIENTHAL IN HIS GLIDER, JUST BEFORE IT KILLED HIM
In this machine the inventor made many flights in Germany and the United States.

AN ODD KITE USED IN EARLY AVIATION EXPERIMENTS

In his pioneer studies of flying-machine stabilization and kindred problems, Dr. Alexander Graham Bell built and flew various types of tetrahedral and other kites. In one of his giant kites, a man once rode into the air to a height of 168 feet (see text, page 233).

Photograph by J. A. Douglas McCurdy
THIS KITE LIFTED A MAN

Built by Dr. Alexander Graham Bell in his early aviation experiments,
these giant kites pulled so hard on their ropes that they were flown with
the aid of a horse or a steam launch.

LANGLEY'S WINGED STEAM ENGINE ACTUALLY FLEW

On May 6, 1896, Samuel P. Langley fired up his model "aerodrome" near Quantico, Virginia, and it made a successful flight. Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, a witness of the experiment, took this photograph.

Official Photograph, U. S. Army Air Corps

THIS WRIGHT PLANE FLEW 20 YEARS AGO

The American Government's first official study and observation of
flying machines were made at Fort Myer, Virginia, across the Potomac
River from Washington, D. C., when the Messrs. Wright made their
pioneer demonstration flights there two decades ago.