Flying Machines: Construction and Operation

1912

A 1912 handbook for building and flying the machines of aviation's first decade: gliders, monoplanes and biplanes, engines, propellers, and the art of getting safely off the ground and back down. Written when amateurs still built their own aircraft, with the practical detail to prove it.

Preface
Chapter I Evolution of Two-Surface Flying Machine
Chapter II Theory, Development, and Use
Chapter III Mechanical Bird Action
Chapter IV Various Forms of Flying Machines
Chapter V Constructing a Gliding Machine
Chapter VI Learning to Fly
Chapter VII Putting on the Rudder
Chapter VIII The Real Flying Machine
Chapter IX Selection of the Motor
Chapter X Proper Dimensions of Machines
Chapter XI Plane and Rudder Control
Chapter XII How to Use the Machine
Chapter XIII Peculiarities of Airship Power
Chapter XIV About Wind Currents, Etc
Chapter XV The Element of Danger
Chapter XVI Radical Changes Being Made
Chapter XVII Some of the New Designs
Chapter XVIII Demand for Flying Machines
Chapter XIX Law of the Airship
Chapter XX Soaring Flight
Chapter XXI Flying Machines Vs. Balloons
Chapter XXII Problems of Aerial Flight
Chapter XXIII Amateurs May Use Wright Patents
Chapter XXIV Hints on Propeller Construction
Chapter XXV New Motors and Devices
Chapter XXVI Monoplanes, Triplanes, Multiplanes
Chapter XXVII 1911 Aeroplane Records
Chapter XXVIII Glossary of Aeronautical Terms