Fullerton, 1897, Recent Progress

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J. D. Fullerton. "Flight and Flying Machines—Recent Progress", Aeronautical Journal, Vol. 1, No. 3, July 1897, pp. [1]–9.

Fullerton surveys contemporary issues in flight, ultimately putting them in a military context reminiscent of his 1893 lecture "Some Remarks on Aerial Warfare".

He gives some data on the weight and relative efficiency of birds, drawing from the work of Octave Chanute and Louis-Pierre Mouillard.

He makes some useful specific comments on propeller placement, fuel, and motors.

Fullerton considers that there exist three basic types of flying machine:

The Lilienthal machine is for "soaring" only, and does not call for much remark, as this kind of flight can never be used for, say, fast passenger traffic, or war purposes.

The Maxim machine consisted of a large kite-like surface, underneath which was hung a suitable car for carrying passengers, motor, stores, etc. To start, the machine was driven along the ground at a high speed, and on a certain velocity being reached, the air pressure under the aeroplane or surface raised the machine in the air. The machine did rise a little on one occasion, but an accident (which had nothing to do with the aeronautical part of the test) occurred, and prevented further trials.

The Phillips machine has no large sustaining surface, but a number of small ones, and appears to be specially suited for war purposes, as if painted a light gray, or lead colour, it would be, practically speaking, invisible at about 1,000 yards range.

He predicts that aircraft will come to be used mostly in war, and will become a dominant factor in war, to the relative detriment of marine navies.