aviation man has designed the propeller, which,
by its rapid revolutions derived from the motive power of the aerial
engine, cuts a spiral pathway through the air and drives the light
craft rapidly forward. The chief use of the planes is for support to
the machine, and the chief duty of the pilot is to balance and steer the
craft by the manipulation of the rudder, elevation and warping controls.

CHAPTER XVIII. A Great British Inventor of Aeroplanes

Though, as we have seen, most of the early attempts at aerial navigation
were made by foreign engineers, yet we are proud to number among the
ranks of the early inventors of heavier-than-air machines Sir Hiram
Maxim, who, though an American by birth, has spent most of his life in
Britain and may therefore be called a British inventor.

Perhaps to most of us this inventor's name is known more in connection
with the famous "Maxim" gun, which he designed, and which was named
after him. But as early as 1894, when the construction of aeroplanes was
in a very backward state, Sir Hiram succeeded in making an interesting
and ingenious aeroplane, which he proposed to drive by a particularly
light steam-engine.

Sir Hiram's first machine, which was made in 1890, was designed to be
guided by a double set of rails, one set arranged below and the other
above its running wheels. The intention was to make the machine raise
itself just off the ground rails, but yet be prevented from soaring by
the set of guard rails above the wheels, which acted as a check on it.
The motive force was given by a very powerful steam-engine of over 300
horse-power, and this drove two enormous propellers, some 17 feet in
length. The total weight of the machine was 8000 pounds, but even with
this enormous weight the engine was capable of raising the machine from
the ground.

For three or four years Sir Hiram made numerous experiments with his
aeroplane, but in 1894 it broke through the upper guard rail and turned
itself over among the surrounding trees, wrecking itself badly.

But though the Maxim aeroplane did not yield very practical results,
it proved that if a lighter but more powerful engine could be made, the
chief difficulty iii the way of aerial flight would be removed. This was
soon forthcoming in the invention of the petrol motor. In a lecture to
the Scottish Aeronautical Society, delivered in Glasgow in November,
1913, Sir Hiram claimed to be the inventor of the first machine which
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