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HOW TO BUILD
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THE FAMOUS
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''DEMOISELLE'}
SANTOS-DUMONT'S MONOPLANE
Dy ARTHUR E. JOERIN AND A. CROSS, A. lVI.
( l'aris)

F
. ROM time vague descriptions of the manner of constructing
aeroplanes have been given to the public. All over the United
States there are thousands of persons who are intensely interested in
the subject of aerial flight, but until now nothing of a tangible nature
has been presented on which work could be started with a reasonable
prospect of success. It is a great satisfaction therefore, to be able to
present the working drawings of the wonderful monoplane invented by
M. Santos-Dumont. As the authors point 'out, however, it would be
useless for anyone not possessed of some mechanical skill, and plenty
of common sense, to attempt to construct a copy of the famous flyer,
even with such detailed workings and instructions.- THE EDITOR.
F
OLLO\VING the announcement, mosphere as it applies to aeronautics,
made some motJths ago by Alberto to have a good general knowledge of
Santos-Dumont that he intended to gasoline motors, and to study the prop-
give the plans of his latest aeroplane, erties and qualities of the different ma-
the "Demoiselle,". to the world in the terials which enter into the construe-
interest of aeronautics, intet:cst tion of the monoplane.
has been centered in tl1e wonderful It is clearly impossible to go into
monoplane. It is the lightEst and small- these subjects at any great length here,
est of all heavier-than-air machines, yet but the one who is ambitious to become
is thoroughly practical. It was with thoroughly_ conversant with the sub-
this monoplane that the renowned avi- ject of aerial navigation, will not fail
ator made a flight from St. Cyr to Buc, to consult suitable books on these sub-
on the 1:3th of September last at a speed jects. Of course the possession of plans
of [)() miles an hour. is the basis without which it would
This machine is better than any be impossible to set about building the
other which has ever been built, for airship, but at the same time it is neces-
those who wish to reach results with sary to possess some mechanical skill
the least possible expense and with a and ability, and plenty of common
minimum of experimenting. The plans sense.
which accompany this article are idcn- In prec::enting the plans through
tical with those, from which the ma- Popular Mechanics Magazine we trust
chines are now being bttilt in France. that no one of our readers will start
As it would lead us too far from the to build unless he possesses these quali-
purpose of this artide if we were to ties, especially the latter, without
take up at length such questions which he will never be able to ac-
the strength, flexibility, and resistance complish anything.
and other properties of materials we That .the monoplane is the superior
shall restrict ourselves to a descrip- form of heavier-than-air machine is
1 ion of the manner of constructing- the the opinion of a majority of the avia-
fher. It would he well, of course. for tion experts. Biplanes and even tri-
prospective aviator to make him- planes have made wonderful flights,
self acquainted with the subject of at- but no flying-machine ever built has
"J V V\ ..i(_, Copyright, 1910, by H. H. Windsor
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POPULAH :t\IECHANICS
779
proven so easy to balance as the mono-
plane. The principal objection to it
tlp to within a short time has been the
difficulty of bracing the plane. vVith
the biplane the trussing was of great
service in this connection. But with
the g-uide wires firmly fixed from the
fram-e to the wings there is little prob-
ability of any difficulty with the San-
tos-Dumont type.
At the very beginning it might be
well to state that the greatest items
of expense in the construction of the
machine will be the motor and the
propeller. Santos-Dumont used a Dar-
racq motor of 30 hp. in his record-
breaking flight, although he had previ-
ously made some fine flights with a 1'1-
hp. motor. There are American motors
which will do just as well, probably,
and will undoubtedly be n1t1ch cheaper,
as the importation of one from France
. involves the expense of freight and
customs duties.
The construction of the propeller is
vitally important, and we would advise
that this be purchased.
A good place at which to start would
be the vertical rudder, Plate III. The
thickness of the bamboo there given is
the maximum one. The stronger and
hea\ier portions are used for the r.en-
ters where the joints are formed and
the strain is heaviest. The detailed
drawing Con this plate shows the man-
ner in which the cloth is attached to
the framework by gauge No. 21 piano
wire. As it is done at this point so it
' should be done on all parts of the mon-
oplane. After having Se\VI1 the piano
wire into the outer edge of the cloth,
taking care to leave open the part where
the wire is to be attached to the frame-
work, the wire should be stretched to
get it to the extremity. and then dropped
into the slot made for it to rest in on
the outer end of the bamboo. Thus the
planes of cloth are well stretched, ahd
are held firmly in place, adding to the
strength of the machine. The same end
could not be accomplished -nearly as
well by first attaching the wire and
then sewing the cloth thereon. This
applies to the wings also v:here every
added bit of strength and firmness adds
to the successful completion. Slots are
made at the end of the bamboos for the
M. Santos-Dumont about to Start Flight in the
"Demoiselle"
wires to slip into and be held fast. It
is a good idea to put a cork into the
hollow ends of the rods, and to cut the
slots in both at .the same time. The
brass wire, gauge No. 25, should also
b-e wound around the rod just below the
end of the slot. This prevents the piano
wire on which the cloth is sewn from
splitting the rods. It may seem that
this arrangement is crude, yet it is the
way that Santos-Dumont made the
ends when he flew from St. Cyr to Due.
Later o n ~ h e had a number of "Dem-
oiselles," and small breaks happe11ed
now and t h e n ~ h e put a little metal cap
over the ends of the rods. Slots \vere
made in these caps to receive the wires.
\Ve have described the former because
it is by far the easier way for amateur
airship builders.
The cloth t1sed by Santos-Dumont
was a very finely woven silk. Silk doec
not rot as easily as cotton and is con
siderably stronger. Silk has the great
objection of expense, however, and
it would probably be as well to use per-
cale or strong muslin, care being taken
to secure the best grade of closely wo-
Yen and unbleached goods.
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POPULAH MECHANICS
781
The- methQd of making the joint at
B is well shown in the drawing. The
use of steel or aluminum plates is very
important for it would be impossible to
secure the necessary strength without
them. The clever idea adopted by the
inventor of the machine practically
the vertical rudder or1 both sides. If
this is done properly no rods will be
visible, all being covered by the cloth.
The manner in which the cloth
- covers the rods is shown at C on Plate
III.
The of attaching the rudders
Rear View of"Demoiselle"
makes this joint in one piece, and he to the frame is shown on Plate IV. This
experienced little or no trouble at this is practically a universal joint, allow-
point. The ends of the two smaller ing the steering device to be turned in
pieces are inserted for about a quarter any direction by the controlling wires
of an inch into the vertical piece as is shown on Plate I, and also in the
shown. If one viishes to finish the work smaller illustration of the monoplane.
particularly well, cabinetmaker's mus- These wires should be carefully se-
cilage or several coats of varnish may lected and tested for a great deal de-
be put on at these joints. It serves to pends upon their strength. It would be
retard decay in the bamboo. very imprudent to use ordinary piano
Plate IV shows the details of the string or wire. Santos-Dumont uses a
horizontal rudder which governs the flexible metallic wire, gauge No. 13,
altitude of the machine. "Gouvenail de with a flaxen cord in the center. This
Profendeur" is the French term for it. wire will withstand the constant bend-
It should be constructed in the same ing without danger of breaking. The
general way as the vertical rudder. At joint should be made of the best steel
the point where the rudders join it is tubing procurable as it performs a very
necessary to cut the cloth of the hori- important function. Good bicycle tub
4
zontal rudder and sew it to the cloth of ing is excellent.
(Concluded in the July Issue of .
Popular 11-1 eclzanics.)
PAULHAN WINS $50,000 PRIZE IN WORLD'S GREATEST
AERIAL RACE
Louis Paulhan, the daring French
aviator, broke the long-distance record
for aeroplane flights on April 28th, and
captured the prize of $50,000 offered by
Lord Northcliffe, the English publisher,
when he flew from London to Manches-
ter, a distance of lRG miles.
A1though the prize has for some time
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been awaiting the accomplishment of
this trip, the fact that Graham vVhite,
an English pilot, undertook to start at
about the same time, added to the
event the excitement of a race. -White,
much less experienced than Paulhan,
met difficulty in the heavy winds.
Paulhan made the trip in 12 hours and
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POPULAR MECHANICS
10 minutes, the last. 24 miles being cov-
ered in 24 minutes, according to an un-
official record. Both aviators used Far-
man biplan'es. "
During a part of his flight Paulhan
followed the railroad line closely, and
used an express train as a pace maker.
At times he outdistanced the train.
It was White's intention to start
about the same time as Paulhan. Both
arrived at London on the 27th with
their machines and began making final
preparations for the flight. It was un-
derstood that they would start out on
the morning of the 28th. White went
to his hotel to rest, but Paulhan made
an ascension during the late afternoon
and headed northward toward Man-
chester and the $50,000. Friends of
the English aviator learned of it and im-
mediately roused him. Soon he was in
pursuit of Paulhan, using every ounce
of power in the motor in an effort to
make up for the hour which he had lost.
For hours the rivals flew northward
at a terrific pace, through the dusk and
the bitter cold of the great altitude at
which they flew. Paulhan made one
stop at Lichfield where spent the
night. White was o_bliged to come to
the ground at Polesworth, having cov-
ered more than half the distance be-
tween London and Manchester.
The provisions of the prize offer pro-
vided that only two stops should be
made and that the trip should be made
in less than 24 hours. Paulhan made
only one stop and made the distance in
little more than half the time allowed,
including the rest at Lichfield.
FOURTH OF JULY PAGEANTS
How to Prepare for a Sane Celebration of Our National Holiday and to
Make Attractive Floats and Decorations
By H. T. McCONNELL
A
LL over the country, just at this
time, the anticipation of the
Fourth of July is felt in schools and
homes as well as in business. The
"sane Fourth" idea has made a deep
impression in every state and in every
city, and it is safe to say that pageants
and parades and rational public celebra-
tions of the day will be more general
this year than ever before.
To the community which has never
been able to boast of having had a
pageant with floats aild costumes, a
floral parade, or even the time-honored
"civic and military" parade, there is
often a confusion of ideas as to how to
go about getting up such an affair. It
looks like a big undertaking to prepare
for a score of floats, with brass bands,
and turnouts of fraternal societies and
clubs, but if the matter is taken up in
a systematic manner, by a competent
committee of public-spirited citizens,
there should be no difficulty about ar-
ranging a demonstration that will not
only distract the attention of the small
boy from the death-dealing firecracker,
but will permeate the day with real pa-
triotic sentimenr and increase the gen-
eral enjoyment of our national holiday.
Some suggestions which .might be
taken up are:
The playittg of the national airs with
the church chimes.
A lavish display of flags and bunting
on every building.
Home reunions.
Family picnic parties.
Patriotic exercises in public places
_with singing of the national airs by
school children.
Water fetes.
Athletic sports.
The illumination of the city or town
at. night by stringing electric lights
across the main streets and on the
public buildings.
Street-car parades at night, with il-
luminated floats.
There is no limit to the variety of
ideas for getting up floats. Every com
munity has its traditions and its his
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