9 Introduction to Aeronautics

His introduction to aeronautics occurred as a result of his engines. Thomas Scott Baldwin,
a former circus trapeze acrobat, had for some years been performing in balloons at country fairs across the country. Baldwin was thus in the perfect place to begin experimentations with motorized balloons when lightweight gasoline engines began to appear shortly after the turn of the century. After Alberto Santos-Dumont circled the Eiffel Tower in Paris in 1901 in one of the world’s first practical dirigibles, Baldwin visited him in France and returned resolved to build America’s first controllable airship.

While building his California Arrow at a ranch in California, a visitor showed up on one of Curtiss’ Hercules motorcycles. Baldwin knew at once that this was the engine needed for his dirigible. Although skeptical of the proposed use of his engine, Curtiss filled the order sent in by Baldwin, finally deciding that people could use his engines however they liked. Baldwin entered his dirigible in the competitions at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, where in October and November that year he was credited with the “first controlled dirigible flight” in the United States, and where his flights won first prize at the exposition. Baldwin was a world-wide sensation almost overnight.

Baldwin credited the Curtiss engine freely for his dirigible’s success in St. Louis. He then

and there determined to meet the developer of the magnificent engine, and without further ado, he hopped a train for Hammondsport and arrived there before Curtiss even knew of Bald­win’s feat using his engine. Baldwin’s visit to Hammondsport, where he was a houseguest of Curtiss, changed completely Curtiss’ atti­tude toward the use of his engines for aviation purposes. This marked the beginning of an aeronautical business association and friend­ship that would last for many years, and which brought Curtiss to a more intimate relationship with the flying community. Baldwin ultimately moved his operations to Hammondsport, where he continued building airships using Curtiss engines. In 1908, he sold to the Army Sig­nal Corps the very first aircraft of any type ever purchased by the U. S. government—an improved dirigible with a 20-horsepower Cur­tiss engine that passed Army trials (proving an endurance of two hours flight time and being steerable in any direction). Beginning with its first powered aircraft, designated the SC-1, the military operated an airship program for the next 34 years.

At the beginning of 1906, there was an air of expectation in the small but growing aeronautical community. Although the Wright brothers had allegedly flown, few people really believed it. The Wrights had certainly done nothing publicly to convince anyone of it and their patent for the “air­plane” would not be granted until May 22, 1906. This was a time when “dirigible balloons” were the only motorized aerial contrivances known to be capable of carrying a person aloft. Cur­tiss, therefore, continued to concentrate on the improvement of his gasoline engine and to develop its sales potential. This was the reason that he attended the New York City Auto Show in January that year, where the latest developments in the automotive and engine community were exhibited.