1、Hell-Rider to King of the Air Glenn Curtisss Life of Innovation Glenn Curtiss: A real-life Tom Swift From the Foreword. “As a very young man, Curtiss was already famed as an inventor and racer, perhaps the last in a line of know-how, can-do Yankee tinkerers who parleyed their limited educations into
2、 fortune and fame by creating or elaborating new technologies. Curtiss was thirty-two years old when a new boys book appeared, Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle . Many men went into the making of Tom Swift, but its clear that a generous portion of the original mix consisted of Glenn Curtiss.“ 2003 marks
3、 the centennial anniversary of Glenn Curtisss first motorcycle racing victories and would have been his 125th birthday. In celebration of these milestones, as well as the 100th anniversary of powered flight, this book brings to life one of that fields most exciting and controversial figures. Kirk W.
4、 HouseHell-Rider to King of the Air Glenn Curtisss Life of InnovationOther SAE books of interest: Edsel: The Story of Henry Fords Forgotten Son By Henry Dominguez Order Number R-329 Hot Rod Pioneers The Creators of the Fastest Sport on Wheels By Ed Almquist Order Number R-228 Advanced Engine Develop
5、ment at Pratt (724) 776-4970; fax (724) 776-0790; e-mail: CustomerServicesae.org; website: www.sae.org.Hell-Rider to King of the Air Glenn Curtisss Life of Innovation Kirk W. House SAE International Warrendale, Pa. Copyright 2003 SAE International eISBN: 978-0-7680-4124-8All rights reserved. No part
6、 of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or oth- erwise, without the prior written permission of SAE. For permission and licensing requests, contact: SAE Permissions 400 Commonw
7、ealth Drive Warrendale, PA 15096-0001 USA E-mail: permissionssae.org Tel: 724-772-4028 Fax: 724-772-4891 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data House, Kirk W. Hell-rider to king of the air : Glenn Curtisss life of innovation / Kirk W. House. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and
8、 index. ISBN 0-7680-0802-6 l. Curtiss, Glenn Hammond, 18781930. 2. AeronauticsUnited StatesBiography. 3. Aeronautical engineersUnited StatesBiography. I. Title. TL540.C9H68 2003 629.130092dc21 B 2003045607 SAE 400 Commonwealth Drive Warrendale, PA 15096-0001 USA E-mail: CustomerServicesae.org Tel: 8
9、77-606-7323 (inside USA and Canada) Tel: 724-776-4970 (outside USA) Fax: 724-776-1615 Copyright 2003 SAE International ISBN 0-7680-0802-6 SAE Order No. R-314 Printed in the United States of America.To My Father Harold B. House, A Fine Mechanical Engineer in His Own RightContents Foreword ix Acknowle
10、dgments xi Chapter 1 Panorama: Young Man in a Hurry 1 Chapter 2 Close-Up: Hammondsport on the Brink 11 Chapter 3 Panorama: Two-Wheeled Terror 25 Chapter 4 Close-Up: The Curtiss Motorcycle 45 Chapter 5 Panorama: “Prove to the World That We Can Fly“ 67 Chapter 6 Close-Up: The Curtiss Airplane 107 Chap
11、ter 7 Panorama: Aerial Yachting 123 Chapter 8 Close-Up: The Curtiss Seaplanes 151 Chapter 9 Panorama: The Great War 167 Chapter 10 Close-Up: Curtiss at Work 187 Chapter 11 Panorama: On the Road Again 199 Chapter 12 Close-Up: Land Yachting 223 Chapter 13 Final Frame: Afterword and Evaluation 245 Inde
12、x 257 About the Author 273 viiForeword Glenn Curtiss was one of the most significant figures of pioneering aviation and engine development. He was also one of the most controversialand one of the most complex figures of his time. Although he was a quiet man, he showed a flair for racing that earned
13、him the nickname “Hell-Rider.“ He was a man whose face inevitably froze into a stern expression whenever a camera turned his way, yet he was remembered decades after his death for his kindness. A formally uneducated man, he took the lead in multiple fields of engineering and entrepreneurship. Widely
14、 renowned as a man of character, he went to his grave accused of fiduciary irresponsibility and patent theft. The historiography of Curtiss is almost impossible to separate from his mythology, both positive and negative aspects. Long and bitter patent actions brought against him by the Wright brothe
15、rs have only provided tinder for this blaze of confusion. History reads better if it has heroes and villains, and a beginning, a middle, and an end. Either Curtiss is the villain and the Wrights are heroes, or the other way around. Life is rarely so simple. Curtiss was a pioneer in several fields: a
16、irplanes (in general); seaplanes (in particular); internal combustion engines; motorcycles; dirigibles; community development; and trailers (by way of his fascination for articulated, independently suspended road vehicles). In some cases, he was the original innovator in his field. In others, he sei
17、zed existing innova- tions, developed them further, and made them practical and salable. Curtiss loved experimenting, but he never lost sight of sales. Curtisss work was always intensely personal. Therefore, to understand his work, we need to follow the thread of his life along with a deeper scrutin
18、y of his technological efforts. As a young man, Curtiss worked for the Eastman Company and briefly supported himself as a photographer. Well borrow from his art in organizing the chapters of this book, using “Panoramas“ to cover his life story and setting and “Close-Ups“ to examine his work in sever
19、al fields. ixHell-Rider to King of the Air: Glenn Curtiss As a very young man, Curtiss gained fame as an inventor and racer, perhaps the last in a line of know-how, can-do Yankee tinkerers who parleyed their limited educations into for- tune and fame by creating or elaborating new technologies. Curt
20、iss was 32 years old when a boys adventure novel called Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle was published. The character of Tom was a young inventor and racing daredevil who had a plant in Shopton, a small town on the shores of fictional Lake Carlopa in upstate New York. Author “Victor Appleton“ used many
21、 men as models in his 1910 creation of Tom Swift, but its clear that a generous portion of the original mix consisted of Glenn Curtiss. 1, 2 Tom and Glenn both remain forever young. Glenn Curtiss accomplished all that he achieved in only 52 years. Back in those exciting turn-of-the-century days, esp
22、ecially in aviation, the focus was on who was first for one accomplishment or another. Historians studying the period fre- quently find this to be nearly impossible to sort out, especially given early aviations sec- ond nature as a branch of show business. All we can say for this book is that assert
23、ions of firsts are good-faith efforts, and were always ready to cheerfully correct our understand- ings in the face of better evidence. We also need to remember that independent development is not infrequent in times such as these. Its also the case, however, that often more important than questions
24、 of primacy are ques- tions of influence. Glenn Curtiss was one of the most influential men in the development of the motorcycle with its industy, the airplane with its industry, and the travel trailer with its industrynot to mention the development of southeastern Florida. A good portion of our tra
25、nsit through the sky and along the roads rests on work done by Glenn Curtiss. If his contributions are often neglected nowadays, that would probably be all right with him. Glenn was a quiet guy. He always hated a fuss. REFERENCES 1. Dizer, John T., Tom Swift and Company, McFarland although far from
26、perfect, this is a remarkable resource that may never be matched. I owe a great debt to the visitors of the Curtiss Museum, and especially to the three thou- sand or more school students who come through the doors in class trips each year. It was my privilege for more than six and a half years to wo
27、rk closely with adult and student visi- tors. Their interest, enthusiasm, and curiosity certainly helped to stoke the fires of my own work. Every kid who came through our In-Flight programs, our Document-Based Ques- tioning classes, our Curtiss birthday parties, our memorial services, and ribbon-cut
28、tings has a share in this book. The gang at the Bath Area Writers Group was a source of constant encouragement and stimulus, and I thank them for that, besides thanking them for sharing their own work not to mention their cookies. Ive been blessed with a family who cares what Im doing xiiAcknowledgm
29、ents from coast to coast, from my sister Deborah and her colleagues at Mystic Seaport to our cousin on the West Coast, writer Heather King. My parents, Harold and Carolyn House, have always been cheerleaders. My mother died near the completion of the manuscript, an event that halted the progress of
30、the manuscript for eight weeks; Im sorry I couldnt have told her that it was finished. Of course, to be perfectly honest, she would have been enthusiastic because of the author, not the content, but thats OK with me. My wife, Joyce, and our two college-student sons, Erik and Joshua, actually lived w
31、ith me while all this was coming together, on top of full-time work and other projects. When they asked, “What are you working on?“ and I replied, “The book,“ they were generally kind enough to ask, “Which one?“ Thats the kind of thing a writer likes to hear, and theyre the kind of family a writer l
32、ikes to have. xiiiChapter 1 Panorama: Young Man in a Hurry Auspicious beginnings can sometimes turn sour; but sometimes, great achievements can grow from sour turns. The Methodist Episcopal parsonage in Hammondsport, New York, held two happy couples on May 21, 1878. Reverend Claudius Curtiss and his
33、 wife, Ruth, had a new grandson, Glenn Hammond Curtiss. The boys father, Frank, ran a harness business in the Finger Lakes village. The new mother, Lua Andrews Curtiss, played the organ, sang in the choir, and painted. The boy was healthy; the weekly Hammondsport Herald reported, “Harness is cheaper
34、, and Curtiss is happy.“ 4, 6 Methodist ministers were moved every year or two in those days, and 23-year-old Frank had followed his parents from manse to manse. But with a young wife and a new son, he was ready to settle in one place. His parents helped him to buy a house and vineyard on a knoll ov
35、erlooking town, hard by the glen for which the baby had been named. Claudius was nearing the end of his ministry. The big old house on Castle Hill would serve as a retirement home when the family reunited after one or two more pastorates. Glenns younger sister, Rutha, was born in the new house, a fe
36、w steps from the parson- age. Eventually, the elder Curtisses joined their offspring, no doubt looking forward to spending their final days among old parishioners and young children. But the end came far too quickly. Claudius was stricken while taking a steamboat excursion on Keuka Lake and died sho
37、rtly after being rushed home. Five months later, Frank Curtiss followed him to the grave, struck down by “an inflammation of the stomach.“ All at once, the cozy family group was reduced to an old woman, her daughter-in-law, a four-year-old boy, a girl two weeks short of her second birthday, and a harness business that was beyond their means to run. 5, 6 1
