Viewing page 51 of 60
This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.
[[image]] Knabenshue flying in one of his early dirigibles at San Diego. He ran back and forth on the little cage to nose the machine up or down, while a "two-lunger" whirled the propeller around. At that this ship was an improvement on the earlier models which were powered by the operator working bicycle pedals geared to the propeller. REMEMBER? The first sensational flight of a dirigible was made by Roy Knabenshue at the St. Louis Fair in 1904. He built his first historical ship and flew it at Toledo, Ohio, in 1905. He is the first aviator to make a successful landing and get-away on the top of an office building. At Toledo he flew from the Fair grounds to the roof of the 10-story Spitzer building and back to the Fair grounds, a distance of 2 1/2 miles. This event was chronicled in newspapers all over the country. He participated in the first race ever run between an airship and an automobile. The course lay between Chutes Park, Los Angeles, and Raymond Hotel, Pasadena. Knabenshue won. Many Californians will recall witnessing that thrilling aviation meet held at the Dominguez Field near Los Angeles in 1910 when Louis Paulhan made the altitude flight in a Farman plane and Knabenshue and Beachey race in dirigible balloons. As a child Roy was intensely interested in balloons. He had access to his father's larger library and this, together with the Scientific American, kept the boy posted on all Aeronautical developments. Santos Dumont's early experiments in France fired the youth's imagination and it was not long before Knabenshue succeeded in buying on time, with a small payment down, a captive balloon which he exhibited profitably at county fairs. In 1900 when he started in experimenting with his first airship he had to depend upon his own mechanical ability as there were no text books to guide him. In spite of this handicap, he perfected his own ship, installed a two-cylinder motor, inflated the balloon and flew successfully. He has given flying exhibitions at most of the State Fairs of this country, also in Canada, Cuba and Mexico City. [[image]] MR. ROY KNABENSHUE President and General Manager of the Knabenshue Aircraft Corporation of Los Angeles Mr. Knabenshue is a son of S. S. Knabenshue, formerly "Editor-in-chief" of the Toledo Blade. He is a pioneer in the building and successful operating of free and captive balloons as well as the more modern airships. He has flown them in all sorts of weather and under all kinds of conditions and difficulties and in different parts of the United States, Canada and Mexico. Mr. Knabenshue, under contract for the Government, during the World War built 25 observation balloons, one storage and one spherical balloon. He was for some time official pilot for the B. F. Goodrich Company and for two years managed the exhibition business for the Wright Brothers. He has built and successfully operated 21 dirigible airships. He has kept abreast of the times and in close touch with developments in both Europe and America. He is an engineer as well as a consummate flyer. There probably isn't another man better qualified to discuss, plan, construct or operate Airships, Hangars and Mooring Masts, than Roy Knabenshue. He brings to this Company a ripened experience in both manufacturing and flying which should prove very valuable and profitable to all those who become associated with him. He is a man in the prime of life possessing a wealth of practical knowledge in aeronautical affairs and has made his vocation profitable to himself and others. Knabenshue's prophecy as a mere lad 30 years ago has more than been fulfilled. Looking up at one of these early crude flying affairs he remarked: "There is a great future in store for those things." February 10th, 1920. Dear Mr. Knabenshue: 1. Inasmuch as your contract, No. 3771, with the United States of America, calling for the manufacture of type R kite balloons, has been brought to a satisfactory completion, I wish to take this opportunity to express to you our appreciation of your untiring efforts and excellent service rendered to the Government during the recent war. 2. Your position and activities were as important, if not more so, than that of the man at the front, for without such men as yourself and other contractors of this Bureau, whose technical knowledge enabled us to manufacture supplies and equipment, it would have been impossible for the American Army to perform in the credible manner now recognized by the civilized world. 3. The satisfactory manner in which you have performed the services requested of you is appreciated by the officials of this district and at headquarters in Washington. 4. I sincerely hope that your future enterprises will be as successful and accomplish as much good as the one we have been associated with. ALAN J. PICKERING District Manager Bureau of Aircraft Production. INTERESTING FACTS Brought Out in a Published Interview with Mr. Knabenshue "As compared with airplane performance, the dirigible is capable of carrying a heavy pay load in addition to fuel required and crew for long distances. We have had a number of examples of what can be done in this direction. The English dirigible R-34 crossed the Atlantic, making a round trip with perfect safety. The American navy dirigible Los Angeles, left Friedrichshafen, Germany, and traveled to Lakehurst, N.J., a distance of approximately 5000 GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT Fast transportation of passengers, mail and express matter is of ever-growing vital importance. Railways and steamship companies have about reached their limit of speed. The rigid type dirigible airship is shortly destined to supply the demand for faster, safer and more comfortable long distance transportation. People are rapidly becoming airminded. It is now generally conceded that airships have come to stay–that they have a firm economic place in our commercial life and everyone wants to know Five Years of Flying In an article entitled "Five Years More of Flying," by Howard Mingos, which appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, June 29, 1929, some very interesting and illuminating facts and figures are given showing the air mail growth and potential possibilities. "About 3,600,000 pounds of first-class mail were flown on the air routes in 1928, a three-fold increase over the preceding year. The daily average of five tons has now jumped to ten. The lines Safety Factor Sir Commodore Maitland, who was probably the greatest allied authority on lighter-than-air transportation, in a paper before the British Royal Society of Arts, states that "the airship is definitely the safest method of air travel" and goes on to include that it is "safe or safer than the steamship." The airship is inherently safe. There is no more reason why it should fall than a steamer should sink. In fact there is a greater similarity between the first class steamer with its water-tight bulkheads and the rigid dirigible airship with its gas cells. A good example of the reliability of airship
