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Glenn Curtiss' 1909 Reims machine: Golden after all!

Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 8:28 pm
by Anders
In his 1981 book "Curtiss - The Hammondsport Era 1907-1915" Louis S. Casey wrote that the "Rheims Flyer" was covered in grey silk, as opposed to the "golden" balloon cloth of the earlier "Golden Flyer".

While revising the Brescia texts for the site I found evidence to the opposite. While I don't remember seeing anything conclusive in Reims reports, I found no less than three different Italian reports that said the plane was yellow. Furthermore, "Baldwin's Vulcanized Proof Material" advertised for several months after the Reims and Brescia meetings that Curtiss' winning planes used its cloth, so it definitely was balloon cloth.

I wonder where Casey got his information from?

Re: Glenn Curtiss' 1909 Reims machine: Golden after all!

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 9:30 pm
by sobrien
Most of the Curtiss pushers were covered in Baldwin Rubberized balloon cloth and later maybe Goodyear cloth, usually yellow or brown. Casey's book is a good book but it does get some things wrong. Anyone interested in the Curtiss pushers should look for the series articles by David Holcombe in WW1 Aero magazine, issues 135, 143, 144, 146, 148, 152, 155, 158, and 161. Holcombe had access to all of Case Westerns archives when he was director there and researched the subject for years.

Sean