Boland Aircraft of 1910s

Hi,

here is a More Info about Boland flying boat of 1914;

http://www.luftfahrt-bibliothek.de/international/aeronautics-flying-aviation/aeronautics-volume-14-10-may-1914.pdf
 

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Those jibs function like crude differential ailerons to counter adverse yaw. Since they only activate up-wards, they only increase drag on the inside of the turn .... a good thing.

I wonder if they were invented to avoid the patent feud between Curtiss and the Wright Brothers?
 
The Boland Tailless canard biplane of 1913;

http://www.luftfahrt-bibliothek.de/international/aeronautics-flying-aviation/aeronautics-volume-12-05-may-1913.pdf
 

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Boland Flying Boat and Airplane of 1913. Correction: I believe that the version Hesham posted in Reply#1 of the Boland Flying Boat became the first design of the Aeromarine Plane and Motor Co. of 1914.
 

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hesham said:
Hi,

many of those designs aircraft were a tailless projects.

Hesham, it is nice to see this post on Boland, as I has been working on the subject since 2012. Frank Edward Boland was the first person to fly an aeroplane in my country, Venezuela.

In the following link you will find info on 5 of his models: two tailless (1910, 1912), a 'conventional' plane (1911) and two flying boats (1914).
https://es.scribd.com/doc/107732196/100-Anos-Aviacion-en-Venezuela-Anexo2-Articulos-Completos-Boland

These two images show the 1910 Tailless, developed from the Greene biplane. The model is at NASM:
 
riggerrob said:
Those jibs function like crude differential ailerons to counter adverse yaw. Since they only activate up-wards, they only increase drag on the inside of the turn .... a good thing.

I wonder if they were invented to avoid the patent feud between Curtiss and the Wright Brothers?

Riggerrob, yes they were a very simple two-controls-in-one system, that avoided adverse yaw, while reducing the number of controls to pitch and bank (no rudder pedals/lever in this one). I was indeed a method to avoid a Wright patent infringement.
 
Dynoman said:
I believe that the version Hesham posted in Reply#1 of the Boland Flying Boat became the first design of the Aeromarine Plane and Motor Co. of 1914.

Right. After the sad death of Frank Boland in Trinidad at Jan, 1913, Inglis Uppercu, the main investor in the Boland Aeroplane and Motor Company, took control of the company after purchasing the assets from Boland's wife, renaming it to Aeromarine in 1914. Joseph Boland continued with the company as an engine developer, and James Boland stayed in the car selling business.

Alejandro
 
hesham said:
The Boland Tailless canard biplane of 1913;

The Boland Tailless of 1913 was a development of the 1912 Tailless with very few changes. The 1912 model is shown in the attached image. The main clue to identify it is the form of the skids prolongations to the canard: they are round in the 1912 prototype, the one brought to Venezuela, and they are straight in the 1913- units. Here is a picture of the prototype in Maracaibo, Venezuela.
http://www.cclausen.net/other_historical.html

More info on the Boland Brothers could be find in this link:
http://www.century-of-flight.freeola.com/Aviation%20history/flying%20wings/Early%20Flying%20Wings.htm
 
hesham said:
Thank you Dynoman.

Thank you both Hesham and Dynoman!

Hesham, which is your interest in Boland? You can write me at alejandro.irausquin at gmail dot com

Riggerrob, an existing design use a similar control system, it is the Kasperwing ultralight from the 80s. Check it out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVjBgv6Tymg
 
Thank you AirAusquin,

and sorry I never saw your replies,and about Boland,I search about projects for him.
 
Would I be right in concluding that Joseph Boland was the motor/mechanical partner in the Boland Airplane & Motor Company while Frank E. Boland did the airframe concept/design work?
 
Apophenia said:
Would I be right in concluding that Joseph Boland was the motor/mechanical partner in the Boland Airplane & Motor Company while Frank E. Boland did the airframe concept/design work?

In accordance to E.T. Wooldridge, who wrote the "Early Flying Wings (1870 - 1920)" article linked above and cited at Wikipedia, you are right: "Frank supplied the enthusiasm, ingenuity, and self-taught flying ability; Joseph provided the mechanical genius to transform ideas into some tangible, workable form; and James had the business sense so often lacking in ventures of that sort."

He also wrote: "In 1907, Frank tried unsuccessfully to build his own airplane without drawings, knowledge, or advice. In 1908, Frank was joined by his brothers, with Joseph applying his considerable talent to designing and building a suitable eight-cylinder water-cooled engine for their next venture."

At Aeronautics Magazine, it is reported that Frank was building an aeroplane, that he was able to perform short flights, which I guess was the failed monoplane design, so then he bought with W.R. Kimball the already flying Dr. Williams Greene's biplane in January 1909. He modified it removing the tail (but keeping the 'head', with the canard) and replacing the rudders an ailerons with his own invention, the vertical jibs, which he patented in march 1910. From that, he developed a conventional biplane, and convinced of his tailless formula, designed his 1912 "racer". It was improved by his brothers in 1913.

I don't know who designed the jib control flying boats of 1914, after Frank's death. Joseph keep designing and manufacturing engines with Aeromarine and other companies for a long time. Joseph's engines even got into Cubs!
 
Thank you AirAusquin! I've read that Boland was financed by Inglis Uppercu for his experimental work on engines and aircraft beginning around 1908. This would have been a couple of years prior to Boland's first airplane of 1910. Do you know of Uppercu's involvement with Boland, in terms of experimentation or design? Or how the two may have come into contact?
 
Boland produced three eight cylinder Vee type water cooled engines with separately cast cylinders of vanadium grey iron. Concentric type valves were operated by single push rods and rockers. The crankshaft was built up construction which facilitated the use of boltless connecting rods. The sections were joined by a disk between crankpins one and two, and likewise between three and four. A larger roller bearing was used at the center and the end bearings were plain. The normal operating speed of all Boland engines was 1400 rpm.

The 60 hp model weighed 240 lbs or 4 lbs per hp. The bore and stroke were 4 in and the total displacement 402.08 cu. in. The mixture was supplied by a Schebler carburetor, and the ignition by either Bosch or Mea high tension magnetos. (Source: Airplane Engine Encyclopedia, Glenn D. Angle, Otterbein Press, 1921)

The 70 hp model had a 4 in bore, 4.5 in stroke, and a total displacement of 452.4 cu in. The weight was said to be 225 lbs, or 3.64 lbs per rated hp.

The 100 hp engine was said to weigh 325 lbs, or 3.25 lb per rated hp. The bore was 4.5 in, the stroke 5.5 in, and the total displacement 699.76 cu in.

These engines, along with Kirkland engines, were eventually marketed by Aeromarine Plane and Motor Co., after 1914.
 

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Thanks for the response AirAusquin (and great stuff Dynoman)!
 
Great to see you here, Alejandro! I hope you enjoyed the bits and pieces I sent you on the Boland types (though I realize that much of it has also been shared in this thread!).
 
Boland 1912 Experimental Machine test flown in January of 1912 at Mineola.
 

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Original 1910 Boland Tailless (first photo) and the improved Boland Tailless (last three photos).
 

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Dynoman said:
Boland 1912 Experimental Machine test flown in January of 1912 at Mineola.

Excellent Dynoman! It is great to have improved versions of such pictures! Do you have access to the whole articles? My 3view drawings of the 1912 "Conventional" are truncated on the top.
Thanks!
 
Dynoman said:
Boland 1912 Experimental Machine test flown in January of 1912 at Mineola.

The plane, fitted with wheels an ailerons, at Caracas, Venezuela, Sept-Oct 1912:
 

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Dynoman said:
the improved Boland Tailless

Here are two excellent photos from the improved 1912 Boland Tailless prototype brought to Venezuela, at Maracaibo, Zulia State. We are not sure if the take off picture is from his first flight (Dec 15) or from his second attempt (Dec 19, 1912). On this second attempt, the plane struck some logs that delimited the terrain used as airfield with the Maracaibo's Lake, falling to the water.

Here are my most recent recollections of this events, on the 105 anniversary of the flights in Venezuela:
www.aviacioncivil.com.ve/frank-boland-en-venezuela-105_los-aviones-ciudades-vuelos-accidentes-fotos-confusiones/
 

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AirAusquin, thank you. I have the whole article on the 1912 aircraft. I will try and find it and post it. Do you know Ella Krueger Uppercu's affiliation with the Boland enterprise? One reference lists her as a partner in the company (along with Joseph and James Boland). After Frank Boland died his widow sold her share to Inglis Uppercu (approximately a year after the accident) at the request of Ella. Ella was also listed as a Vice President and on the Board of Directors for Inglis Uppercu's automobile ventures (indicating she had some business skills). Just curious if Inglis (who was financing some of the work and experimentation) had his wife involved to oversee some aspect of the Boland Aeroplane & Motor Co. Also, do you know who financed the Boland trip to Venezuela?
 
Dynoman said:
AirAusquin, thank you. I have the whole article on the 1912 aircraft. I will try and find it and post it. Do you know Ella Krueger Uppercu's affiliation with the Boland enterprise? One reference lists her as a partner in the company (along with Joseph and James Boland). After Frank Boland died his widow sold her share to Inglis Uppercu (approximately a year after the accident) at the request of Ella. Ella was also listed as a Vice President and on the Board of Directors for Inglis Uppercu's automobile ventures (indicating she had some business skills). Just curious if Inglis (who was financing some of the work and experimentation) had his wife involved to oversee some aspect of the Boland Aeroplane & Motor Co. Also, do you know who financed the Boland trip to Venezuela?

Dynoman, the trip to Venezuela was paid by a Venezuelan organization, "El Comité de Aviación" (The Aviation Committee) in order to promote the new "science" in Venezuela. Several organizations paid for the extra exhibitions, in every states they visited. The original idea was to bring some aviators in 1911, for the celebration of the first century of our independence. For some reason that doesn´t comes to my mind, the exhibitions were delayed by a year.

Again, I must review my notes, but Ella was somehow related to Frank's wife. Frank met Inglis at the bicycle races, so their relation was a "long" one.
 
AirAusquin, thank you very much! Ella was the daughter of Gottfried Krueger, the German Beer Baron who owned Krueger Beer and the brewery of the same name (they invented the beer can). He had several daughters. If you have a source on their relationship it would be greatly appreciated (i.e. cousins, sisters, etc.)!
 
Aeronautics Feb 1912 article on Boland Experimental Aircraft. Article found on Pdf pg. 66.

https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QacC5oNtqVnOcMo3elslii5rydWB-g6QUYpuzzbuF5a-UwUGE6z0XCMpU-rhlhHS_eagLZk5_MYfSbahAx9hZqbphwvEn-t3DW0BPQeBgwLxjmBq528cOtxRy4HdpmjoCSEyMlyUYDfAoPqGUvFZDerjtjQYjSJUgNeAvYj8o6PdNTZqLPjbqU4h5z650F6Idx57HYfY8In9eMdBDiMIqqa0BwAEgzF4nAChQjjlTqcv3olOIJ2YOhJy2yxYQEUs2pgwkXhf
 

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Dynoman said:
AirAusquin, thank you very much! Ella was the daughter of Gottfried Krueger, the German Beer Baron who owned Krueger Beer and the brewery of the same name (they invented the beer can). He had several daughters. If you have a source on their relationship it would be greatly appreciated (i.e. cousins, sisters, etc.)!

Dynoman, I am planning a long article on Frank. As soon as I come across the relationship, I will let you know.
 
Dynoman said:
Aeronautics Feb 1912 article on Boland Experimental Aircraft. Article found on Pdf pg. 66.

Dynoman! These copies of the Aeronautics journal look way better than the ones I got in 2012!!! THANKS!
 
Dynoman said:
Aeronautics Feb 1912 article on Boland Experimental Aircraft. Article found on Pdf pg. 66.

Dynoman, or I am very rusty, or accessing those particular books at google books is not as easy as I think. Can you teach me to reach them?

Here are my previous copies of articles on Frank Boland's planes, mainly from 'Aeronautics'. Can you point me to each book in the newer format? Many thanks, this is wonderful!!!
https://es.scribd.com/doc/107732196/100-Anos-Aviacion-en-Venezuela-Anexo2-Articulos-Completos-Boland

Alejandro
 
AirAustquin, at the top right hand corner of the Google Books page there is a tab next to the page count. Click on the tab and select Download PDF. It takes you to an authentication screen and then allows you to download the document.

I read the Scribd article and it is excellent! I look forward to reading your article on Boland. My interest is primarily in Uppercu and his early connections to the aviation industry.
 
According to Scientific American, Feb. 24, 1912, pg. 178, Boland experimented with a monoplane aircraft that incorporated hinged flaps seven years earlier (circa 1905). Is there any additional information on this aircraft?
 
Dynoman said:
According to Scientific American, Feb. 24, 1912, pg. 178, Boland experimented with a monoplane aircraft that incorporated hinged flaps seven years earlier (circa 1905). Is there any additional information on this aircraft?

Dynoman, as far as I know, the first plane Frank designed and build, was in fact a monoplane which was finished in 1908, already powered by a Boland (Joseph's) and which was only able to do some hops. After it failed to achieve flight, Frank went to buy Dr. Greene's biplane. Here is the article from the Syracuse Herald, dated September 27, 1908 that reports on the airplane, during its manufacturing. No details or mention on the use of flaps. From the description I can't not really figure out how was the configuration of the aircraft.

AIr
 

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AirAsuquin, thank you! Excellent article!!

The Boland design mentioned in the article appears to either be a canard equipped aircraft or a tandem wing aircraft as Boland mentions that all of the surfaces provide positive lift ("every plane on my machine lifts") and that he has "double-forward" planes and "rear planes."

The article mentions that he has 5 sets of wings (each measuring 20 ft x 6 ft), however the article implies that not all the sets may be used at the same time with configurations of 600 sq ft to 1000 sq ft of wing area available.

He also mentions a unique method of control. It appears that he sits upon a seat that has roller bearings underneath that allows him to shift his weight changing up the aircraft's CG.

His aircraft weighs 700 lbs fully loaded and is projected to fly at 70-90 mph. Its's overall length is approximately 30 feet. It has an 8 cylinder motor that generates 60 hp at 2500 rpm and it swings a two bladed propeller of 12 ft diameter and a 12 inch chord.

He has additional "sockets" at the rear of the aircraft for some form of directional control "surfaces". Not sure if this is a pair of vertical stabilizers (he mentions that it is rudderless) or some type of V-tail arrangement.

The wings also have a unique takeoff and in-flight configuration. For added lift it appears that the wing (as far as I can interpret) contracts slightly inward (using cable control) and is released or stretched flat for faster speeds.

The design has a unique propulsion system with a tractor mounted motor providing thrust in the air, but also incorporates a chain drive for the landing gear wheels for additional speed on the ground.

From the photo the fuselage truss section looks similar to a Latham or Bleriot type (i.e. small box truss sections). Its fuselage and wing arrangement reminds me of the Bleriot Libellule. It would be good to get a better quality picture of the article to see additional details.

Bleriot Type VI shown for reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bl%C3%A9riot_VI
 
Created a sketch of the concept described in the article. The article stated that it had "sockets" for the additional wings (each wing 20 ft spand and 6 ft chord) over the 30 ft fuselage length. With all five wings mounted the basic design may have looked similar to the sketch. The aircraft that may have flown could have just had the front "planes" and the rear wing (second picture).
 

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Dynoman said:
Created a sketch of the concept described in the article. The article stated that it had "sockets" for the additional wings (each wing 20 ft spand and 6 ft chord) over the 30 ft fuselage length. With all five wings mounted the basic design may have looked similar to the sketch. The aircraft that may have flown could have just had the front "planes" and the rear wing (second picture).

Dynoman, in these days of computer 3D drawings, watching such very neat and clean hand drawn sketches is a delight! Wonderful!
Just one big observation, the newspaper talks about dual propellers: "This will turn two propellers, one at either side of the machine"...

Alejandro
 

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