America's First Monoplane: The Will Quick Story
By Clete Quick & Marilyn Q. Snowden
The date is May 18, 1899, and Will's 40th birthday. For some reason, he is very pensive on this date, with one of the uppermost thoughts in his mind: What have I really accomplished so far in my 40 years on this earth. Will knew that he had a lot to be thankful for.a wonderful wife, seven outstanding children, a nice home, plenty to keep him busy, but the unfulfilled part of his mind was what was bothering him. He had created life with Ann, and these children would have an opportunity to go forth and do great things for themselves.
What Will wanted more than anything was to make his mark on the world, and set a goal for his children to strive to exceed. Will knew that his monoplane would fly, if he could only find an engine that had sufficient power to propel it fast enough to lift it into the air. If he could only have had the opportunity to study forms of engineering then he could learn more about combustion engines. They seemed relatively simple to him, but when he tried to redesign the engine to provide more horse power, and actually weight less, this is where he was stopped.
There was no metal other than steel, that would stand up to the temperatures generated by the firing of, and the friction of the pistons in their cylinders, even with plenty of lubrication. He was silently praying for someone within the steel industry to come up with a lighter weight metal that can withstand the heat, and give him more horsepower to power his plane.
Will reached up and picked up a jar of dragonflies that was on the top of his desk. He had paid the youngsters in the area, a nickel each for several dozen that were in the jar. The wing span of these dragon-flies, or also known in this area, as snake doctors, was proportional to the design of his monoplane, except that he had not done the double set of wings. The dragonfly for its process of gliding used those extra wings, and as long as his engine was performing, there was no need for the additional wings. He studied the structure of the fly for the several hundredth time, and did not find any secret that he had not already explored many, many times. As he was holding the fly up to the light, he heard a knock on the downstairs door. This could be a customer for the blacksmith shop, or some one of the family members to deliver a message to him.
He called down in a friendly voice, "The door is unlocked, just come on in." He heard the door open, and with a mirror that he had strategically placed, he could see Tarah coming through the door. Will continued, "Tarah, I am up here. So come on up, just pull the rope that brings the stairway down to you."
Tarah did as told, and almost immediately appeared at the head of the stairs, saying, "Good morning, Big Pap. Happy Birthday to you! Mama sends her best wishes to you, too."
Will smiles pensively, and replies, "That is very thoughtful of you and your mother, to remember my birthday. God, I feel so old. Forty years old today."
Tarah answers, "But Big Pap, that is not so old, I am almost nineteen myself. I feel that I have just begun to live and learn about this big, wide wonderful world."
Somehow, just talking with Tarah made Will feel better, so he changed the subject by saying, "Tarah, I looked over that new propeller that you have finished. It is truly perfection, personified. You are so talented in this field of endeavor. With two perfect propellers, we will just have to find a motor that will reach that 1250 revolutions per minute to move that damn plane down the field. By the way, I had the boys over in that field that we chose for a test flight. They have cleared the grass and weeds for an area of about 250 yards. I noted that there were a couple of rough spots, so maybe you and I can take our shovels over and smooth it out before the next rain. That should then make it level and firm. Tarah, I am just going to have to try to fly with the motor that we have. I really don't think it has enough power, but just in case that it will pull it into the air, then we will be on our way to success."
Tarah looked at Will and said, "Big Pap, you know my offer still stands to sit in the pilot seat and attempt to fly your plane. I am almost half your weight, and that could be the difference."
Will answered, "I have thought long and hard about that, but I still maintain that if something goes wrong, it will have to be me in the pilot seat, not someone who has almost their whole wonderful life ahead of them. And, that is my final word, except to say how much I appreciate your offer. I will let you start it and help push me off, but I want to be in the responsible position when the time comes. Since we both know that our chances are better on a cooler day, why don't we get everything checked out, and shoot for the first weekend in October to see if we can make history."
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