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Captive Flying Machines (100 Years): Maxim Biography
Despite his
newfound status and connections in high places, Maxim was having great
difficulty raising funds for the flying machine project.
In an attempt to relieve his bronchitis, he spent the
winter in the South of France, where he came up with an
idea that would not only raise money for his research, but
also generate interest in the subject of flying. He would
design the “Captive Flying Machines”, a fairground
ride that would simulate what he, along with all the other
pioneers of aviation, was ultimately hoping to achieve
– free flight.
The idea
was based on an apparatus he had used (but not invented)
to test the efficiency of wings. This test rig consisted
of a large horizontal spinning arm, to which the model
wing would be attached. As the arm spun, the wing began to
travel at high speed along a circular path, allowing him
to gauge the amount of lift it generated by studying the
change in the angle of the arm to the ground. The Captive
Flying Machines would simply be a much larger version of
this test rig, using a series of passenger-carrying cars
in place of the test-wing.
Note: The
name “Captive Flying Machines” may seem a little
antiquated now, and so may require a little explanation.
The pluralised name derives from the fact that each car
represented a separate “flying machine”, or aircraft.
The word “Captive” refers simply to the fact that the
movement of these “flying machines” is dictated by the
movement of the ride’s frame, and do not literally
achieve free flight. Although the name seems odd today, it
was clearly intended to help boost the public awareness of
“real” flying machines, even if it did lack something
in terms of razzamatazz.
He gathered
a consortium of backers and formed the Sir Hiram Maxim
Electrical Company and Engineering Company to handle the
construction and operation of the new ride. The first ride
was to open at Earl's Court in May 1904, but was first
built at Thurlow Park in Norwood, where it was tested in
readiness for the move to London. The ride that eventually
opened to the public, however, was significantly different
to what Maxim had intended.
The
original idea was that each car would be equipped with
working wings and ailerons, allowing riders the ability to
control their “flight path”, making the car sweep and
dive at will, much like the modern “Flying Scooters”
rides (such as Pleasureland Southport’s “Mistral”).
Besides making the ride more exciting, this was a very
useful way means of generating interest in the concept and
science of flight. Although this would undoubtedly have
been spectacular to watch and thrilling to ride, the idea
met with a series of problems that forced them to be
abandoned.
One of the
first riders during the testing phase was Maxim’s chief
assistant, Albert Thurston, who later recorded that
“Speed was increased until the centrifugal force was
6.47 times gravity. After a mighty mental struggle, I fell
consciousless to the bottom of the car”. Obviously,
knocking your passengers unconscious would not be good for
ticket sales, and so the speed was decreased on subsequent
runs.
Sadly, the
problems continued as, like all the rides at Earl’s
Court, the Captive Flying Machines would have to be
inspected and declared safe by London County Council
before it could be opened to the public. While council
inspectors were watching a demonstration of the ride in
action, a strong wind caught one of the cars, and sent it
soaring far higher than anyone expected. While Maxim’s
team insisted that such an event could never happen when
passengers were aboard, the council refused to allow the
ride to open until the wings were removed. As a result,
the final version of the ride was a bitter disappointment
to Maxim, who said that it had become “Simply a
glorified merry-go-round”. In fact, the final version of
the ride was very much like a larger version of the
“Circle Swing” rides designed by Harry Traver in the
USA at around the same time. (Note:
Although no original Circle Swings remain in operation,
Disney’s California Adventure does feature a ride called
“Golden Zephyr”, which is
very closely modelled on the Traver ride).
Although
the Earl’s Court ride was popular, it did not make the
kind of money that Maxim and his partners had expected,
thanks largely to a major breakdown that forced its
closure in high-season. Maxim’s autobiography recalls,
with a strong hint of annoyance, that his original design
for the motor included a failsafe device that made the
drive belt slip if anything went wrong, thus preventing
the machine from being put under too much stress.
Unfortunately, one of the ride staff failed to realise
that this was intentional, and made his own unauthorised
“improvements” to prevent the belt from slipping.
Inevitably, when the ride was full of passengers, the
clutch eventually failed, and instead of the belt slipping
as was originally intended, the machine was put under
tremendous stress and broke down. Not only did this
breakdown cost a lot to repair, it obviously prevented the
ride from taking money at what should have been its most
profitable period.
Meanwhile,
the Sir Hiram Maxim Electrical Company and Engineering
Company also built new versions of the ride at several of
Britain’s major resorts throughout 1904. Maxim had
originally deemed that no more than two Captive Flying
Machines rides would need to be built in order to fund his
research, and the loss of money from the Earl’s Court
breakdown may well have influenced the decision to build
more. These included Crystal Palace, New Brighton,
Southport, and of course, Blackpool. In 1905, Willow Grove
Park in Pennsylvania opened another version of the ride,
where no doubt Maxim would have been less than flattered
to discover the park promoting the ride by describing him
as “The Edison of England”!
The new
versions of the ride did not try to reprise the idea of
giving riders control of the car, and were straightforward
copies of the version that opened at Earl’s Court,
albeit with minor differences in size and cosmetic
appearance. The Blackpool version opened in on August 1st
1904, and the grand stature of the ride would no doubt
have had the same impact on visitors as Blackpool Tower
ten years earlier, or The Big One ninety years later. It
was owned and operated by Maxim’s company until 1921,
when Pleasure Beach founder William George Bean bought the
ride for £750, meaning that the ride was no longer
operated on a concessionary basis. Since then, the park
has done an outstanding job to keep the ride running just
as it did in 1904. In fact, other than the very different
view riders get from the ride, a “flight” on
Blackpool’s Captive Flying Machines is almost exactly
the same as it would have been back when the first riders
took their seats on opening day. Even the original motor
remains, and visitors to the Maxim Emporium (a gift shop
located in what was originally an empty space beneath the
ride) can watch it in action through a specially installed
viewing window.
Like so
many of Maxi’s projects, the Captive Flying Machine
became plagued with commercial problems. Some of his
partners in the company tried to sue him, using a loophole
they had discovered in their original contract that Maxim
claimed never to understand. Furthermore, a rival showman
tried to blackmail his way into the company by threatening
to fraudulently challenge some of the patents to be taken
out on the machine, possibly in the knowledge that the
contract for the Southport ride stipulated that the
company would not receive revenue from the machine until
the patents had been granted. Before long, Maxim resolved
never to be involved with amusement rides again, but his
haste to settle the disputes and leave the industry just
seemed to cause more problems, "The readiness with
which I parted with my money in order to disentangle
myself with the objectionable characters connected with
the Captive Flying Machines seemed to excite the greed of
certain other parties who imagined that all they had to do
was threaten a lawsuit, when I would part with any amount
of money demanded".
It was a
great pity that Maxim abandoned the amusement industry
when he did, as he had further plans for his machines. On
seeing the success of Water Chute rides, he devised a plan
to build a variation of the Captive Flying Machines that,
once in full flight, would tilt so that the cars skimmed
through a pool of water at the bottom, before soaring up
into the air. Such a ride would almost certainly have been
a great success, but never saw the light of day.
Incredibly, Maxim’s suggested that that he had designed
a larger version of the ride, capable of reaching speeds
of anything up to 65mph. Had this plan ever been realised,
it would almost certainly remain the most extreme thrill
ride of all time!
While Maxim
had been diverted by the Captive Flying Machines project,
he had fallen behind his competitors in the race to build
a real flying machine. He prepared a new version of his
machine for 1910, but this never flew as the ideas used
had already fallen behind developments elsewhere. Seven
years earlier, the Wright Brothers had flown their
machine, the first that was capable of being controlled in
mid-flight. Maxim did in fact meet Wilbur Wright, and
agreed to collaborate with him, but their association was
short lived, and their relationship seems to have been
less than friendly.