Patrick Young Alexander - Taking Off

Taking Off

Patrick Alexander became increasingly interested in aviation and related subjects, such as meteorology, parachutes, balloons, and propellers. By about 1888 he was working on wireless telegraphy. Charles Dolfus recorded that Patrick Alexander was the first to suggest that wireless could be used for the automatic direction of airships and aeroplanes and said Patrick Alexander was a "Pioneer of Space".

On 9 June 1891, Patrick Alexander made a gas balloon ascent in the company of aeronaut Griffith Brewer: this was the first of a number of balloon ascents that would lead to his becoming a licensed balloonist. Patrick ordered a three-man (some say five-man) balloon from balloon manufacturer Percival G. Spencer, naming his balloon "Queen of the West". Throughout the summer of 1892, Patrick and his friend Philip Braham made a number of flights. They collected meteorological observations and measurements and took photographs. Their adventures were recorded in a number of local newspapers.

Also in 1891, Patrick Alexander acquired an 8-inch (200 mm) aperture refractor telescope which was erected in Bath. The telescope was a substantial instrument, which together with its mounting, must have weighed several tons. The telescope was fully equipped for astronomical observations and Patrick was a member of the Royal Astronomical Society until 1921. Although he enjoyed showing his telescope to friends and distinguished visitors, any interest he had in astronomy was overshadowed by his other passions; the telescope was probably a scientific toy. Barry Bellinger suggests that the telescope was used to track pilot balloons released into the air, before releasing any main balloons; however, a telescope of this size and type seems unsuited to such a task.

In 1893, Patrick Alexander ordered a balloon of 100,000 cubic feet (2,800 m3) capacity from Percival Spencer. At the time, C.G. Spencer and Sons' largest advertised balloon was of 80,000 cubic feet (2,300 m3) and when it was made it attracted much public interest. Capable of lifting 12 passengers, it was one of the largest balloons yet made. Alexander named her "Majestic". In 1894, Patrick took his huge balloon to Germany where he conducted scientific ascents that excited interest among German scientists and the lay public, as well as that of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Ever since the first balloon ascent by the Montgolfier Brothers in 1783, it had been realised that for balloons to be really useful, they had to be navigable. Patrick Alexander applied his mind to this problem of airship propulsion. In 1893 and 1894 he filed a number of patents. His ideas included reciprocating oars and an adjustable-pitch propeller that resembled a pair of fans. One patent includes a means of heating the gas in the balloon envelope by using piped steam, the steam pipe also served to support the balloon in the shape of a parachute in the event of the balloon being burst or punctured. None of Patrick’s ideas ever came to anything; but throughout his life, he never lost faith in the practicality of airships.

In Bath Patrick Alexander set up the first of a series of workshops. His most prestigious workshop was "The Mount" at Batheaston purchased in 1900 and here he had a gas supply brought into the garden and a balloon inflation valve installed. Town gas, although not as light as Hydrogen, was readily available and very much less expensive; it was, of course, highly flammable. His workshops were fully equipped and employed several people, there he designed and manufactured experimental balloons and meteorological instruments.

Patrick Alexander joined the Aero clubs of Berlin, Paris and America and, at one time, that of Austria.

In 1900 the first Zeppelin made its maiden flight, observed by Alexander. The Zeppelin was launched from a floating assembly hall on Lake Constance; Patrick observed from a motor boat in order to be as close as possible. Later that year, at the invitation of the Berlin Metrological Institute, he made a flight in the world's largest balloon, a non-dirigible with a capacity of 9,000 cubic metres (320,000 cu ft). The objective was to make metrological measurements and break the existing endurance records. It is indicative of the esteem in which Patrick was held that he, a non-German, was offered a place. The balloon was equipped against every eventuality and stocked with rations for 20 days. The balloon took off on 27 September, just before 6 pm. The same evening, their trailing rope became stuck in trees and gusty winds caused the crew to lose control. In the dark it was decided to release the gas and land the balloon. The ambitious expedition ended just 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the start.

Patrick Alexander was very interested in the development of heavier-than-air flying machines. Early in the 1890s, he travelled to Germany to meet Otto Lilienthal who was experimenting with gliders, and he continued to study ideas from a wide variety of sources. In 1896, Hiram Stevens Maxim came close to achieving flight when his huge steam-powered machine briefly lifted from the rails that also restrained it. Patrick was in contact with Octave Chanute and others experimenting with flight. In the USA, sometime before 1903, Patrick visited Samuel Pierpont Langley whose successful models had attracted much attention. At Christmas 1902 he visited the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk. These were halcyon days for experimenters in aviation; the possibility of heavier-than-air flight was, so-to-speak, in the air.

On hearing that Patrick Alexander was planning a return trip to the USA in October 1903, the Wright brothers, not known for welcoming interruptions to their work, said they would be happy to meet him. However, Patrick missed a crucial telegram and never received their message. Patrick must have been most disappointed to have missed the opportunity to witness the first flights of the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903.

Aldershot in Hampshire was an insignificant village until, in 1854, it was selected as the home of the British Army. It was in Aldershot that the army established the Army Balloon section. In June 1904 the American born aviation pioneer Samuel Franklin Cody came to Aldershot to test his kites. There, in collaboration with the Army, he worked on balloons, kites and aeroplanes. That same year Patrick Alexander moved to nearby Mytchett in Surrey where he was involved with the Army Balloon section. He shared a house with Cody who later went on to become the first man in England to fly an aeroplane.

1905 was a year of public generosity. Chard in Somerset had been the location of some remarkable aviation experiments by John Stringfellow in 1848: he constructed a model aeroplane that is claimed to have achieved the first ever power flight. Some of the relics of these experiments were eventually bought for the Washington Museum. Patrick Alexander obtained and had restored at his expense, Stringfellow's earlier models and presented them to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Also, Patrick offered his telescope - the 8" refractor - to the War Office. The offer included the cost of construction of a suitable observatory to house it. The offer was accepted and a site was chosen. In December 1906 the Aldershot Observatory was officially opened, the opening ceremony was attended by several high-ranking officials and guests from Aldershot civic council, and Patrick Alexander himself.

In January 1910, Patrick Alexander issued the conditions of a £1,000 Alexander Award, a prize that he would offer for the development of a lightweight engine suitable for aviation. The prize was offered through the auspices of the Aerial League of which Alexander was a founding member and the testing would be performed by the National Physical Laboratory. (The prize, which was Alexander's own money, was a considerable sum; £1,000 in 1910 is equivalent to £76,000 in 2013.) Tests were carried out one year later. The Green Engine by Aster Engineering Ltd performed particularly well and, by unanimous agreement, won the prize.