DON SCHEMELL explains the Allison jet engine
exhibit.
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This popular exhibit demonstrated
the fundamental principal of jet propulsion. The lecturer presented the history of
aviation from the first flight of the Wright Brothers in 1903 to the end of World War II.
Allison, a division of General Motors, sliced apart the engine to show how it was built.
In 1954, the use of jet propulsion was relatively new but the concept was not. The
lecturer pointed out that over 2000 years ago, Hero, a Greek, built a machine that working
on the jet principle. This particular engine cranked our over 10,000 horsepower at nearly
8,000 revolutions per minute. |
Old Scout being prepared for display.
The whereabouts of Old Scout is not known.
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The 1902 Olds, affectionately
called "Old Scout" won the first transcontinental race for motor-driven
vehicles. The Olds crossed the country in 44 days in 1905. It traveled from New York City
to Portland, Oregon at a 100-mile-a-day clip. Dwight B. Huss grappled with the tiller as
he steered the on-cylinder Olds through wheel-deep mud and water and bounced over rough
mountain trails. This journey proved beyond all doubt that the automobile could provide
dependable transportation. Huss and Milford Wigle, his mechanic and relief driver, arrived
in Portland in triumph to the cheers of approximately 350,000 people. For his
record-establishing journey, Huss received a prize of $1,000. Twenty-six years later, in 1931, Dwight Huss repeated the New York to Portland
trip in Old Scout, equipped precisely as before. Instead of muddy cattle trails, he found
hard surfaced roads and service stations everywhere along the route. During this second
trip, a newspaper account estimated that some 10 million people inspected the Olds, which
was displayed under the auspices of every major automobile club along the route. |
