Aviation and its development have been an area of intense interest for engineers and mere observers for more than a century. Since the late 18th-early 19th centuries, humanity has been fascinated with human-made machines capable of taking people to the sky. Governments and private investors allocated considerable resources to the development of ground-breaking aviation projects, which inevitably attracted people driven by greed. The first half of the 20th century was characterized by the rapid development of aircraft technology. However, while there were numerous attempts to produce reliable airplanes in the first decades of this century, many of them resulted in immense failures. The name of William Whitney Christmas has been strongly associated with this period. This man is considered to be one the biggest frauds in the history of aviation, whose self-proclaimed expertise always ended in failures. At the same time, an evident gap in scholarly literature creates a halo of mystery surrounding this historical personality. The purpose of this report is to examine the personality of William Whitney Christmas and his infamous Christmas Bullet.
Background
Humanity has been watching the sky, dreaming of flying, since its earliest civilizations. However, it obviously lacked the proper technological development required to implement these plans until the late 19th-early 20th century. This period became the turning point in the development of humanity, leading to the creation of a new industry, which would redefine a range of human activity areas – aviation. According to the information presented on the official website of the National Park Service, the early stages of aviation development demonstrated an unprecedented level of competition (“Aviation pioneers,” 2019). This rivalry was conditioned by the presence of people, who “challenged themselves and each other to see who could be the best” (“Aviation pioneers,” 2019, para. 1). It was deemed as one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments to be the first person to create a reliable aircraft.
This period established the general concept of aviation as a highly competitive industry in all respects. In fact, the rivalry encompassed all of its sectors, and this tendency has persisted throughout the history of the field. Aircraft constructors competed with one another, attempting to devise more advanced technological solutions. At the same time, pilots wanted to show their mastery in terms of handling these creations, pushing the limits further with each record (“Aviation pioneers,” 2019). It is often said that progress and development are created through intense competition. While it may have been the case with the early days of aviation, good faith is another critical component of positive rivalry. Nevertheless, this field attracted dishonest people, who wanted to profit from the increased attention and funding in this promising, yet undeveloped sphere. There were those who promised great inventions in the industry of aviation, collecting investments and publicity, but their results left much to be desired. William Whitney Christmas, the personality in the focus of the present paper, is one of such figures. His work on early prototypes of military aircraft created some examples of the world’s worst planes ever created by humankind.
William Whitney Christmas
The history of aircraft construction knows William Whitney Christmas as one of the most controversial personalities among all pioneers of aviation. He was on September 1, 1865, in North Carolina and attended the St. John’s Military Academy (“William Whitney Christmas,” n.d.). Despite his fame as one of the pioneers, although failed, of the early 20th-century aviation, Christmas initially pursued a different path in life. Having obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Virginia, William Whitney Christmas continued his education, graduating from George Washington University with an M.D in 1905 (“William Whitney Christmas,” n.d.). Nevertheless, after several years of being a practicing physician, he soon recognized the potential of the aviation sphere. The industry was on the increase at the time, attracting the world’s most genius minds and considerable investments (“Aviation pioneers,” 2019). Naturally, fraudulent people saw incredible profit opportunities in aviation, as well.
Consequently, Christmas engaged with the field of aircraft construction, despite being a medical practitioner without any engineering background. Fortunately for him, as stated by Lovell (2018), the industry was not developed enough at the time, and even the Wright Brothers “were just a couple of bike mechanics” (para. 5). In order to gain the trust of partners and investors, Christmas openly claimed to have an outstandingly successful experience with prior models of airplanes. Evidently, the means of communication were not developed enough at the time, which is why it was difficult to verify the information he presented to the public. Furthermore, Christmas was not against plagiarism, as he copied and flew an aircraft of the AEA Red Bird company and presented it as his own invention (Lovell, 2018). These credentials sufficed for three partners, who agreed to invest in the Christmas Aeroplane Company in 1909 (Lovell, 2018). However, the group was soon disbanded due to a lack of returns on the considerable investments of the partners. This unfortunate experience was one of the first signs of Christmas’s unreliable nature.
Nevertheless, he was not hindered by the Christmas Aeroplane Company’s failure. As a matter of fact, aircraft construction was an important sphere for the military, as well. According to Lovell (2018), World War I presented another opportunity for William Whitney Christmas, who was eager to utilize the funds of the U.S. Armed Forces. In order to convince his compatriots, the fake constructor claimed to have developed the largest air bomber of the time, which had already been pre-ordered by European armies. The proposed design comprised a 1,600 horsepower engine, as well as a six-person crew, promising to ensure a revolution in airborne warfare (Lovell, 2018). However, the plan had a major flaw, as the proposed bomber never existed outside of Christmas’s forged designs, which would not allow him to attract substantial investments.
Christmas Bullet
Having acknowledged the disadvantages of his six-man bomber plan, William Whitney Christmas realized that he needed an actual aircraft in order to receive money. Lovell (2018) writes that he managed to convince brothers Henry and Alfred McCorey to invest in his “advanced reconnaissance and super pursuit plane,” which received the name Bullet (para. 9). The project was soon developed in reality, and Christmas willingly exaggerated its qualities when presenting the Bullet to the public. According to him, the plane was capable of maneuvering at high speed, penetrating the airspace of Germany and supposedly presenting the United States with an opportunity to abduct Kaiser Wilhelm II (Lovell, 2018). Despite the ambitious plans, the prototype of the aircraft was finished after the ceasefire was signed, and the military never had the chance to test Christmas’s plan in practice.
Nevertheless, the confident advertisement of the Christmas Bullet had its effect. Lovell (2018) writes that William Whitney Christmas managed to present his project to New York Senator James Wolcott Wadsworth and the Continental Aircraft Corporation. The creator assured that the advantage of the Bullet was conditioned by its flexible wing technology, which had never been used in the history of the field. Christmas was confident that the Bullet did not need any struts or braces, and the wings of the plane would be able to flap, similarly to those of a bird. Lovell (2018) notes that the existing aviation regulations advised strongly against such solutions, as the lack of structural integrity would be critical. Overall, the Bullet ascended twice, and both attempts ended in lethal crashes (Lovell, 2018). The evident flaws and the unfortunate flying experiences made it one of the least successful airplanes in the history of humanity.
Implications
As a matter of fact, despite the evident failure of the Christmas Bullet, its creator was not willing to accept the defeat. In order to retain the government’s funding, he ensured that there would not be a public confirmation of the crash (Lovell, 2018). Moreover, Christmas convinced the U.S. Army to lend him another engine for the second plane without specifying what happened to the first one. The fake constructor even had admirers, and one of them was an aviation journalist, who readily helped him by spreading the unconfirmed information regarding the successful flights of the Bullet, as well as European nations’ interest in the model. Despite the lack of evidence, the project was not terminated until the lethal failure during the second actual flight, which took the life of the pilot (Lovell, 2018). By 1923, Christmas finally stopped the development of the Bullet, but his attempts to receive fraudulent money continued. In fact, the fake constructor did not face any repercussions for developing technologically imperfect aircraft, which virtually killed two people. William Whitney Christmas lived a long life and died at the age of ninety-four in Manhattan. In spite of the complete lack of aviation knowledge, he still managed to leave his name in the history of the industry.
Conclusion
Overall, William Whitney Christmas became of the most controversial personalities in the history of aviation. The turn of the 19th and the 20th centuries became a major point in the development of the sphere, attracting both experts and investors. Airplanes were expected to become a revolutionary change in terms of both human transportation and warfare. The fraudulent endeavor organized by Christmas became a natural implication of considerable investments poured into the industry. Despite being a dishonest person, William Whitney Christmas had wit, which allowed him to seize the opportunities, which had been emerging in aviation. He understood the context in which he operated and knew how to present the facts in his favor. Following the beginning of World War I, Christmas began to work on his projects more actively, which led to the creation of an actual airplane, which was destined to make its creator rich.
Nevertheless, the project was flawed, and its technological imperfections resulted in human casualties. It took two lethal failures for Christmas to realize that he could no longer continue the Bullet project. Accordingly, he decided to withdraw from the enterprise before it cost him his freedom. The case of William Whitney Christmas is representative of aviation of that period. The industry was young and undeveloped, which is why even the renowned experts did not have enough expertise to recognize fraudulent attempts to receive investment. It took several lethal crashes for the sphere’s leaders to draw meaningful conclusions and ensure its development in the correct direction. While modern aviation has become a field with decades of rich history, traditions, and regulations, people such as William Whitney Christmas still exist, this time targeting other emerging disciplines. Leaders, policy-makers, and the general public should be aware of such cases in order to protect their activities from greed-induced malpractice, turning promising projects into new Christmas Bullets.
References
Aviation pioneers. (2019). National Park Service. Web.
Lovell, J. T. (2018). The Christmas Bullet was the worst plane ever made. Foxtrot Alpha. Web.
William Whitney Christmas. (n.d.). People Pill. Web.