An interest in flying machines
In early 1900, engineer Graham Bell became interested in the design of seaplanes. He sent his chief engineer Frederick Walker Baldwin to study the designs of the Italian inventor and aviation pioneer Enrico Forlanini. Forlanini had designed a prototype hydrofoil in the summer of 1908, which Bell and his engineer had the opportunity to test on Lake Maggiore between 1910 and 1911.
The birth of one of the first hydrofoils
The inventor of the telephone also developed a hydrofoil prototype. In 1913, he hired Walter Pinaud, a yacht designer and builder in Sydney, to work on his project. The architect made a few modifications to what would become the HD-4 (also called Hydrodrome Number 4), which had been preceded by three other prototypes. The boat was built in the shipyard he owned in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Its design is not the most accomplished. The HD-4 has a torpedo profile, with submerged wings like those of an aircraft. As it gained speed, the propeller-equipped wings lifted out of the water to support the hull and limit friction on the water, starting at 13 knots. The HD-4 was equipped with two 3250 hp Liberty L-12 engines supplied by the US Navy.
A speed record set in 1919
On September 9, 1919, the HD-4 set a world speed record on the Bras d'Or Lake in Canada by reaching a speed of 70.86 miles per hour (114.04 km/h). The example of Graham Bell reminds us that making boats fly is not a purely modern objective, since this pioneer was already looking for ways to gain power by supporting the hulls of boats.
