Maxim, a longtime sufferer of
bronchitis, patented and manufactured a pocket
menthol inhaler and a larger "Pipe of Peace", a steam inhaler using
pine vapour, that he claimed could relieve
asthma,
tinnitus,
hay fever and
catarrh. After being criticised for applying his talents to
quackery, he protested that "it will be seen that it is a very creditable thing to invent a killing machine, and nothing less than a disgrace to invent an apparatus to prevent human suffering". A large furniture factory had repeatedly burned down, and Maxim was consulted on how to prevent a recurrence. As a result, Maxim invented the first automatic
fire sprinkler. It would douse the areas that were on fire, and it would report the fire to the fire station. Maxim was unable to sell the idea elsewhere, but when the patent expired the idea was used. Maxim developed and installed the first electric lights in a
New York City building (the
Equitable Life Building at 120
Broadway) in
Manhattan in the late 1870s. As a child, Maxim had been knocked over by a rifle's recoil, and this inspired him to use that recoil force to automatically operate a gun. Between 1883 and 1885 Maxim patented gas, recoil and blowback methods of operation. After moving to England, he settled in a large house formerly owned by
Lord Thurlow in
West Norwood where he developed his design for an automatic weapon, using an action that would close the breech and compress a spring, by storing the recoil energy released by a shot to prepare the gun for its next shot. He thoughtfully ran announcements in the local press warning that he would be experimenting with the gun in his garden and that neighbours should keep their windows open to avoid the danger of broken glass. Maxim founded an arms company with financial backing from
Edward Vickers to produce his machine gun in
Crayford, Kent, which later merged with
Nordenfelt. Subsequently, part of the
Barrow Shipbuilding Company purchase by
Vickers Corporation in 1897, formed 'Vickers, Son & Maxim'. Their improved development of the Maxim gun design, the
Vickers machine gun, after Maxim's resignation from the board in 1911 on his 71st birthday, was the standard British machine gun for many years. With arms sales led by
Basil Zaharoff, variants of the Maxim gun were bought and used extensively by both sides during
World War I. In his later years Maxim became profoundly deaf, as his hearing had been damaged by years of exposure to the noise of his guns.
Flying machines Maxim's father had earlier conceived of a helicopter powered by two counter-rotating rotors, but was unable to find a powerful enough engine to build it. Hiram first sketched out plans for a helicopter in 1872, but when he built his first "flying machine" he chose to use wings. Before starting design work, he carried out a series of experiments on aerofoil sections and propeller design, at first using a
wind tunnel and later building a whirling arm test rig. Construction started in 1889 of a craft with a wingspan that weighed 3.5 tons, powered by two lightweight
naptha-fired
steam engines driving two laminated pine propellers. Conceived of as a test rig, the machine ran on an length of rail track which Maxim laid down for the purpose at his home, Baldwyn's Park Mansion, Baldwyn's Park in
Bexley. The initial intention was to prevent the machine from lifting off by using heavy cast-iron wheels, but after initial trials, Maxim concluded that this would not suffice, and so the machine was fitted with four wheeled outriggers which were restrained by wooden rails outside the central track. In trials in 1894, the machine lifted and was prevented from rising by the outriggers. During its test run, all the outriggers were engaged, showing that it had developed enough lift to take off, but in so doing, it pulled up the track; the tethered "flight" was aborted in time to prevent disaster. Maxim subsequently abandoned work on it but put his experience to work on fairground rides. He subsequently noted that a feasible flying machine would need better power-to-weight engines, such as a petrol combustion engine.
Captive Flying Machines in 2006 To both fund his research into flight and to bring attention to the notion of flight, Maxim designed and built an amusement ride for the
Earl's Court exhibition of 1904. The ride was based on a test-rig he had devised for his research, and consisted of a large spinning frame from which cars hung captive. As the machine spun, the cars would be swung outward through the air, simulating flight. The ride was similar to the later
Circle Swing ride, made popular in the US by renowned roller-coaster designer
Harry Traver. Maxim originally intended to use primitive aerofoils and wings to allow riders to control their flight, but this was outlawed as unsafe. As a result, Maxim quickly lost interest in the project, declaring the adapted ride as "Simply a glorified merry-go-round". Nevertheless, his company built several more rides of various sizes at
The Crystal Palace and various seaside resorts including
Southport,
New Brighton, and
Blackpool, all of which opened in 1904. Originally, Maxim had intended to build only two, but a lengthy breakdown on the original Earl's Court ride forced him to build more to make the venture profitable. He had plans for further variations of the ride but his disillusionment with the amusement business meant that they were never realised. Although he expressed regrets about the whole project, the rides were held in high regard within the amusement industry and the Blackpool ride still operates to this day as part of what is now the
Pleasure Beach amusement park. Along with the same park's similarly historic
river caves, it is the oldest operating amusement ride in Europe. The Flying Machines has the distinction of being virtually unchanged from Maxim's original design. The Blackpool ride's name is now usually abbreviated to the "Flying Machine" or "Flying Machines", although the full name, "Sir Hiram Maxim's Captive Flying Machines", is given at the ride entrance. In 2001,
Disney California Adventure Park opened, featuring the
Golden Zephyr, a modern-day recreation of the Traver version of the ride. The ride itself is much smaller than the Blackpool version, with cars swinging out at a much smaller angle. Nevertheless, engineers from Disney visited Blackpool to inspect the Maxim ride (the only example of either version still standing) to help design their ride. ==Grahame-White, Blériot, and Maxim Company==