The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1865-07-14
Thf 4aatofk yeffevsoni',m
TERMS;
62,00 PER ANNUM IN ADV ANCE
A FLYING Mnching.

a flying machine OF novel form Is
now in process Of construction Al
Hoboken, for The United States Gov
ernment. IL WIS commenced during
the war, and was intended for use in
mrial roconnoissances of IN enemy's
position. Tie war is over, hut the
machine Is going on until its success
or failure is an established fact. The
idea of the invention is IN. old one,
but this is the first time that en- OF.
tempt has been made to put II in
TO practice. The Government was
induced to embark in the enterprise
upon the strength of certain expert
ments made by the late distinguished
General (and Profcssor) Mitchell
lie has long been interested in The
subject of nrial navigation, and he
believed that the principle Of screw
propulsion could be made TO work In
mir as in water.
His first and only point was to
demonstrate the lifting power Of .
screw fan moving horizontally at DIFF
ferent rates of speed. The expert
mental fan was placed upon q pole rs
an axis, up and down which IL could
move freely. The fan was then made
to revolvc at various rates of speed
ut the pleasure of the operator At
one rate it would merely lift itself.
ut another rate it would raise twice
Its own weight; at another three
hp pf Nsue e
ascertained by comparison that fan
with blades of twenty feet diameter,
revolving at certain rate rate Of
speed, would raise six tons, and have
considerable power TO spare. 1t is
only q child's toy upon 10 g. scale
We see every day in the streets toy
venders who give quick twirl with
a string to little fan upon sti H.,
and 10 it shoots into the air to .
hight of twenty or thirty feet, aud
descends slowly, still revolving rs it
comes down. The Government toy,
rs some persons will probably call it,,
Is cigar shaped canoe, built of COP
per with iron ribs. An engine is
placed in the center, with sufficient
power to WORK n screw fan with twcn.
ty feet blades. There are four fans
connected with the engine-one he.
low, one above the canoe, and orc at
each end.
The upper and lower fans are work
cd together, to produce an ascent !;
and the terminal fans are made TO re-
volve together or separately in the
same direction, or in opposite direc-
tlons, for the purpose OF propelling
the craft horizontally. The weight Of
the whole, fully equipped and manned
is about SIX tons. 1t is claimed by
those upon whose recommendation
the machine Is constructed. that it
can be guided through the air with as
much case as n vessel through the
water. This is conditional, of course,
TO some extent, upon the wind. If
vessel can be propelled through the
still dir at q given number oi miles
per hour, it may be made TO stem a
wind of an equal number of miles per
hour. If the power Of head wind
exceeds or is less than the propelling
power, the machine actually falls back
or progresses in exact proportion to
the difference between the powers
This truth should be borne in mind
in considering all schemes for air
sailing.
An accomplished government Off
Ger is experimenting the work, and
hope 10 have it done in n month,
when Il pretensions of the new fly
ing IA, bine will be tested.