The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-03-12
A Xew Step In Aerial Navigation.

A new balloon, the feature of which Is
steering apparatus, Is thus described by
Paris correspondent of the London Ne,cs:
Let your readers imagine gigantic egg of
inflated silk, the longer axis being horizontal; /;
to this egg is attached an oblong car, some
thing the shape of a punt. The motive of
the inventor in choosing the ovoid form was
at once to obtain greater stability for the car
than could be hoped for with the old balloons,
and at the same time to give the least posi-
BILE hold to the wind. The diameter of the
balloon is about two-ffths of its horizontal
length from point to point. take the fol-
lowing dimensions from N. Dupuy de Lomes
highly interesting report, read before the
Academy of Science, only changing French
meters into feet for the convenience of Eng
lish readers:
Total length from end to end. .......11sft fl. Gin.
Diameter at the point Of greatest circum-
ference. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 40 #. 2 In
Diameter Of Tie screw. 20 n. Q in
Number Of turns fthe screw in n minnie
,Wnen the balloon is going eight kilome-
tres (nve m1les) an hour faster than the
Wihu. -. .......................N N
M. Dupuy de LONE thus describes the rud-
der by which his balloon is steered: "The
rudder 10 a plain triangular surface. It Is
made of unvarnished calico. and Is kent in it's
place by horizontal yard six inches long at
its lower extremity. 1t can turn easily ON its
forward extremity. The height of the rudder
is five meters, and it has a superfcies of fif-
teen meters" The car is next described: it
is of wicker work, and of sufficient size to
contain comfortably the windlass for the
screw and eight men to work it the ventilla-
tor with which to manage the small balloon
we shall have to speak Of this presently
and the man who attends to it. In all, four
teen persons can be carried in the car. The
driving screw is directly carried by the car
The shaft OF the screw is q hollow steel tube
This shaft Is constructed so as to allow of the
screw being easily dismounted when a land
ing is effected. The rudder Is is fixed to the
balloon itself, and the screw as we said, Is be-
low it, and Immediately attached to the car.
Two blades only are used in the screw in
stead OF four, because when the ground is
touched the two blades can be placed horizon
tally so as to escape injury. Were there
iour blades the screw would be
almost certain to be broken whenever
a landing was effected. The windlass which
turns the screw is worked by four, or, if nee
essary, eight men,-in a similar manner to
the steering wheel Of . ship-only the wheel
is placed parallel to the axis of the car, in
stead OF at right angles to it, in order to les
sen the rolling occasioned by the movements
of the men working the windlass. The ma
terial Of which the envelope of the balloon is
composed is white silk, weighing 50 grammes
not quite two ounces-to the square metre,
and coarser lining weighing 40 grammes the
square metre, and seven coats of India rub
per, which together weigh 1S0 grammes-a
little over six Ounces--the square metre.
Thus the whole weight of the external web of
the balloon is 272 grammes-about nine
ounces to the square metre. In order to rem
der the web Of the balloon totally impermea-
Bile to the hydrogen gas with which it is in
fated, the silk was plated over with sort of
gelatinous compound, invented by NJ Dupuy
de LONE. The total weight of the two bal
looms when ready to start was $40 kilo-
grammes, or rather more than half a ton.
The web of the balloon was reckoned to be
capable OF supporting pressure of over 1000
pounds to the square yard. have mention
ed the smaller balloon; this is, more correctly
speaking, only division as it were of the
larger balloon. 1t is formed by means of an
inner skin, separating the bottom of the bal
loon from the rest. This compartment occu-
pies about One-tenth of the whole cubic space
of the balloon, and serves to keep it stiff, and
of the required shape. By these means M.
Dupuy de LONE has attained the two ends he
pIopOocu W Aiiuocii, vIZ.t perInanence IN the
shape of the balloon; and, secondly, he has
been able to give the whole apparatus an axis
decidedly parallel to that Of the force of pro-
pulsion.
Having thus endeavored to give some ac-
count of the new aerial navigator--no yery
easy matter without diagrams-it only re-
mains for me to say few words about M.
Dupuy de Lome's first experimental trip.
There was half gale of wind blowing at the
time he started, and the screw had been slight
ly damaged. The spirited inventor did NOT
hesitate, however to make his contemplated
ascent. The end justified his confidence, for
not only was he able to land near Noyon. in
the Department of the Oise, some seventy
miles northeast of Paris, but his balloon more
than answered his expectations. The screw,
when worked by four men, drove the balloon
eight kilometres (about five miles) an hour
quicker than the rate at which the wind was
blowing; SO that NJ. Dupuy de LONE not on
ly "weut like the wind" but actually went
faster than the wind. BY the use of the rud-
der the course of the balloon could be altered
IL degrees either way from the set of the wind
making total deviation Of twenty-five de-
grees. This of course is the greatest and
most noteworthy result obtained by the new
aerial machine. 1t may possibly be asked,
what is the use of the screw, when the wind
carries YOUR balloon at the rate of 81 kilome-
tres, or nearly forty miles an hour? The an
swer is, that without the screw the rudder
would be of little or no use.