The New York herald., 1874-08-21
Experiments In Military Aeronsutics.


An expensive experiment. partly under gov
ernment auspices, was recently made in Eng
land to test an invention for steering balloons.
The acknowledged importance Of the balloon
in military operations enlisted the interest OF
the War Office, and Mr.. Coxwell, the veteran
a1ronaut, accompanied the inventor, Mr..
Bowdler, in his experimental ascensions. The
contrivance to be tested was very simple,
consisting OF two. screw propellers, similar to
those of steamship, worked by hand and
fixed on q frame attached to the car OF the
balloon.
At the outset the great disproportion be-
tween the enormous airship, carrying, when
inflated, sixty thousand feet of gas, and the
tiny steering gear, only three feet in diameter,
suggested the doubt of success. 1t seemed
hardly possible that propeller so small could
at all affect the motions of the huge balloon.
But the result proved that, while thu mechani-
cal proportions were inadequate, the principle
of the invention was correct Under suitable
conditions it was found that one Of the
propellers used by Mr. Bowdler to elevate or
depress the balloon was quite effective, eDa-
bling the asronauts to lift their ship by
revolving the fan. The other propeller used
to steer to the right or left, and thus give
definite course, failed to affect the motions Of
the balloon, which disappointed the hopes Of
the designer.
In this particular experiment the latter
failure may have been due to the insufficiency
Of surface presented by the fan intended to
guide the aarostat from town to town. If 30,
the failure is only apparent, and it would be
an easy thing TO construct another adjusted to
the dimensions of the airship. The repre-
sentative of the government, participating in
the experiment of which we speak, expresses
the belief that fan capable of driving the
same balloon eight miles an hour and requir-
ing four or six men to work it could be easily
made.
That an apparatus useful in guiding aero
nautic ascents and giving the adventurer
greater control over his machine than he now
has, we doubt not will be designed. Tssan-
dier and Fonvielle, the experienced French
air travellers, thought as much. But with all
others who know the practical difficulties Of
aerial navigation, they contend that no steer
ing apparatus can be made controlling amid
the terrible winds that traverse the higher
atmosphere. In one instance they rose from
the Paris gas works and in thirty-fve minutes
were roughly landed at Neuilly St. Front, o
distance of forty-eight miles, propelled at the
rate Of ninety miles an hour. The only sue
cessful method of steering balloons would,
therefore, appear to be that Of elevating Or
depressing them by some such apparatus as
MIR. Bowdler's 8, SO as to bring them success
sively, as occasion demands into the high.
speed upper currents or the gentler and more
navigable surface currents of air. That any
thing more than this can be effected by me-
chanical ingenuity seems incredible, and the
aGronaut must be prepared to become tht
sport of aerial elements compared with whose
violence the hurricane is mild and merciiul
The late experiments in military aeronautics
of which Mr.. Bowdler's are the most promis
ing, are not encouraging to the military en-
gineer. who has hoped to see constructed {
balloon which would obey her helm and take
him safely from point to point, above the
clouds, at his option.