The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1878-06-07
NAVIGATING THE AIR.
An EXHIBITION OF A NEW FLYING MACHINE
Isfas. In PHILADELPHIA. BUS =.
E1
From the Philadelphia Times.

1 .gH# al65s.
| From the Philadelphia Times. ..
4 private exhibition of Mr.. Charles F
Ritohals new flying machine and lts capa
bilities were given yesterday. afteruood il
the Main Building, which for some day
has been temporarily closed to the public
for he purpose Of allowing preparation
for t6morrow's opening ceremonies 70 6
on without interruption, ..-, ~ 80 h, n.
The name Flying Machine " does moi
convey 50 correct an idea Of what the in
veatipn 10 as does the statement that it is 9
for of balloon which can DO guided by the
sefs M. irat there Is . cylinder of oiled
canvas containing about 8, 200 cubic fest oi
hydrogen gas. This is horizontal. 25 feet
long and 10 feet in diameter. The cylinder
is bound leRgthwise by stont woven
band, and transvsrsely by nine or ten SINH
lar banda. These bands are fastened to a
hollow brazen rod, as long as the cylinder
and hanging parallel to it, . foot or two
below. Suspended from this is frame
work, mainly Of steel and brass rods, and
somewhat resembling the skeleton of a
boat. This 10 about half as long as the
cylinder. Upon it the aeronaut sits as upon
o velocipede. With his hands he turns a
double crank, which seta in revolution o
four padded wheel, resembling the pro-
peller Of q steamship, and fixed horizon
tally beneath the seat. When the crank
is turned forward this wheel gives upward
motion TO the machine and when reversed
causes descent. The purpose Of the cylin-
dEical case OF hydrogen 10 not to directly
cause ascent, for this is effected by the
wheel, but to give the entire machine .
specific gravity very little greater than
that of air, so that when loossd from the
earth it will remain in condition of almost
equipoise.
For the purpose of propelling the ma
chine in still air, and shaping its course
whenever necessary, there is second
wheel. similar to the other. It 10 axed
vertically at the forward end of the frame
work, and has two motions-one on its
axis for the purpose Of propslling and an
other in q horizontal arc, described by q
short rod to which it is hxed. By means
Of this second movement the Bronautjs
enabled to turn and guide the machine.
The wheel, in order that it may have as
much power as possible, is eight or ten
feet distant from him-nearly az far as q
point directly under the end of the cylin-
der. But he govarns it easily bv means
of pedals, which work like that Of a sew
ing machine. The weight of the entire
machine is 1OS pounds, the cylinder weigh
ing IS and the remainder 4s. Hydrogen
gas, although far moro costly than the
illuminating gas ordinarily used in bal
looms, is adopted for this machine in order
to avoid the greater bulk, which, by offer
Ing moro resistance to the air. would pro-
.cnnntaract the power of the
snist, who was on;rofaasor Kino.
tors ysatdrday, said that 7.Svo So :,
of illuminating gas would be required to
accomplish the results effected by the 3,200
cubic feet Of hydrogen. But, he added.
while the former would only cost about
e3 per thousand, the latter could not be
obtained for much less than $25 per thous-
and.
A lad named Tuttle, weighing 1T
pounds, who had been trained to operate
the machine, did the aronautic work OF
the day. When he first straddled the
frame work, Professor Ritchel ascertained
with o steelyard that the machine
was ten pounds above an equipoise. He
said that the gas had escaped and the ma
shine would not 60 up with 80 heavy an
operator, SO a lad of 90 pounds was sub
stituted, but, waiting experience, the best
be could do was to ascend, which
be did. encouraged by applause. Revers-
ing the crank, he descended upon an i'm
nense showcase and rsbounded like an
India rubber ball, causing great laughter.
More hydrogen being put into the cylin.
der, the expert young Tuitle again strad-
died and. this time shew," rising almost to
the roof of the building at its highest
point, the center, descending, going for
ward, turning and moving generally as ne
pleased In the still air, applauded from be-
low. The motion, however, was always
slow, not more rapid than would be the
OF thistle down, or the lightest
of feathers in the same atmosphere.
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