Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1884-03-28
NEechanics' Course.

ms O1O 0re6k6 anu DOL4eA6 NoA9 oO-@SA0AJ
appear to have been.content TO give the gods
md birds and butterflies monopoly of the
air, for with the exception Of the story OF
DaedaIus and Icarus hardly mention has
been made by classical writers of flying or
flying machines sAsser Daedalrs, Archytus
about 400 years B. O., is credited with dove
fdsI1g Of wood, 90 contrivsd as by certain me-
chanicaI art and power TO fly; but from this
tims down e. he middle ages We hear little
or nothing of flying machines. Then the
askfoiogefs and alchemists and witches In
leagGe with the evil one on the one hand, and
she friars and monks helped by good
spirits on the other, did many wonderful
things. TO simply fly was mere bagatelle
Ia simple means 70 the sinful or good end in
view. The broom stick took prominent
position as flying machine. In those days
dragons and magicians and witches and good
and evil spirits made the chances outside
at night rather dubious and good
people remained at home. Anybody
at all distinguished by knowledge of
science was credited with the art of flying,
and indeed in many cases did net seruple to
claim IT, Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon
we're among these. bat failed to give particu-
lars. Bacon was accused of holding com
munion with the devil good Pope Nicholas
placed his writings under q ban, and the
inquisition. while not actually sending him up
in cloud of steam and smoke, looked after
him in the tender way SO characteristic of it..
The lecturer described various attempts to
Hy down to the time of the French revolu-
zion. Nome were successful; legs or arms
were usually broken, sometimes neck. The
results were discouraging, but men can al-
ways be found ready to risk life and limb in
striving to attain something much less i'm
portant than the art of flying.
In 1888 the Montgolhers invented the
balloon They used hot air only, but the
substitution Of hydrogen gas by Professor
Charles speedily followed. The Excitement
was great; the problem had been solved.
Every gentleman would have a balloon
hitched to his gate post. Sails and rudders
were to be used as on ships. Regular lines of
aerial passenger and mail coaches were to
be established There seemed no limit to
the possible speed. Rome, st Petersburg
or even America might be reached in few
hours. Methods of warfare would need to
be entirely reorganized, and .Engiand's
DO86fe0 supremacy 0u bQ0 Bo4 WOulu Do Oh
no avail unless she also maintained il in the
air. Moralists condemned the invention as
contrary to nature. The barriers of virtue
and morality would be broken down; bounda-
ries of ennpire would be practically annulled
and nations in consequence engaged in con-
tinual war. Well then is it for humanity
that balloons have not proved q very great
success. The balloon is the servant of the
air, NOT the master. It must obey a will,
pitiless, tickle, sometimes smiling but never
trustwerthy;s being of the same weight
bulk fer bulk as the air, it must necessarily
follow the slightest current. OF course the
balloon may be provided with propellers.
and large proportion of patents taken out
are on combinations of this sort; bnt It is
strange that people have not realized that a
thing necessarily SO big and light cannot be
made strong enough to stand the pressure
of the wind. Balloons also are at best
but temporary affairs, quickly losing gas and
buoyancy, explosive and unwieldy, and must
be considered floating, not flying ma
chimes The broad principle governing artifi-
cial or natural flight is quite simple, but the
difficulty of applying it under all conditions
is very great The problem is not a simple
one and yet to}R person watching fer EXAM
pie, the dight of a flock of gulls following IN
the wake of q steamer, the exquisite ease and
grace and apparent simplicity of the move
ment is most striking; but close observation
SHOWS E0dt Hb OV0Ey LIS Huk10 VI 1uCAUa-
ton Of the wings is changed to meet the new
conditions. There is continual movement and
power displayed. This movement is fairly
well understood and might perhaps be innil
tated by mechanism. but probably the same
result can be obtained in a much more SIM
Pile way. Fish and marine animals swim in
. great variety of ways and have all SORTS of
propellipg arrangements, but a screw pro-
-peller is undoubtedly more efficient than any
of them; and why copy the motions of a
birds wing any more than fshis tail? The
lecturer by the aid of diagrams described the
manner IN which bird flies. While in gene
raj way the same the motions vary considerably
with different species, and even in the same
bird upward will differ from horizontal
flight.
The study of flying creatures has, however,
brought out many interesting facts and given
MS some encouragement. For example. we
notice that all birds are heavy. and that the
expanse of wing generally diminishes in pro-
portion to the increase of weight. While
the sparrow has 81 square feet of wing sur
face for each pound the great Australian
crane has only Al square feet. and yet this
crane undertakes remote journeys and flies
higher and keeps on the wing longest of all
the travellers. A flying machine then, while
heavy, need not hsye.a very broad expanse
OF fsing surface. Weight really is an essen
tial feature. Set in motion by muscular eff
fort the weight of bird acts somewhat like
the hy-Vheel of an engine. The power is
stored up during the down stroke to be given
out again on the up stroke, and probably
weight 1t is al4o that enables bird to combat
successfully and take advantage of the wind
A machine or bird can fly only by doing
something TO the air. It must put the air
in motion, and the amount of this motion
will be a measure of tbs work done
and reaction obtained. If we assume
that when surface moves against
the air with q given velocity. the pressure
will be the same as when the surface Is at
rest and the air moves, we can readily caleu-
late what volume of air must be put in mo
ton to give the desired reaction. A flying
machine must in the hrst place, by acting on
the air, be able to lift itself, and knowing
the weight of the machine and the area Of
the propeller, q table giving the relation be-
tween velocity and pressure will enable as to
tell the velocity with which the air should be
driven downward, and the power can then be
readily calculated. This table is very inpor-
tanta in the study Of aerial navigation and
forms solid basis for theory and eonstruc-
ton. The lecturer showed that by the aid
Of an inclined plane the force of the wind
could be partly utilized, and that the great
est power required of q flying machine would
be that necessary to Lift it from the ground.
stifer the breeze the better. It has been
observed that heavy birds like the
albatross in rising beat the air
with great n energy, but once up
will sweep around for hours together
hardly ever deigninR to zap wing utilizing
the wind for support by the aid of the in
elined plane of their wings. The eficie ncy
Of q propeller Of any sort win depend apon
it's Rrsa and also upon It's ability to send the
air away in parallel streams Ordinary screw
propellors have not proved effective for the
reason that revolving at high speed the
force sends off large amount of
the air tangentially. That the problem of
artificial flight will be solved seems certain
A birds muscles while strong are not az
strong as STEEL. and while his power in pro-
portion to his weight is great, we can exceed
It, and let us not admit that We cannot equal
his intelligence in applying It.
! A.nunber of interesting pictures were then
exhibited on the screen, showing some of the
forms that have been proposed for flying
machines, ending with one beautifully simple
and effective but unfortunately gone ont of
date, ma mely the witches broomstick.
- The Court Record. ss
Superior Court-Cfvn side judge