Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1885-11-05
AERIAL NAVIGATION.
The Experiment OF Captain Renard. of the
French Engineers

L
balloon experiments at Meudon, on the
Seine. seems to have met with a good
degree of success. OF course favora
BILE circumstances were chosen, the wind
on one trial blowing only about two
miles an hour and on the other perhaps
six or eight. Still. to make progress:
against any wind is gain in aeronaut.
les. In the recent trials on two sue.
cessive days the distance Undertaken
was about five miles, the journey out.
ward IN one case and homeward in the
other being made against the wind.
The trip to wIndward occupied abou,
three-quarters of an hour. or twice as
long as the one before the wind. Nc
| effort, of course, was made to reach 9
great altitude.
Journeying through the air in ships
has always been an aim of mankind,
while the analogous desire for wings
like birds has, from the DAYS OF
lcarus to ours. produced bold attempts
at flights with artific al pin ons. not sell
dom resulting in broken legs or necks.
Twenty years ago the Aeronautical So.
ciety OF Great Britain gave much atten-
ton to this latter quest A Mr.. Spen-
Ger at that time claimed to have taken
leaps of hundred feet from the ground
by mechanical aids, and a Mr.. Kauf-
mann built machine which was to be
sustained and propelled by huge wings.
! These curious devices came to moth
ing. and doubtless had been resorted
to because the ordinary balloon seemed
hopeless to rely on for navigable air
ships. To get adequate power without
too heavy weight had been found i'm
possible, and applying gas balloon to
help hold up the machine created a
volume which put the apparatus at the
mercy of the winds. But after the fail
ure OF the devices just spoken of. and
after two flights with wings in Paris
and Vienna had nearly or quite killed
the eXperimenters and were shown to
have been mere descents earthward,
this temporary effort to solve the prob
lem of aeronautics '.by going TO ma
ture' and playing bird was abandoned
Wings were left to theatrical fairies
and air ships proper again essayed.
To recount the lives and fortunes eX-
pended in this quest. would be long
task. Scores of machines have been
built, with great pains and cost, only to
fail when they attempted to face an adj
verse wind. The devoteeS of perpetual
motion have not been more persistent
than those of aerial navigation. But
the old difficulty always returned. that
power required weight, and articles to
Offset We ght by extra levity made the
Hghtened structure a prey to the winds.
At length the storage of electrical
power revived hopes OF seccess, and last
year, little more than a century after
the Montgoltiers had introduced bal
looming. step toward aerial naviga-
ton was taken. The Tissandiers used
storage batteries, but with little sue
cess; then, in August, Captain Charles
Renard, of the French engineers, made
an ascent at Meudon in cigar-shaped
craft filled with hydrogen gas and pro-
vided with a rudder and screw pro-
peller. The machine rose to a short
distance above the plateau of Chatillon,
and, after some rocking, the propeller,
driven by electrical power, carried the
balloon rapidly over Meudon Forest.
Then. the rudder being applied, the air
ship turned toward Petit Bicetre. aud
finally made complete circle. so that
after voyage of twenty-five minutes
it descended exactly at the point
whence it had started.
That was the first genuine balloon
steering that had ever been accom-
plished, and great was the enthusiasm
over it. At kiel, at St. Petersburgh, at
Okhta, like devices were undertaken,
and in this country dirigible war bal
loon was announced. Meanwhile NJ.
Herve Mangon informed the French
Academy of Sciences that the problem
of aerial navigation was solved. I'm
fortunately, when the machine was
tried again, it made a failure, the
screw working for less than quarter
of an hour. The new trial had been
undertaken against fresh breeze, and
that proved fatal Two months more
elapsed. and then Captain Renard. with
brother officer, made third expert
mert which resulted, like the first, in
successful steering, the journey occu-
plying three quarters of an hour. The
general Judgment of the aeronaut was
that ship capable of being propelled
for short time in calm or light breeze
had been produced, but not one that
could breast winds.
The recent trials of new air ship in
dictate that some gain has been ef-
fected. Last years balloon was
said to be of ten horse power, working
four hours. This years seems to be
about fifth less powerful. and with
capability of working only half that
time. But it is steadier ana seems to
have gained in lightness, although now
carrying three persons instead of two.
Perhaps, also, the power of last years
machine was misstated and eXagger-
ated. since in the actual trials it did not
operate consecutively for an hour.
Within certain linn Is and under GER
tain conditions of very light wind the
Siderable balloon has apparently adj
vanced enough for purposes of oc-
casional experiment or pleasure; but
there are great steps yet to take before
securing ordinary and practicable
travel in the air-N Y. Times.
A SCIENTIFIC TEACHER.