West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-11-13
AERIAL NAVIGATION.
The Experiment OF Captain Ronard. OF the
French EuEinssrs.

The Experiment OF Captain IIonard, OF the
French EnHinssrs.
The renewal OF Captain Renard's
balloon experiments at Meudon, on the
Seine. seems 10 have met with good
degree of success. OF course favora-
BILE circumstances wero chosen. the wind
on one trial blowing only about two
miIeS an hour and on the other perhaps
siN or eight. Still to make progress
against any wind is gain in aeronaut-
les. In the recent trials on two sue
ceSSivc days the distance undertaken
was about five miles, the journey out
ward In one case and homcward in the
other being made against the wind
The trip To wlndward occupied about
three-quartcrs of an hour. or twice ms
long as tue one before the wind. SO
effort, OF course, was made TO reach "A
great altitude
Journeying through the air i'm shil.s
has always been AN aim of mankind.
while the analogous desire for winos
like birds has, from the davs OF
lcaruN TO ours. produced bold attempts
at lights with artificial pin ons. not sell
dom resulting in broken legs or necks.
twenty years ago the Acronautical So
clety of Great Britain gave much attcn-
ton tu this latter quest A Mr.. Spcn-
Ger AT that time claimed 10 have taken
leaps oi a hundred feet from the ground
10y mechanical aids, and Mr. Kauf-
mann built machine which was TO lee
sustained aud propelled by huge wings
hese curious devices came to moth
ing, and doubtless had been rcsortcd
fH ha tl..
hopeless to rely on for nayignblc air
ships. To get adequate power without
too heavy weight had been found inn
possible, and applying gas balloon TO
hclp hOld up the machine created "A
volume which put the apparatus at the
mercy of the winds. But after tho fail
ure OF the devices just spoken of. aud
after two flights with wings i'm Paris
and Vienna had nearly or quite killed
the cNperlmcntcrs and were shown to
nave been mere desccnts earthward
TINS temporary ollort To solve the prob
lem OF aoronautics "by going TO ma
lure and playing bird was abandoned.
Wing were left TO theatrical fairies
and air ships proper again essaycd
10 recount the lives and fortunes eN-
pended in this quest would be "A long
task SEQ Is of machines have been
Dullt with great pains and cost. only to
iall when they attempted to face an ad-
verso wind The deyotees of pcrpetual
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 weight 10y extra levitv made the
ightoned structure prey TO the winds.
At length the storage of electrical
power revived hopes OF secccss. and last
year, little more than a century after
the Montgoltiers had introduced bal
looming. a step toward aerial navipa-
ton was taken. The Ti,sandicrs 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-shapcd
craft lllled with hydrogen gas and pro-
Vlded with rudder and "A screw pro-
peiler. The machine rose TO short
distance above the plateau OF Chalillon,
and, alter some rocking, the propeller.
drych by electrical power, carried the
balloon rapidly over Mcudon Forest
lhen. the rudder being applied the air
ship turned toward Petit Bicetre. and
hnaIly made complete circle. so that
after voyage of twenty-five minutes
whence it had started
That was the first genuine balloon
steering that had ever been accom-
plishcd, and great was the enthusiasm
over it. AT Kiel. at 81. Pctorsbur0h. at
Okhta, like devices were undertaken
and in this country a dirigible war bal
loon was announced. Meanwhile NJ
Ilerve Mangon informed the French
Academy OF Sciences that the problem
OF aerial navigation was solved I'm
fortunately, when tho machine was
tried again, il made a failure. the
screw working for less than "a quarter
oi an hour The new trial had been
undertaken against q 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
pying three quarters Of an hour. The
general Judgment Of the aeronaut wa,
that ship capable OF being propelled
for short time iu calm or light breeze
had been produced. but not one fpat
could breast wind.
The recent trials of new air shin in-
dicate that some gain has been ef-
fcctcd Last Years balloon was
said TO be Of ten horse power working
Tour hours. This years seems ~ be
about fifth less powerful. and with
capahilty Of working only half that
time. But it is steadicr and seems 20
have gained in lightness. although now
carrying three persons instead of two
Perhaps. also, the power Of last year
machine was mi-staied and exappcr.
ated. since i'm the actual trials 10 did not
operate cDnsecutively for an hour.
Within certain limits and under cor
tain conditions Of very Iigh wind the
stecrablc balloon has apparently ad.
vanrcd enough for purposes Of oc-
ca@OnnI experiment or pleasure but
there arc great step. vet 10 take before
securing ordinary and practicable
travel JIM Che air. AZ y Ii,acs.
a SCIENTIFIC TEACHER.