The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-06-20
OBSTACLES TO AERIAL NAvI.
 CATION.

A gentleman who has studied aerosta. ton fo1 iotiy years. gives his views upon the subject iD the New York ,Sss:
 "Gas balloons are an improvement upon hre balloons, but are far from wha, is needed. They are v.iy expensive, liable to leakage, fire, bursting, and ex- plosion, and, once up in the SiT, almoS, impossible to steer. l wasted ten years on them, and found out only that they were practically no good. The expense has been greatly reduced, especially since the introduction of water gas, but the leakage and the liability to take fire Is about as bad ss ever. The steering has be-n improved of late years, but Is still unirustworthy. AS tor the steering planes, about which the French aero nauts talk so much, they are simply worthless. They are based on the same pnr ciples as a bird with outstretched wirgs. They are attached either to the balloon or the car, and slightly inclined. Ballast IS then thrown out or gas let of, and the balloon moves up or down. The steering plane changes this vertical into oblique motion, and so sends the balloon hali mile or mile in any direction de. sired. But these planes are heavy, cum brous, and expensive. This model here represents the best type Its skeleton is hne aluminium, and the filling vanished silk. To apply 1t with any degree oi success to a balloon large enough to carry i've persons would cost g. ooo Even then il would be of little use in a swift air current. The rise or fall of a balloon en voyage is comparatively slow, seldom exceeding on an average two hundred feet minute, or two miles an hour. This ascent or descent in twenty. mile current would be one in ten, and would give an aeronaut more trouble than the whole thing was worth. If he came down too rapidly, or if he was caught by trees, his planes would be ruined beyond all possibility of repair. Of the three hundred odd experiments thus far tried with steering planes, every one has been pronounced failure
 When I'd worked my way through sli of these, came to the conclusion that the only way to travel through the air was by flying machine. And that's where I am now. haven't quite sue. ceeded as yet, but have almost, and 1 think before i've years have gone by Pll have it going. To make successful flying machine, there are two obstacles in your way. One is the weight and the other is the power to overcome the weight. The former think have mas tered. It's bats wing on large scale The bones are metal, and the skin is inc silk. For the bones l tried brass, bronze, and steel, bu. they were all heavy and clumsy. Then alaminum came out, and ] found 1t was about as strong as steel, and only quarter as heavy, saw had just what wanted. l have it cast into ribs of about the shape of T rail. It is, 1 believe, the strongest that can be used for vertical m otion. Hollow rods are not so rigid, and T shape is easily deaec,ed sideways.
 But now comes the only trouble l have, and that's the power. No man has enough strength to fly my machine or any machine. If he were as strong as a bhd in proportion to his weight, he would have arms thirty inches round and breast muscles a foot thick. If you use steam or gas engine, or even tha, odd German invention, powder engine the weight of the metal over balances the power gained. When the electric storage batteries came out l tried them, but they were no good. They supply limited amount of power, and their weight is almost as much as that of an engine. then tried a small electric motor con nected with my machine by wires. It was a success, but it was toy, and when the wires were more than a hundred feet long could not control the machine. All that want now is light and power full motor, or rather, substance. 1 have an engine which weighs only seventy pounds, and which works the wings di- rectly. All ordinary fuels are of no use. A solid or liquid which can be easily converted into an immense volume of vapor would supply my need. Gun powder and gun cotton will not answer, though ] think the latter may be event. ually utilized and controlled. If thers is anything in the Keeley motor such as the inventor claims, it will fill the bill ex- actly. With ii I'll revolutionize travel and .M warfare. haven't applied for any patents, as I'd sooner spend the money it costs on my experiments. Are there many working in the same field Quite number. know of more than nifty experimes:ers here ard ;s Es.ops. Most of them are Americans or French men,"