Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-31
TO FLY THR0' THE AIR.
Newest Development of the Science
of Erial Navigation.
WITH SPEED AND COMFORT.
A Line OF Air Ships Between Baltimore and
wsshington-The Principle OF the Fro
plane support without Balloons - The
Steering Problem Solved.
Written for the Evening Star.

pheric route, viii not be balloons of any sort,
but will depend for their fotation in the air
upon what are called aeroplanes-
An aeroplane is a framework made 30 AZ to
hold extended horizontally enormous sheets,
one above the other, of canvas or other mate
rial. It is designed to initiate in its operation
the soaring of bird, as will presently be de-
scribed Beneath the seroplane hangs the car
for passengers, the entire apparatus being
afoat, though on the Washington and Balti-
more line the car will be connected with wire
below that runs from one city to the other. A
current of electricity will pass along the wire,
giving the propulsive force, just as in the case
Of the street car with an overhead wire.
Such is to be the first step in practical aeroc-
tation. To realize its importance as a new
scientific departure it must be understood first
that the two great difficulties recognized as OBJ
structing the progress of the art hitherto have
been the problem Of steering and the weight of
the motor. The latter obstacle has seemed
well nigh insurmountable. inasmuch as,
whether steam or stored electricity was used,
the apparatus necessary to work the propelling
fans was so heavy as to be hopeless load
But. mark you, this sort Of air ship does not
have to carry any motor at all, its fans being
worked from a dynamo station at a distance by
means Of an electric current passing along the
wire referred to and up to the vessel by the two
that runs all the way from Baltimore to Wash
tngton. As for steering the wire does that, the
two connecting wires running along on troll
leys, Just like the street car spoken Of.
In short, TO be sure that it Is all clear there
is the great aeroplane 200 feet from the ground,
the passenger car hanging beneath it. and two
wires connecting the car with the Washington
to Baltimore wire strung on earth-driven poles
far beneath.
TIE PRINCIPLE INVOLVED.
Obviously it should be explained next by
what principle Of mechanics this extraordinary
continuance called an aeroplane is expected to
support itself and the car it carries. That is the
whole point of the idea. Did you ever see a bird
fv? How does il sustain itself in the air? By flap
ping its wings? Not so. The best flyer cannot
sustain its own weight by tapping. 1t takes adj
vantage of the buoyancy of the air currents,
which at great heights. even where the atmos-
phere is rarifed and therefore harder TO float
in. upholds the eagle and the frigate bird,
soaring for hours with unmoved pinions or
poised aloft SO motionless that a telescope can
be trained upon them. And yet either of these
birds. starting from the ground. is obliged TO
take a long run before being able to rise into
the air So ii is with all big birds, while the
fiappings, which they cannot keep up more
than briefly. When practicable, birds prefer
to start their fight from a high perch, because
gravity gives them a helping impulse. How is
u tEat HERMANN the preSLlUlgltatOr, Is able TO
throw playing cards easily from the stage into
the fourth gallery of the biggest theater?
Simply that the card, given a skillful impetus,
is upborne by the air currents A toy kite is a
still better illustration.
Well. that is the entire notion Of the
aeroplane, which, with its great expanse of
horizontal areas, is actually sustained by the
currents Of air. Suppose a case, easy to I'M
derstand. of one of these air ships on its way to
Baltimore at speed of fifty miles an hour, the
l. IL H..
mile current Of air, of course, in effect. 1t OPP
poses the progress Of the vessel but very slightly
because the latter presents merely the edges of
its planes to the breeze. The captain at the
helm inclines the planes upward trife at the
front, so that the powerful air current is made
TO exercise its lifting power and keep the craft
afoat. But whichever way the current comes
the planes are governed accordingly. The wing
planes on either side are slanted slightly up
ward, 80 that any tendency to tilt will develop
greater pressure in that direction and thus re-
store equilibrium
ADVANTAGES OF THE AERoPLASE.
Two most important discoveries have re-
Gently been made in this connection One by
Prof. Langley, secretary of the Smithsonian In
stitution. to the effect that the resistance offered
by the atmosphere to such an aeroplane as that
described is only one-fftieth part Of what has
heretofore been supposed, implying that so
much less motive force Is necessary. The
other is that the power Of the propeller for pro-
ducing speed in air is vastly greater than has
up 20 this time been dreamed Of.
Intense interest Is felt by Prof. Lang
ley in the problem Of aerial navigation. and in
his Investigations Of the subject he ia being as
sisted by ]. Elfreth Watkins, the well known
expert in engineering and the science Of trans
portation. In truth the matter is being taken
mp to a surprising extent nowadays by practi-
cal engineers The foremost advocate Of the
practicability of the idea, Prof. Octave Chanute,
IL to be the next president Of the American So
ciety Of Engineers, his name appearing on all
four Of the election tickets. And vet only ten
years ago man who had the temerity to SO
much as deliver q serious lecture on the pros
poets Of navigating tine air would have ruined
his professional reputation by the indiscretion.
THE CHICAGO SCHEME.
A short time ago there was much talk in the
newspapers about an Illinois company hat
promised to run aluminium air ships between
New York and Chicago, CARRYING passengers
from one city to the other in six hours The
drst ship was advertised to start by the first of
January, but the scheme has failed to material
lie thus far and it seems to have developed
some symptoms of a fizzle, though il is claimed
that the fault is that Of contractors, who did
ss had been agreed. There is great
excitement in the district round about
Mount Carmel, where the building of
the ships Ii going on secretly under sheds.
put not 50 mucn as n car has been put together
yet and IL IL reported that difficulty is being
experienced in soldering the aluminium Well.
one would rather smile, for the fact is that no
one has yet discovered a successful method of
soldering aluminium, and il il not at all un-
likely that no one ever will. or course alumni
mum Is being employed for its lightness. but
II it has to be riveted instead of soldered il will
have to be 50 thick that the object aimed at
will be lost Largely on account Of this matter
Of soldering 1t looks at present as il the posi-
bilities OF aluminium were as yet rather limited
after all
THE LAST PROBLEM.
This question of aerial navigation is the last
transportation problem remaining for man to
solve; the doubt is no longer whether he will
solve II, but how. Science il now for the first
time applying its serious attention to the sub
1ect- II is apt to be thus with great inventions
First they are imagined without especial design
by dreamers, next the more imaginative in
ventors try to carry them out and finally men
skilled IN mechanics reduce them to concrete
FORM Be 1t understood incidentally that no
company has actually been formed as
yet FOR establishing o line of air ships
between Washington and Baltimore but peo-
pie here who understand more about the living
question than Is comprehended anywhere else
Tor this Is a center Of investigation Of the sub
)ect-are nrm In their conviction that there
VIII De such line as that described at the be-
ginning OF this article before ten more wears
have gone by. Ii Is not asserted that the at
tached wire plan is the best possible. but
merely that 1t Is likely to be the first step, the
immense point In It's favor being that it solves
- - -